Chuck Zito Movies

In this streetwise independent drama, Sean (Tommy Guiffre) is a drug dealer who seems to have enjoyed more than his share of good luck -- he's managed to avoid the law, he makes good money, and he has a handful of business associates he can trust. However, Sean's luck seems to run out all at once -- his girlfriend (Nicole Arlyn) breaks off their long-term relationship, his schizophrenic mother (Christie Sanford) becomes seriously ill, his best friend (Christopher Amitrano) is deep in debt to loan sharks, and his younger brother (David Ley) runs afoul of the cops as he tries to follow in Sean's footsteps by selling weed. It doesn't take Sean long to realize his chosen profession is not only setting a bad example for his loved ones, but making it harder for him to help them, so he decides to get out of the game, but not before mapping out a final major score that will give him some retirement income. The first feature film from director Rich Devaney, Brooklyn Bound was screened at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Bear witness to the systematic shakedown of New York City's lucrative construction business by non-union, minority laborers and see just how both sides of the law scramble to stay one step ahead of the game in director Joseph Ariola's tense look at the controversial SBM (Survival of the Black Man) coalition. Based on actual police accounts of officers who attempted to infiltrate corrupt coalition workers and co-written by retired New York City Police Detective Robert Cea, this gripping crime drama offers an unprecedented look at the mob heavies who carry-out backroom deals, the unions who struggle against impending layoffs, and the one desperate soul who is caught directly in the middle of all the dirty dealings. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Grandnephew of the famous mobster known as Tony Pro, Danny Provenzano is the co-writer, director, and star of the independent crime drama This Thing of Ours (the title is a literal translation of the crime organization La Cosa Nostra). Provenzano plays young mobster Nick Santini, who wishes to impress his Uncle Danny (Frank Vincent) and the other elders of a New Jersey mob. Nick plans a major bank heist with his old pal Robert Biaggio (Christian Maelen) and computer geek Austin Palermo (Louis Vanaria). Using a complicated Internet scam to distort a communications satellite, they plan to steal more than 50 million dollars. Nick is eventually stuck with having to choose between his friends and the mob when high-ranking Patsy DeGrazio (Michael DelGaizo) kidnaps Austin. This Thing of Ours also stars Vincent Pastore (The Sopranos), James Caan (The Godfather), and Pat Cooper (Analyze This). Incidentally, Provenzano was arresting in 1999 under a 44-count felony indictment that included charges of racketeering, kidnapping, and money laundering. He eventually pleaded guilty to racketeering and was scheduled to begin a ten-year prison sentence in August 2003, just weeks after his film is released. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

As season four of Oz begins, the experimental unit at Oswald State Correctional Facility known as "Emerald City" is not living up to manager Tim McManus' (Terry Kinney) hopes. Ever since he set up the unit, wherein convicts are given more freedom of movement, extra privileges, and the opportunity for advancement, McManus has been frustrated that his good intentions have not paid off in wholesale rehabilitation. In fact, things seem to have gotten worse, with too many murders and suicides occurring within the unit. Hoping to alleviate the situation, McManus' head guard, Murphy (Robert Clohessy), suggests that all the cons -- including those in solitary -- spend an hour each day indulging in healthy recreation. Again, however, the plan fails when a killing takes place during that special hour. With more episodes this season than in previous years (16, compared to the usual eight), Oz is able to devote extra time to a plethora of subplots. One of these involves convicted murderer Shirley Bellinger (Kathryn Erbe), who after losing her unborn baby under suspicious circumstances is sent back to death row. Also, a group of illegal aliens sequestered in Emerald City is the catalyst for a rash of violence; Warden Glynn (Ernie Hudson) runs for lieutenant governor; an attempt to film a documentary in Oz ends in disaster; Busmalis (aka "The Mole") (Tom Mardirosian), manages to break out of prison, only to be recaptured as he stands outside the home of his favorite TV star; crooked evangelist Rev. Cloutier (Luke Perry) is tossed into the unit; and infirmary doctor Gloria Nathan (Lauren Velez) is raped. Tensions continue to mount as McManus is fired and convict Miguel Alvarez (Kirk Acevedo) escapes (these plot twists were designed to allow Acevedo and his co-star Terry Kinney to take leaves of absence to appear in other projects); new unit manager Martin Querns (Reg E. Cathey) cuts a sinister deal with drug-dealing con Adebisi (Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje) to put a lid on the violence; fired guard Clayton Hughes (Seth Gilliam) tries to assassinate Governor Devlin (Zeljko Ivanek); a plot is hatched to frame wheelchair-bound convict Hill (Harold Perrineau Jr.) for a crime he hasn't committed; the children of inmate Beecher (Lee Tergesen) are placed in jeopardy thanks to orders from the "inside"; and incarcerated Muslim leader Said (Eamonn Walker) settles accounts with an old enemy. The season ends with a cliffhanger, sparked -- literally -- by a deadly gas explosion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An ex-cop trying to stay away from trouble finds it literally crashing into his backyard in this crime thriller. Dave Robicheaux (Alec Baldwin) is a former New Orleans police detective who, after kicking an addiction to alcohol and confronting some serious problems with his partners, has left law enforcement behind to run a bait shop in a small Louisiana bayou town. One day, Dave and his wife Annie (Kelly Lynch) see a small plane plummet from the sky and crash into the swamp; the pilot dies, but Dave is able to rescue a young Hispanic girl from the wreckage. Dave and Annie take the child in, but as they try to find out more about the plane crash and who the little girl might be, they discover that she's actually an illegal alien from Salvador and that the pilot was involved with a local drug ring. Dave, constitutionally unable to let a mystery go unsolved, begins asking enough questions and making enough trouble that he finds himself on the bad side of his old High School friend Bubba Rocque (Eric Roberts). Bubba is a local crime boss who controls the area's drug traffic, keeps a boxing ring in his front yard, and has a wife Claudette (Teri Hatcher) who enjoys greeting her guests naked. Dave's inquiries eventually become too much for Bubba and his henchmen, and in the midst of a violent raid on their home, Annie is killed. Dave becomes obsessed with bringing Bubba and his men to justice and gets some unexpected help from Robin Gaddis (Mary Stuart Masterson), an exotic dancer with a heart of gold. While it was originally scheduled for release in 1994, Heaven's Prisoners didn't arrive on theater screens until two years later, by which time Teri Hatcher had risen to stardom on the TV series Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Eric Roberts stars as Jack Hart, a police photographer who finds a photo of toothsome Jean (Kelly Preston) in his locker. Though he's never met Jean, Hart has no qualms about declaring his fascination with this mystery woman. Thus, when Jean turns up murdered, guess who's the Number One suspect? If nothing else, Love Is a Gun proves that Eric Roberts, despite his well-publicized private travails, can still carry a picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Carlito's Way is a tale of a former hood trying to escape his former life. Al Pacino is Carlito Brigante, a high-level Puerto Rican drug dealer sprung from a three-decade jail sentence after only five years, thanks to a technicality and his sleazy, cocaine-addled lawyer, Dave Kleinfeld (Sean Penn). Carlito renounces his previous ways and takes a job as the manager of a club that Kleinfeld has invested in, planning to save enough money so that he can eventually move to the Caribbean. But no sooner is Carlito back on the streets of New York than his old life claws at him in the form of both old partners (Luis Guzman) and vicious up-and-comers (John Leguizamo). Nevertheless, Carlito stays clean and even restarts his relationship with a dancer named Gail (Penelope Ann Miller), until he is finally led astray by Kleinfeld, who manipulates Carlito into participating in the murder of a Mafia don from whom Kleinfeld has stolen a million dollars. At that point, the race is on to see whether Carlito and Gail can escape his world for good. The film is based on two novels about Carlito written by New York State judge Edwin Torres. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

An escaped convict fights for his rights while hiding out from the law in this action drama. Sam Gillen (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a thief who, despite his criminal past, is an essentially decent man; he ended up behind bars after taking a murder rap for his partner. Sam escapes from prison in a daring jailbreak, and he hides out on a remote farm while on the run from police. A young boy named Mookie (Kieran Culkin) finds the fugitive and takes him in; it seems that the farm belongs to his mother Clydie (Roseanna Arquette), and soon Mookie and his sister Bree (Tiffany Taubman) have become friends with Sam, and Clydie and Sam fall in love. However, Franklin Hale (Joss Ackland), an unscrupulous land developer, wants to buy Clydie's farm and isn't taking no for an answer. When Hale's thug Dunston (Ted Levine) tries to use force to drive Clydie off her property, Sam is ready to fight fire with fire. Nowhere to Run was co-authored by noted screenwriter Joe Eszterhas; Richard Marquand received his story credit posthumously. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide