Danny Hoch Movies

A man who was wrongly accused of bank robbery decides to live up to his criminal record in this romantic crime comedy starring Keanu Reeves, James Caan, and Vera Farmiga. Henry (Reeves) was drifting through life as a toll collector in Buffalo, NY, when one morning he happened across a half-baked bank heist. Unwittingly drawn into the harebrained plan, Henry eventually lands in jail for refusing to identify the robbers, and lands in a cell with amiable con artist Max (Caan), who has grown rather comfortable with life behind bars. According to Max, a man must first have a dream in order to find his purpose, and one year later Henry is a free man with an audacious plan. Since he's already on record as a convicted bank robber, Henry figures he may as well try his hand at the criminal lifestyle. After stumbling across an old underground bootlegger tunnel that connects the bank to an adjacent theater, Henry convinces Max to apply for parole in order to help him execute the perfect robbery. Posing as an actor, Henry lands the lead role in the theater's production of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, and begins working with Max to burrow their way into the nearby bank vault. But now the more time Henry spends in the theater, the harder he finds himself falling for his capricious co-star Julie (Farmiga), a development that could very well land them all in jail before the final curtain. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A professional poker player whose astounding luck at the table fails to translate into his lonesome love life attempts to win the World Series of Poker while simultaneously earning the affections of a beautiful Las Vegas singer in a high-stakes emotional drama from L.A. Confidential director Curtis Hanson and Munich screenwriter Eric Roth. When his personal problems threaten to distract him from what could be his biggest win ever, seasoned poker pro Huck Cheever (Eric Bana) finds comfort in the company of singer Billie Offer (Drew Barrymore). Upon preparing for the biggest card game in the country, however, Huck soon realizes that his problems have only just begun when he finds that his opponent at the table will be none other than his estranged father, L.C. (Robert Duvall), a poker legend whose mythical reputation makes him a more than worthy opponent for his troubled son. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The third season of the improvisational performance art series Def Poetry Jam offers the property's biggest lineup of talent yet. In the course of its seven half-hour episodes, the series features such returnees from previous seasons as Black Ice, Danny Hoch, Steve Colman, Jamie Kennedy, Poetri, and muMs, along with the stellar likes of Smokey Robinson, Lou Reed, and Richard Montoya. Others contributing poetry both sacred and profane this season include Bassey Ikpi, Poem-cees, Mayda Del Valle, Lemon, Ras Baraka, Ishle Park, Gemineye, Rock Baby, Mike 360, Amalia Ortiz, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Salt, Quincy Troupe, Shihan, Bao Phi, Roscoe P. Coldchain, Maggie Estep, Joel Chmara, Flowmentalz, and Georgia Me. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

New York City may be the city that never sleeps, but that means some people have to stay awake all night to look after the folks whose days begin after the sun goes down; this made-for-premium-cable drama looks at a group of cabbies trying to get by while working the night shift. The Lady Luck Cab Company is a taxi service run by Box (Sarita Choudhury), who inherited the failing business from her late father and is struggling to keep it afloat against long economic odds as Lady Luck's drivers work long shifts in some of the Big Apple's less picturesque neighborhoods. Hershey (Danny Glover), one of Lady Luck's drivers, was once a professional boxer, but when his athletic career went south, so did his wife, and now he drives a hack while trying to romance George (Pam Grier), a good-looking waitress who likes Hershey, but is frustrated with his schedule, which rarely allows him a night off. This is bad news for Hershey, since Ralph (Paul Calderon), a regular at the diner where George works, has been making a play for her as well. Another driver, Salgado (Michelle Rodriguez), is a short-fused Latin American woman who is frequently the victim of sexual harassment from her customers, which makes her all the more difficult to be around. Jose (Bobby Cannavale) thinks he's hit the jackpot when he discovers a briefcase full of cash has been left in his cab, though he has reason to believe it's stolen. And Rasha (Sergej Trifunovic), a refugee from Bosnia, is still tormented by the violence that cost his family their lives, and has trouble concentrating on his driving, leading him into more than one auto accident. While the drivers deal with their individual dilemmas, all of them are suddenly wary of their customers, thanks to reports of a serial killer preying on New York's cab drivers. Produced for the Showtime premium cable network, 3 A.M. was screened at the Sundance Film Festival prior to its broadcast debut, where it earned an enthusiastic reception. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A quickly forgotten chapter in United States military history is relived in this harrowing war drama from director Ridley Scott, based on a series of Philadelphia Inquirer articles and subsequent book by reporter Mark Bowden. On October 3rd, 1993, an elite team of more than 100 Delta Force soldiers and Army Rangers, part of a larger United Nations peacekeeping force, are dropped into civil war-torn Mogadishu, Somalia, in an effort to kidnap two of local crime lord Mohamed Farah Aidid's top lieutenants. Among the team: Staff Sgt. Matt Eversmann (Josh Hartnett), Ranger Lt. Col. Danny McKnight (Tom Sizemore), the resourceful Delta Sgt. First Class Jeff Sanderson (William Fichtner), and Ranger Spec. Grimes (Ewan McGregor), a desk-bound clerk getting his first taste of live combat. When two of the mission's Black Hawk helicopters are shot down by enemy forces, the Americans -- committed to recovering every man, dead or alive -- stay in the area too long and are quickly surrounded. The ensuing firefight is a merciless 15-hour ordeal and the longest ground battle involving American soldiers since the Vietnam War. In the end, 70 soldiers are injured and 18 are dead, along with hundreds of Somalians. Black Hawk Down was voted one of the top ten films of the year by the National Board of Review prior to its limited Oscar-qualifying release. On the basis of his work in this film, co-star Eric Bana, a relatively unknown Australian actor playing Delta Sgt. First Class "Hoot" Gibson, won the lead in director Ang Lee's version of The Hulk (2003). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

What do you do if you're a white guy in a white town who happens to love black music? Flip (Danny Hoch) is a middle-class kid from the Iowa corn belt, but he doesn't think of himself as just another guy from farm country. Flip loves hip-hop, and he longs to be respected as a hard-core rapper. But a white guy from Iowa who drops mad rhymes looks weird. While Flip and his buddies Trevor (Mark Webber) and James (Dash Mihok) may have the clothes, the style, and the lingo down pat, to most folks they look like three white boys trying to be black. When Khalid (Eugene Byrd), an African-American from Chicago, transfers into Flip's school, Flip comes to his rescue when other kids give him a hard time, and, while Khalid is as baffled by Flip's affectations as most people, a friendship grows between them, and Khalid grudgingly agrees to take Flip and his crew to Chicago, where they get a look at hip-hop culture in a way they haven't seen before. Director Marc Levin previously explored elements of hip-hop culture in his first dramatic film, Slam; he also made a number of acclaimed documentaries, including Gang War: Bangin' in Little Rock, about middle-class kids who have absorbed the gang lifestyle through popular culture. Whiteboys features appearances by a number of noted hip-hop artists, including Snoop Dogg, Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh, and Fat Joe. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Jealousy, infidelity, and a missing finger are the key ingredients in this dark independent comedy. Carol (Caroleen Feeney) and Glenn (Liev Schreiber) are a young couple whose first baby is due any day now. The last few months of her pregnancy have left Carol with little desire for sex, much to the annoyance of Glenn. As Carol is chopping carrots while making dinner, Glenn surprises her with a hug; she's so startled that the knife misses its mark and she instead slices off Glenn's pinky. The finger flies out the window, which sends both Glenn and Carol out into the street to look for it. The search for the lost digit leads to an argument, with Carol accusing Glenn of infidelity and Glenn accusing Carol of intending to hack off his penis instead. Carol finds the finger, but she holds it hostage until Glenn will name the other women he's been sleeping with. Eventually, the argument finds its way over to the home of Carol's best friend Pam (Cynthia Watros). It seems that Pam is also having marriage problems; she's jealous of her husband Nick (Michael Rispoli), but the truth is that Pam is the one who has been unfaithful. Nick, however, shows up just as Pam is making her confession to Carol. Glenn, meanwhile, just wants his finger back. His and Hers also marked the screen debut of noted actor and playwright Danny Hoch as Lenny. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi