Chi McBride Movies
Pronounced "shy," like the colloquial term for his hometown of Chicago, Chi McBride didn't get into acting until he was 30 years old. He is probably most recognized for his role as principal Steven Harper on Fox's Boston Public. Before his first movie, he worked for a phone company, trained as a gospel singer, and joined the hip-hop band Covert. With McBride as a producer and vocalist, the band released their first and only album For Your Bootay Only in 1991. Not soon after, he started appearing as a guest star on Fox sitcoms, including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. His feature-length debut happened a year later in Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation. Billed as simply Chi, he then gained small roles for the Eddie Murphy movie The Distinguished Gentleman and the Tina Turner story What's Love Got to Do With It?In 1993, McBride found a spot for himself on NBC for The John Larroquette Show, playing the janitor Heavy Gene. Teaming up next with the Hudlin brothers, he then appeared in the HBO Twilight Zone-style trilogy Cosmic Slop, hosted by George Clinton. His next few diverse projects were supporting roles in Peter Jackson's horror comedy The Frighteners, Bill Duke's period crime flick Hoodlum, and the action thriller Mercury Rising.
McBride's first leading role came in the form of the short-lived and controversial UPN sitcom The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer, playing the stuffy English title character who was mistakenly enslaved to Abraham Lincoln. After appearances in Gone in 60 Seconds and Disney's The Kid, he found his well-known spot on Boston Public. While gaining high marks for his role on the David E. Kelley drama, McBride parlayed his increased notoriety into a number of higher-profile big-screen roles.
2002 found McBride as a police captain in the intense cop-thriller Narc, and the over-the-top Chief in the comedy Undercover Brother. And while the following year saw Boston Public cancelled, the free-time afforded to McBride by the show's end only allowed him to sign on to roles in two of 2004's most anticipated films, the Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks dramedy The Terminal and I, Robot, an action sci-fi flick starring Will Smith. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- 2006
San Francisco literally stinks to high heaven thanks to the longest garbage strike in the city's history. No one is more upset by the overpowering pungency than the germophobic Monk (Tony Shalhoub), who doubles his efforts to find out who murdered the union boss who called the strike in the first place. Growing progressively unhinged as the smell gets worse, Monk concludes that the guilty party was none other than San Francisco mayor Ray Nicholson (Chi McBride)--and when this proves not to be the case, Monk goes completely off the deep end, accusing rock star Alice Cooper of the dirty deed! Will Monk get his act together in time to find the real killer, or have his phobias finally destroyed his detective skills? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2006
Arguably the most talked-about serialized drama of the 2006-2007 TV season, The Nine made its ABC debut on October 4, 2006 with a bank robbery perpetrated by a pair of low-life siblings on LA's Fidelity Republic Bank. The robbery and the ensuing hostage standoff would last 52 minutes, and two people would die; the series focused on the aftermath, and the profound and disturbing changes in the lives of nine of the people in the bank. The huge ensemble cast included Timothy Daly as Nick Cavanaugh, a cop with a gambling problem; Chi McBride as Malcolm Jones, the seemingly kindly, level-headed bank manager; Kim Raver as ambitious Assistant DA Kathryn Hale; Scott Wolf as Jeremy Kates, arrogant young surgeon; Jessica Collins as Jeremy's girlfriend Lizzie Miller, a hospital social worker; John Billingsley as Egan Foote, a suicidal office drone who unexpectedly turns hero during the standoff; Lourdes Benedicto as Eva Rios, a single-mom bank teller who is linked to Nick Cavanaugh; Camille Guaty as Eva's party-girl sister Franny, who got Eva her job at the bank; Dane Davis as Felicity Jones, daughter of the bank manager, whose sheltered existence was irrevocably shattered by the robbery; and Owain Davis as Lucas Dalton, one of the two thieves. Each episode began with a 10-minute flashback to the robbery, exposing hitherto unrevealed facts about what actually went down during those 52 minutes, and dropping hints as to the interrelationships between the characters before the incident. These flashbacks sometimes answered such nagging questions as "Why does Nick Cavanaugh punch out one of the hostage negotiators?", "Why has Kathryn Hale's hair been cut so short?", and "Why are several of the former hostages making regular prison visits to Lucas Dalton?"; generally, however, more questions were raised than answered. The Nine was cocreated by executive producer Hank Steinberg (Without a Trace and his sister K.J. Steinberg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2005
Created by CSI's Josh Berman, the tension-laden Fox detective series Killer Instinct chronicled the activities of San Francisco's Deviant Crime Unit, headed by the tough, flippant Lt. Matt Cavanaugh (Chi McBride). The unit's mission was to track down and eliminate the most vicious and heinous of serial killers and sex criminals, which may explain why this series received a lot of negative prerelease press; indeed, the acts of violence perpetrated on the victims of these deviants had to be seen to be believed (in the most notorious example, one nutcase rendered his female captives helpless by covering them with poisonous spiders!). Lt. Cavanaugh's top man was Det. Jack Hale (Johnny Messner), who had just come off a six-week leave of absence after the death of his female partner. Hale may or may not have spent several of those months in a mental institution; whatever the case, he was one seriously disturbed individual, and in some ways he was almost as unbalanced as the perpetrators he went after. Endeavoring to keep Hale "on program" was his new partner, Det. Danielle Carter (Kristin Lehman), a former forensic lab assistant. Executive-produced by Charles Craig (The X-Files) and Ed Zuckerman (Law & Order), the weekly, hour-long Killer Instinct debuted September 23, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Messner, Kristin Lehman, (more)
- 2005
Vogler (Chi McBride) cuts a deal with Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein), agreeing to postpone the dismissal of Dr. House (Hugh Laurie). But there's a price to pay for this concession: House must immediately fire one member of his team. As tension mounts among House's coworkers, they still find time to look into the case of an obese 10-year-old (Jennifer Simms) who has suffered a heart attack--but not because of her extra poundage. Another overweight patient (Lucille Hernandez) lies to both House and her husband regarding what may be a malignant tumor...or a unborn child. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2005
A typically truculent House (Hugh Laurie) is slapped with a court order instructing him to determine if mobster Joey Arnello (Joseph Lyle Taylor), who is slated to give testimony in Federal Court before entering the Witness Protection Program, is faking a serious illness. Joey's knuckle-busting brother Bill (Danny Nucci) warns House to lay off the case--but not for the (seemingly) obvious reasons. At the same time, Vogler (Chi McBride) puts extra pressure on Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) to fire House, or risk losing a $100 million donation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2005
Chi McBride makes his first series appearance as billionaire entrepreneur Edward Vogler, the new chairman of the board at Princeton-Plainsboro. Assuming that his position gives him license to call all the shots, Vogler wastes no time throwing his weight around--beginning with his promise to donate $100 million to the clinic on the condition that Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) is fired immediately! Things don't get any better for House when he is forced to resort to subterfuge to provide proper treatment for 32-year-old cosmetics CEO Carly Fontano (Sarah Chalke), who for no apparent reason has suddenly become paralyzed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2005
Already irked by the resignation of Cameron (Jennifer Morrison), House (Hugh Laurie) must also endure the persecution of board chairman Vogler (Chi McBride), who demands that House be fired immediately or the clinic will lose his $100 million donation. At long last, Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) takes a stand against the tyrannical Vogler--but will she regret her rash behavior? Meanwhile, House and his team deal with such patients as a 39-year-old pregnant woman (Marin Hinkle) who must choose between choking to death or terminating a pregnant, and a low-weight baby whose strict vegan diet has prompted Social Services to file child-abuse charges against her parents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2005
Faced with the choice of firing one of his team or losing his own job, House (Hugh Laurie) is given a way out by Vogler (Chi McBride). If he will give a speech on behalf of a new drug developed by Vogler's pharamaceutical firm, House will be completely off the hook. The upshot of all this only serves to deepen the animosity between House and Vogler--but in the meantime, the doctor must tend to the business at hand, including a senator (Joe Morton) with presidential aspirations who is diagnosed with AIDS, and a young woman (Missy Crider) who insists that she can't have suffered a miscarriage because she hasn't had sex in over a year. As expected, both of these patients will soon develop a whole set of confusing and contradictory symptoms...but no one expects the startling turn of events at episode's end! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The biggest names in show business come together to offer their opinions on one of the most inflammatory words in the English language in filmmaker Todd Williams' revealing and thought-provoking documentary. In its long and complex history, the word "nigger" has gone from a cutting and derogatory racial slur to a term of endearment frequently used by African-American youth culture. Though the word has in a sense been "taken back" by the very people that it targeted, it still has the power to anger and enrage when taken out of its new context. As a variety of celebrities including Quincy Jones, Russell Simmons, George Carlin, Damon Dash, and Bryant Gumbel offer their opinions on this polarizing word, the taboo of language is broken to reveal an ever-changing society that is constantly attempting to make sense of a dark past while simultaneously attempting to build a brighter future. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Produced by the prolific David E. Kelly, the Fox network comedy-drama series Boston Public is as quirky, volatile and overpopulated with colorful and eccentric characters as any other Kelly effort. Set within the walls of Boston Public High School, the series is told from the viewpoint of the dedicated but harried principal Steven Harper (Chi McBride). The challenges facing Harper include aging teacher Harvey Lipshultz (Fyvush Finkel), whose often nonsensical rambling indicates that senility is quickly settling in; ongoing clashes between faculty and the students' parents, who are convinced that not enough/too much is being done for/to their youngsters; various student cliques, ranging from a girls' group that rates the potential sexual prowess of the teachers to a bunch of bullying punks; and such one-day-at-a-time crises as the teacher who decides to counter potential student violence by bringing a gun to class and firing it over his charges' heads. In addition to McBride and Finkel, the huge ensemble cast includes Loretta Devine as Marla Hendricks, Jessalyn Gilsig as Lauren Davis, Anthony Heald as Scott Guber, Rashida Jones as Louisa, Nicky Katt as Harry Senate, Sharon Leal as Marilyn, Thomas McCarthy as Kevin Riley, Joey Slotnick as Milton Buttle, and Sarah Thompson as Dana Poole. Boston Public first aired on October 23, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jessalyn Gilsig, Chi McBride, (more)
Reggie Rock Bythewood makes his directorial debut with this sharp comedy-drama about love, compromise, and TV. The film opens with the parallel childhoods of Tomasina "Tommy" Crawford (Nicole Ari Parker) and George Washington (Isaiah Washington). Both were utterly shaped by television -- watching Roots was one of the few times that Tommy's parents stopped fighting long enough to sit on the couch together, while George was traumatized by being banned from TV for a month after swiping some church donation cash. As adults, George is a programming executive at the WPX network where fledgling writer Tommy tries to pitch shows. On the strength of both her passion for her craft and her striking good looks, George decides to champion her show called "Just Us," a serio-comedy about a juvenile offender adopted by a judge. They shoot the pilot, the network greenlights the project, and eventually they fall in love. Even though Tommy longs to present her characters in an uncompromised, unvarnished manner, pressure from network execs and advertisers forces her to water down the plot. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicole Ari Parker, James Avery, (more)
- 2000
It is just possible that the made-for-TV biopic Muhammad Ali: King of the World was hastily pieced together to capitalize on the popular theatrical documentary When We Were Kings and the publicity attending the upcoming Will Smith movie vehicle Ali. Actually, the title of the TV film was something of a misnomer, since the story covers the formative days of Ali's career and fame, when he was still fighting under his given name Cassius Clay. Played by Terrence DaShon Howard, the young Clay slugs his way from poverty-stricken obscurity to the 1960 Olympics, garners both positive and negative publicity with his incessant self-worship and improvised rhymes, and proves that he is more than just talk when he defeats Sonny Liston (Steve Harris) in 1964. It is in fact at this point that the film draws to a close, with a few hints of what is to come manifested in an early meeting between the impressionable Clay and Islamic activist Malcolm X (Gary Dourdan). Based on the bestselling 1998 biography by David Renwick, Muhammad Ali: King of the World debuted January 10, 2000, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terrence Howard, Gary Dourdan, (more)
- 1998
In this TV sitcom, exiled black Englishman Desmond Pfeiffer (Chi McBride) arrives at Abraham Lincoln's White House where he becomes a trusted confidante of the President (Dann Florek). Desmond details all he sees in his journal, and that includes the sexually frustrated First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln (Christine Estabrook), clumsy manservant Nibblet (Max Baker), alcoholic General Ulysses S. Grant (Kelly Connell), and airhead blonde secretary Mona (Cindy Ambuehl). Farcical anachronistic parallels are drawn with the Clinton administration. After some claimed this was a slavery spoof with inherent racism, protests were aimed at the series. Filmed in L.A., it premiered October 5, 1998 on UPN. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chi McBride, Max Baker, (more)
- 1994
In order to win a radio contest staged by deejay Rick Dees (as himself), Peg (Katey Sagal) must persuade Al (Ed O'Neill) to come home from work early for a hot-and-heavy "nooner." While all this is going on, Kelly (Christina Applegate) and Bud (David Faustino) languish in a long line for B.B.R. concert tickets. Appearing as Dexter is Chi McBride of Boston Public and The Nine fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Hoping for one last "bonding" session with Will (Will Smith) and Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) before they head off to college, Philip (James Avery) bundles the reluctant teens off on a special camping trip. It isn't long before the intrepid trio gets lost, then trapped by a blinding snowstorm. Salvation comes literally from above when a sack containing $25,000 falls from the sky. This bankroll is actually the grand prize in a radio contest, but Will doesn't know this as he sets fire to the bills in order to stay warm! Chi McBride (Boston Public, The Nine) shows up in a supporting role. This episode was originally seen on Thursday, rather than the series' standard Monday-night timeslot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A young man tries to tie up some loose ends before he goes to war in this independent drama from director Neil Abramson. Mike Holland (Nick Cannon) is nineteen years old and has just completed his basic training as a private in the United States Marine Corps. Mike has a four-day leave so he can visit his family for Thanksgiving, and then has orders for combat duty in Iraq. Mike wants to spend time with his family and friends before he ships out, but he doesn't want to tell anyone that he'll be stationed in Iraq. While taking the bus home to Bakersfield, California, Mike meets Cristina (Melonie Diaz), and it doesn't take long for him to realize he's infatuated with her. Mike makes a date to spend some time with Cristina, but he already has a busy schedule over the next four days. Mike catches up with his little sister (Erica Gluck), his doting mother (April Grace) and her taciturn new husband (Tom Sizemore), and sees his estranged father (Chi McBride) for the first time in years. Mike also hangs out with his best friend Jake (Matt O'Leary), but discovers he's begun taking a different path in life while Mike was in boot camp. And Mike happens to meet a disabled soldier back from Iraq (Jay Hernandez) who gives him an idea of what he can expect during his tour of duty. American Son was screened in competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nick Cannon, Melonie Diaz, (more)
Mr. Show alumnus Bob Odenkirk directed -- and SNL vet Will Forte scripted -- this gleefully raunchy tale of two socially backward but kind-hearted adult brothers, Dean and John Solomon (Forte and Will Arnett), who had the misfortune to be home-schooled by their father at a remote Arctic outpost. Destined to be perpetually single, their moronic, klutzy attempts at meeting new women (such as popping the question on a first date in a crowded restaurant) always blow up in their face. Then, one day, the Solomons receive the distressing news that their father is on his deathbed -- and to complicate matters, he indicates that his dying wish involves having a grandchild. John and Dean are happy to oblige -- but where in the world will they find a mother for this infant? Suddenly, the bachelors' romantic desperation doubles, and each brother embarks on a nutty, madcap quest to find the girl of his dreams and the mother of his future children. Malin Akerman, Kristen Wiig, Jenna Fischer, and Chi McBride co-star. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Arnett, Will Forte, (more)
Bob Odenkirk's jail comedy Let's Go to Prison, stars Will Arnett as Nelson Biederman IV, the son of a judge who ends up being sentenced to serve time in Rossmore State Penitentiary. During one of his rare stints out of incarceration, career criminal John Lyshitski (Dax Shepard) learns of the conviction. John holds a grudge against Nelson's father and decides to get his revenge by going back to jail and making Nelson's stay there as horrible as possible. Chi McBride co-stars as a fellow inmate. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dax Shepard, Will Arnett, (more)
Learn why you should never send your food back and other valuable lessons in this over-the-top comedy set in the food service industry. Dean (Justin Long) and Monty (Ryan Reynolds) are two longtime friends who work as waiters as Shenanigan's, a self-consciously "fun" chain restaurant. Both have been working at the restaurant since they graduated from high school; it's only recently occurred to Dean that he has nothing to show for the last four years of his life but a community college diploma and his name tag from work, and he's developed a sudden urgency to make something of himself. Monty, on the other hand, is more interested in making time with the women on the wait staff at work than accomplishing anything, though his recent relationship with fellow employee Serena (Anna Faris) has rather dramatically crashed and burned. Over the course of an evening at Shenanigan's, Dean and Monty confront obnoxious customers and train timid new employee Mitch (John Francis Daley) while dealing with wildly eccentric chef Raddimus (Luis Guzman), control-freak manager Dan (David Koechner), and a kitchen full of crazed cooks, prep workers, and dish-washers. Waiting was the first feature film from writer and director Rob McKittrick. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris, (more)
A thief and a lawman join forces to hunt down a common enemy in this action thriller. Tony Fait (DMX) is a master thief who, along with his crew (Gabrielle Union, Anthony Anderson, and Drag-On), pulls off a major score when they steal a cache of highly valuable black diamonds. However, the hard-as-nails Tony has a soft spot for his young daughter Vanessa (Paige Hurd), and Ling (Mark Dacascos), a former detective turned ruthless criminal, kidnaps Vanessa, demanding a ransom from Tony for her return -- the stash of black diamonds. The jewels have already been stolen, however, from Tony's fence Archie (Tom Arnold), and are now in the hands of a powerful underworld boss (Chi McBride). Determined to get back his daughter whatever the cost, Tony and his gang set out to find both Ling and the diamonds, but he soon gets some invaluable help from an unlikely corner -- Su (Jet Li), a government agent from Taiwan who was once Ling's partner, and has an old score to settle with him. Cradle 2 the Grave also features Kelly Hu and Roxana Brusso. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Suspended from the police force following an undercover drug bust gone horribly awry, Detroit undercover narcotics officer Nick Tellis (Jason Patric) is reluctantly goaded back into active duty in hopes that he can help to crack the case of a slain fellow officer. Promised reinstatement in the force in exchange for his efforts, Tellis is paired with the victim's volatile ex-partner Henry Oak (Ray Liotta) and soon begins to actively seek the killer in an increasingly complex case. A recent father whose wife fears for her husband's safety and begs him not to take back to the dangerous streets, Tellis struggles with his conscience as he navigates a twisting road of half-realized truths, shifting loyalties and questionable agendas. With every step closer to Tellis gets to solving the troubling murder, he grows farther away from his wife and newborn son, and edges ever closer to a resolution so complicated that it threatens to devour his soul and shatter every preconceived difference he has ever made between cop and criminal. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Liotta, Jason Patric, (more)
Paid in Full marks the feature debut of director Charles Stone III, who rose to fame after creating Budweiser's "Wassup" commercials. The urban gangster drama is loosely based on the true story of 1980s Harlem drug kingpins AZ, Rich Porter, and Alpo. (This story was also the basis for a documentary, Game Over (Part 1).) Ace (Wood Harris) works at a laundromat, struggling to get by, while his friend Mitch (Mekhi Phifer) lives the high life selling heroin. His sister's boyfriend, Calvin (Kevin Carroll) also sells drugs, and looks down on Ace for struggling to earn a living. Out delivering laundry one day, Ace meets Lulu (Esai Morales), a big time coke dealer, who lives better than anyone Ace has ever known. When Lulu leaves some coke in the pocket of a coat he's having cleaned, Ace returns it to him, and Lulu rewards him for his honesty by letting him keep the drugs. When Calvin gets busted, Ace hesitantly takes his place in the neighborhood, and starts working for Lulu. As the crack business takes off, Ace finds himself making more money than he knows what to do with. Mitch goes to jail for a short time, where another inmate, Rico (rapper Cam'ron in his acting debut), defends him in a fight. By the time Mitch gets out of prison, Ace is running the neighborhood. Ace makes Mitch his right-hand man, and when Rico gets out of jail, he joins the crew. The drugs and money flow, and Ace tries to keep everyone happy, but there are some who want what's his, and will stop at nothing to get it. Paid in Full was shown at the 2002 Urbanworld Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wood Harris, Mekhi Phifer, (more)
In this action-suspense thriller, orphaned nine-year-old autistic savant Simon (Miko Hughes) deciphers a government code hidden in a puzzle magazine. Calling for his prize, Simon triggers an alarm at the National Security Agency: NSA chief Nicholas Kudrow (Alec Baldwin), who says the code protects covert American operatives all over the world, sends an assassin to do away with Simon. Simon's parents are killed, but Simon survives, hiding in a secret closet crawlspace where he's later discovered by maverick FBI agent Art Jeffries (Bruce Willis). Simon is emotionally unpredictable, complicating matters as Art drags him all over Chicago, eluding Kudrow's hitman in a variety of interesting locations (train tracks, street scenes, heliport, Wrigley building) and improbable situations. Based on the novel Simple Simon by Ryne Douglas Peardon, the film features Industrial Light & Magic special FX/animation. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin, (more)
