Christopher Meloni Movies

Season six of the raunchy HBO football sitcom 1st & Ten is subtitled "Do it Again" -- meaning that the California Bulls are championship-bound again after a three-year dry spell. Sexy team owner Kristy Fulbright (Shannon Tweed) and foul-mouth coach Ernie Denardo (Reid Shelton) have placed their championship homes on their new star player, Vito Del Greco, alias Johnny Gunn -- played by a decidedly pre-Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Christopher Meloni. Episode titles this season include: "The Book According to Zagreb," "The Con," "False Start," "Mind Games," "Love and Marriage," "Clean and Sober," "Blood Money," "Vindication" "Gunn and Bullette," "Heaven Help Me," "Surprise Surprise," "All is Fair in Love and Football," "Earn This One for Ernie," and "Who Stole Johnny Gunn?". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly nearly set the screen on fire in this clever, female-powered twist on the standard Mob caper film. Gershon is Corky, an ex-con renovating the apartment next door to where Tilly's Violet lives. Violet is the moll of psychotic gangster Caesar (Joe Pantoliano), who uses the apartment as an occasional location for meetings and beatings, and also uses Violet as an occasional plaything for his Mob cronies. Violet is attracted to the super-sexy Corky, and the two begin an intense affair. Corky hatches a plot to escape with $2 million that Caesar is planning to give to a Mob boss, and the mayhem escalates from there. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by acclaimed crime writer James Ellroy, this film stars Michael Rooker as Fritz Brown, a former L.A.P.D. detective who was kicked off the force due to his drinking. Now struggling to remain sober, Brown works as a private eye when he can, but he makes most of his money repossessing cars. One day, Brown is offered some detective work by Freddie "Fat Dog" Baker (William Sasso), a golf caddy who has some severe reservations about his younger sister, Jane (Selma Blair) and her relationship with Solly (Harold Gould), a wealthy businessman with mob connections who is old enough to be Jane's grandfather. Brown isn't interested at first, but when "Fat Dog" starts flashing an impressive bankroll, he decides to take the case. Brown's investigation of Solly causes him to cross paths with Cathcart (Brion James), the head of L.A.P.D. internal affairs who was responsible for Brown losing his job. Soon Brown runs afoul of a group of hired thugs and several key figures wind up dead as Brown tries to find out the truth about Solly and Jane. Ellroy wrote Brown's Requiem, his first novel, while he was still supporting himself as a golf caddy and breaking himself of a decade-long addiction to drugs and alcohol. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Dana Carvey plays a private detective who forgets everything when he goes to sleep at night, waking up each morning with a "clean slate," in this hit-and-miss comedy that plays like a companion piece to the much funnier Groundhog Day. Pogue (Carvey) is afflicted with his unique form of amnesia after getting injured in a car explosion. With the aid of a mysterious woman (Valeria Golino) who allegedly died in the bombing, he must find a priceless coin and evade the murderous clutches of the mobster (Michael Gambon) who executed the explosion and who wants to silence Pogue before he can testify against him. Carvey fares reasonably well in his role, but the best moments are provided by Pogue's dog, a one-eyed Jack Russell named Barkley who makes a habit out of running into things headfirst. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

The creators of Superman: Doomsday, Batman: Gotham Knight, and Wonder Woman re-team to tell the origins of the Green Lantern in this animated DC Comics feature. When Hal Jordan (voice of Christopher Meloni) is recruited to join the Green Lantern corps, he is placed under the direct supervision of senior Lantern Sinestro. But the Green Lantern corps has come under attack by a powerful foe. When Hal discovers that Sinestro is actually part of a vast conspiracy that aims to dismantle the entire organization, he must use his newfound powers to restore order and combat the treason that threatens to tarnish the Green Lantern legacy. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

After successfully seeking out the ultimate slider in the 2004 stoner comedy Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, the cannabis-craving twosome returns in this high-flying sequel that finds them labeled terrorists for attempting to sneak a marijuana-smoking implement on a flight to Amsterdam. Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) have just finished gorging themselves on savory White Castle hamburgers when they return to their apartment and hatch a plan for Harold to win the heart of his crush, Maria (Paula Garcés). Maria is going to Amsterdam, and if Harold can catch up with her overseas perhaps he can strike up a real love connection. After a close call with airport personnel and a chance encounter with Kumar's ex-girlfriend Vanessa (Danneel Harris) -- who hadn't yet told Kumar that she's engaged to be married -- the pot-loving pals finally board their flight for Amsterdam. Unfortunately for Harold, Kumar isn't able to endure the lengthy flight without an innocent puff or two from his smokeless bong. When the plane hits some turbulence and the bong is mistaken for a bomb, the flight is diverted to Guantanamo Bay and our spliff-smoking heroes are detained by overzealous Deputy Chief of Homeland Security Ron Fox (Rob Corddry). Now, if they can just escape from the world's most notorious prison compound, perhaps this hapless duo can succeed in convincing the authorities that they aren't enemy combatants, and that Kumar made the mistake of his life by letting Vanessa go. But before they can prove their innocence and get the girls, Harold and Kumar will have to outsmart the dreaded Ku Klux Klan, contend with a particularly precocious Cyclops baby, and successfully elude everyone's favorite debauched former child star -- Neil Patrick Harris. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In this first episode of a two-part story, bounty hunters Knoll (Christopher Meloni) and Lichte (Vic Noto) descend upon Baltimore in search of fugitive killer Joe Errico -- and promptly shoot and kill the wrong man. Elsewhere, Al and Mike Giardello (Yaphet Kotto, Giancarlo Esposito) find themselves the reluctant subjects of a human-interest article in Baltimore Magazine; and Gharty (Peter Gerety) drives Munch (Richard Belzer) crazy with his vivid recollections of his war experiences in Vietnam. The episode ends on a cliffhanger, with a car carrying one of the bounty hunters and two of the detectives plowing into a vehicle driven by two senior citizens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this two-part made for TV movie, a woman (Valerie Bertinelli) fights for the custody of her sister's son after the sister is murdered by her husband.. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

In this concluding episode of a two-part "crossover" story which began on Law & Order's sister series Law & Order: SVU, the D.A.'s office endeavors to connect the murder of a salesman with the politically influential Mulroney family. Despite pressure brought to bear by powerful matriarch Regina Mulroney (Jane Alexander), A.D.A. Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) refuses to drop the prosecution. Featured in the cast are SVU regulars Richard Belzer (as Detective John Munch), Christopher Meloni (Detective Elliot Stabler), Mariska Hargitay (Detective Olivia Bensen), and Dann Florek (Captain Don Cragen). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first season of the popular Law & Order spin-off Law & Order: Special Victims Unit begins with the episode "Payback," with the SVU investigating the murder and sexual mutilation of a former Serbian soldier -- who also happened to be a rapist. Quickly establishing their characters, Det. Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) conducts the investigation in a cool, detached manner, while Det. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), a child of rape, cannot help but sympathize with the murderer rather than the victim. Later episodes introduce new characters or further develop the personalities of the familiar regulars. In "Closure," Benson and first-year Detective Brian Cassidy (Dean Winters) spend the night together; in "Limitations," Michelle Hurd joins the cast as streetwise Detective Monique Jeffries; and in the season finale, circumstances dictate that a forensic psychologist recommends that Stabler, outwardly the most "normal" member of the team, be removed from the SVU for emotional instability. The season's most intriguing episode is the aforementioned "Closure," a two-part story which would not be resolved until season two. And finally, "Entitled" finds Law & Order: Special Victims Unit involved in a crossover plot with its parent series, Law & Order, allowing the casts of both series to work in concert. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The so-called "repressed memory syndrome" figures heavily into "Repression," the opening episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit's third season. Subsequent episodes worth noting include "Wrath," in which Detective Benson's (Mariska Hargitay) relentless pursuit of rapists (motivated, in part, by the fact that she herself was conceived in rape) may bring about her death at the hands of one whom she'd sent to prison. Similarly character-driven are such episodes as "Stolen," in which Captain Cragen (Dann Florek), skipper of the SVU unit, takes it upon himself to reopen a illegal-adoption case he'd worked on a dozen years earlier; "Redemption," wherein Det. Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) is partnered with a detective whose professional zeal sends him spiralling into depression and public humiliation; "Execution," a story built around the recurring character of forensic psychiatrist Dr. George Huang (B.D. Wong), who races against the clock to determine if a condemned murderer is responsible for an unsolved crime; "Guilt," wherein Assistant DA Alex Cabot (Stephanie March) puts her career on the line by covertly enlisting the aid of the SVU team to trap a child molester; and "Denial," in which Det. Fin Tutuola takes a special interest in a heroin addicted rape victim. The season concludes with "Silence," a timely story about a pedophilic priest. Having ended its second season as the 25th highest-rated network program in the U.S., Law & Order: Special Victims Unit enjoyed a healthy influx of new viewers during season three, skyrocketing to 12th place in the ratings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The SVU unit is confronted with a murder case yielding too many suspects and too many confessions in "Tragedy," the opening episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit's fifth season. Things take a truly disturbing turn a few episodes later in "Loss," wherein Assistant DA Alexandra Cabot's (Stephanie March) relentless prosecution of a murder tied in with a Colombian drug cartel results in her death -- or so it appears to the world. The next episode, "Serendipity," introduces Diane Neal as Cabot's replacement, ADA Casey Novak, who immediately develops an adversarial relationship with detectives Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Christopher Meloni). Novak's professional zeal is admirable, but she proves to have as many human flaws as anyone else in the series -- notably in the season finale, "Head," in which she lives to regret allowing a child molester to cop a plea and win a lighter sentence. Season five marks the series' 100th episode, "Control," about a mutilation victim who turns out to be a sexual predator and kidnapper -- leading to Benson being raked over the coals in court because she'd refused to heed the warnings of one of the predator's potential captives. Benson is also the focus of attention in "Escape"; trying to defuse a hostage situation involving an escaped convicted pedophile, the detective ends up concluding that the man was the innocent victim of widespread political and departmental corruption. In a similar vein, the SVU unit's skipper, Captain Cragen (Dann Florek), faces the grim possibility that he may have unwittingly railroaded a guiltless criminology professor on a rape-murder charge in the episode "Criminal." And like Cragen, Det. Munch (Richard Belzer) is forced to confront the demons of his own past while handling an assisted-suicide case in "Painless." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide