Domenick Lombardozzi Movies

David Simon's masterful social commentary went back to school, quite literally, in the fourth season, which focuses on Baltimore's crumbling education system. A relevant link to its first three seasons is supplied by Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski (Jim True-Frost), who left the police department to become a teacher at Edward Tilghman Middle School, a hardscrabble institution on life support that services a low-income, drug-infested neighborhood. (Incidentally, Prez's career path is similar to one of the series' producers, Ed Burns). His eighth-grade math class includes a close-knit quartet of friends -- Randy Wagstaff (Maestro Harrell), Michael Lee (Tristan Wilds), Duquan "Dukie" Weems (Jermaine Crawford) and Namond Brice (Julito McCullum). The wisecracking Brice is ignominiously selected to be part of a university experiment studying at-risk kids, which counts a former police commander, Bunny Colvin (Robert Wisdom), as a consultant. Out on the corners, Marlo Stanfield (Jamie Hector) strengthens his grip on the city's West Side narcotics trade once dominated by the Barksdale gang, and with his cold-blooded lieutenants, Chris (Gbenga Akinnagbe) and Snoop (Felicia Pearson), devises an ingenious method to hide the collateral damage of his ascent from the law. This sleight-of-hand bedevils detectives Freamon (Clarke Peters), Greggs (Sonja Sohn) and Bunk (Wendell Pierce). The trio are flummoxed by the lack of victims that would surely coincide with Marlo's ever-widening domain, a savage power grab that also threatens the relative peace of the New Day Co-Op under East Side pooh-bah Proposition Joe (Robert F. Chew). Meanwhile, the Democratic primary in the city's mayoral campaign pits the entrenched African-American incumbent, Clarence Royce (Glynn Turman), against Councilman Tommy Carcetti (Aidan Gillen), a scrappy politico with a savvy campaign manager in Norman Wilson (Reg E. Cathey), but a long shot to become Charm City's first white chief executive in years. ~ Joe Friedrich, All Movie Guide

The guys are terrified when Vince embraces an old friend (Domenick Lombardozzi) -- and ex-con -- as one of their own; Ari panics when his daughter befriends a budding movie star. ~ Joe Friedrich, All Movie Guide

Season three of The Wire continues the series' even-handed dissection of the Baltimore "drug wars," as seen through the eyes of both the police investigators and the drug lords. With charismatic hoodlum Stringer Bell (Idris Elba) emerging as the unofficial leader of the Barksdale drug empire, and with narcotics detective James McNulty (Dominic West) allowing his personal demons to catch up with him vis-à-vis an ever-increasing dependence upon booze, a curious dichotomy is established whereby Stringer often comes off as the more mentally stable and morally responsible of the two men. Even so, Stringer and McNulty are but two of the series' 40-plus recurring characters, meaning that their individual travails are never permitted to overwhelm the series' overall narrative thrust. Dictating the direction in which the 12 episodes of season three will follow is a burgeoning political-reform movement in Baltimore, with the ongoing drug investigation becoming a volatile campaign tool. Before long, "body counts" on both sides are being publicly tallied in a manner that dredges up grim memories of Vietnam. And though the story arcs have become more complex and multi-layered, there is still plenty of time to develop such quirky vignettes as the "trading" of drug-free urine from Baltimore's daycare centers. The season's final episode is titled "Mission Accomplished" -- as grotesquely ironic as when those same two words were prematurely applied to war in Iraq. The most startling development of the season-three finale is the sudden demise of one of the series' main players...with his greatest enemy becoming his biggest mourner. ~ All Movie Guide

Setting the tone for all seasons to come, season one of HBO's The Wire divides its attention equally between cops and dealers, offering a fascinatingly objective overview of the Baltimore drug scene. The weekly, hour-long series also pays homage to its spiritual predecessor, Homicide: Life on the Street (both series were created by Tom Fontana), by basing its debut episode (originally telecast June 2, 2002) on the same book (by David Simon) that inspired the earlier program. After drug dealer D'Angelo Barksdale (Larry Gilliard Jr.) beats a murder rap, Detective James McNulty (Dominic West) vows never to let D'Angelo out of his sight, hoping that the criminal will lead him to an even bigger fish -- namely, D'Angelo's uncle, drug kingpin Avon Barksdale (Wood Harris). McNulty's task is complicated by a variety of things, including the corruption and dissension within the police department -- which in turn hampers the effectiveness of the man leading the investigation of the Barksdale empire, Lt. Cedric Daniels (Lance Reddick). Meanwhile, Avon Barksdale and his second-in-command, Stringer Bell (Idris Elba), are likewise bedeviled with their own personal and professional problems as they gear up to do battle against their underworld rivals. Throughout the series' first 13 episodes, police officers and criminals alike are seen to possess their own curious codes of honor and rules of conduct, allowing viewers to empathize with both the hunter and the hunted (without, of course, ever completely siding with the "bad guys"). And though the season finale is titled "Sentencing," it is clear that the story is far from over. ~ All Movie Guide

Noted baseball fan Billy Crystal directed this made-for-cable drama set in the summer of 1961, as two of the strongest hitters in the major leagues, Mickey Mantle (Thomas Jane) and Roger Maris (Barry Pepper), find themselves neck and neck in a battle to break Babe Ruth's long-standing record for most home runs in a season. Both men were playing for the New York Yankees at the time, and as the two men came within grasping distance of Ruth's record, their loyalty as friends and teammates was put to the ultimate test. 61 also features Richard Masur, Bruce McGill, Anthony Michael Hall, and Renee Taylor; the scenes set in Yankee Stadium were filmed at Michigan's Tiger Stadium, shortly after the Detroit Tigers shuttered the venerable playing field and relocated to a newer facility. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Based on author Bryan Burrough's ambitious tome Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43, director Michael Mann's sprawling historical crime drama follows the efforts of top FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale ) in capturing notorious bank robber John Dillinger. A folk hero to the American public thanks to his penchant for robbing the banks that many people believed responsible for the Great Depression, charming bandit Dillinger (Johnny Depp) was virtually unstoppable at the height of his criminal career; no jail could hold him, and his exploits endeared him to the common people while making headlines across the country. J. Edgar Hoover's (Billy Crudup) FBI was just coming into formation, and what better way for the ambitious lawman to transform his fledgling Bureau of Investigation into a national police force than to capture the gang that always gets away? Determined to bust Dillinger and his crew, which also included sociopathic Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Alvin Karpis (Giovanni Ribisi), Hoover christened Dillinger the country's very first Public Enemy Number One, and unleashed Purvis to take them down by whatever means necessary. But Purvis underestimated Dillinger's ingenuity as a master criminal, and after embarking on a frantic series of chases and shoot-outs, the dashing agent humbly surmised that he was in over his head. Outwitted and outgunned, Purvis knew that his only hope for busting Dillinger's gang was to baptize a crew of Western ex-lawmen as official agents, and orchestrate a series of betrayals so cunning that even America's criminal mastermind wouldn't know what hit him. Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum, and Stephen Dorff co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Joe Roth directs his adaptation of Richard Price's novel Freedomland from a script by the author. Samuel L. Jackson stars as a police detective who must investigate a distraught woman (Julianne Moore) who claims that her child was kidnapped by a black man. The accusation stirs up much racial animosity in the town. Edie Falco co-stars. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

In this belated prequel to director Brian De Palma's 1993 crime drama, gangster Carlito Brigante (Jay Hernandez) rises through the ranks of the New York underworld to establish himself as Spanish Harlem's most powerful kingpin. As the intoxication of ultimate power tightens its firm grip on the rising heroin czar, he soon learns that greed and deception are the unspoken laws of the street. With no one to trust except for his two brothers in crime, Carlito begins building an empire founded on supplying the city's addicts with the one product that is always in demand. His dreams of ruling the city finally becoming a reality, Carlito soon learns that the only way to sustain his power is through loyalty and respect. Adapted from author Edwin Torres' acclaimed novel, Carlito's Way: Rise to Power also stars Mario Van Peebles, Luis Guzmán, and Sean Combs. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Like La Ronde, Peter Mattei's debut film Love in the Time of Money consists of a series of conversational duets that ultimately returns to the person who started the entire chain of events. Starting with prostitute Greta (Vera Farmiga) and disgruntled trick Eddie (Domenick Lombardozzi), the story soon includes a housewife on the look for an affair (Jill Hennessy), her husband (Malcolm Gets), an artist (Steve Buscemi), a gallery worker (Rosario Dawson), and a salesman (The Sopranos' Michael Imperioli). This film was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival after being developed in the Sundance labs. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Robert De Niro made his directorial debut with this expanded adaptation of Chazz Palminteri's one-character play. DeNiro's role of Lorenzo Anello, an Italian-America bus driver, is secondary to the part of his son Calogero, played by young Francis Capra. The top dog in Calogero's Bronx neighborhood is flashy "wiseguy" Sonny (Chazz Palminteri). When the boy witnesses Sonny commit a murder, he honors the code of the streets and refuses to tell the cops. Sonny befriends him and introduces the impressionable youngster to the creature comforts that mob connections can bring. But though he idolizes Sonny, the boy loves and respects his decent, honest father. It takes a major tragedy for the 17-year-old boy (now played by Lillo Brancato) to decide his true course in life. Though titled A Bronx Tale and set in the Bronx of the 1960s, the film was actually shot in the somewhat safer environs of Brooklyn and Queens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide