Chris Dorr Movies

Money and power bring major corruption to the world's energy marketplace in this taut political drama. After a long war between the United States and a coalition of Middle Eastern nations leads to a gap in the flow of multinational oil trading, the price of gasoline in America shoots past six dollars a gallon and both the energy industry and the stock market are walking on thin ice. In the midst of this instability, Tom Hansen (Christian Slater), a leading advisor at of one Wall Street's top firms, is looking to hire new talent to help with his latest client, Condor Oil and Gas. Condor's CEO, Jared Tolson (Robert Loggia) used to employ Tom's best friend until the younger man died in a mysterious accident, and Tom is eager to do what he can for Jared. Tom hires Abbey Gallagher (Selma Blair) to assist with the Condor account; Abbey is a passionate environmental activist who is wary of associating herself with a major energy firm, but her mentor Prof. Roseman (John Heard) persuades her she can be an advocate for green concerns on the inside. As Tom and Abbey spend more time together, they become romantically drawn to one another, but Tom's love for her puts Abbey in great danger when she finds out what he knows about illegal oil trading operations and money laundering schemes that link Condor with the Russian Mafia. The Deal also stars Colm Feore, Angie Harmon, and Françoise Yip. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

David Dobkin made his feature directorial debut with this comedy thriller about an ordinary guy mistakenly viewed as a serial killer by the FBI. In small-town Mercer, Montana (population 1,536), easy-going gas station attendant Clay Bidwell (Joaquin Phoenix) endures a comical nightmare that gets underway when Clay's best buddy Earl (Gregory Sporleder) learns Clay slept with Earl's wife Amanda (Georgina Cates). Earl commits suicide as a horrified Clay watches. Amanda would rather see Clay in prison than have the local gossipers chatting about their affair, so to cover-up, Clay puts Earl's body into a faked auto accident. Clay then finds comfort with waitress Gloria (Nikki Arlyn), but Amanda kills Gloria, leaving Clay to dispose of another body. At the local bar, Clay is befriended by trucker Lester Long (Vince Vaughn), and they go fishing, hooking a corpse. Lester asks Clay to tell the cops he found it alone. The next victim is Amanda, stabbed 40 times. Clay tries to explain what's going on to the law -- Sheriff Mooney (Scott Wilson) and FBI agents Dale Shelby (Janeane Garofalo) and Reynard (Phil Morris) -- but he becomes the main suspect and is arrested, while serial killer Lester is on the loose. Clay manages an escape from jail and goes in search of Lester. David Dobkin, a Ridley Scott protégé, is an award-winning director of music videos (including the Coolio clips that won MTV's "Best Dance Video of 1996") and commercials, many helmed under the auspices of Ridley and Tony Scott's production companies. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi