Andreas Grosch Movies

Robin Williams stars as Vladimir Ivanoff, a Russian sax player working in a circus whose home life with his warm and colorful family does not compensate for his feelings of repression and lost opportunity in his native land. When the circus comes to New York, Williams goes on a shopping trip to Bloomingdale's -- where he suddenly announces his intention to defect. Befriended and given a place to stay by security guard Lionel Witherspoon (Cleavant Derricks), Vladimir makes the slow and sometimes painful transition from Russian to American citizen, helped along by his lady love (and fellow immigrant), Lucia Lombardo (Maria Conchita Alonso), and immigration attorney (and onetime Cuban refugee) Orlando Ramirez (Fernando Rey). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director John Frankenheimer and writers Edward Anhalt and George Axelrod try to inject some life into this adaptation of Robert Ludlum's best-selling espionage novel. Michael Caine stars as Noel Holcroft, who was adopted in Germany by an American family in the waning days of World War II. Now middle-aged, Noel learns that his biological father, who had been one of Hitler's key economic advisors, left him more than $4 billion at his death. Noel is supposed to dispense the money to specific individuals who had suffered under the oppression of Hitler. But Noel comes to realize the money is, in fact, being used by fascists starting a new Nazi regime. When the neo-Nazis find out Noel is wise to their plans, they chase him through Europe, trying to assassinate him and make way for a Fourth Reich. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This four-hour, six-episode British miniseries, broadcast on Channel 4 in 1989 and in America on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre in 1990, provided the basis for Traffic, Steven Soderbergh's 2000 Oscar winner. Though Soderbergh and screenwriter Stephen Gaghan borrowed much of their plot and structure from the original, Traffik focuses on the European drug trade instead of the American one and utilizes England, Germany, and Pakistan as its major settings. One of the three primary plot strands involves Jack Lithgow (Bill Paterson), a member of the British Parliament, who discovers that his daughter, Caroline (Julia Ormond), is a heroin addict despite the fact that he leads the country's Drug Abuse Committee. In a parallel story line, Helen Rosshalde (Lindsay Duncan), the British wife of German drug smuggler Karl Rosshalde (George Kukura), must take over her husband's illegal operations after an associate turns state's evidence and Karl goes on trial. In the third interwoven segment, and the one that diverges the farthest from the plot of the American film, Pakistani poppy farmer Fazel (Jamal Shah) ingratiates himself to drug overlord Tariq Butt (Talat Hussain) in order to support his family after the Pakistani government, at the insistence of Lithgow and other British officials, cracks down on the subsistence-level farmers who supply the heroin trade with its raw materials. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

George Sluizer (The Vanishing) directed this German-British-Belgian thriller about politico James Morton (John Hurt) who relocates in Brussels as the British commissioner to the Euro parliament, leaving his wife Isabelle (Alice Krige) behind. As British and German chemical outfits are about to merge, Metro Chemical researcher Hans Konig (Armin Mueller-Stahl) tips him that his company is creating weapons and is run by a former Nazi. Morton stops the merger, but information leaks trigger Konig's arrest for industrial espionage and the bombing of Morton's apartment, followed by more corporate intrigue. Shown at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Model-turned-actress Charlize Theron leaves her glamorous image behind for this gritty drama, in which she plays a disturbed prostitute who becomes a serial killer. Aileen Wuornos (Theron) was a woman who survived a brutal and abusive childhood in Michigan to become a thick-skinned but emotionally damaged adult. Homeless most of her life, Wuornos subsisted by working as a street prostitute; later, when she was in Florida, down to her last five dollars and pondering suicide, she stopped into a bar for a beer. There, Aileen met Selby Wall (Christina Ricci), a woman in her early twenties who had been sent to live with relatives after her Christian parents became aware of her lesbian lifestyle. Selby is immediately attracted to Aileen, and while Aileen tells Selby she's never been in a lesbian relationship, she soon finds herself equally infatuated with her. Selby runs away from her family and moves into a cheap hotel with Aileen, who initially pays the bills by hooking. However, as their money runs low and Aileen finds herself unable to land a regular job, tensions mount between the two. One night, after a john attacks her, Aileen pulls a gun and kills the man. Although her first murder can be categorized as self-defense, Aileen's loathing for the men who pay her for sex becomes so extreme that she begins killing her customers regardless of their behavior. Meanwhile, Selby slowly becomes aware of the full extent of her lover's instability and the bloody consequences of her actions. Monster was inspired by the true story of Aileen Wuornos, whose life and death was chronicled in two documentaries by filmmaker Nick Broomfield, Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer, and Aileen: The Life and Death of a Serial Killer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Two friends wonder if there might be more between them when their lives both take a left turn in this romantic comedy. Terry (Joan Allen) is a middle-aged housewife and mother of four teenaged daughters and gets the shock of her life when her husband, without a word of warning, leaves them behind, presumably to move to Sweden with his secretary. Going through a bender of depression and alcohol, Terry finds herself commiserating with Denny (Kevin Costner), a former baseball star turned unenthusiastic radio personality who was her husband's colleague and friend and an occasional presence at the house. With both Terry and Denny feeling down in the dumps about recent events in their lives, the two find themselves drawn to one another, and while Terry fights the notion of a new romance, her daughters -- Andy (Erika Christensen), Hadley (Alicia Witt), Emily (Keri Russell), and Lavender (Evan Rachel Wood) -- each have different ideas about their futures. The Upside of Anger was written and directed by Mike Binder, who also plays a supporting role as the producer of Denny's radio show. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Corruption is the law of the land in the every-city of Edison, and the only soul brave enough to peer into the fire and face the wrath of an entire squad of corrupt cops is a fresh-faced journalist in this neo-noir thriller from television director-turned-feature helmer David J. Burke. Joshua Pollack (Justin Timberlake) has discovered a glitch in the system, and as a fledgling journalist he sees it as his duty to expose the corruption. When Pollack misjudges the depth of the authoritative decay and his girlfriend is hospitalized following a brutal attack by the alliance of crooked cops known as F.R.A.T., he soon decides to take action and prove that even those who believe themselves to be above the law still aren't beyond its reach. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A travel agent in deep debt attempts to swindle a by-the-books insurance agent by claiming the corpse of a gangland hit as his long-missing brother in director Mark Mylod's dark crime comedy. Paul Barnell (Robin Williams) is in trouble. Saddled with a cantankerous wife (Holly Hunter) and unable to convince ambitious insurance company agent Ted (Giovanni Ribisi) to pay off the one-million-dollar claim on his brother, who has been missing for five years, Paul's debts are mounting as fast as his life is crumbling. When Paul discovers the corpse of a nameless man who ended up on the wrong side of the mob, desperation drives him to stage a grizzly death scene and make it look as if his brother has suffered a horrible fate. Though the local police force is easily taken by Paul's elaborate ruse, it's going to take a little more convincing before Ted is willing to sign off on the hefty insurance payment. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

One man demonstrates how to get rich selling warring nations the tools of their deadly trade in this dark comedy drama. Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage) is an opportunistic businessman who stumbled into a gold mine after the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Huge caches of Soviet weapons became available at bargain prices (and even for free if one wasn't above stealing), and as literally billions of dollars' worth of Soviet military technology disappeared, it began finding its way into the hands of weapons dealers eager to sell it to the highest bidder. Orlov was one such dealer who found plenty of buyers for guns and military gear in unstable Third World nations, who paid cash and didn't appreciate too many questions. Orlov's exploits in the arms business quickly made him a very rich man, but they've also led to some unwanted attention from Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke), an Interpol agent who is convinced Orlov isn't playing by the rules. Inspired by a true story, Lord of War also features Jared Leto, Ian Holm, Bridget Moynahan, and Donald Sutherland. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

An outwardly ordinary teenager finds himself suddenly thrust into extraordinary circumstances upon discovering that his entire youth was part of an elaborate plan to create the perfect super spy in director Geoffrey Sax's action-packed adaptation of author Anthony Horowitz's best-selling series of novels featuring an adolescent secret agent. Alex Rider (Alex Pettyfer) always though that his kindly uncle Ian (Ewan McGregor) was your average, everyday nondescript bank manager, but when Ian was murdered by notorious assassin Yassen Gregorovich (Damian Lewis), everything young Alex thought he knew would be forever changed by one simple bullet. A deadly martial artist, skilled linguist, steady-handed mountaineer, and deadeye marksman, Alex realizes that his uncle has been secretly training him in the art of espionage when he is recruited by MI6 Special Operations agents Mr. Blunt (Bill Nighy) and Mrs. Jones (Sophie Okonedo). It seems that billionaire Darius Sayle (Mickey Rourke) has generously offered to donate a complimentary Stormbreaker supercomputer to every school in Britain, but while his philanthropic offer is welcomed with open arms by the struggling school system, MI6 fears that something nefarious is afoot. Assigned the task of infiltrating Sayle's impenetrable lair by posing as the winner of a computer magazine contest, Alex makes the acquaintance of shady Sayle sidekicks Mr. Grin (Andy Serkis) and Nadia Vole (Missi Pyle) before getting a special sneak preview of the remarkable Stormbreaker's true powers. His cover subsequently blown, Alex is given a key piece of information regarding the remarkable computer before being thrown to a giant jellyfish by Sayle and his henchmen and left to die just as the prime minister is about to push the button that will activate Stormbreaker computers all across Britain. With no time to spare and the fate of a nation hanging in the balance, Alex must now enlist the help of his trusted housekeeper Jack Starbright (Alicia Silverstone) and faithful classmate Sabina Pleasure (Sarah Bolger) in ensuring that the Stormbreaker system is not activated and revealing Sayle for the true villain that he is before the young super spy's breathless first mission becomes his fatal last. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A drug dealer moves on to bigger crimes in an effort to settle a score with disastrous results in this drama inspired by actual events. Though barely out of his teens, Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) has already built a lucrative career for himself selling drugs -- he has his own home, a luxury car, and posse of friends who do double duty as his crew, including Elvis (Shawn Hatosy), Frankie (Justin Timberlake), and Tiko (Fernando Vargas). While life at Johnny's house is usually a constant party interrupted by occasional dope deals, Johnny has lost all of his patience with Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster), a regular customer who has run up a large tab that he can't pay. Determined to clear Jake's account, Johnny and his boys plan to kidnap Jake and hold him for ransom, but when they happen upon his 15-year-old stepbrother, Zack (Anton Yelchin), they impulsively decide to take the youngster instead. Jake's father, Butch (David Thornton), and his stepmother, Olivia (Sharon Stone), are already furious with their junkie son when they learn about Zack's disappearance, and aren't sure what they should do. Meanwhile at Johnny's place, Frankie takes a liking to young Zack, who already admires his brother's high-flying lifestyle, and introduces the kid to the joys of grown-up partying, which he takes to with dangerous zeal. Also featuring Bruce Willis as Johnny's father, Alpha Dog was based on the real-life story of Jesse James Hollywood, who at the age of 21 became one of the youngest people to ever appear on the FBI's "Most Wanted" list. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The legacy of a populist Southern politician whose lofty ambitions for the future leave him open to corruption and scandal is detailed as author Robert Penn Warren's thinly veiled portrait of Depression-era Louisiana governor Huey Long comes to the screen -- again -- this time courtesy of director and screenwriter Steven Zaillian. Willie Stark (Sean Penn) is a man of the people, and for the people; at least that's what he tells the people. Propelled into a race for governor by opposing forces looking to split the "hick vote," Stark is convinced by a handler -- as well as by young journalist Jack Burden (Jude Law) -- to not kowtow to the powers that be. His rhetoric grows fiery, and he makes his way into office on a not-so-solid foundation of social-service promises. When idealism gives way to the harsh realities of the time, however, the fast-talking politico is quick to discover just how far one can fall when ambition and power lead to a betrayal of one's original motivations. Kate Winslet, Patricia Clarkson, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, and Anthony Hopkins round out an all-star cast in this second version of Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 novel; the first won a parade of Oscars after its release in 1949. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide