Pato Hoffmann Movies
As preparation gets underway for the construction of an environmentally devastating oil well in a remote Alaskan base just outside the Arctic Circle, a series of unexplainable occurrences lead a team of adventurers to believe that something supernatural may be afoot in director Larry Fessenden's chilly snowbound thriller. Pollack (Ron Perlman) is the ultra-macho leader of a team of adventurers that include his former lover Abby (Connie Britton), pot-smoking mechanic Motor (Kevin Corrigan), and inexperienced newcomer-cum-fortunate son Maxwell (Zach Gilford). When research scientists Hoffman (James Le Gros) and Elliot (Jamie Harrold) arrive to assess the environmental impact of the proposed project, Pollack's unmasked contempt for the pair's stalling of the project immediately creates dissent among the group. As emotions boil to the breaking point and cabin fever begins to take hold, Maxwell's increasingly strange behavior is initially attributed to the blinding white barrenness of the region that has been known to fast wear thin the fortitude of even experienced men. There's more to Maxwell's midnight wanderings and incoherent mumblings that meets the eye though, because as the outside temperature begins to rise during the dead of winter and the team members begin to experience fleeting visions out of the corner of their eyes, it begins to appear as if mother nature may be voicing her opposition to the proposed pillaging of her luminous white landscape. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ron Perlman, James LeGros, (more)
- 1998
Connecticut's Mashantucket tribe financed this Native American drama about three sisters who enter the business world by selling Naturally Native, a homegrown line of cosmetics based on traditional tribal remedies. Married to a Native American, Vickie (Valerie Red-Horse) believes strongly in Indian traditions. She needs backers for her cosmetics line, and her two younger sisters, Tanya (Irene Bedard of Pocahontas) and accountant-in-training Karen (Kimberly Norris Guerrero) join her enterprise, but when they team to manufacture and market Naturally Native cosmetics, they encounter racist, patronizing attitudes. Numerous Native American issues are raised in this film, shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valerie Red-Horse, Irene Bedard, (more)
- 1997
14-year-old Holly Nolan (Gina Philips) lives unhappily with her hyperjudgmental mother Donna (Talia Shire) and her brother Ted (Eddie Mills). To escape the pressures of her home life and make herself feel important, Holly begins hanging out with an older crowd, and in the course of events falls in love with 19-year-old Chris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) an Army reservist who has been disowned by his family. When Donna violently objects to Holly's romance with Chris, the couple elope and head off to Calfornia, certain that all they need to survive in the "outside" world is their love for each other. But it isn't enough: Repeatedly battered down by disillusionment and deprivation, Holly and Chris can't even return to her home town, where Chris faces charges for being AWOL--and, thanks to Holly's vengeful mother, for statutory rape. With apparently no other alternative, Chris resorts to the "easiest" way to stay alive, becoming a male prostitute on the mean streets of LA. Innovative direction and a driving musical score featuring such artists as Van Halen, Peter Himmelman, Lisa Cerbone and Sarah McLaughlin) helps sustain the viewers' interest and fascination in this sordid (but not sordidly told) made-for-TV movie. Born Into Exile made its NBC network debut on March 17, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Dissolute Civil War surgeon Doc Eli (Robert Culp) is now barnstorming with his own "Kickapoo Indian Miracle Elixir" medicine show. At first regarding Eli as a charlatan, Dr. Mike (Jane Seymour) is forced to rely on his long-dormant surgical skills when Myra (Helene Udy) falls victim to an ovarian cyst. Similarly, Sully (Joe Lando) tries to "redeem" a disillusioned Cheyenne named Franklin (Pato Hoffman). As a bonus, two of the series' prominent supporting characters get engaged in this episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Lando, Chad Allen, (more)
Maverick writer-director Walter Hill's version of the famous Wild Bill Hickok legend is a dreamscape western that is told entirely in flashback. Hickok's friend Charley Prince (John Hurt) narrates the events of Wild Bill's life while sitting at Bill's graveside. Hickok is played by Jeff Bridges as a mean, high-spirited, but gallant outlaw. He wanders the West, adding to his reputation with some well-chosen gunfights, and he meets up with characters such as Calamity Jane (Ellen Barkin), who becomes his sidekick for a time. After becoming a legend, Hickok signs up for a stint with Buffalo Bill Cody's traveling variety show. Eventually, he falls in love with Susannah Moore (Diane Lane), and his love leads him to tragedy in the town of Deadwood, SD. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Bridges, Ellen Barkin, (more)
- 1994
- R
This made-for-TV western stars Kelly Preston as Rebecca Carver, who is travelling west with her husband Matthew (Charles Powell), trying to outrun the draft for the Civil War. Needing to rest for the night, they stop at a trading post run by Barkley (Dan Haggerty), where they encounter a pack of buffalo hunters as well as several Cheyenne braves who seem to know Barkley well. Worried that there could be trouble and afraid of the Indians, Matthew warns the hunters about the Cheyenne, which soon leads to a furious battle leaving only two survivors -- Rebecca and Hawk (Pato Hoffmann), a Cheyenne warrior who was severely injured in the fighting. With no one to protect her, Rebecca realizes that her survival may depend on Hawk, so she nurses him back to health; the two make their way across the prarie as they try to escape the bitter onset of winter, and find that their mutual distrust soon grows into love. Roger Corman served as executive producer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kelly Preston, Pato Hoffmann, (more)
Walter Hill directs John Milius's script (co-written by Larry Gross) depicting a revisionist perspective on the "Geronimo Campaign" and how Geronimo, with 34 men, managed to elude 5000 U.S. cavalry men between 1885 and 1886 before his surrender at the Canyon of the Skeletons in September 1886. The film centers upon Charles Gatewood (Jason Patric), the U.S. Cavalry lieutenant who is charged with capturing the elusive Apache leader. Gatewood is torn by a grudging respect for Geronimo and his people and his duty to his country. But then all the white men in the film have a respect for Geronimo, even as they are trying to hunt him down and kill him. General Charles Crook (Gene Hackman), charged with overseeing the forced settlement of the Apaches on reservations, has nothing but admiration for Geronimo. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Patric, Gene Hackman, (more)
