Frank Senger Movies
13 Tzameti (2005) writer/director Géla Babluani gives his critically lauded thriller an English-language makeover in this remake featuring Mickey Rourke and Jason Statham. Handyman Vince Ferro (Sam Riley) is in a serious financial bind, and he decides to steal a mysterious envelope containing a lucrative job offer. Posing as the client he stole it from, Vince quickly finds himself participating in a bizarre game of Russian roulette in which degenerate gamblers wager on life and death. The rules are simple: Each participant loads a single bullet into a revolver, spins the chamber, and points it at another man's head. When the light bulb in the center of the room turns on, each contestant pulls the trigger. The players who survive live to play another round as the stakes get progressively higher. Should anyone attempt to escape, they're shot on sight. With a little luck, perhaps Vince can live through the game and collect a big-enough payout to solve all of his problems. Ray Winstone, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Michael Shannon, and Alexander Skarsgard co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sam Riley, Mickey Rourke, (more)
- 2000
A college coed who has been moonlighting as a stripper is found murdered. The detectives collar a pair of punkish drug dealers, who insist that the owner of the club where the dead girl worked ordered the killing. All of this somehow links up with a former porn star, a high-profile business executive, and an illegal insider-trading scheme. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1998
Frank Todaro scripted and made his directorial debut with this low-budget comedy about NYC flower-shop wholesaler Artie (Mike O'Malley) who swaps one-liners with co-workers at a refrigerated warehouse. Artie can't seem to make a commitment to his live-in girlfriend Jane (Jill Tracy), whose ex (Scott Bryce) is a car salesman with mob connections. A floral customer (J.K. Simmons) becomes a captive audience for talkative Artie when the two get locked in the warehouse freezer. This film was the first runner-up for the most popular film award at the 1998 Seattle Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mike O'Malley, Jill Tracy, (more)
Alain Moreau (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a French cop whose colleagues make a startling discovery -- a man named Mikhail, who was killed in a high-speed chase with police, looks exactly like him. Curious about the stranger with his face, Alain is told by his mother Chantal (Stephane Audran) that Mikhail was in fact his twin brother, whom her poor family was forced to give up at birth. Alain wants to know more about the brother he never knew, but the more he learns the more troubling the news becomes; it seems that Mikhail was involved with gangsters, corrupt FBI agents, and a gang of drug dealers. In order to avenge his brother's death and get to the bottom of his sad story, Alain assumes Mikhail's identity and travels to New York City, where to maintain his cover he takes up with Alex Minetti (Natasha Henstridge), Mikhail's tough-as-nails girlfriend, before finding himself hip-deep in danger with Mikhail's associates. Maximum Risk was the first American film from noted Hong Kong action director Ringo Lam, whose City on Fire has often been cited as a key inspiration for Reservoir Dogs. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Natasha Henstridge, (more)
- 1995
A college student is murdered at a biker bar. At first, detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) believe that the solution to the case hinges upon interrogating the hard-case bar patrons. Ultimately, however, the answer lies somewhere within the mysterious world of the Internet, a world in which the younger Curtis is far more "at home" than his veteran partner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1995
- R
Two guys from Queens wind up in trouble with the mob because of their fondness for prank phone calls in this quickie comedy. Stars Johnny Brennan and Kamal Ahmed first found fame as "The Jerky Boys" thanks to a series of comedy albums featuring real prank calls in which the duo assumed a variety of abrasive and often extremely foul-mouthed characters. Playing characters based on themselves, they reprise many of these same routines in this debut film, linking the comic bits together through a loose plot concerning local organized crime. It seems the boys have used their phone skills to trick a local mobster (Alan Arkin) into thinking that they are notorious Chicago hoods, only to have to go on the run when their scheme is discovered. Made to capitalize on a Jerky Boys fad, the film failed to attract much of an audience beyond their existing fans. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Johnny Brennan, Kamal Ahmed, (more)
As visually stylish as it is graphically violent, this thriller directed by Luc Besson concerns Mathilda (Natalie Portman), a 12-year-old girl living in New York City who has been exposed to the sordid side of life from an early age: her family lives in a slum and her abusive father works for drug dealers, cutting and storing dope. Mathilda doesn't much care for her parents, but she has a close bond with her four-year-old brother. One day, she returns from running an errand to discover that most of her family, including her brother, have been killed in a raid by corrupt DEA agents, led by the psychotic Stansfield (Gary Oldman). Mathilda takes refuge in the apartment of her secretive neighbor, Leon (Jean Reno), who takes her in with a certain reluctance. She discovers that Leon is a professional assassin, working for Tony (Danny Aiello), a mob kingpin based in Little Italy. Wanting to avenge the death of her brother, Mathilda makes a deal with Leon to become his protégée in exchange for work as a domestic servant, hoping to learn the hitman's trade and take out the men who took her brother's life. However, an affection develops between Leon and Mathilda that changes his outlook on his life and career. Besson's first American film boasted a strong performance from Jean Reno, a striking debut by Natalie Portman, and a love-it-or-hate-it, over-the-top turn by Gary Oldman. Léon was originally released in the U.S. in 1994 as The Professional, with 26 minutes cut in response to audience preview tests. Those 26 minutes were restored in the director's preferred cut, released in 1996 in France as Léon: Version Intégrale and in the U.S. on DVD as Léon: The Professional in 2000. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, (more)
- 1993
Just as they're closing in on the Mob, Kelly (David Caruso) and Fancy (James McDaniel) are ordered to turn off the heat. Though Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) will recover from his shooting, he may not be able to remember who tried to kill him. As Kelly's soon-to-be-ex-wife, Laura (Sherry Stringfield), prepares to go into private law practice, her neighbor Goldstein (David Schwimmer) arms himself against the possibility that he'll be mugged again. And despite orders to kill Kelly, Janice (Amy Brenneman) knocks off the man who ordered the hit. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1992
- R
This brutal biopic tells the blood-soaked tale of how Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll rose to become one of the most ruthless, powerful gangsters of the 1920s. Mad Dog Coll was shot simultaneously with Hit the Dutchman with Moscow locations substituting for New York. Both films basically used the same American cast and Russian crew. In the US, Mad Dog Coll was released straight to video as Killer Instinct. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christopher Bradley, Bruce Nozick, (more)
- 1992
- R
The ever economy-minded Menahem Golan -- of the legendary and defunct Cannon Films -- directed this gangster saga in Moscow to take advantage of low production costs, even shooting a second gangster film (Mad Dog Coll) at the same time, on the same locations, with the same cast. Hit the Dutchman stars Bruce Nozick as Arthur Flegenheimer, a thief recently released from prison who is recruited by noted hood Jack "Legs" Diamond (Will Kempe). Flegenheimer changes his name to Dutch Schultz and, thanks to his brutal and unscrupulous ways, rises to become Diamond's right-hand man during the bleak days of Prohibition. But Dutch shows no loyalty to Diamond. He first tries to steal Diamond's moll Frances (Jennifer Miller), then he tries to take over his bootlegging enterprise. Diamond retaliates by killing Dutch's friend Noey (Eddie Bowz). It then becomes total war, with Dutch recruiting enough manpower to have a showdown with Diamond's mob. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bruce Nozick, Eddie Bowz, (more)
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