Bobby Cannavale Movies
Growing up in Union City, NJ, Bobby Cannavale participated in the school play because his mother wanted him off the streets. Today, he is a recognizable New York-based character actor with roles in the city's best theater, television, and film productions. Television writer/producer John Wells and the legendary Sidney Lumet frequently rely on Cannavale's talents; he can usually be found rounding out their ensemble casts, and is married to Lumet's daughter, Jenny.Cannavale was born in New Jersey to an Italian father and a Cuban mother. His parents insisted that he attend St. Michael's Catholic School in Union City where he took part in almost every after school activity, from the alter boys to the chorus. When he was eight, Cannavale secured the plum role of "the lisping boy" in his school's production of The Music Man and a part in Guys and Dolls. Ever since then, he wanted to do nothing but perform.
Cannavale's parents divorced when he was 13 and his mother moved the family to Puerto Rico. After two years in Latin America, they returned to the United States and settled in Coconut Creek, FL. Cannavale returned to New Jersey after graduating high school in the late '80s -- he needed to be closer to New York in order to begin his acting career. Forgoing acting lessons for actual performance experience, Cannavale became involved with Manhattan's prestigious Circle Repertory Theater. He served as a "reader" for several plays and was eventually cast as Mark Linn-Baker's understudy in Georges Feydeau's French farce A Flea in Her Ear. Cannavale soon ended up replacing Baker for two weeks. His first-rate performance secured him a role in the company's next play, Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told. Television powerhouse John Wells attended one of the shows and cast Cannavale in his television series Trinity. Cannavale's character, a tugboat operator, was supposed to appear in only three episodes of the show, but starred in nine.
Trinity was canceled in 1998, but Wells immediately secured Cannavale for his next television venture, 1999's Third Watch. As dedicated and lovesick paramedic Robert "Bobby" Caffey, Cannavale struck a cord with female audiences. The show was renewed for a second season, but Cannavale felt that Caffey's character was not being developed. He asked Wells to let him exit the series and to make sure he exited "big." The producer obliged his friend: Caffey left the show mid-season after being fatally shot in the chest. The dramatic two-part episode even included a "beyond the grave" meeting between Caffey and his deceased dead-beat dad. In 2001, Cannavale joined the cast of his father-in-law, Sidney Lumet's heralded television courtroom drama, 100 Centre Street. Cannavale's brazen, ambitious prosecutor, J.J. Jellinek, is a far cry from the softhearted paramedic he portrayed on Third Watch. Debuting on the show at the beginning of its second season, Jellinek shook up 100 Centre Street -- immediately romancing a fellow lawyer and shamelessly advancing his career in any way possible.
Cannavale's television career has not kept him away from theater or film. He appeared on-stage throughout the '90s, participating in productions such as Lanford Wilson's Virgil Is Still the Frog Boy and Noel Coward's In Two Keys. His movie credits include Herbe Gardner's I'm Not Rappaport (1996) with Walter Mathau and Ossie Davis, Lumet's Night Falls on Manhattan (1997), and Gloria (1999), John Irvin's HBO original film When Trumpet's Fade (1998), Phillip Noyce's The Bone Collector (1999) with Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington, Spike Lee's 3 A.M. (2001) with Danny Glover, Alec Baldwin's The Devil and Daniel Webster (2002), and Daisy Von Scherler Mayer's The Guru (2002). Cast as friendly and outgoing lunch truck vender Joe in the critically acclaimed 2003 indie hit The Station Agent, Cannavale provided the perfect contrast to Peter Dinklage's introverted protagonist. WIth subsequent small screen roles in Kingpin and OZ that same year, the up and coming actor would become a familiar face to television viewers before once again returning to the silver screen for supporting roles in Shall We Dance?, Haven, and Romance and Cigarettes.
A recurring, Emmy-winning role on Will and Grace ensured Cannavale's continued presence on the small screen right through to the final episode of the series aired in May of 2006, with a slew of supporting performance in such the features The Night Listener, Fast Food Nation, Snakes on a Plane, 10 Items or Less, and Dedication that same year proving that Cannivale was the go-to guy for producers in search of quality supporting players. This trend would continue for the actor in the coming years, as he turned up in everything from the quirky Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, to the family friendly Paul Blart: Mall Cop. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide
- 2009
Mythically powerful or mentally unstable, Trevor Pierce believes he's Cupid. After spending three months in a mental institution for embarking on a mission from Zeus to find love for 100 lonely people, he's released, and placed under the care of psychiatrist Dr. Claire McCrae -- but Trevor is no less sure of his purpose. He starts bringing his romantic expertise into his job as a bartender at the Tres Equis Cantina, where he does display a knack for making relationships bloom. But is it really his magical heritage, or just his romantic charm? As Trevor goes about his mission on Earth, some of the people he touches find themselves believing Mount Olympus. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bobby Cannavale, Sarah Paulson, (more)
Author Sherwood Kiraly pens the screenplay adaptation of his own comedic novel concerning a man (Matthew Broderick) who gets amnesia after suffering a blow to the head and the road trip he embarks on with his Alzheimer’s-afflicted uncle (Alan Alda) and high-school sweetheart (Virginia Madsen). Convinced that they will make a fortune by selling an ultra-rare baseball card at a high-profile memorabilia show, the trio sets out on the open road in search of adventure. Bobby Cannavale and Lois Smith co-star in the feature directorial debut of actor-turned-director Terry Kinney. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Broderick, Virginia Madsen, (more)
- 2007
Ken Burns continues his exploration of massive, sweeping subjects with his 15-hour documentary The War; in this case, the conflict in question is World War II. Yet within the scope of that gargantuan subject, Burns and co-director Lynn Novick narrow their scale of emphasis, honing in on four "average" American towns and charting the experiences of individual young men who enlisted to go overseas and fight against the encroaching shadow of fascism. The film covers each major "region" of the U.S. by transporting audiences to the west coast (Sacramento, California); the south (Mobile, Alabama); the east coast (Waterbury, Connecticut) and the Midwest (the farming community of Luverne, Minnesota). Within that geographic framework, Burns uncovers a series of astonishing tales about bravery in the midst of adversity - from the story of a young man who transported 12 American soldiers from the Normandy beach on D-Day, to the accounts of innumerable young men who falsified their ages and enlisted early. Burns and Novick thus repeatedly emphasize the human side of war - an aspect all too often glossed over when documentarians treat WWII on a broader scale. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Frazier, Sam Hynes, (more)
Adapted by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen from their own off-Broadway play, The Exonerated dramatizes the real-life stories of six innocent citizens who spent anywhere from three to 20 years on death row until DNA testing proved that they had all been falsely convicted. Each of the six stories is related in the first person, using free-flowing flashbacks to highlight selected events. Some critics felt that, by using such A-list actors as Susan Sarandon, Aidan Quinn, Danny Glover, Brian Dennehy, and Delroy Lindo to play the unfairly condemned protagonists, the text of the original play was thrown off balance; this may be the reason why the relatively unknown David Brown Jr., cast as the sixth main character, received some of the best reviews. In the tradition of Schindler's List, the actual people whose experiences are enacted in the film show up on camera for the final scene. Directed by veteran Broadway and Hollywood actor Bob Balaban (Seinfeld, A Mighty Wind), The Exonerated was produced for the Court TV cable channel, and was first broadcast on January 27, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon, Aidan Quinn, (more)
- 2005
Worn to a frazzle by her job at trendy "Glow" magazine, straitlaced J.J. Jenner (Carly Pope) is gratified when her boss offers her the job of writing an important food column--but only if she can finish a decent article within a two-week deadline, which will fall upon Christmas Eve. Impeding J.J.'s potential success is the breakup of her current romance, and especially the unannounced arrival of her freewheeling mother Lee (Christine Baranski), former hippie and lifelong chorus girl. To get her well-meaning but annoying mom out of her hair, and to assure that the food-column job will definitely be hers, J.J. enters into an arrangement with publicity-hungry restaurant owner Alex (Bobby Cannavale), wherein he will date Lee in exchange for a glowing review of his eating establishment. Suffice to say that things don't quite turn out as either J.J. or Alex originally planned. Produced for the Lifetime cable channel,Recipe for a Perfect Christmas debuted December 5, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Rosatti, a New York contractor with mob connections, is found murdered in his own brownstone apartment. At first the killing seems to have been the end result of a botched robbery, but Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) have reason to believe that Rosatti died in a professional hit ordered by the victim's trophy wife Sherri (Gretchen Egolf) and her paramour Tony Darrow (Bobby Cannavale). Just when the noose seems to be tightening around the alleged perpetrators, ADA Southerlyn (Elisabeth Rohm) unearths a startling new piece of evidence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Every second counts. Every detail matters. Every 3-11 p.m. third-watch shift brings a rush of risk, fear, and lives in the balance. From producers John Wells (ER, The West Wing) and Edward Allen Bernero (Criminal Minds) comes this action-packed drama about the brave and dedicated people who serve as police, paramedics, and firefighters. For them, keeping the streets safe and answering cries for help is all in a day's work. The 22-episode debut season of Third Watch rolls out on six discs, capturing all the kinetic intensity of its 1999-2000 debut season. Hit the streets with these professional rescuers -- and experience day-in, day-out heroism at its most exciting and intense.
- Starring:
- Skipp Sudduth, Michael Beach, (more)
John Irvin directed this gripping and effective WWII drama set amid the carnage and slaughter of the Hurtgen Forest battle when the Allies moved on toward Germany in the fall of 1944. Private Manning (Ron Eldard) hopes for a Section 8 switch away from the frontline combat, but when he's the only survivor of his platoon, Captain Pritchett (Martin Donovan) is so impressed he upgrades Manning to sergeant. This irritates Sgt. Talbot (Dylan Bruno) who views Manning as a coward. Manning is put in charge of a group of awkward recruits, including the clumsy Sanderson (Zak Orth), as the Allies prepare to take a key location, a well-defended bridge. Shown at the 1998 Seattle Film Festival, this television production had its HBO premiere on June 27, 1998. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ron Eldard, Zak Orth, (more)
A war of wills takes place between two men who want to run the same grocery store in this offbeat comedy from writer and director Steven Conrad. Doug (Seann William Scott) is a seemingly ordinary guy who works as the assistant manager of a supermarket near Chicago. When the owners of the market announce they're opening a new branch near Doug's neighborhood, he applies to become manager of the new store, and both he and his wife (Jenna Fischer) assume he's a shoo-in to get the job. But Richard (John C. Reilly), a gregarious recent hire at the store who has relocated to Illinois from Canada, announces he's also applying for the management position, and a keen rivalry develops between Doug and Richard even as they strive to act like friends on the surface. As the competition grows between the two, their personality flaws become increasingly evident -- Doug's short temper, Richard's history of drug abuse -- and when Richard's wife (Lili Taylor) leaves him, the contest starts taking an uncomfortable turn. The Promotion also stars Fred Armisen, Gil Bellows, and Bobby Cannavale. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Seann William Scott, John C. Reilly, (more)
Michael Keaton makes his directorial debut in this low-key story of two unlikely kindred spirits. Kate Frazier (Kelly Macdonald) is a sweet woman who has left behind an abusive husband to start her life over in Chicago. Kate lands a job as a receptionist, but one afternoon after leaving work for the day she sees a man with a rifle on the ledge of a nearby building. The man is about to jump, and Kate screams; the noise startles the man, and he falls backward to safety. As it happens, the man with the gun was Frank Logan (Michael Keaton), a hired killer who has a lingering illness and has fallen into a suicidal depression. Kate is questioned by the police about Frank, and police detective Dave Murcheson (Tom Bastounes) quickly becomes infatuated with her after their brief conversation. But Frank seeks out Kate, and they discover they have more in common than they might imagine as two lonely people dealing with a troublesome past. The Merry Gentleman received its world premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Keaton, Kelly MacDonald, (more)
Much of the group responsible for MTV's The State -- including director/actor David Wain and performers Ken Marino, Kerri Kenney-Silver, and Joe Lo Truglio -- reunite for this outrageous, irreverent, and raunchy sketch comedy, which skewers the Ten Commandments. In the framing sequences, comedian Paul Rudd (who collaborated with much of the cast on Wet Hot American Summer and The Baxter) stands on a black stage with giant Biblical tablets projected behind him and promises to deliver ten mini-stories, each loosely based on one of the commandments, from "Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me" through "Thou Shalt Not Covet." For all of the storyteller's efforts, however, he is constantly, comically distracted by interferences, particularly those emanating from intrusions by his multiple girlfriends. The stories are nonetheless told one by one in short-film form, beginning with a sketch in which Stephen (Adam Brody) goes skydiving with his intended, Kelly (Winona Ryder), but forgets to wear his parachute and gets stuck in the mud, waist-deep, which draws gawkers, media, and in time, worshipers. Several of the subsequent stories consist of raunchy, jet-black riffs on sexual perversion, including one about a virginal librarian (Gretchen Mol) entangled in a sultry and messy affair with a Mexican, and another memorable bit about a nutty surgeon who plays a prank by burying a pair of scissors in a patient's stomach and is then sent to prison -- where he experiences brutal sexual abuse at the hands of other men. As an added bonus, the picture packs in a fully animated sequence, narrated by several crack-smokers, entitled "The Lying Rhino." ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Rudd, Famke Janssen, (more)
Actor Justin Theroux (Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Mulholland Dr.) steps behind the camera for his directorial debut with this irreverent romantic comedy. Billy Crudup is Henry, a cynical children's book writer who holds little more than disdain for his pint-sized target audience. Artist Rudy (Tom Wilkinson) is both Henry's illustrator and the only friend in his miserable life. But when Rudy's health fails, Henry unwittingly finds himself paired with a new illustrator, played by Mandy Moore, who proves to be the oil to his water. Dedication also stars Mia Farrow and Bob Balaban. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Crudup, Mandy Moore, (more)
Music video director Brad Furman teams with Josh and Jonas Pate, the creators of the NBC series Surface, for this independent drama tracing an armored truck driver's efforts to track down the thief who shot him during a heist, changing his life forever. John Leguizamo stars as the driver who must endure months of rehabilitation before setting out to track down the gunman, and Tyrese Gibson plays the man responsible for pulling the trigger. Rosie Perez and Bobby Cannavale co-star in a thriller that was shot guerrilla-style in the Latino neighborhoods of Los Angeles. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Leguizamo, Rosie Perez, (more)
A man whose life has been touched by tragic illness is drawn into the life of another victim whose story has an unsettling twist in this drama. Gabriel Noone (Robin Williams) is a radio talk show host who has developed a loyal following for his deeply personal on-air monologues, many of which deal with his relationship with his companion Jess (Bobby Cannavale), who is HIV-positive and struggling with his health. When Jess' condition improves, he surprises Gabriel by announcing he needs his space and has decided to break up with him. Gabriel is shaken and feels creatively blocked until Ashe (Joe Morton), a friend in the publishing business, gives him an advance copy of a memoir by Pete Logand (Rory Culkin), a 14-year-old boy living with AIDS. Pete's book is a harrowing memoir of a childhood fraught with abuse of all sorts meted out at the hands of his parents, and Gabriel is deeply moved by his story. One night, Gabriel gets a phone call from Pete, who claims to be a big fan of his radio show, but the call is cut off by Donna (Toni Collette), Pete's stern and protective stepmother. While Gabriel admires Pete's book, he begins to question its veracity, and with the help of Anna (Sandra Oh) tries to research the facts behind the story. As he uncovers more loose ends, Gabriel begins to suspect that Pete isn't the true author of the work, and that Donna has created his terrible past in the name of literary celebrity. The Night Listener was adapted from the novel by Armistead Maupin. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Toni Collette, (more)
Inspired by author Eric Schlosser's New York Times best-seller of the same name, director Richard Linklater's ensemble drama examines the health issues and social consequences of America's love affair with fast food and features an all-star cast that includes Greg Kinnear, Ethan Hawke, Kris Kristofferson, Patricia Arquette, and Luis Guzman. Mickey's is the most popular fast-food chain in America, and The Big One is the top-selling burger that put them on the map. When the higher-ups at Mickey's corporate offices learn that the frozen meat patties used to make the wildly popular burger have somehow been tainted with contaminated meat, they send marketing executive Don Henderson (Kinnear) on an urgent mission to ensure quality control and find out precisely how their product became compromised. It's a long way from the Southern California boardroom to the immigrant slaughterhouses, though, and the further Henderson works his way through the bustling feedlots and toward the ubiquitous restaurant sites that have become a staple of modern culture, the more he begins to realize just how dangerous convenience can become when it leads to blissfully ignorant complacency. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patricia Arquette, Bobby Cannavale, (more)
A aging Hollywood icon whose fear of failure has smouldered his once-luminous star strikes up an unlikely friendship with an acid tongued checkout clerk while researching his latest role in City of Angels and Moonlight Mile director Brad Siberling's intimate drama. Crippled by his own, all-consuming fears, the man who was once Hollywood's hottest icon (Morgan Freeman) is forced to consider a role in a low-budget independent after a series of more lucrative prospects wither away on the vine. When his driver abandons him during a trip to Carson to research his upcoming role, the one-time showbiz supernova strikes up a lively conversation with Scarlet (Paz Vega), the outspoken check-out girl at a Latino community market. Now, stuck on his own far from Brentwood, the actor must rely upon the kindness of a common stranger to help him get back on his feet. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Morgan Freeman, Paz Vega, (more)
Forget terrorists or hijackers -- there's a handful of deadly assassins aboard a jet liner and they don't even have arms or legs in this airborne thriller. Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson) is an FBI agent handling what seems like a routine assignment -- serving as bodyguard for Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips), a Hawaiian surfer dude who is flying to California to testify in a high-profile criminal trial after witnessing mobster Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson) murdering one of his underlings. However, Flynn's job gets a lot more challenging when he discovers Kim's associates don't want Jones to talk, and have devised a unique way to ensure his silence. A cache of highly dangerous poisonous snakes has been hidden on board the jet, and is released using a timed mechanism once the flight is well underway. The snakes quickly attack several members of the flight crew and are eagerly eying the passengers when Flynn decides its time to get medieval on the reptiles. Also starring Rachel Blanchard, Benjamin McKenzie, and Mark Houghton, Snakes on a Plane was produced under the title of Pacific Air Flight 121, but in several interviews Samuel L. Jackson expressed his enthusiasm for the script's original title, Snakes on a Plane, and the high-concept moniker quickly made the film's title and theme a favorite with bloggers and on Internet fan sites all over the world. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Samuel L. Jackson, Julianna Margulies, (more)
Three loosely interrelated stories of dysfunctional relationships are played for edgy laughs in this dark comedy drama from writer and director Don Roos. An unexpected assignation between stepsiblings Mamie and Charley results in Mamie becoming pregnant, with the child being put up for adoption shortly after birth. Twenty years later, Mamie (Lisa Kudrow) is approached by Nicky (Jesse Bradford), an aspiring filmmaker with an abrasive personality who claims to know where her long-lost son is living. However, there's a catch -- Nicky wants to shoot the reunion for the student film he's working on, and won't tell her about her child unless she agrees, though her lover, Javier (Bobby Cannavale), attempts to work out a compromise. Meanwhile, Charley (Steve Coogan), now out of the closet, has a longstanding relationship with Gil (David Sutcliffe), and the couple are involved in a legal battle over whether or not Gil's donated sperm produced a baby who has been adopted by a lesbian couple they know (Laura Dern and Sarah Clarke). And finally, Jude (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a bohemian malcontent who becomes involved with Otis (Jason Ritter), a sexually ambiguous rock musician. Otis has a difficult relationship with his father, Frank (Tom Arnold), but when Jude meets Frank, she likes him fine -- in fact, she soon falls in love with him and leaves Otis for his dad. Happy Endings had its world premiere at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Arnold, Jesse Bradford, (more)
Actor and filmmaker John Turturro wrote and directed this emotionally resonant blend of music and drama. Nick Murder (James Gandolfini) is an ironworker who has been married for years to Kitty (Susan Sarandon), who works as a seamstress and is the mother of Nick's three daughters. While Nick loves his wife, his head is turned by Tula (Kate Winslet), a sexy salesgirl at a lingerie shop, and soon they're having a passionate affair. When Kitty finds out about Nick's infidelity, she becomes enraged and kicks him out of the house, forcing him to decide what he really wants out of life and what is most important to him. Along the way, many of the characters in the film periodically turn to their favorite songs to explain and amplify their emotions, lip-synching along with the original recordings. Romance & Cigarettes also stars Steve Buscemi, Mandy Moore, Christopher Walken, Eddie Izzard, and Elaine Stritch. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, (more)
