Jason Gedrick Movies
Though Jason Gedrick is primarily a supporting actor, his first role was relatively impressive for a newbie; in 1983, he appeared as an extra in the cast of Bad Boys with Sean Penn, who encouraged Gedrick, then a Chicago high-school student, to further pursue acting. Penn's advice paid off fairly quickly, considering that by 1985, Gedrick had landed leading roles in Iron Eagle, The Zoo Gang, and The Heavenly Kid. In 1988, Gedrick starred as a washed-out basketball player-turned-police officer opposite Meg Ryan and Kiefer Sutherland in Promised Land, and went on to play small roles in Born on the Fourth of July and Backdraft. Between film roles, Gedrick kept busy with stage work, starring with Helen Hunt and Don Ameche in a Broadway production of Our Town, as well as an off-Broadway production of Mrs. Dally Has a Lover with Judith Ivey.Though Gedrick was less successful on the big screen during the mid-'90s, the actor was praised for his television work. In 1996 and 1997, Gedrick starred as a murder defendant in Steven Bochco's Murder One, and later starred opposite Ken Olin and Joe Pantoliano in CBS's critically acclaimed series EZ Streets. Gedrick was also recognized for his work with Danny Aiello and Joe Mantegna in The Last Don and The Last Don II, both six-hour CBS miniseries. Gedrick enjoyed similar success for his lead role in the CBS drama Falcone, which was based on the feature film Donnie Brasco, and would go on to land a lead role alongside Billy Baldwin and Chazz Palminteri in One Eyded King (2002). Gedrick could also be seen in NBC's Boomtown (2002) and the made-for-cable drama A Date With Darkness: The Trial and Capture of Andrew Luster. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- 2003
Literally "torn from today's headlines," this made-for-cable drama recounts the sordid story of Max Factor heir Andrew Luster (here played by Jason Gedrick), who, over a period of several years, used the "date-rape" drug GHB to render several impressionable young woman unconscious, at which point he raped them while a video camera recorded his assaults. Galvanized by Luster's first victim, herein identified only as Connie Doe (Marla Sokoloff), two other girls who had been drugged and ravished by the wealthy predator joined Connie in bringing about legal action against him. Although the girls were forced to relive their horrendous experiences during testimony, their combined efforts so moved the jury that Luster was convicted on 86 criminal charges and sentenced to 124 years in prison. At the time this film went into production, the real-life Luster was fugitive from justice; escaping from house arrest and skipping off to parts unknown, he was tried and convicted in absentia. In June of 2003, one week before filming on A Date With Darkness wrapped, Luster was recaptured in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, by bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman (played in the film by an uncredited stunt man). This necessitated a hasty rewrite of the film's final scenes and an equally hasty refilming (as evidenced by the patently false beard on the face of actor Jason Gedrick). In its final form, A Date With Darkness: The Trial and Capture of Andrew Luster debuted August 11, 2003, on the Lifetime Network; the telecast was followed by an impassioned warning against the dangers of GHB, delivered by the film's co-star, Marla Sokoloff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Gedrick, Marla Sokoloff, (more)
The sons of a Chicago fireman who gave his life in the performance of his duties, firefighting brothers Kurt Russell and William Baldwin carry their lifelong sibling rivalry into their work. Russell is convinced that Baldwin hasn't got what it takes to remain in the fire department. Baldwin is transferred to a "safe" assignment, assisting arson investigator Robert DeNiro, who is trying to make sense of a series of fires involving an oxygen-induced ball of fire called a backdraft. The investigation reveals a link between corrupt alderman J. T. Walsh and imprisoned pyromaniac Donald Sutherland. The trail of evidence leads Baldwin to suspect that his brother Russell, a much-decorated hero, may be the "inside" man setting up the arsons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, (more)
- 2002
The NBC "ensemble" drama series Boomtown was set in contemporary Los Angeles, where crime and punishment was practically a way of life. Each episode featured a different criminal case which, in Rashomon fashion, was related from virtually everybody's point-of-view: the city detectives, the beat cops, the politicians, the ER staff, the media -- and of course, the criminals. Naturally, not everyone saw things in the same way, and this divergence of opinion (and the scriptwriters' avoidance of taking sides) was the heart of the series. The enormous cast of regulars included Neal McDonough as deputy D.A. David McNorris, Gary Basaraba and Jason Gedrick as uniformed officers Ray Heckler and Tom Turcotte, Donnie Wahlberg and Mykelti Williamson as detectives Joel Sears and "Fearless" Bobby Smith, Nina Garbiras as investigative reporter Andrea Little, and Lana Parrilla as paramedic Theresa Ortiz. Bathed in a hauntingly atmospheric Raymond Chandler-esque ambience, Boomtown made its first TV appearance on September 29, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donnie Wahlberg, Mykelti Williamson, (more)
The second of three films by co-writer/director Oliver Stone to explore the effects of the Vietnam War (Platoon and Heaven and Earth are the others), Born On The Fourth Of July tells the true story of Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise), a patriotic, All-American small town athlete who shocks his family by enlisting with the Marines to fight in the Vietnam War. Once he is overseas, however, Kovic's gung-ho enthusiasm turns to horror and confusion when he accidentally kills one of his own men in a firefight. His downfall is furthered by a bullet wound that leaves him paralyzed from the chest down. He returns home, spends an appalling, nightmarish stint in a veterans' hospital, and follows an increasingly disillusioned and fragmented path that ultimately leaves him drunk and dissolute in Mexico. However, Kovic somehow turns himself around and pulls his life together, becoming an outspoken anti-war activist in the process. The film is long but emotionally powerful; many consider it Stone's best work and Cruise's best performance. Both were nominated for Oscars, as was the film itself, but only Stone, who co-wrote the film with Kovic from the latter's book, won for Best Director. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Cruise, Raymond J. Barry, (more)
In this coming-of-age drama, three recent high school graduates from Detroit must make a difficult choice when they are offered a fortune to smuggle hashish from Canada into the US. As they are quickly going nowhere in their grimy suburban town, the three buddies are sorely tempted. Each of them undergoes a major change in their personal lives and they are left with the feeling of having nothing left to lose. Unfortunately, their lark across the border becomes deadly serious when they meet the dealer at an isolated farm and realize that he wants them to smuggle heroin, not hash. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Charles, Jason Gedrick, (more)
- 1995
Devoted to the point of obsession to her brother, Jessica Wells (Jodie Bissett) is completely unhinged by the brother's death. When Jessica becomes schizophrenic, her family must deal with the grim necessity of institutionalizing the girl. Salvation comes from an unexpected source: a new, experimental drug, with which her doctors hope to restore Jessica to normalcy--and to repair her tattered romance with her loyal boyfriend Patrick (Jason Gedrick). Trouble begins when Jessica goes off her medication and transforms into what TV Guide writer Susan Stewart described as a "sexual carnivore." A young Chad Lowe plays a small but pivotal role in the fact-based, made-for-TV Dare to Love, which had its world premiere over ABC on December 17, 1995. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Jason Gedrick and Eric Roberts lead the cast of this thriller about a submarine captain who attempts to hold Washington, D.C. hostage for a billion dollars, and the heroic doctor who struggles to thwart the plan before the situation escalates. On the eve of his retirement Captain Kreig (Roberts) stages a coup d'etat on his ship, the nuclear powered USS Montana, and threatens to lob an ICBM at Washington, D.C. unless the White House pays out a ransom of one billion dollars; little did Captain Kreig realize that not every sailor aboard the USS Montana was willing to go along with the plan. Enter Doc (Gedrick), the submarine's outwardly docile medical specialist. Doc realizes that unless someone aboard the ship manages to diffuse the situation, chances are good that the president (Barry Bostwick) will likely declare it - and everyone aboard - expendable. Now, as the president ponders the prospect of ordering the USS Montana destroyed, it's up to Doc and James Piersall (Chris Warren, Jr.) to take back the ship or die trying. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Gedrick, Eric Roberts, (more)
Robert Tate Miller adapts Lynn Austin's best-selling, Christy Award-winning 2001 novel for the screen in the family-friendly drama Hidden Places. Sydney Penny (All My Children) stars as Eliza Wyatt, a Christian widow and mother of two grappling with a loss of faith, and forced to pull in the harvest before the bank forecloses on her family property. At the end of her rope, Eliza receives some greatly valued assistance from down-and-out military veteran Gabe Harper (Jason Gedrick) and venerable Aunt Batty (The Partridge Family's Shirley Jones). The film thus sings an ode to selfless love, the commitment to family, and the necessity of faith in God and others. Yelena Lanskaya directs this Hallmark Entertainment production. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sydney Penny, Jason Gedrick, (more)
A seat-of-the-pants militia attitude gets a boost from this conventional drama about the heroics of a teen son anxious to free his father from captivity in a small Middle Eastern nation. Doug's (Jason Gedrick) father is an Air Force pilot who was shot down on a mission near the border of an Arab country and is now held hostage. Failing adequate U.S. intervention causes a desperate Doug to enlist his school chums in a wild plan to essentially sneak away with two Air Force jets and take off on a mission to rescue his father. He convinces the veteran Chappy (Louis Gossett, Jr.) into flying one plane, while Doug himself flies another (he learned how to pilot from his father). Yes. If audiences believe all this, then the ending should come as no surprise either. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis Gossett, Jr., Jason Gedrick, (more)
Love brings a shiftless young man in touch with the Lord, which proves more than a bit confusing to his family in this independent comedy drama. Joey Vitello (Vincent Pagano) is a guy in his mid-twenties who still lives with his extended Italian-American family and his trying to get his life in order. One day, Joey unexpectedly crosses paths with Mary O'Callahan (Marley Shelton), a girl who was one of his classmates in grade school. While Mary was homely as a child, she grew into a beautiful woman, and as Joey gets caught up on what she's been doing, he learns Mary survived a bout with cancer and credits her survival to a miracle from God. As Joey becomes deeply infatuated with Mary, he finds himself embracing her spiritual beliefs, but as he tries to share his enthusiasm with his family, they seem more than a bit suspicious, and in time decide that maybe they should be able to have a miracle of their own. Jesus, Mary and Joey also stars Olympia Dukakis, Jennifer Esposito, Tess Harper, and Stacy Keach. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Director Tim Hunter (The River's Edge) and screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi (Casino) join forces for this fact-based crime thriller detailing the downfall of Miami's hottest nightclub. Chris Troiano (Jason Gedrick) owns the trendiest nightclub in all of South Beach; a place where the line always winds down the block and only the most beautiful people make it past the velvet rope. Andy (Donnie Walhberg) is Troiano's right-hand man, and whatever the boss says, goes. Lately, the local law enforcement has been snooping around the club, an unsettling fact that doesn't set well with the steroid shooting club owner. The cops know that Troiano is crooked, and it's only a matter of time before he slips. When he does, the storm that follows will blow in from a direction Troiano never anticipated. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Starting out as a story of the immediate perils of three couples intent on finding refuge in the countryside after nuclear war has broken out in the Gulf of Oman, the action and pace of this apparent thriller quickly succumb to roughly-drawn caricatures and the rest of the film takes a tumble. As the couples leave for their house far from the city, they worry about their children who have been delayed because of van trouble -- but their worries are nothing compared to the difficulties in store from the mean survivalist leader (Peter Donat). ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Bower, Karlene Crockett, (more)
The debut feature from television producer Robert Moresco, One Eyed King is an ensemble crime drama detailing the trials and tribulations of several characters living together in the same Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. Starring Armand Assante, William Baldwin, Jim Breuer, Bruno Kirby, Chazz Palminteri, and Jason Gedrick, the film had its premiere at the 2001 Boston Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Baldwin, Armand Assante, (more)
- 1996
- R
An LA radio talk show host with a night call-in program finds his rating soar after a psychopathic killer becomes a regular caller in this low-budget thriller. Dee jay Karlin Pickett is known for being a wild and crazy guy. He is first seen working in Phoenix. He picks up a girl in a bar and shortly thereafter, she is killed. This is naturally upsetting to Pickett who then moves to LA to take a better job. Soon the antics of himself and his new side-kick Jon catch fire and they become one of the most popular shows around. Then the killer calls and announces that he has killed the woman he just slept with. No one but Detective Dimotto takes it very seriously; it is just good for ratings. When another woman dies, Dimotto moves in and solves the case, something perceptive viewers will have done long before the story's grand finale. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Roberts, Jason Gedrick, (more)
Three friends face the disappointments of adulthood in this drama. Growing up in Ashville, Utah, a small town where traditional ideals still cling stubbornly to the hearts and minds of youth, Davey Hancock (Jason Gedrick) is the star of the high school's championship basketball team. Pretty cheerleader Mary Daley (Tracy Pollan) is Davey's girlfriend, and bright Danny Rivers (Kiefer Sutherland) is his best friend. Two years after graduating from high school, reality has dimmed their dreams; while Davey won a college scholarship to play ball, he washed out of the team and ended up back in Ashville, where he's now a police officer. While Davey still sees Mary, she wants more out of life than Ashville or her relationship with him can give her. And when Danny, who has spent much of his time since high school drifting in search of an ambition, returns to town to visit Davey and Mary, he brings along a surprise -- Bev (Meg Ryan), a drug-addled floozy with an unstable personality (and a gun) whom he married in Las Vegas three days earlier. Promised Land was also released on home video under the title Young Hearts. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Gedrick, Kiefer Sutherland, (more)
Ray (Ken Olin) is a young adult and has a girlfriend whom he lives with quite happily. However, the agreed-upon date of their marriage is coming up, and he's not quite sure he wants to make that kind of commitment. His buddies Dennis, Elliot, and Vinny have their own commitment problems. Dennis (Kevin Bacon) isn't sure he wants to stay away from his buddies long enough to get his music career going in Hollywood; Elliot (John Malkovich) knows that he's homosexual but thinks that being gay means fitting all sorts of ugly stereotypes -- stereotypes he is determined to avoid at all costs; and Vinny (Tony Spiridakis) commits himself all too frequently and often to the nearest desirable female. Meanwhile, cousin Al (Joe Mantegna) is in trouble with his wife, and only the intervention of a well-intentioned psychotic (Jamie Lee Curtis) can put him back on the right track. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Bacon, Linda Fiorentino, (more)
- 1989
- R
Set in the Manhattan street milieu that served him well in West Side Story, Robert Wise’s Rooftops tells the story of T, a quiet, soft-spoken teen-ager who has left his broken home and is living in a makeshift shelter in an old water tower on top of an abandoned tenement building. There are other kids like him, including Squeak, a talented graffiti artist who joins T after an altercation involving his mother’s boy friend. T and Squeak manage to scrape together what little money they need through minor sins (stripping cars, etc.), and at night all these street inhabitants get together in a vacant lot to “combat” dance, in which they use a combination of karate and dancing to force an opponent off of a platform. Into this mix comes Lobo, a drug dealer who moves into T’s building and turns it into a crack house. Lobo’s beautiful cousin Elana serves as his lookout – not because she wants to, but because her father’s heart attack has left her family in dire financial straits. T and Elana become interested in each other, but T and Lobo are at odds with each other – which fact leads to a showdown in which T must put his “combat” skills to good use. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Gedrick, Troy Beyer, (more)
The dangers of fighting in Afghanistan have been well documented by the news, but this sci-fi/horror film presents a new threat for American soldiers: man-sized sand snakes. In hiding since prehistoric times, these giant creatures swarm the country's tunnels and give Lieutenant Stanley (Jason Gedrick) a new enemy to face. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Gedrick
A woman must look past her personal misfortune to uncover a greater tragedy in this thriller. Helen (Lorraine Bracco) is a journalist who is expecting a baby. While working on a story about a police detective (Margot Kidder), Helen is involved in an accident; though she's rushed to the hospital, she is informed upon regaining consciousness that she miscarried. The details don't all add up in Helen's mind, however, and after doing some digging, she suspects that her baby actually survived and was stolen by a black-market adoption ring that sells infants to the highest bidder. John Heard, Jason Gedrick, and R.H. Thomson co-star. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorraine Bracco, Margot Kidder, (more)
- 1987
- PG
Stacking stars Megan Follows as a Montana teenager struggling to keep her family's farm together. The time is the 1950s, when rural 14-year-olds were supposed to be seen and not heard. But Follows intends to be seen and heard, and in so doing finds several strong adult allies. The film has been unfavorably compared to the strikingly similar theatrical feature Desert Bloom; while it's true that this takes forever to get started, it is saved by the powerful performances of Follows, Frederic Forrest, Christine Lahti, Peter Coyote and James Gammon. Completed in 1987, Stacking (the title refers to the bundling of crops) received its widest exposure when it aired February 15, 1989, over PBS' American Playhouse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christine Lahti, Frederic Forrest, (more)
- 1992
- PG
- Add Still Life: The Fine Art of Murder to QueueAdd Still Life: The Fine Art of Murder to top of Queue
An avant-garde painter uses his recently killed victims to reenact famous paintings and finds himself a hit with the art world. No one knows who he is as he only signs his "work" AK for artistic killer. Hot on his trail is a television reporter who lives with a pianist and a performance artist in a loft. Peter, the pianist, is practicing one day when he is mugged by two AK wannabes who place him alive in a giant frame. Later Peter finds himself framed for real when AK starts leaving clues that make it look like the piano player committed the crimes. Things get worse when the cops find an unconscious Peter beside the two corpses of his muggers. Suddenly Nellie, the TV reporter disappears. After that things begin happening very quickly until the killer meets final justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This blend of sports and youthful romantic comedy is from director Michael Tollin, who previously produced the sports drama Varsity Blues (1999). Freddie Prinze Jr. stars as Ryan Dunne, a ballplayer who's spending the summer as a pitcher for the famed, highly prestigious Cape Cod League, a non-professional farm team that has turned out numerous baseball legends. Ryan's under special pressure on a number of fronts. He's the first local boy to earn a slot in the league in years, and his blue-collar status earns him the enmity of a hot-shot college teammate, Eric Van Leemer (Corey Pearson). Although he's backed up by his best friend and team catcher Billy Brubaker (Matthew Lillard), Ryan adds more stress to his life by embarking on an affair with a beautiful, wealthy young Vassar graduate, Tenley Parrish (Jessica Biel), who's spending the summer on the Cape with her parents. Tenley is facing her own crisis as her father (Bruce Davison) pressures her to move to San Francisco and work with her uncle, though she'd rather remain in the East and become an architect. Summer Catch is the third onscreen teaming of Prinze and Lillard, and also stars Brian Dennehy, Wilmer Valderrama, Jason Gedrick, Fred Ward, and Brittany Murphy. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Freddie Prinze, Jr., Jessica Biel, (more)
A materialistic businessman learns the value of giving in this family film from the Hallmark Channel. Based on a true story, the inspirational drama follows workaholic Peter Andrews (Jason Gedrick) as he attempts to redeem his self-serving ways by volunteering to start a Christmas choir at a homeless shelter run by a tough-talking nun, Sister Agatha (Rhea Perlman). ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Gedrick, Tyrone Benskin, (more)
