Jeffrey Donovan Movies

Director/screenwriter Robert Collector adapts Newberry Award-winning author Harold Keith's fact-based tale about a 1960s-era girl's basketball coach who inspired his athletes to believe in themselves and always strive to reach their greatest potential. Clayton Driscoll was an assistant boy's basketball coach when he accepted his first official coaching assignment in the tiny, backwater Oklahoma town of Middleton. An urbanite whose devoted wife Jean is wholly supportive of the move, Clayton hopes that the peace of the country will give the couple the opportunity to start a family. Upon discovering that the team he is set to coach is a girl's team, however, Clayton's enthusiasm immediately sours. In the mid 1960s, in the middle of nowhere, girl's athletics could barely qualify as an afterthought to sports fans. The Middleton Lady Cyclones in particular, were an unmitigated laughing stock. Though Clayton is at first flushed by the ineptitude of his young players, his dubiety is soon tempered by the remarkable character displayed by the girls who want nothing more than to shine in the eyes of their coach. Upon recognizing the decency and resiliency displayed by his tough-minded team, Clayton gives the girls permission to become as passionate about the game as any boy would be. But not everyone in Middleton is so eager to see these young women behaving as aggressively and competitively as their male counterparts, and as Clayton liberates the girls in an attempt to take the state championships and in the process finds himself emancipated by his love for the team, town rainmaker Ellis Brawley launches a bitter campaign to bring about the progressive-minded coach's downfall. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The first season of this sleek spy series mixes plenty of action with sex appeal and a dose of wry humor. While on a covert mission in Nigeria, spy Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) discovers he's been burned, which equates to being fired in the world of espionage. After escaping the immediate danger of his assignment, he wakes up in Miami with no memory of how he got there and discovers his accounts have been frozen and his contacts cut off. Forced to fend for himself, Michael recruits the help of the only friends he has: Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell), a former intelligence contact whom the FBI has tapped to gain intel on Michael; Fiona Glenanne (Gabrielle Anwar), a spunky ex-IRA operative looking for closure after being dumped by Michael several years earlier; and Michael's meddling mother Madeline (Sharon Gless), who's thrilled to have her son back in her life. Despite the often uneasy state of these alliances, Sam, Fiona and Madeline each bring their own skills to the table to help Michael find out who burned him and why. In order to fund his investigation-not to mention more mundane expenses like rent-Michael picks up a side job as a private investigator helping Miami citizens obtain justice. Each episode chronicles a different case, opening the way for notable guest stars like Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess) and Richard Schiff (West Wing). But Michael's main goal throughout the season is following the convoluted trail of betrayals and double-dealings that led to his burn notice. ~ Brie Hearn, All Movie Guide

Inspired by actual events that occurred in 1920s-era Los Angeles, Clint Eastwood's The Changeling tells the story of a woman driven to confront a corrupted LAPD after her abducted son is retrieved and she begins to suspect that the boy returned to her is not the same boy she gave birth to. The year was 1928, and the setting a working-class suburb of Los Angeles. As Christine (Angelina Jolie) said goodbye to her son, Walter, and departed for work, she never anticipated that this was the day her life would be forever changed. Upon returning home, Christine was distressed to discover that Walter was nowhere to be found. Over the course of the following months, the desperate mother would launch a search that would ultimately prove fruitless. Yet just when it seemed that all hope was lost, a nine-year-old boy claiming to be Christine's son seemed to appear out of thin air. Overcome with emotions and uncertain how to face the authorities or the press, Christine invites the child to stay in her home despite knowing without a doubt that he is not her son. As much as Christine would like to accept the fact that her son has been returned to her, she cannot accept the injustice being pushed upon her and continues to challenge the Prohibition-era Los Angeles police force at every turn. As a result, Christine is slandered by the powers that be, and painted as an unfit mother. In this town, a woman who challenges the system is putting her life on the line, and as the situation grows desperate, the only person willing to aid her in her search is benevolent local activist Reverend Briegleb (John Malkovich). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The first feature from writing/directing team Oren Goldman and Yariv Ozdoba, Final Draft is an insider-comedy about a pair of guys who have been friends since childhood and now, as adults, dream of making it as Hollywood screenwriters. Marty was born in Israel and maintains a somewhat cynical view of the world. Harry, on the other hand, grew up in New York and is slightly more wide-eyed. To bide their time before hitting the big time, the two have resigned themselves to editing home videos of bar mitzvahs and weddings. In addition, Harry works nights teaching Jewish folk dancing classes. But everything takes a positive turn when the guys discover they have a drug dealer in common with a bigwig at Misney studios. When they suddenly find themselves with a meeting scheduled with an actual Hollywood executive and no script to pitch, Harry and Marty scramble to come up with the perfect idea. Also starring Emily Bergl and Laura Jordan as the guys' love interests, Final Draft was shot digitally and premiered at the 2003 Victoria Film Festival in Victoria, British Columbia. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

A man who teaches dateless wonders how to become irresistible to women learns just how hard it can be to do it yourself in this romantic comedy. When a guy in New York City wants to make the right impression with a certain lady, Alex "Hitch" Hitchens (Will Smith) is the man he calls. Hitch has made a career out of coordinating a man's first three dates so that they'll show him to his best advantage (for a price, of course), and more than a few have taken women to the altar they first started courting with Hitch's help. But Hitch discovers his own romantic limitations when he falls for Sara (Eva Mendes), a journalist who has her own ideas about romance, and might just expose Hitch's underground business to the world. In the midst of all this, Hitch has his hands full with Albert, a sweet but socially inept man who has enlisted Hitch's services. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The office of a limited-circulation magazine is the scene of three murders. One of the victims, the magazine's editor, had been locked in a power struggle with his brother Peter Nichodos (Peter Frechette). As he prosecutes the cast, Assistant D.A. McCoy runs up against two formidable opponents: Nichodo's mother, Elaine (Sada Thompson), who is determined to save the family business at any cost, and the obstructive rulings of presiding judge Edgar Hynes (Louis Zorich), who happens to be an old friend of McCoy's boss, Adam Schiff (Steven Hill). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An Internet entrepreneur looking to revolutionize the way the world wide web is utilized finds out that there's more to the saying "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" than he ever imagined in this tale of innovation soured, helmed by greedy dot-com cynic Alan Ari Lazar. As the personal home-computer revolution reaches a fever pitch, visionary tech innovator John Elias dreams of shattering national borders and changing the way computer users communicate with the outside world; and with Robert Jennings closing the deal, it appears as if Elias may finally have the opportunity to make his dreams a reality. As fast as the money starts rolling in though, Elias quickly loses himself to the intoxicating effects of success, isolating himself from his business partners and girlfriend and losing site of his original goals. Despite the fact that Elias let fame go to his head, where there's a will to succeed there's a chance for redemption, and before the book on his success story reaches the final chapter, the well-intending dot-com king may finally make amends for the pain his greed has caused to those he cared for most. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Barry Levinson directed this crime drama based on a controversial bestseller. Jason Patrick stars as Lorenzo, a New York reporter more commonly called "Shakes," a nickname courtesy of his three childhood pals from Hell's Kitchen -- Michael (Brad Pitt), John (Ron Eldard), and Tommy (Billy Crudup). As kids, all four were sent to reform school after accidentally killing someone during a cruel prank. There, the boys were raped and beaten by several guards, including Sean Nokes (Kevin Bacon), a fact that they've kept secret into adulthood. Michael is now a rising star in the district attorney's office, while John and Tommy are founders of the Irish gang the Westies. When Nokes walks into John and Tommy's hangout, they kill him in cold blood and go on trial, defended by a drug-addicted lawyer (Dustin Hoffman). Michael and Shakes conspire with childhood friend Carol (Minnie Driver) and local priest Father Bobby (Robert DeNiro) to free their friends and get even with the surviving guards. Based on a true story chronicled by Lorenzo Carcaterra in his novel of the same name, Sleepers stirred controversy when the veracity of the book was challenged by reporters who could find no documentation of the events described. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide