Gary Farmer Movies

Hosted by Kevin Costner and narrated by Gregory Harrison, the historical documentary 500 Nations, Volume 4: Invasion of the Coast - The First English Settlements portrays America's original inhabitants before and after the Europeans arrived. The film begins in the Arctic where the Inuit culture -- during the search for the Northwest Passage -- is examined. Also featured in the film are the stories of Pocahontas, the Pilgrims, Samoset, Captain John Smith, and the Powhatans. Other episodes in the 500 Nations series include 500 Nations: Removal, 500 Nations: Clash of Cultures, 500 Nations: Attack on Culture, 500 Nations: Cauldron of War, 500 Nations: Roads Across the Plains, and 500 Nations: Mexico. ~ Kathleen Wildasin, All Movie Guide

Luke Kirby and Keith Carradine star in director Leonard Farlinger's adaptation of author Brad Smith's laid back neo-western novel. Ray Dokes (Kirby) has just been released from prison, and now as the laconic ex-con makes his way back home he is stunned to see just how much progress has transformed the countryside of his youth. Looking to lie low for a while, Ray heads to the farm of his good friend Pete Culpepper (Keith Carradine). A garrulous farmer who's drowning in debt, Pete is a true Texas cowboy whose corn seems too stubborn to grow this season. The first order of business for Ray is to visit his old flame Etta (Lisa Ray, but things have gotten complicated since Ray was put away and making his way to the woman he loves isn't going to be nearly as easy as he had hoped. Soon after hooking up with firebrand jockey Chrissis (Rachel Leigh Cook), Ray discovers that his old nemesis Sonny Staunton (Noam Jenkins) - the wealthy heir to a thoroughbred dynasty - is currently attempting to buy up as much farmland as possible in order to start breaking ground on a luxurious new golf course. It seems that Etta is the only member of the rural community bold enough to stand up against Sonny, but when a valuable thoroughbred goes missing from Staunton Stables the desperate entrepreneur forces the sale of the area's few remaining farms. Realizing the danger of contending with such a powerful and determined man (after all, it was Sonny who got Ray locked away in the first place), Ray does his best to sideline Sonny's nefarious plan and save the remaining farmlands without making the one false move that could land him back in jail. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A women's softball team prepares for the Labor day championship tournament in this uneven feature. While the women work to ready themselves for the big game, their boyfriends are boozing and carousing. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

A dark, bitter commentary on modern American life cloaked in the form of a surrealist western, Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man stars Johnny Depp as William Blake, a newly-orphaned accountant who leaves his home in Cleveland to accept a job in the frontier town of Machine. Upon his arrival, Blake is told by the factory owner Dickinson (Robert Mitchum) that the job has already been filled. Dejectedly, he enters a nearby tavern, ultimately spending the night with a former prostitute. A violent altercation with the woman's lover (Gabriel Byrne), also Dickinson's son, leaves Blake a murderer as well as mortally wounded, a bullet lodged dangerously close to his heart. He flees into the wilderness, where a Native American named Nobody (Gary Farmer) mistakes Blake for the English poet William Blake and determines that he will be Blake's guide in his protracted passage into the spirit world. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Longtime actor/songwriter Kris Kristofferson stars as a whiskey-smuggling schemer desperate to preserve his endangered cattle herd in director Jay Craven's adaptation of Howard Frank Mosher's best-selling novel. The year is 1932; Prohibition is still in place, and smuggling whiskey has long been a profitable tradition in the Bonhomme family. When the coming winter threatens to decimate Quebec Bill Bonhomme's (Kristofferson) cattle heard and render his family destitute, the desperate dreamer and reluctant whiskey runner finally decides to carry on the family tradition. With his 14-year-old son, Wild Bill (Charlie McDermott), in tow, Quebec Bill sets out on a wild ride through Vermont's sprawling Northeast Kingdom that will expose the age-old mysteries of the Bonhomme family to the cold light of winter, and serve as an unforgettable rite of passage for the young adolescent currently teetering on the cusp of manhood. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Though it's been a year since her death, Ed (Steve Buscemi) is still pining over his deceased mother (Miriam Margolyes). Enter a firm called Happy People Ltd, which for a hefty fee will bring Ed's mom back to life. He ponies up the money, and miracle of miracles, mother returns. At first all is bliss. But eventually dead old mom begins acting very strangely. Her habit of eating bugs is only the tip of a bizarre iceberg. Can things get any weirder? They do, when Ed's "pal" Rob (John Gries), whom mother had sent to jail during her first life, comes calling. The supporting cast includes the likes of Ned Beatty, John Glover, and Rance Howard (Ron's dad). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Writer/director Enid Zentelis makes her feature-length debut with the coming-of-age drama Evergreen, shot on-location in Seattle, WA. Teenager Henri (Addie Land) and her single mother Kate (Cara Seymour) move in with Henri's grandmother (Lynn Cohen) in a crumbling old house. Kate works at a factory but the working-poor household just barely gets by. Henri goes to a new school and meets Chat Turly (Noah Fleiss), a wealthy boy from an upscale family. Welcomed with open arms, Henri falls in love with the Turly family (Mary Kay Place and Bruce Davidson) and all the material comfort that their lifestyle affords. Envy of this new family causes her to have shame for her own roots. John Stirratt from Wilco and Uncle Tupelo contributes to the musical score with his band the Autumn Defense. Evergreen premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 as part of the dramatic competition. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Two of Canada's most acclaimed actors, Stephan Ouimette and Gary Farmer, star in this gritty account of two homeless guys who struggle through Winnipeg's harsh winter. Their prize possession is a cheap space heater that they still keep in its original box. Heater was screened at the 1999 Vancouver Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Love, jealousy, revenge and forbidden homosexual passion color this alternately campy and dramatic adaptation of a play by Michel Marc Bouchard. Operating at different levels, the story begins in 1952 inside a Quebec prison chapel where hard-core convict Simon Doucet offers confession to Bishop Bilodeau who has come especially to see him. But no sooner does the Bishop enter the confessional than he is locked in by other inmates and forced to watch them enact gay love scenes from the play The Death of San Sebastian. The story moves backwards to 1912 when Bilodeau and Simon were lusty young boys. Their affair falls apart when Simon takes up with Vallier. This angers Bilodeau who does something terrible in retaliation. Meanwhile, back in the present, Simon attempts to force Bilodeau into owning up to his actions. In keeping with the film's gay themes, all roles, male and female, are portrayed by men. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this futuristic adventure, a man gets too enmeshed in virtual reality and ends up with his personality melded to the on-screen persona of Humphrey Bogart. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The road movie gets a smart update with this seriocomic tale of two Cheyenne men traveling from their reservation in Montana to New Mexico. For one of them, Buddy Red Bow (A Martinez), a quick-tempered activist, the journey is a practical one; his sister has been arrested and he is the only family member who can help her out. Buddy has no transportation, so he's forced to ride with Philbert Bono (Gary Farmer), a phlegmatic hulk of a man who is using his 1964 Buick as a vehicle for a spiritual journey of his own. Philbert's easygoing ways and insistence on frequent stops to meditate prove irritating at first to Buddy, but the men reach an accommodation as the trip wears on. Buddy comes to see that blaming the white man and what he sees as system rigged against Native Americans is distracting him from his true mission: to better understand himself and his place in the world. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide

A young Lakota Sioux, adopted by a wealthy Jewish couple in Beverly Hills, gets in touch with his cultural roots and solves a mystery in this thriller. Because of his upbringing, Jesse Rainfeather Goldman knows almost nothing of Native American traditions. He is doing his internship when he suddenly receives an amulet from the Lakota reservation in Sioux City. It is from his real mother. Jesse's curiosity is piqued and he immediately travels to his birthplace to learn why she sent it. Unfortunately, by the time he arrives, his mother's body is discovered in the smoldering wreckage of her home. She was shot before she was burned. Jesse's investigation into her death is not welcomed by the local captain of police and his assistant. He is almost beaten to death, but is saved by his grandfather, a shaman, and a Lakota woman. The newly healed Jesse begins to explore his tribe's customs. He then contacts his mother's spirit and she leads him to the film's conclusion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This dramatic feature was written, directed, and co-produced by Native Americans. Native American writer Sherman Alexie scripted this adaptation of his 1993 short story collection The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Director Chris Eyre's previous short Someone Kept Saying Powwow is incorporated into the 88-minute feature. Developed at the Sundance Lab in 1995, the film was a winner of both the Audience Award and the Filmmakers' Trophy at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. In 1976, an infant survives a fire that kills his parents. In a flash forward to the present day, the infant has grown up to become the skinny, nerdy adult Thomas (Evan Adams). At Idaho's desolate Coeur d'Alene Indian reservation, the overeager youth is mostly ignored by others, including stoic athletic Victor Joseph (Adam Beach), even though it was Victor's father, alcoholic Arnold Joseph (Gary Farmer), who saved the infant Thomas' life in the fire. A drunken Arnold later abandoned his family, and Victor hasn't seen his father in a decade. When Victor learns of Arnold's death in Phoenix, Thomas offers to pay for the trip to Phoenix if he can accompany Victor. They make an odd couple since Victor is embarrassed by Thomas' geekiness. In Phoenix, they find that Arnold lived in a small trailer in the desert, and they meet Arnold's friend Suzy Song (Irene Bedard), who provides disturbing truths about Arnold that impact on Victor. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide