Robert Wisdom Movies

After a stint in prison, Arkin (Josh Stewart) finds employment as a handyman. But Arkin decides to rob his boss in order to repay his ex-wife (Daniella Alonso). Venturing to his employer's remote country house to make the heist, he soon finds himself -- as well as the boss' family -- at the mercy of "The Collector." This masked menace turns the house into a maze of fiendish traps. Only Arkin's wits offer any hope of escape from gruesome death. This bloody, visceral entry in the "torture porn" genre is the directorial debut of screenwriter Marcus Dunstan, whose previous credits include Feast and Saw IV. ~ All Movie Guide

Assigned the thankless task of teaching freshman English at a gang-infested Long Beach, CA high school, a 23-year-old teacher resorts to unconventional means of breaking through to her hardened students in director Richard LaGravenese's adaptation of Erin Gruwell's best-seller The Freedom Writer's Diaries: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them. Her students had been written off, and her chances of succeeding scoffed at, but Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) wasn't about to go down without a fight. Long Beach is a place where a new war is waged with each passing day, and when the hardened students who walk those dangerous hallways sense an outsider attempting to understand their plight, their cynical resentment threatens to keep a deadly cycle in motion. Despite the initially hostile reaction she receives in the classroom, Gruwell uses the writings of Anne Frank and Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo to teach her students not only the basis of the English language, but compassion and tolerance as well. Later, when the time comes to tell their own tales in a project specially designed to explore the daily violence that the majority of students have grown numb to, the barriers that had once stood so strong gradually begin to crumble. When the only chance for survival is to befriend the person who was once your mortal enemy, the world is opened to a whole new realm of possibilities. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

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 emotional dysfunctions of two people suffering from an autistic disorder known as Asperger's syndrome threaten to derail the pair's emerging romance in director Petter Næss' affectionate tale of love among the mentally afflicted. For friendly taxi-driver Donald (Josh Hartnett), patterns and routines are of the utmost importance. In addition to his love for birds and his uncanny ability to process numbers, Donald does his best to give back to fellow Asperger's sufferers by leading an autism support group. When the lovely but intensely complicated Isabelle (Radha Mitchell) shows up at one of Donald's meetings, the good-natured cabbie finds that love can be as painful as it is elating. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A musician who is supposed to mend his ways ends up changing the habits of a group of fellow inmates in this comedy. Wesley Benfield (William Lee Scott) is a guitar player with a habit of walking on the wrong side of the law. One night, Benfield gets into a fistfight in a Missouri honky-tonk, and when police discover the car he drove to the club is stolen, it's not long before he finds himself standing before a judge. Benfield is ordered to move into a half-way house near a small Baptist college, and as part of his therapy he joins in a small gospel combo comprised of the house's residents. However, Benfield is a lot more interested in playing the blues; with a bit of persuading, he convinces his bandmates to pursue a new musical direction, and they start sneaking out at night to play shows at a local nightspot. Killer Diller co-stars Fred Willard, Lucas Black, John Michael Higgins, Mary Kay Place, and veteran blues artist Taj Mahal. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Kevin Rodney Sullivan steps in to direct the urban comedy sequel Barbershop 2: Back in Business. The whole gang -- Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer), Jimmy James (Sean Patrick Thomas), Terri (Eve), Isaac (Troy Garity), Ricky (Michael Ealy), and Dinka (Leonard Earl Howze) -- are still there in the same old barbershop in the south side of Chicago. Owner Calvin Palmer (Ice Cube) tries to keep his family business alive in order to pass it on to his own son one day. However, the beloved neighborhood barber shop is threatened by a hair salon franchise called Nappy Cuts. This time around, the old friends are joined by Gina (Queen Latifah) from the beauty shop next door. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

When a corrupt Miami businessman flees to the Cayman Islands with his daughter and a million dollars in dirty money, the resulting inferno threatens to consume father, daughter, and even a few unsuspecting innocents in a sun soaked crime drama starring Bill Paxton, Orlando Bloom, and Agnes Bruckner. Carl Ridley (Paxton) was desperate to escape the law when he boarded an airplane for the Cayman Islands, but as the heat starts to rise in paradise, he's about to realize that there are some fates far worse than prison time. As Carl attempts to cleanse his ill-gotten gains with a little help from crooked British investment banker Mr. Allen (Stephen Dillane), his resentful daughter Pippa (Bruckner) sets out to explore her exotic new surroundings on the arm of native bad boy Fritz (Victor Rasuk). A low-level thug whose connections to a powerful local crime lord threatens to spell doom for all involved, Fritz draws Pippa in to disastrous chain of events sparked by the forbidden desires of unsuspecting lovers Shy (Bloom and Andrea (Zoe Saldana). Now, as the West Indies threatens to explode into violence, Carl must choose between the safety of his daughter and fortune he's trying to hide. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Just how far would you go to have the home of your dreams all to yourself? A couple start asking themselves that very question in this dark comedy directed by Danny DeVito. Alex (Ben Stiller) and Nancy (Drew Barrymore) are a young couple who are happy and successful, but lack one thing that they truly want -- the perfect home in Manhattan. Alex and Nancy think they may have found just the place they've been looking for when they discover the bottom half of a beautiful old duplex has opened up. While the couple are delighted with their new flat, they discover it has one major disadvantage they hadn't counted on -- their upstairs neighbor, Mrs. Connelly (Eileen Essel), an elderly woman who soon makes their lives a living hell. Persuading Mrs. Connelly to move is fruitless, since she has a long term rent-controlled lease, and as things become more and more difficult, Alex and Nancy begin to wonder if she won't go away on her own, perhaps a more drastic (and permanent) solution may be in order. Duplex also stars Harvey Fierstein, Justin Theroux, James Remar, and Swoosie Kurtz. ~ Mark Deming, 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

Writer and director John Sayles returns with another multi-layered look at an American community, subtly exploring how race, class, economics, and both national and regional history come together to shape people's lives. Plantation Island is a community on the coast of Florida; the island was once a notorious hotbed of segregationists, with most of the African-American population centered in the neighborhood of Lincoln Beach, while Delrona Beach is primarily home to white residents. Marly Temple (Edie Falco) is the sixth generation of her family to live in Delrona Beach, where she helps run a motel and cafe owned by her elderly and ill-tempered father (Ralph Waite) and drama instructor mother (Jane Alexander). Marly's former husband, Steve (Richard Edson), is a scruffy ne'er do well who's a sucker for get-rich-quick scams, while her current boyfriend, Scotty (Marc Blucas), is struggling to make something of himself as a golf pro. Meanwhile, Desiree Perry (Angela Bassett) is an actress who is returning to Lincoln Beach for the first time since she was a teenager, hoping to introduce her new husband, Reggie (James McDaniel), to her mother, Eunice Stokes (Mary Alice). Desiree was the center of a minor local scandal when she became pregnant as a teenager and moved away. Eunice has never quite forgiven her, while Flash (Tom Wright), Desiree's high school boyfriend and the man responsible, hasn't seen her since. Eunice is looking after Terrell (Alex Lewis), a troubled youth recently found guilty of arson, and Desiree and Reggie soon find themselves bonding with the misguided youth. In time, Delrona Beach and Lincoln Beach are brought together by a common concern; Greg (Perry Lang) and Lester (Miguel Ferrer) are representatives from a nearby resort community looking to expand, with Plantation Island looking like their most likely target. As homeowners debate whether to sell or stay put, local government officials and the town's business community argue the merits and faults of the resort's expansion into Plantation Island. Meanwhile, Marly becomes romantically involved with Jack (Timothy Hutton), a landscape architect affiliated with the developers who seems to believe his work is doing more harm than good. Sunshine State also features Mary Steenburgen, Alan King, and Bill Cobbs. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Victor Nuñez's Coastlines centers on Sonny (Timothy Olyphant), who is returning home after his release from prison. When he asks for money owed to him by local crime boss Fred Vance (William Forsythe), Vance responds by blowing up Sonny's home (causing the death of Sonny's father). Sonny moves in with old friends Dave and Ann (Josh Brolin and Sarah Wynter), even though Dave is now a policeman. Ann, who has grown bored by her husband's conversion from wild man to cop, begins an affair with Sonny. Nuñez wrote this script before his breakthrough films Ruby in Paradise and Ulee's Gold, but directed it after making those movies. Coastlines was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly, the impish impresarios of gross-out comedy, take their body function-inspired humor to new extremes in this mixture of live action and animation. Bill Murray stars as Frank, a zoo worker suffering from the effects of an unknown malady he contracted after eating an egg contaminated with simian saliva. Unknown to Frank, the inside of his body is actually a city (the City of Frank) teeming with cellular life, where the mysterious illness he's fighting is an invading enemy that must be defeated at all costs. It's up to Osmosis Jones (voice of Chris Rock), a white blood cell cop, and Drix (voice of David Hyde Pierce), a rookie over-the-counter medication, to hunt down and stop a lethal virus (Laurence Fishburne) who's got an inferiority complex. Along the way, the partners visit Frank's runny nostrils (Booger Dam) and a bar called, appropriately enough, the Zit. Osmosis Jones costars Molly Shannon and Chris Elliott, and features the vocal talents of William Shatner, producer Joel Silver, and singer Brandy Norwood. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

New Year's Eve brings its share of crises for everyone on the ER staff. In New York, Dr. Burke (Chris Sarandon) performs a risky experimental operation on Greene's (Anthony Edwards) brain tumor. And back in Chicago, the staffers must deal with Dan Harris (Jim Belushi) and his son Paul (Jared Padalecki), both injured in the same car accident -- and they must also deal with the elder Harris' unusual request. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide