Giancarlo Esposito Movies

In the seventh and final season of Homicide: Life on the Street, Baltimore detectives Pembleton (Andre Braugher) and Kellerman (Reed Diamond) have resigned in the wake of the bloody shoot-out between the homicide cops and the minions of criminal mastermind Georgia Rae Mahoney (though Kellerman will return in a later episode as a private detective). Seriously wounded in the fray, detectives Bayliss (Kyle Secor) and Ghary (Peter Gerety) eventually return to work, but it is clear that some emotional scars will never heal. Former recurring character Det. Terri Stivers (Toni Lewis) has become a regular, while new cast members include Michael Michele as Detective Rene Sheppard, a former beauty queen, and Giancarlo Esposito as FBI agent Mike Giardello, the long-estranged son of homicide lieutenant Al Giardello (Yaphet Kotto). Before the year is out, Mike will make Al a grandfather; Detective Munch (Richard Belzer) will finally propose to his long-suffering girlfriend, Billie Lou McCoy (Ellen McElduff); detectives Det. Laura Ballard (Callie Thorne) and Falsone (Jon Seda) will enter into a romance so torrid that Giardello is forced to warn them to cool things down or they'll be suspended; and Rene Sheppard will endure both a serious injury and a humiliating suspension. Episode highlights include yet another crossover with Law & Order, this one involving an investigation conducted by a Kenneth Starr-like special prosecutor and appropriately titled "Sideshow," and the devastating "Line of Fire," in which the homicide cops try and fail to negotiate with a reluctant murderer. Homicide caps its seven-season run with good news for Giardello; the unauthorized shootdown of a killer who has managed to slip through the legal cracks; and a literal "full circle" for Bayliss (Kyle Secor), whose career with the Baltimore PD began with the series' first episode...and ends with the last one. ~ All Movie Guide

Sheppard (Michael Michele) and Ballard (Callie Thorne) have trouble sustaining their objectivity as they investigate the death of a teenaged member of an all-girl street gang. Meanwhile, Billie Lou (Ellen McElduff) prevails upon her fiancé, Munch (Richard Belzer), to mediate in her neighbors' domestic disputes -- with devastating results. Series regular Richard Belzer's stepdaughter Bree Benton appears as Lizzie Solek in this episode, which was orginally scheduled to air on May 7, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A man is found murdered -- with his nose removed -- in his own backyard. To solves this case, Mike Giardello (Giancarlo Esposito) plumbs the depths of the Federal Witness Protection program, only to conclude that his FBI bosses aren't being up-front with him. Elsewhere, a bartender at a strip club is killed, the medical examiners "misplace" the identity of a corpse, and Gharty's (Peter Gerety) drinking increases. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While investigating the beating death of a Buddhist monk, Lewis (Clark Johnson) worries that his born-again-Buddhist partner, Bayliss (Kyle Secor), will not be able to remain objective -- thus Lewis teams with the prickly Munch (Richard Belzer). In another case, a street shooting investigated by Gharty (Peter Gerety) and Ballard (Callie Throne) is complicated by three wildly contradictory "eyewitness" recollections. And on a personal note, Ballard comes to a crossroads in her relationship with Falsone (Jon Seda). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This episode of Homicide: Life on the Street is the conclusion of a two-part story introduced on its "sister" series Law & Order. Newly appointed to a district court bench, ADA Danvers (Zeljko Ivanek) brings the Baltimore homicide unit into the investigation of the death of governmental official Janine McBride, who, despite being found murdered in New York City, was actually killed in Baltimore. Al Giardello (Yaphet Kotto) is mad that his son Mike (Giancarlo Esposito) turned over confidential information about the McBride case to his FBI bosses, who, in turn, handed it over to Independent Counsel William Dell (George Hearn) -- resulting in immunity for the accused murderer. As it turns out, the ruthless Dell (who bears a startling resemblance to Kenneth Starr) is using both the Baltimore cops and Law & Order regulars Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt), Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), and Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) as unwitting stepping stones for his own political ambitions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A ritual murder is played out on the Internet, but the homicide detectives aren't certain whether the killing is real or an elaborate hoax. Whatever the case, the detectives "stake out" the Web when it is announced that another murder will occur at midnight. In the course of the investigation, the squad discovers that Bayliss (Kyle Secor) is running his own website -- much to Bayliss' embarrassment. The climax of this episode will dictate the outcome of Homicide: Life on the Street's series finale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A case that has remained unsolved for two decades is reopened when the decomposed body of an unidentified woman is found buried at a construction site. Meanwhile, a convalescing Sheppard (Michael Michele) is confined to desk duty until further notice. And the romance between Falsone (Jon Seda) and Ballard (Callie Thorne) heats up considerably, forcing Giardello (Yaphet Kotto) to warn the couple to "cool it" -- or face suspension. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A rape and murder take place in the apartment owned by Jamal (Giancarlo Esposito), an ex-crack dealer who was previously disabled in a police shoot-out. The investigation of a shooting in a medical clinic prompts a brutish, lovelorn security guard named Bruce (John Thaddeus) to forcibly "protect" the suspect, resulting in a deadly and decisive response from Medavoy (Gordon Clapp). And Bobby (Jimmy Smits) learns of Andy's (Dennis Franz) increasingly grave medical situation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Nobody's Fool (1994) team of Paul Newman, director Robert Benton, and scripter Richard Russo reassembled for this L.A. detective drama, beginning with a Puerto Vallarta prologue showing private eye Harry Ross (Newman) accidentally shot by 17-year-old Mel Ames (Reese Witherspoon) during his efforts to get her to return home. Two years later, the broke and divorced Ross lives in a garage apartment on the estate of Mel's parents, his movie-star friends Jack and Catherine Ames (Gene Hackman and Susan Sarandon). The cancer-ridden Jack is not unaware that Harry is attracted to Catherine. Delivering a package for Jack, Harry encounters elderly Lester Ivar (M. Emmet Walsh), who shoots at Harry and then dies. Harry's curiosity is provoked when he discovers that Ivar was an investigator checking into the disappearance of Catherine's first husband, written off 20 years earlier as an unsolved case, but now reactivated as Harry's sleuth-work leads him on a trail of past crimes and cover-ups. The Ames residence is actually the former Cedric Gibbons-Delores Del Rio home, and a never-completed Frank Lloyd Wright house near Malibu served as the Ames' ranchhouse. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Coroner Griscom (Austin Pendleton) alerts the homicide unit to the fact that several recent deaths have been caused by a poison named phospozine. FBI agent Mike "McGee" Giardello (Giancarlo Esposito) is put in charge of investigating this possible act of terrorism, whereupon tension develops between McGee and his father, Al (Yaphet Kotto), while Gharty (Peter Gerety) quietly and methodically traces the source of the poison. Meanwhile, Ballard (Callie Thorne) is none too pleased that the entire unit knows that she has dated Falsone (Jon Seda). And why is Munch (Richard Belzer) seeing a doctor? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mike "McGee" Giardello (Giancarlo Esposito) and Laura Ballard (Callie Thorne) investigate when a famous sports doctor "accidentally" kills his sister-in-law. Joining the investigation is Falsone (Jon Seda), who in the course of events finds time to show off his prowess in the boxing ring. Meanwhile, Munch (Richard Belzer) is peeved that his partners in the Waterfront Bar would doubt the honesty of his accountant cousin -- until he's slapped with a bill for 30,000 dollars in back taxes. And Gharty (Peter Gerety), newly separated from his wife, tries to date Waterfront waitress Billie Lou (Ellen McElduff). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Daniel Pyne directed and co-scripted (with John Mankiewicz) this satirical look at private eyes, originally planned as a TV series but instead later expanded into a feature. Before a switch to color, the film begins with a black and white prologue in which NYU film-school graduates Wilton Crawley (Mos Def) and A.J. Edison (John Livingston) bore the small audience at the Utica Township Film Festival with their 180-minute film about NYC water-supply sources. Realizing a stronger subject is needed for their next documentary, they focus on L.A. private investigators Joe Boone (Miguel Ferrer) and Murphy (John Slattery) and the agency's secretary Angela (Allison Dean) -- captured in the usual student-film techniques of hand-held subjective shots (plus Super 8 when their regular camera breaks). As the filmmakers shoot, they soon become intrigued by an unsolved case and look for a solution. Shown at the 1998 Mill Valley Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide