Robert Davi Movies
Rugged, tall, and heavily pock-marked, actor Robert Davi has built a long career out of playing anonymously ethnic bad guys. Born in Queens, NY, to Italian parents, he studied opera, Shakespeare, and stage acting under the wing of Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler before becoming one of Hollywood's most recognizable villains. His big feature-film break came in 1977, playing opposite Frank Sinatra in the detective drama Contract on Cherry Street. He would go on to appear with other superstars, toting guns as a mobster, corrupt cop, or general villain in numerous action movies. One of his most noticeable roles was as a Fratelli brother in The Goonies. He also played bad guys on television, building a long list of credits in popular series like The Fall Guy, The A-Team, and Wiseguy. Mostly a supporting actor, his first lead role was as a Palestinian terrorist in the TV movie Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami. His tough guy career reached its culmination in 1989, in the role of James Bond villain Franz Sanchez in License to Kill. After that, he occasionally broke out of the pattern and appeared in comedies and dramas. His first leading good guy part was in 1996 as FBI agent Bailey Malone in the NBC drama The Profiler. He even went so far as to star in the Rodney Dangerfield comedy The 4th Tenor and Rob Schneider's The Hot Chick. In 2002, Davi appeared in The Sorcerer's Apprentice as Merlin, lent his voice to the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and gained a starring role as Nick in the thriller Hitters. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide- 1979
Jonah (Jeffrey Bravin) is a lonely deaf child who has been misdiagnosed as retarded. Jonah's mother (Sally Struthers) and father (James Woods) struggle to establish communication from their withdrawn son. As the specialists shake their heads and cluck their tongues, Jonah's parents finally manage to teach the child sign language, thereby opening up his world both intellectually and emotionally. And Your Name is Jonah is proof enough that Sally Struthers once had potential for greatness, and confirmation that James Woods was on the right artistic track as early as 1979. Despite competition from the network premiere of Taxi Driver, And Your Name is Jonah managed to post excellent ratings upon its original telecast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Most Dangerous Game meets The Matrix in this low-budget futuristic action thriller from prolific B-movie filmmaker J. Christian Ingvordsen. One-time Bond villain Robert Davi stars as the owner of a private prison corporation that offers rich clients the opportunity to engage in virtual-reality battle with the suspended-animation inmates. Unfortunately for the prisoners, if they're killed within the game, they die in real-life. Kayle Watson and Playboy Playmate Amy Lynn Baxter also star. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Davi, J. Christian Ingvordsen, (more)
Ex-football player Carl Weathers stars in this violent action film as Detroit policeman Jericho Jackson. The dedicated but brutal cop is plunged into nefarious doings concerning a crooked industrialist (Craig T. Nelson) and his drug-addicted girlfriend (pop-singer Vanity), breaking many people's bones before solving the case. Sharon Stone stands out in a cast of genre veterans including Nicholas Worth, Sonny Landham, and Robert Davi. Heavy on the sex and violence, this film harkens back to the glory days of 1970s blaxploitation, but is a bit too mean-spirited to be as much fun. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, (more)
- 1980
Filmed on location at Alcatraz Island, this two-part "whole story" actually concentrates on a handful of the denizens behind the cold grey walls of "The Rock". Michael Beck plays the real-life Clarence Carnes, an Oklahoma Choctaw Indian said to be the youngest man ever incarcerated in the notorious maximum security prison. Serving a 99-year sentence for a gas station holdup and murder, Carnes makes periodic attempts to escape, the final attempt being the most violent. Many of the subordinate characters are fictional (as are most of the details concerning Carnes' escape efforts); the one exception is Robert Stroud, the "Birdman of Alcatraz", here portrayed by Art Carney as a gentle, kindly philosopher. Telly Savalas, a costar of the Burt Lancaster vehicle Birdman of Alcatraz, also guest starred in the 1980 film. Originally titled Alcatraz and Clarence Carnes, this made-for-TV movie wavers between gritty realism and "I'm bustin' outta here!" artifice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Beck, Telly Savalas, (more)
- 1990
Finnish director Mika Kaurismaki (who also co-wrote the screenplay) made his English-language feature debut with this tale of foreigners adrift in the treacherous labyrinth of the Brazilian jungle. Kari (Kari Vaananen) is driving down the Trans-Amazonica Highway -- actually a two-lane dirt road that leads out of Rio -- with his two small daughters, Nina (Minna Sovio) and Lea (Ailo Sovio). He is fleeing the Brazilian authorities and is already on the lam from his homeland for taking his wife off life support after a car accident left her in a coma. His car eventually runs out of gas, and the family is rescued by Dan (Robert Davi), a bitter American expatriate and bush pilot who involves Kari in a scheme to use an old bulldozer he has discovered for mining purposes. Dan's plan will wreak havoc with the already devastated rainforest, however, and Kari, under the influence of a native woman (Rae Dawn Chong), starts to doubt his involvement in the project. Good performances, an important message, and excellent photography are all wasted on a story that starts out well but becomes unbalanced when one of the main characters suddenly dies, practically eliminating any conflict or confrontation toward which the plot may have been building. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kari Väänänen, Robert Davi, (more)
Ebenezer Scrooge gets the parody treatment from veteran writer/director David Zucker (Airplane!, Scary Movie 4) with this comedy starring Kevin Farley as a derisive documentarian (à la Michael Moore) who's visited by three ghosts intent on instilling the American spirit in the disillusioned filmmaker. Kelsey Grammer, Jon Voight, Leslie Nielsen, James Woods, and Dennis Hopper co-star in the Vivendi Entertainment production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Farley, Kelsey Grammer, (more)
This preposterous thriller stars Tom Berenger (Platoon) as Ernie Dewalt, a drug-addicted ex-cop with a catheter, and that isn't the worst of it. Ernie teaches creative writing at a small college where prominent professor Alex Laughton (Stephen Lang) has been blown apart with a shotgun while groping the frequently nude Jeri Kari Wuhrer in a car on Lover's Lane. Laughton's widow, Elizabeth (Valeria Golino) drags the reluctant Ernie out of retirement to clear her name, as she is the prime suspect. When he's not mainlining drugs or trading japes with investigating detective Robert Davi, Ernie is haunted by visions of Jeri, taunting him about his incompetence. It's not really Jeri, of course, and may even be the spirit of his former alcoholism, but the plot is so muddled that it's hard to tell. Ernie has a vision of himself snapping nude photos of Jeri and Laughton having sex in a field; Elizabeth is loudly whispered about in the local supermarket; and the ridiculous resolution will please no one. Bad film buffs should get a kick out of Ernie weeping to Elizabeth about his catheter, but other viewers should avoid this jaw-dropping stupidity at all costs. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Berenger, Kari Wuhrer, (more)
In this off-beat western, a gunfighter single-handedly takes on a band of ruthless bandits and prevents them from stealing a cache of government silver from a beleaguered little town. The gunslinger (Armand Assante) is not only remarkable for his quick draw and deadly aim, but also for the fact that a Civil War injury left him nearly blind. He carries with him the little baby he vowed to rear and protect after the war. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Armand Assante, Elisabeth Shue, (more)
Two vengeful assassins are loose on the streets of New Orleans and are looking to systematically murder some of the elite Special Crimes Agents responsible for sending them to prison. Now only the two leaders of the highly trained corps will be able to stop the slaughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Davi, Brigitte Nielsen, (more)
- 2004
Sopranos ingenue Jamie-Lynn DiScala stars as the infamous Hollywood madam in this made-for-cable bio-flick. Produced without the participation of Heidi Fleiss herself, Call Me traces the Pandering author's progression from pampered daughter of a liberal doctor (Saul Rubinek) to headline-grabbing proprietress of a ring of pricey Tinseltown escorts. Robert Davi and Brenda Fricker co-star as the boyfriend/pimp and the old-guard madam who offer Fleiss her entrée into the oldest profession. Corbin Bernsen plays a big-time movie producer who requires high kink from "Heidi's girls" to sate his jaded sexual appetites. The script, by Norman Snider, covers Fleiss' bust but trails off after her incarceration without covering her subsequent rehabilitation as a legitimate businesswoman. Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss premiered in April 2004 on the USA network. Snider previously worked on the script for another naughty TV flick, Rated X, which starred Charlie Sheen -- one of the few high-flying Fleiss customers to be named publicly during her early-'90s legal ordeals. Fleiss was previously the subject of Nick Broomfield's documentary Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamie-Lynn DiScala, Robert Davi, (more)
In this thriller that begins with a case of mistaken identity, a man is abducted and thrown into a mysterious car; he is assumed to be a professional assassin--who happens to be dead. After he becomes more involved in an investigative effort by the CIA, he and his girlfriend find themselves in the titular position amid schemes of political machinations and murder. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Davi, Charlene Tilton, (more)
- 1992
- PG13
John Glen directed this throwback to the costume dramas of the 1930s and 1940s, but without a smidgen of their energy and verve. George Corraface plays Christopher Columbus as a dynamic and muscular comic-book hero. He has a dream to set sail to find a new passageway to India, but he needs the backing of the Spanish government to do it. First, he must undergo a grilling by Tomas de Torquemada (Marlon Brando in, hands down, his worst performance). After passing muster with Torquemada, he gets the blessing of Queen Isabella (Rachel Ward) and King Ferdinand (Tom Selleck). Columbus then sets sail in a series of picture-postcard travelogue shots as he sails the ocean blue and discovers a new world of wonders -- particularly the Indian chief's well-endowed daughter. As a sop to revisionists, a rat is seen scampering down the plank as Columbus' vessel lands on "undiscovered" turf. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marlon Brando, Tom Selleck, (more)
This standard, tongue-in-cheek, gangsters and good guys saga is carried on the star power and screen presence of Clint Eastwood as Lt. Speer, a taciturn, tough, play-it-by-the-book cop, and on Burt Reynolds as Mike Murphy, Speer's old friend in the force, now turned private eye but still a captivating rogue at heart. With a sub-text of playing their well-known screen personas off each other, Eastwood and Reynolds provide more than a surface interpretation of the characters that made them famous. After Murphy's partner is murdered, he focuses on pitting one mob boss against another in an attempt to have both mobsters kill each other. In the meantime, Lt. Speer -- who has never approved of Murphy's private detective business -- does not really know if Murphy is for or against the two top gangsters. Set in the era of speakeasies and Prohibition, an added layer of "film noir" can be discerned under the complex plot, verbal repartée, and episodes of toned-down violence (a kind of parody in themselves). Although this may not be the best film either star has made, it is still interesting to see them together on screen. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, (more)
This documentary, hosted by Robert Davi, delves into the fascinating subject of the possibility of alien beings living on Earth. Since the first UFO sightings at Roswell, NM, in 1947, the subject of UFOs has captivated the modern sensibility. Are UFOs an exteriorization of a psychic state, as Jungian psychology suggests? Or is there physical evidence that UFOs and aliens really do exist? The film looks at the Air Force's official inquiry into the Roswell incident, and scrutinizes the home movies, videos, and photographs made by citizens. Interviews are conducted with people who claim to have been abducted, and there are re-enactments of the bizarre experiments to which abductees report having been subjected. The film investigates the 1994 incident in Ohio when the police dispatch records show that the police followed UFOs on a long chase through the night. The film's coup de grace is the surgical removal of an alleged alien implant in an abductee's thumb. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Contract on Cherry Street represented Frank Sinatra's TV movie debut--an event deemed worthy of a TV Guide cover story. Sinatra plays NYPD veteran Deputy Inspector Frank Hovannes, in charge of a special unit set up to battle organized crime. The murder of Hovannes' partner, coupled with departmental restrictions and legalities, leads the Inspector to organize a semi-vigilante group with three other like-minded officers. They murder an underworld honcho, in hopes of triggering a mob war that will result in the decimation of every gangster in the Big Apple. Edward Anhalt's script for Contract on Cherry Street can't make up its mind whether to emulate The Godfather or Kojak. Sinatra's own Artanis Productions was responsible for this film, so any praise or blame must ultimately fall upon Ol' Blue Eyes' shoulders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Sinatra, Martin Balsam, (more)
In this comedy, police detectives on the trail of a dangerous criminal are confronted with a new and unexpected danger: a typical suburban family. Osborn (Robert Davi) is a underworld figure with plenty of blood on his hands who, in hopes of keeping his dealings quiet, is operating out of an unassuming home in the suburbs. The police are determined to put Osborn behind bars, so rough-hewn veteran cop Jake Stone (Jack Palance) and his young partner Tony Moore (David Barry Gray) are assigned to stake out Osborn's home, and they get permission to keep watch from the house next door, which belongs to the Robberson family. However, Jake and Tony soon discover that this prime location may be more trouble than it's worth; Norman Robberson (Chevy Chase) is a dunderhead addicted to TV police shows who insists on helping whether it's a good idea or not, mother Helen (Dianne Wiest) keeps pestering Jake about why he shouldn't smoke, teenage daughter Cindy (Fay Masterson) develops a furious crush on Tony, and five-year-old son Billy (Miko Hughes) wants the cops to play vampire with him. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chevy Chase, Jack Palance, (more)
- 1990
- R
Deceptions, a made-for-cable below-average erotic thriller, tells the familiar story of a homicide cop who falls for a beautiful suspect. When wealthy socialite Adrienne (Nicollette Sheridan) kills her husband Douglas (Marshall Colt), she claims self-defense. Nick Gentry (Harry Hamlin), the cop assigned to the case is suspicious but becomes obsessed with the sensual young woman. There is little new here and director Ruben Preuss spends little time with plot or character development, depending on the audience's interest in the extremely attractive cast, including Hamlin and Sheridan who were married at the time. Both Hamlin and Sheridan give stilted, wooden performances and surprisingly generate very little heat in their love scenes. Deceptions is a remarkably predictable, non-erotic thriller with little to recommend it. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Hamlin, Nicollette Sheridan, (more)
Somewhat based on the life of author Anais Nin, this beautifully photographed erotic outing from director Zalman King (Wild Orchids, 9 1/2 Weeks) tells the story of an aspiring American writer who comes to Paris to hone her craft and ends up exploring the full extent of her sexuality. Initially, Elena's dream was to become a writer of serious literature, but that of course does not happen overnight. In the meantime there are expenses to be met, so when a wealthy and extremely handsome French novelist (whom she has been secretly watching every morning as he rows up and down the Seine) offers her a small fortune to write erotic stories, what can she do but accept the offer? She quickly discovers however, that it's difficult to write of life's sensual pleasures when one has not experienced them and so, sets off to educate herself. Her schooling leads her to a variety of steamy situations and locales with an equally broad assortment of tutors. Though filled with all the bells and whistles expected of such a film, which was originally rated NC-17 but later released on video with a tamer R-rated version, King's film has been widely panned by critics as ostentatious, trite, and worst of all, not nearly as sexy as it tried to be. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Costas Mandylor, Audie England, (more)
It's Christmas time in L.A., and there's an employee party in progress on the 30th floor of the Nakatomi Corporation building. The revelry comes to a violent end when the partygoers are taken hostage by a group of terrorists headed by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), who plan to steal the 600 million dollars locked in Nakatomi's high-tech safe. In truth, Gruber and his henchmen are only pretending to be politically motivated to throw the authorities off track; also in truth, Gruber has no intention of allowing anyone to get out of the building alive. Meanwhile, New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) has come to L.A. to visit his estranged wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), who happens to be one of the hostages. Disregarding the orders of the authorities surrounding the building, McClane, who fears nothing (except heights), takes on the villains, armed with one handgun and plenty of chutzpah. Until Die Hard came along, Bruce Willis was merely that wisecracking guy on Moonlighting. After the film's profits started rolling in, Willis found himself one of the highest-paid and most sought-after leading men in Hollywood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, (more)
- 1981
This action film follows the childhood alliances of "Lucky" Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and "Bugsy" Siegel and their reign as the kings of the 1920s crime scene. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
War is brewing between rival crime families and caught in the middle is Tony Civiano (Costas Mandylor). Pulled in one direction by his mob family ties, and in the other by his desire to be a modern day civic leader and business owner, it seems that Tony has a choice between informing for the police and giving up his life for the mob-but Tony isn't on either side, he is on his own. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Davi, Carol Alt, (more)
- 1985
After pulling off a million-dollar armored car heist, criminal mastermind Sonny Dunbar (Robert Davi) murders his partner, the better to grab a bigger piece of the prize. Unfortunately for Dunbar, the money is stuffed into the trunk of a car that has been stolen by a band of petty thieves. Determined to retrieve the money and kill anyone who tries to stop him, the shotgun-wielding Dunbar cuts quite a bloody swath through Los Angeles--and this time even the formidable Sgt. Rick Hunter (Fred Dryer) may have met his match! Watch for Robert Englund of "Freddy Krueger" fame as a secondary villain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Jack Scalia stars as a Hollywood policeman whose wife (Joan Severance) will stop at nothing to claim a $2 million inheritance. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1988
There is no question that the Arab terrorist portrayed by Robert Davi is guilty of killing five US citizens in Barcelona. Even his lawyers have zero respect for the rabidly sociopathic Davi. But Jewish defense attorney Ron Leibman is obsessed with the concept of Due Process, and has vowed that Davi will receive a scrupulously fair trial when the terrorist is extradited to America. The defense mounted by Leibman confounds and aggravates government prosecutor Sam Waterston--but he, like Leibman, remains a man of judiciary integrity. Though purely a work of speculative fiction, Terrorist on Trial raises ethical and moral questions that cannot be easily shunted aside with the mantra of "it's only a TV movie." The film was a worthy valedictory piece for the Emmy-winning writing team of Richard Levinson (who died just after the film's completion) and William Link. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Waterston, Robert Davi, (more)
