Murphy Guyer Movies
- 2008
Thomas Lennon, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and Stephnie Weir star in first-time feature producer/screenwriter/director Paul Leuer's romantic comedy drama about a washed-up baseball player who dreams of escaping the trailer park and moving to Australia to live the American Dream. Shroeder Duncan (Lennon) is a former all-star baseball player whose life has taken a sharp detour into dissatisfaction. It's his thirtieth birthday, and Shroeder longs for a more meaningful existence than the one he shares in the Eden Court trailer park with his devoted wife Bonnie (Williams-Paisley). Trouble is, Shroeder's promising athletic career had been cut short by a fateful injury, leaving his choices in life severely limited. While his job as the groundkeeper at a local minor league baseball park at least gives Shroeder the chance to get out on the field and mingle with the players again, it pains him to see them moving on to achieve the kind of success that he always longed for. One night, depressed and sitting in font the television, it dawns on Shroeder that he could leave his old life behind in order to seek out his own American Dream in Australia. But staring over in life isn't always an easy task, especially when your wife, family, and friends vow not to let go without a fight. Ultimately, it's up to Shroeder to choose between living a life of freedom alone, or accepting his little slice of trailer park paradise in Eden Court. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thomas Lennon, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, (more)
- 2006
With his English-language political thriller The Feast of the Goat, action helmer Luis Llosa cinematizes Mario Vargas Llosa's sweeping, epic novel about the myriad of events leading up to the assassination of a real-life tyrannical despot. The story opens in 1992, when a Dominican émigré attorney, Urania Cabral (Isabella Rossellini) leaves her new home in the U.S. and heads back to her native country, for the first occasion in decades. She intends to confront her father, 80-year-old Augustin (Tomas Milian), about his former employment in the government of the supremely corrupt dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo (Tomas Milian). The film then flashes back to the events surrounding the assassination of Trujillo on a highway in late May of 1961, by delving into the lives and motives of each of the participants - from Amadito (Juan Diego Botto), whom Trujillo forced to execute his future brother-in-law, to that victim's father (Murphy Guyer), to Antonio (David Zayas), the brother of an incriminating witness whom Trujillo's men executed. One by one, as their stories are disinterred, the assassins gather on a nighttime road, brandishing guns, and prepare to shoot Trujillo and throw his body into the trunk of a car. Paul Freeman, Stephanie Leonidas and Richard Bekins co-star; Llosa co-authored the script with Augusto Cabada and Zachary Sklar. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tomas Milian, Isabella Rossellini, (more)
Directed by Spike Lee, She Hate Me follows John Henry "Jack" Armstrong (Anthony Mackie), who is fired from a posh job in biotechnology after informing the proper authorities of some sketchy business dealings from within the company. Unemployed and desperate for some quick cash, Jack accepts a strange offer -- his ex-girlfriend Fatima (Kerry Washington) says she will pay him generously if he successfully impregnates her. Once word gets out among the lesbian community, Jack is inundated with requests, and is initially quite happy with his new direction in life. However, things -- as they are wont to do -- get complicated. There's his former employer, who is actively trying to pin the blame for their wrongdoings on his shoulders, for one thing, and it isn't long before the moral implications of his life as a sperm donor come to the forefront. The film co-stars John Turturro, Ellen Barkin, Woody Harrelson, Monica Bellucci, and Q-Tip. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington, (more)
- 2001
The owner of a Chinese restaurant is beaten to death. The detectives collar a teenaged suspect, which leads to the conclusion that the perpetrator and his friends killed simply for the thrill of it. The DA's office is faced with the decision to opt for a lesser penalty on the basis of the perpetrators' ages, or to go the distance and demand that the teenaged murderers be sentenced to death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This made-for-TV miniseries recounts the muddled criminal investigation of the JonBenet Ramsey murder -- one of the most luridly publicized crimes in recent memory. As the crime unfolds, the Boulder police squad grow increasingly swamped by the elusive details of the crime and the unprecedented media attention. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kris Kristofferson, Marg Helgenberger, (more)
- 1999
Law & Order launched its tenth season with still another addition to the cast: former Ally McBeal regular Jesse L. Martin as detective Eddie Green, newest partner of series stalwart Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach). This episode acknowledges the devastating impact of the Columbine tragedy, opening with a Central Park shooting spree in which several female medical students are killed or injured. Once the detectives have traced the weapon, A.D.A. Sam McCoy (Sam Waterston) goes after two perpetrators: the man who pulled the trigger, and the manufacturer of the weapon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1999
A ritual murder is played out on the Internet, but the homicide detectives aren't certain whether the killing is real or an elaborate hoax. Whatever the case, the detectives "stake out" the Web when it is announced that another murder will occur at midnight. In the course of the investigation, the squad discovers that Bayliss (Kyle Secor) is running his own website -- much to Bayliss' embarrassment. The climax of this episode will dictate the outcome of Homicide: Life on the Street's series finale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Belzer, Giancarlo Esposito, (more)
- 1997
- Add Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery to QueueAdd Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery to top of Queue
This Ken Burns documentary, narrated by Hal Holbrook, chronologically traces the well-documented 1804-06 military expedition of Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) and Lt. William Clark (1770-1838) to survey newly acquired lands and seek a Northwest Passage. Ordered by Thomas Jefferson (who labeled it the Corps of Discovery), the expedition was approved by Congress in 1803, and several dozen men were trained in Illinois in the winter of 1803-04. On May 14, 1804, the explorers departed from St. Louis, heading up the Missouri River by keelboat and continuing westward over the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. Ken Burns spent almost four years on this project, retracing the route with cameras capturing mountains, rivers, waterfalls, and forests at the same time of year as first seen by Lewis and Clark. Traditional and Native American music provides an accompaniment to the grandeur of these vast vistas, while Stephen Ambrose and other historians offer illuminating anecdotes. Paintings and maps are intercut, but unlike other Burns documentaries, few archival photos are included (since photography was not invented until decades later). Reenactments, seen at a distance, are also kept at a bare minimum. The four-hour film premiered as a PBS two-parter on November 4-5, 1997. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Arkins, Murphy Guyer, (more)
Three A-list screenwriters -- (Nicholas Pileggi, Bo Goldman, and Paul Schrader) -- contributed to the script of this idealistic political drama. John Pappas (Al Pacino) is the popular, ethical Mayor of New York; Kevin Calhoun (John Cusack) is his even more idealistic and principled deputy. When a detective and mobster kill each other and an innocent six-year-old black child in a shootout, questions arise about what the cop was doing meeting with the gangster in the first place. The Mayor and his staff handle the situation ably, but Calhoun digs deeper and finds troubling evidence that even his seemingly incorruptible boss has not escaped the shadier aspects of political life. The Mafia boss (Tony Franciosa) whose nephew was the dead gangster, along with a Brooklyn political boss (Danny Aiello) with his own agenda, come into the story, becoming part of a series of larger links, secret relationships, and bonds of "honor" between men who, on the surface, would have no reason to be in business with each other. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, John Cusack, (more)
A young white man living in rural upstate New York tries to emulate the African-American culture he adores in this melodrama. Recent high school graduate Seth Carlson secretly dreams of being an art student in Manhattan. Because his father refuses financial aid he cannot and so ends up waiting tables in a small restaurant. In lieu of actually becoming an artist, Seth opts to affect their mannerisms, especially those of African American artists. He even dresses and speaks as they do. One night, as he is closing the restaurant, he is held up by an escaped convict, Knowledge Johnson. The convict is seriously wounded and passes out before he can escape. He is black and Seth, decides to help him by dragging him to an empty shed and nursing him to health. Knowledge is at first wary of Seth's attention. He is also appalled by Seth's obsession. But gradually the two become grudging friends. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Law & Order launched its third season (and its new Wednesday-night time slot) with a complex murder mystery involving a "high-fashion" photographer who sidelines as a pimp. Found murdered in his studio, the photographer has left behind a rather sizeable address book, crammed with the names and phone numbers of his models. As investigating detective Logan (Chris Noth) and Cerreta (Paul Sorvino) discover, virtually every one of the ladies in the dead man's "little black book" had ample motive to knock him off. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Fifty-three people die in a fire at a private Manhattan nightclub. Suspects include a disgruntled patron who was not allowed entry to the popular night-spot, and a rival club owner. But as the investigation proceeds, the trail of evidence leads to a particularly nasty green card scam, targeting illegal aliens. This episode is distinguished by its impressive supporting cast of Hispanic actors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
