Charlie Hofheimer Movies
- 2003
Dentist Gus Sugarman is stabbed in the back of the head by a screwdriver while sitting in a crowded movie theater. Grissom (William L. Petersen) and Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) follow up two possibilities: that the killing was committed by an elusive red-headed woman and that Sugarman was not the intended victim. Elsewhere, the other CSI agents are stymied by the reams of contradictory evidence attending the death of teenager Timmy McCallum, whose badly beaten and bullet-ridden body was found in a warehouse where 100 rounds of ammunition were fired from every conceivable angle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A quickly forgotten chapter in United States military history is relived in this harrowing war drama from director Ridley Scott, based on a series of Philadelphia Inquirer articles and subsequent book by reporter Mark Bowden. On October 3rd, 1993, an elite team of more than 100 Delta Force soldiers and Army Rangers, part of a larger United Nations peacekeeping force, are dropped into civil war-torn Mogadishu, Somalia, in an effort to kidnap two of local crime lord Mohamed Farah Aidid's top lieutenants. Among the team: Staff Sgt. Matt Eversmann (Josh Hartnett), Ranger Lt. Col. Danny McKnight (Tom Sizemore), the resourceful Delta Sgt. First Class Jeff Sanderson (William Fichtner), and Ranger Spec. Grimes (Ewan McGregor), a desk-bound clerk getting his first taste of live combat. When two of the mission's Black Hawk helicopters are shot down by enemy forces, the Americans -- committed to recovering every man, dead or alive -- stay in the area too long and are quickly surrounded. The ensuing firefight is a merciless 15-hour ordeal and the longest ground battle involving American soldiers since the Vietnam War. In the end, 70 soldiers are injured and 18 are dead, along with hundreds of Somalians. Black Hawk Down was voted one of the top ten films of the year by the National Board of Review prior to its limited Oscar-qualifying release. On the basis of his work in this film, co-star Eric Bana, a relatively unknown Australian actor playing Delta Sgt. First Class "Hoot" Gibson, won the lead in director Ang Lee's version of The Hulk (2003). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, (more)
- 2001
In this drama, a young man lacks the wherewithal to move on with his life after a failed relationship leaves him shattered. Jim (Charlie Hofheimer) grew up in Hastings-on-the-Hudson, a community on the decline in New York State. After graduating from high school, while most of his friends have gone on to college or moved away, Jim has stayed put, taking a low-paying job with the local cab company and obsessing over his brief affair with Cathy (Laurel Holloman), a neighborhood woman who is married and the mother of a young child. As Jim deals with his ambitious father (James Rebhorn) who is pressuring him to go to school, a roommate (Avery Glymph) whose first priority is his studies, and a close friend, Scooter (Leo Fitzpatrick), whose life is stuck even farther in neutral than his own, Jim finds himself falling into yet another self-destructive relationship, with Irma (Karen Shallo), a brassy but aging barmaid who is well aware that life has passed her by. Last Ball is the first feature film from writer and director Peter Callahan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Hofheimer, Laurel Holloman, (more)
- 1999
Set in a Nova Scotian fishing community, the made-for-TV Blue Moon focuses on a group of local citizens who are under the financial pressure of a land-grabbing tycoon. Particularly hard hit is restaurant manager Cass Medieros (Sharon Lawrence), who not only may have her property sold out from under her, but is also experiencing serious problems with her marriage. Despite these tribulations, family values emerge triumphant over so-called progress. This film represents the final screen appearance of Richard Kiley, here rather incredibly cast as the son of Kim Hunter--who was almost exactly the same age as he! Based on a novel by Luann Rice, Blue Moon debuted April 11, 1999 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
After devoting his career to such horror films as Scream, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Last House on the Left, director Wes Craven makes a dramatic change of pace with this inspiring drama about a teacher who helps change the lives of her students. Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras (Meryl Streep) teaches at an elementary school in Harlem, where discipline is a higher priority than the lively arts. But Roberta believes that studying music will give the children a sense of purpose invaluable in later life. Despite indifference from the school administration and budget cuts that force her to seek outside funding (and even threaten her job), Roberta struggles to teach the violin to her students, instilling a love of classical music in kids who might otherwise never have heard Bach or Mozart, and leading to a student recital at Carnegie Hall. Angela Bassett, Cloris Leachman, and Aidan Quinn highlight the supporting cast, and virtuoso violinists Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, and Mark O'Connor appear as themselves. The Music of the Heart is based on a true story; the real Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras and her students can be seen in the documentary Small Wonders. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn, (more)
Eugene Martin wrote and directed this teen drama set in suburban Philadelphia as the school year ends. Rumor escalates a harmless prank on suburban high-schoolers Cherie (Heather Gottlieb) and Suzie (Michelle Seabreeze) into something labeled "almost rape," pitting suburban teens against urban youths. As tensions rise, the film explores "Edge City" dwellers, including romantic couple James (Charlie Hofheimer) and Allison (Jill Horner); James' brother Bobby (Ryan Carmony); petty thief Robert (Todd Berry); and wild Tony (Christopher Kadish), who veers into violence, stirring up emotions for a "rumble," as cameras capture single-parent situations and unhappy home lives. Grainy video and hand-held Super 16mm footage were transferred to 35mm. Alternative rock punctuates the film's original music score by Mario Grigorov. Shown at the 1998 San Francisco Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Hofheimer, Heather Gottlieb, (more)
Two of the screen's most popular comic actors meet in this movie about two men brought together by unexpected circumstances. On the surface, Jack Lawrence (Billy Crystal) and Dale Putley (Robin Williams) wouldn't appear to have much in common. Jack is an efficient, serious-minded lawyer with a successful practice and a beautiful wife, Carrie (Julia-Louis Dreyfus). Dale is a very single performance artist given to dramatic mood swings and extreme overreaction to the sad state of his career. However, 17 years ago both men were involved with the same woman, Collette Andrews (Nastassja Kinski); she later had a son, Scott (Charlie Hofheimer), without being sure if Jack or Dale was actually the father. Collette chose to raise the boy on her own, but when Scott runs away from home and she can't track him down, she calls both Jack and Dale looking for help. It doesn't take long for the two men to discover that they're both looking for the same boy in the same places, and they decide to join forces, though their personalities don't get much more compatible the longer they hunt for Scott. Keep an eye peeled for a brief cameo by Mel Gibson and an appearance by the rock band Sugar Ray, shortly before their commercial breakthrough. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, (more)
- 1996
At first glance, the demise of a baby seems to be a case of crib death. Upon further investigation, it is revealed that the infant was poisoned. There is enough compelling evidence to charge the baby's au pair Lila Crenshaw (Annika Peterson) with murder, even though she hotly protests her innocence. Based upon actual events, this episode concludes with a surprising and disturbing twist that is not to be found in the "true" story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Boys is a coming-of-age tale about an addled prep school student who nurses a woman back to health after an accident and becomes involved in her cryptic past. John Baker Jr. (Lukas Haas) is a tormented high school senior outcast who's weary of his upper-crust boarding school life and dreads his future as a supermarket chain manager. When he finds Patty Vare (Winona Ryder) unconscious in a field after being thrown from a horse, Baker sees this as an opportunity to break out of his humdrum existence, and he smuggles her into the school to take care of her. The relationship blooms into a somewhat bizarre love affair, as John discovers that Patty is concealing a mysterious secret involving a missing baseball player and a stolen car. Although the film takes a little time to get started, what originates as an analysis of guarded youths making foolish judgments evolves into a celebration of adolescent insurrection. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Winona Ryder, Lukas Haas, (more)
- 1995
This time the murder victim is a board member of an exclusive private prep school. The detectives and the D.A.'s office pursue the possibility that the murderer is transit worker Bill Harrigan (Bruce Kirkpatrick), whose son Colin (Graham Sack) was expelled from school. Or can it be that Colin himself is the killer -- or, perhaps, another student, Stewart Barclay (Matthew Thomas Carey)? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The story of an intelligent, heroic collie and his young owner, previously featured in numerous films and a successful 1950s television series, was updated for the 1990s in this family feature. This time, Lassie is determined to help a cynical city boy named Matt (Thomas Guiry), who turns even more resentful when his family relocates to a small town in rural Virginia. Soon after this move, a bright collie enters the family's life and winds up with the name Lassie because of the television show, which Matt's younger sister (Brittany Boyd) watches passionately. Lassie sets out to cheer Matt up and introduce him to the wonders of nature, while also helping the family stand its ground against rich, unpleasant neighbors. There are also run-ins with vicious wild animals and a daring rescue over river rapids, but the main focus remains on the emotional relationship between Matt and the dog, a story that will seem old-fashioned and charming to some viewers while familiar and sentimental to others. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Guiry, Helen Slater, (more)
