Drake Bell Movies
A performer who carries equal weight in the twin arenas of pop recording and film and television acting, Drake Bell first staked out a career as an actor, signing for his premiere small-screen commercial at age five, in the early '90s. Bell commenced A-list film roles by 1996, when he made a memorable impression as a sports figure's son who bitterly curses agent Tom Cruise in Cameron Crowe's drama Jerry Maguire. Following small guest turns on such blockbuster series as The Drew Carey Show (1997) and Seinfeld (1998), Bell joined the cast of the Nickelodeon variety series The Amanda Show (1999-2002), as a regular member of the program's resident sketch comedy ensemble. In 2002, the show took its final bow, but Bell and co-star Josh Peck received their own spin-off sitcom, also on Nickelodeon: Drake & Josh (2004).Meanwhile, Bell began to pursue musical interests, and established himself as a pop-rock star, thanks in no small part to the tutelage of the Who's Roger Daltrey, whom he met on the set of the 2001 telemovie Chasing Destiny, and who reportedly gave Drake his first music lessons. As a performer, Drake bore self-professed (and unmissable) stylistic ties to the Beatles, as well as echoes of the Beach Boys and Elvis Presley. Bell's recording career in fact neatly dovetailed with the debut of Drake & Josh on two levels: he both recorded the theme song and played a slightly exaggerated version of his guitarist self on the program. The up-and-comer self-produced his first album, Telegraph, in 2005, and its success prompted Universal Records to sign him for a sophomore release, the 2006 It's Only Time.
Alongside these efforts, Bell's acting efforts continued unabated, and he geared up for big-screen leads in the 2008 comedies College and Superhero -- the latter an Airplane!-style farce skewering the clichés of superhero movies. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Deb Hagan directs this comedy set in the world of higher education and starring Drake Bell, Kevin Covais, and Andrew Caldwell as three high-school friends who take a weekend trip to nearby Fieldmont University as prospective college freshman in order to find out just how wild things can truly get on campus. Initially taken in as pledges at the most notorious fraternity on campus, Kevin, Morris, and Carter are subjected to humiliating series of pranks cooked up by womanizing frat president Teague (Nick Zano). Despite the fact that the three pals are forced to endure some of the most mortifying pranks ever committed against a fraternity pledge, in exchange for their suffering they are grated complete access to the rowdy party scene. Later emboldened after being mistaken for college freshmen by a trio of beautiful sorority girls, the three pals find any hopes for getting lucky dashed when -- upon realizing that the boys have finally managed to chat up some pretty girls -- Teague and his crew ramp up the intensity of their embarrassing initiation rituals and threaten to expose the boys' true educational status. But these scheming frat boys have underestimated the ingenuity of their high-school guests, and before the weekend is over Kevin, Morris, and Carter hatch a brilliant plan to turn the tables on their tormentors, win the girls, and destroy the fraternity once and for all. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Drake Bell, Kevin Covais, (more)
Ted Nicolaou's family friendly fantasy film Dragon World concerns a teenage magician who must utilize his growing talent in order to protect the only dragon from people who wish to dispatch the creature. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Drake Bell, Andrew Keir, (more)
- 1997
- PG
A young boy finds himself inexplicably connected with the world's last living dragon and so vows to protect it from the villainy of a murderous black knight. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Drake Bell, Andrew Keir, (more)
A man discovers that there's more to love than a good mixed tape in this dramatic comedy about music and relationships. Rob (John Cusack), an obsessive record collector in his mid-thirties, is struggling to reconcile his adolescent enthusiasm for pop music with adult responsibilities and a more mature outlook. He runs a record shop with his friends Barry (Jack Black) and Dick (Todd Louiso), who are known to drive away customers whose taste in music doesn't match their exacting standards -- which may have something to do with why the shop is losing money. But Rob's biggest problem is his failing relationship with Laura (Iben Hjejle), a lawyer who needs more out of the relationship than Rob is capable of giving. To Rob's horror, Laura starts dating Ian (Tim Robbins), his upstairs neighbor, known throughout the building for his long and noisy sex sessions. Rob, on the other hand, finds himself catching the attention of singer/songwriter Marie DeSalle (Lisa Bonet), as he tries to deal with his breakup by tracking down his previous ex-girlfriends and taking a fresh look at what he's been doing wrong. Based on the acclaimed novel by Nick Hornby, High Fidelity also features Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lili Taylor, and Joelle Carter as three of Rob's ex-lovers, and Sara Gilbert as Dick's new girlfriend, who gets a crash course in U.K. punk bands that influenced Green Day. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, (more)
Combining drama, comedy, and romance, Jerry Maguire was a critical and commercial success built on an original script by writer/director Cameron Crowe and an Oscar-nominated performance by Tom Cruise. Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) is an agent with a major sports management firm. He's enthusiastic, successful, a great negotiator and people like him. But it begins to dawn on Jerry that there's something wrong with what he's doing, and not long after a troubling encounter with the son of an injured athlete he represents, Jerry has a serious crisis of conscience. In the midst of a sleepless night, Jerry writes a memo calling on himself and his colleagues to think more about the long-term welfare of the clients they represent and less about immediate profits. While everyone around him applauds the sentiment, Jerry's superiors think his ideas are bad for business; Jerry is fired, and, rather than standing in solidarity with him, his "friends" in the firm scramble like sharks to claim Jerry's clients. At the end of his last day, the only people willing to join Jerry as he strikes out on his own are staff accountant Dorothy (Renee Zellweger), a single mother secretly in love with him, and Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.), a football player whose pride and arrogance have gotten in the way of his reaching his potential. Jerry Maguire earned an Academy Award for Cuba Gooding Jr.'s performance as Tidwell and provided a breakthrough role for Renee Zellweger; it also made "Show me the money!" an unavoidable catchphrase for several months. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding, Jr., (more)
- 1998
Visiting a pizza place he used to frequent in years gone by, George (Jason Alexander) goes into full obsessive mode over his extremely high score in the old "Frogger" video game. Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) has trouble with his new "sentence-finisher" date Lisi (Julia Campbell). Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) tries to cut out all socializing, only to find herself addicted to the four o'clock sugar rush. And Kramer (Michael Richards) has bad news: the most recent victim of a serial killer who is plaguing Riverside Park looked a lot like Jerry (can it be a vendetta?). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
After spoofing disaster films in Airplane!, police shows in The Naked Gun, and Hollywood horrors in Scary Movie 3 and 4, producer David Zucker sets his satirical sights on the superhero genre with this anarchic comedy lampooning everything from Spider-Man to X-Men and Superman Returns. Shortly after being bitten by a genetically altered dragonfly, high-school outcast Rick Riker (Drake Bell) begins to experience a startling transformation. Now Rick's skin is as strong as steel, and he possesses the strength of ten men. Determined to use his newfound powers to fight crime, Rick creates a special costume and assumes the identity of The Dragonfly -- a fearless crime fighter dedicated to keeping the streets safe for law-abiding citizens. But every superhero needs a nemesis, and after Lou Landers (Christopher McDonald) is caught in the middle of an experiment gone horribly awry, he develops the power to leech the life force out of anyone he meets and becomes the villainous Hourglass. Intent on achieving immortality, the Hourglass attempts to gather as much life force as possible as the noble Dragonfly sets out to take down his archenemy and realize his destiny as a true hero. Craig Mazin writes and directs this high-flying spoof featuring Tracy Morgan, Pamela Anderson, Leslie Nielsen, Marion Ross, Jeffrey Tambor, and Regina Hall. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Drake Bell, Sara Paxton, (more)
- 1997
The guys reorganize their old band the "Horndogs"--Drew (Drew Carey on trumpet, Oswald (Diedrich Bader) on trombone, Lewis (Ryan Stiles) on drums--for a contest at the Warsaw. Alas, their chief competition is a terrific semi-pro combo called "The Underprivileged" (played by Jim Heath, Jimbo Wallace and Scott Churchill of The Reverend Horton Heat). Further hurting the Horndogs' chances is the fact that Kate (Christa Miller), whose singing is reminiscent of fingernails on the blackboard, insists upon being lead vocalist! Musical highlights in this episode include "A Taste of Honey" and "Now, Right Now". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
John Cusack plays Myrl Redding, a horse trader who locks horns with a rancher who has callously mistreated two of his horses, as well as their handler, a Crow Indian. When the law gives Myrl no justice, he is forced to take matters into his own hands, leading to a cycle of violence and chaos. The Jack Bull was written by Cusack's father, Dick, who also plays a small part as the jury foreman in the film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cusack, John Goodman, (more)
- 1995
- NR
A young boy comes of age in rural Georgia during the 1940s in Terence Davies' challenging, visually powerful drama. Acclaimed for his nostalgic, beautifully photographed reflections on England's past (The Long Day Closes, Distant Voices, Still Lives), Davies looks beyond his home country to America with this adaptation of a novel by John Kennedy Toole, author of A Confederacy of Dunces. The film is told through the eyes of David (Jacob Tierney), a teenage boy struggling to deal with life in a troubled family. He reflects on his youthful experiences of his father (Denis Leary), an abusive, impoverished worker who disappeared during World War II after enlisting in the army. David is left to care for his increasingly unstable mother (Diana Scarwid) with the help of his Aunt Mae (Gena Rowlands), a lively big band singer. With David's recollections making up the loose plot, The Neon Bible stresses memorably intense images over narrative momentum, with cinematographer Michael Coulter creating sharp, painterly compositions. Some viewers will likely be frustrated by the slow pace and elliptical style, though others may be transfixed by the often stunning photography and poetic approach. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gena Rowlands, Jacob Tierney, (more)
Comedy icon Jerry Lewis revisits one of his most famous film characters in this belated, animated sequel to the beloved 1963 classic of the same name. It's been decades since clumsy Professor Julius Kelp (voice of Jerry Lewis) created the magical elixir that transformed him into a smooth-talking ladies man, but when Julius' grandson Harold (voice of Drake and Josh star Drake Bell) gets his hands on the secret formula, the familiar tale gets an exciting new twist. An adolescent misfit who never really fit in with the crowd, Harold becomes infinitely more confident and suave after whipping up a batch of the elixir and taking it for a test run. Now, as Harold's emerging ego begins to turn destructive, the young schoolboy must learn how to contend with his fears and insecurities without the aid of any questionable concoctions from the lab. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Drake Bell, Jerry Lewis, (more)
Two big families merge into one super-sized brood in this comedy. Frank Beardsley (Dennis Quaid) is a naval officer who has been raising eight children on his own after the death of his wife, and while he loves his kids, he rules his household with military precision. Frank has been alone just long enough that he decides it's time to start dating again, and he agrees to be set up on a blind date for a social function. To his surprise, his date turns out to be Helen North (Rene Russo), a girl he dated years ago when they were both in high school who, like Frank, lost her spouse not long ago. The old chemistry clicks anew for Helen and Frank, and he asks her to marry him. However, there's just a bit of a problem -- Helen is caring for ten children of her own, six of whom were adopted, and her artistic temperament makes for a very different household than Frank and his kids are used to. Frank and Helen decide to give this grand experiment a try, but the 18 siblings don't get along at all well at first, until they decide to set aside their differences and unite against a common foe -- their folks. Yours, Mine & Ours is a remake of a 1968 comedy of the same name, which starred Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball as the newlywed parents. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Quaid, Rene Russo, (more)
