Stan Coles Movies

In this action comedy, a crook trying to go straight finds himself lured back to crime by the police, without his even knowing it. When master criminals Jasper (Robert Pastorelli) and Bristol (Doug Hutchison) pull a heist that nets $40 million in gold but leaves behind several dead policemen, detective Edgar Clenteen (David Morse) pulls out all the stops to put the thief behind bars. Jasper is jailed and ends up sharing a cell with Alvin Sanders (Jamie Foxx), a habitual small-time criminal who was brought in after a bungled robbery of a seafood wholesaler. Jasper, who has a weak heart, suffers a heart attack in jail, and as he dies, he gives Alvin a message to pass along to his wife. Eager to track down Bristol, who still has the gold, Clenteen has Alvin secretly implanted with an experimental tracking device, and then lets him go free, while spreading the word on the street that Jasper told him where the gold was stashed shortly before his death. While Alvin makes an effort to start his life over and get a straight job, Clenteen and his staff are electronically following his every move, waiting for Bristol and his associates to track him down. Bait was directed by Antoine Fuqua, whose previous credit was the stylish crime thriller The Replacement Killers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Joanne Whalley-Kilmer stars as a woman corrupted by the criminal justice system in this courtroom suspense thriller. She plays a civil servant named Valerie Alston, a single mother living in New York City, who gets placed on a jury trying the case of mob boss Rusty Pirone (Armand Assante). A former homicide detective gone bad, Tommy Vesey (William Hurt), is now working for Pirone. He kidnaps Valerie and threatens her and her son with more harm if she votes to convict Pirone. At the trial, District Attorney Daniel Graham (Gabriel Byrne) proves himself to be willing and able to stoop to unethical means to convict Pirone. In the jury room, Valerie skillfully exploits factions among the jurors in order to win an acquittal. Now cynical and corrupt herself, Valerie seduces mob boss Pirone to extract her own rewards for her service. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

In Michael Moore's political satire, the U.S. president (Alan Alda) decides to wage a cold war against Canada in an attempt to reverse his slipping popularity, and, as a result, he drives a small group of incensed Canadians to take matters into their own hands. Alda is the first president in years not to lead his country into war, which naturally means that his approval rating is dangerously low. The sure-fire way to boost his popularity is to start a war and demonstrate American superiority. Unfortunately, as his advisors point out, the U.S. has run out of enemies. That is, until Alda's National Security Advisor Stuart Smiley (Kevin Pollak) happens to catch a segment on the news about a brawl at a Canadian hockey game that began when local American sheriff Bud Boomer (John Candy) made a remark about Canadian beer. This incident gives Smiley the notion to make the public believe that Canada is their new enemy. Determined to demonstrate the mighty power of America to the Canadians, Boomer gets a group of equally angry fellow Americans together to cross the border and perform the most serious of all Canadian crimes -- littering. However, the invasion is foiled and Boomer's numerous blunders threaten to turn a fabricated war into a real one. Written, directed, and produced by Michael Moore, Canadian Bacon takes lighthearted jabs at the differences between the U.S. and Canada, while also satirizing America's obsession with its military strength. The film features John Candy in his last complete screen performance. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

In this convoluted drama, a CIA agent is finally released after spending the past thirteen years imprisoned in the Soviet Union. The joy of his homecoming is shattered when he discovers his wife married to another and that his daughter has grown up. When he learns that his wife's new husband is busy battling the corrupt family who controls the town, and that this has endangered his former family, he takes action to protect them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide