Charles S. Dutton Movies

Cat's Eye is an uneven, tepid trilogy of stories written by Stephen King connected by a cat which appears at the beginning of each story. The best story, and first episode, concerns chain-smoker Morrison (James Woods) who joins a stop-smoking group run by sadistic Dr. Monatti, played with great relish by Alan King. In the second episode, a gambler named Cressner (Kenneth McMillan) makes a bet with his wife's lover. In the third episode, a young girl (Drew Barrymore) is terrorized by a tiny troll. Although he wrote the screenplay, Stephen King was disappointed with the results and thought the interconnection of the stories using the cat clumsy and distracting. Directer Lewis Teague does an average job of directing the confusing and sometimes foolish script. However, James Woods' fine performance and the special effects by Jeff Jarvis make the film worth a view. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Apology stars Lesley Anne Warren (with a Stefanie Powers hairdo) as a Manhattan-based sculptor/performance artist. To enhance her latest project, Warren invites the participation of anonymous phone callers, whose voices she records. One of her unseen "collaborators" calls her up to confess to a murder--several murders, in fact. Warren strongly suspects that the mystery caller may be intending a little "performance" involving her own demise. Peter Weller co-stars as a sympathetic detective who ends up Warren's lover--but can he be trusted? Made for HBO, Apology was originally telecast July 27, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An evil drug baron rears his ugly head in this sequel to the blockbuster Crocodile Dundee, kidnapping Sue so that Dundee will butt out of the Baron's affairs. Using outback strategy, Dundee attempts to rescue his girlfriend. Reversing the procedure of the first film, the story later takes the hero and heroine from America back to Australia, making Sue the fish out of water. In the interim between the two films, stars Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski became husband and wife. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this film, sisters Frances and Evelyn McEllany (Patricia Neal and Shelley Winters) are two older women who have put aside their differences to set up a comfortable life together. However, when shy, retiring Frances falls in love with an Asian mechanic (Mako), her stuffy, intolerant sister falls into a rage that threatens to destroy their relationship. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Following Serpico (1973) and Prince of the City (1981), veteran urban crime film director Sidney Lumet completed a thematic trilogy about New York City police corruption with this noir drama. When New York City cop Mike Brennan (Nick Nolte) shoots an unarmed Hispanic drug dealer in cold blood, he quickly plants a gun on his victim and manufactures some eyewitness testimony. D.A. Kevin Quinn (Patrick O'Neal) calls in his assistant district attorney, Al Reilly (Timothy Hutton), to conduct a perfunctory investigation of the incident, but Brennan's obvious guilt during a question and answer session makes Reilly dig deeper. The crusading lawyer is soon uncovering a web of corruption that reaches from Brennan into Quinn's office. At the same time, Reilly learns that his ex-girlfriend Nancy Bosch (Jenny Lumet, the director's daughter), is now dating his chief witness, Puerto Rican drug dealer Bobby Texador (Armand Assante). Q&A (1990) was based on the novel by Edwin Torres, a New York State Supreme Court judge whose two other novels were later adapted into the film Carlito's Way (1993). Lumet would again return to the subject of New York's corrupt criminal justice system with Night Falls on Manhattan (1997). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Mississippi Masala is a tale of how prejudice makes victims and instigators of us all. In 1972, Indian Jay (Roshan Seth), a resident of Uganda, is forced by the bigoted Amin regime to take his family and flee the country. He vows to hate and distrust all blacks--at least until he is able to reclaim the real estate stolen from him by the Ugandan government. Flash-forward to 1990: Jay and his family have settled in Mississippi. Seth's daughter Mina (Sarit Choudhury) makes the acquaintance of African-American Demetrius (Denzel Washington), the prosperous manager of a carpet-cleaning business. At first attracted to Mina because he is fascinated by her African background, Demetrius slowly falls in love with her. The situation causes Jay to exercise the same racial prejudice by which he was himself victimized. Ironically, Demetrius behaves just as foolishly, blaming Jay's ethnic chauvinism for a drop in his business. Both Jay and Demetrius must learn to bury their pasts and their prejudices to go on with their lives. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Crash landing on a barren penal-colony planet with an unwelcomed visitor in tow, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) contends with a group of hardened convicts while using nothing but her wits to battle a terrifying new breed of alien. The sole survivor of her crashed escape pod, Ripley is rescued from the craft by the remaining inhabitants of Fiorina 161, a group of rapists and murders who chose to repent for their sins in deep space after the penal colony was officially decommissioned. When remaining warden Andrews (Brian Glover) announces Ripley's presence to the inmates, their spiritual leader, Dillon (Charles S. Dutton), begins to fear that her presence will stir up trouble. As a result, Ripley is placed in the care of prison doctor Clemens (Charles Dance), and restricted to the infirmary until a rescue ship arrives. But Ripley isn't the only new visitor on Fiorina 161; an alien stowaway survived the crash as well, and it has planted its seed in a feral dog. Before long, a new breed of alien has burst from the dog's chest, a stealthy hunter that moves on all fours and can navigate the darkened prison corridors virtually undetected. When the inmates start to disappear, the remaining survivors must fight for their lives without weapons to defend themselves. The only person who knows the alien well enough to beat it is Ripley, and while her plan to corner and kill the creature just might work, a horrifying discovery reveals that her fight is far from over. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV drama, Patty Duke plays a mother who vows to do everything possible to keep custody of her grandchild following the murder of her son. Though no one believes her, Duke is convinced that her boy was murdered by his suspiciously worldly ex-wife-to-be. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A young man learns to let nothing stop him from realizing his ambitions in this drama, based on a true story. Ever since he was a little boy, Rudy Ruettiger (Sean Astin) has dreamed of attending Notre Dame University, and playing on the Fighting Irish football team. However, Rudy's dream doesn't seem very practical; Daniel (Ned Beatty), his father, works in a steel mill and can ill afford to send his son to Notre Dame, while Rudy's grades are not especially impressive, and standing a shade over five feet tall and weighing a little over 100 pounds, Rudy is hardly built for the gridiron. However, with the help of Father Cavanaugh (Robert Prosky), a sympathetic priest, Rudy is admitted to nearby Holy Cross, and in his junior year manages to squeak into Notre Dame as a transfer student. Rudy works as an assistant to the football stadium's groundskeeper, Fortune (Charles S. Dutton), to pay his tuition (often sleeping in Fortune's office since he can't afford a room), studies diligently, and appears at tryouts for the football team. Rudy is made a member of the practice team, which means he's little more than a human tackling dummy, but Coach Ara Parseghian (Jason Miller) is impressed with Rudy's devotion and determination, and pledges that he'll allow him to dress for one game before he graduates, so his name can be recorded as an official member of the team. However, the arrival of a new coach and a tough season that allows for few unnecessary players may put a stop to Rudy's dreams within sight of the finish line. Rudy also stars Jon Favreau, Lili Taylor, and Scott Benjaminson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Chicago's most dedicated police officer Jack Reed (Brian Dennehy) returns in this police drama to solve a murder and to clean up his own corrupt department. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Actress Alfre Woodard narrates this look at the life of Frederick Douglass, an influential 19th century civil rights activist. As this PBS program unfolds, viewers learn that Douglass was a slave at birth who was taught to read as a young boy by a slave owner's wife. As he grew older and continued his education on his own, Douglass began to see the common threads that tie many civil rights injustices together. He became a member of the Abolitionist movement and was an early supporter of women's rights. Interviews with historians and others clearly indicate that Douglass was a highly persuasive speaker and learned man. He even served as a consultant to President Lincoln during the Civil War. Footage and photos of places where Douglass lived and worked help bring his story to life. ~ Elizabeth Smith, All Movie Guide

Alfre Woodard and Charles S. Dutton star as sister and brother in this made-for-television Hallmark Hall of Fame production about an African-American family's struggle to retain their heritage. The drama tells the story of an impoverished black family whose history is told in the carvings on the family piano. Boy Willie (Dutton) wants to sell the piano and use the money to buy farmland, but sister Berniece (Woodard) won't part with it. The film chronicles their struggle to come to terms with their family's past, and its future. The critically acclaimed film was based on August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play and was nominated for numerous Emmy awards. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

A stranger pulled into a deadly scheme races against time to save his daughter in this thriller. Gene Watson (Johnny Depp) is an accountant who comes to L.A. with his ten-year-old daughter Lynn (Courtney Chase) to attend a funeral. On the street, Gene and Lynn are pulled aside by Mr. Smith (Christopher Walken) and Ms. Jones (Roma Maffia), who flash what look like police badges and usher them into a van. Gene soon discovers that he's been kidnapped, and his captors have an unusual demand -- if Gene does not murder Gov. Eleanor Grant (Marsha Mason) within 75 minutes, his daughter will be killed. Gene now has just an hour and a quarter to tip off the authorities, spare Gov. Grant, and find out what Smith and Jones are trying to do, along with saving his daughter's life. He finds a much-needed ally in one-legged shoe-shine man Huey (Charles S. Dutton). Most of the action in Nick of Time occurs in "real time," meaning that the passage of time on screen matches that of real life, as the frequent shots of clocks and watches will attest. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide