George Gerdes Movies

Garret Williams made his directorial debut with this tale of an urban black couple trapped in a desert town of rednecks. Byron (Terrence Howard) and Nina (Nicole Ari Parker) are driving a BMW from Chicago to L.A. when they experience a back-road breakdown. Teen Mooney (Brendan Sexton III) tows them to a white-trailer-trash town where they're charged $500 for repairs. When the BMW dies again, they stay overnight in a motel, and the situation soon gets grim. The characters in this low-budgeter were first introduced in a 1996 short. Spark was shown at 1998 film festivals (Sundance, Berlin). ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Suffering from a toothache, Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) ends up trying to talk a distraught dentist (Raymond Singer) out of committing suicide. LaSalle (Wendy Makkena) is given her first assignment: track down a rapist, whose latest victim is far from cooperative. Prostitute Lois (Shannon Cochran), who was instrumental in nailing Giardella, again touches base with Sipowicz. Janice's (Amy Brenneman) new partner, Roy (John Wesley Shipp), is interested in her, but not in the way one might think. And the unit is faced with the likelihood that a cross-dressing killer is at large. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This arty slice-of-life film looks in on the daily travails of a self-proclaimed drug addict, his pusher, and an unemployed deadbeat. The artist is feeling terribly sorry for himself after his girl friend catches him in bed with another. Later the jilted girl friend calls the cops and rats on the drug dealer. This causes a big fight between the two friends. The dealer ends up dead and the artist takes off only to meet final justice at the business end of a policeman's pistol. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A 15-year-old cheerleader named Angel (Shannon Doherty) falls for Tony, a dope-smoking, leather-clad punk (Antonio Sabato Jr.). He robs two stores, making her a local pariah. Her family moves to Bakersfield to make a new beginning, and she falls in love with a local jock. But Tony breaks out of jail, kills a cop and comes hunting for her. ~ Brian Gusse, Rovi

The boiling point is mighty low in this tepid action programmer. Wesley Snipes plays Jimmy Mercer, a Treasury agent whose sting operation goes bad. Engineered by Ronnie (Viggo Mortensen), a dull-witted but sadistic ex-con, the operation not only fails, but one of Jimmy's colleagues is killed by Ronnie in the process. As punishment, Jimmy is exiled to Newark, where he is given seven days to find the man responsible for the death of the officer. Meanwhile, slimy con-man Red (Dennis Hopper) has Ronnie deceived into thinking that Mercer is a big-time crook with influential connections. Red does this to enlist Ronnie's aid to participate in a third-rate crime spree. When Ronnie and Red begin their two-man crime wave, Jimmy is in relentless pursuit behind them. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

This little-known Robert DeNiro film is set several years after the war in Vietnam. DeNiro plays an unpredictably explosive war veteran, while Ed Harris co-stars as his army buddy, who's trying his best to forget his Vietnamese experiences by crawling into a bottle. While visiting Harris and Harris' sister Kathy Baker, DeNiro frightens both with his neurotic ramblings. Still, Baker is grateful that DeNiro's presence seems to be lifting Harris out of his deep funk. She encourages DeNiro to stay on for a while, thereby setting the stage for a blossoming romance. Baker has no way of knowing that Harris' depression has been brought about by the death of a wartime pal--a death he blames on DeNiro. Violence threatens to erupt at every turn in Jacknife, but the film refuses to play down to its audience by wallowing in the obvious. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A woman discovers that a part of her family history may be more complicated -- and more famous -- than she ever imagined in this comedy. Thirtysomething Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston), who has spent most of her adult life in New York City, is flying home to California with her long time boyfriend, Jeff Daly (Mark Ruffalo), for the wedding of her annoyingly perky younger sister, Annie (Mena Suvari). While Sarah and Jeff have recently announced they're engaged to be married, Sarah has been having second thoughts, and she isn't excited about the prospect of spending time with the family where she's always felt like the odd duck. As Sarah tries to decide what she should do with her personal and professional lives, she turns to her sharp-tongued and still youthful grandmother, Katharine (Shirley MacLaine), for advice, and Katharine shares a little-known bit of family history -- that Sarah's now-deceased mother left her father, Earl (Richard Jenkins), a few days before their wedding and ran off with another man for several days before coming back and marrying Earl. However, after hearing this Sarah is also treated to some long-simmering local gossip about a young man who ran off with a bride-to-be after he was seduced by her mother...and that the story became the basis for the hit movie The Graduate. Sarah begins to wonder, was Katharine the real-life Mrs. Robinson of this story? And if it's true, who was the man who had affairs with Sarah's mother and grandmother? Was it dashing and wealthy family friend Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner), who has also turned Sarah's head? Rumor Has It... was produced from an original screenplay by Ted Griffin; Griffin was originally set to direct the film, but shortly after production began he was replaced, with Rob Reiner taking over the project. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A rousing Disney dog-sled adventure based on a real life event -- a 522-mile dog-sled race between Winnipeg, Canada and St. Paul, Minnesota that occurred in 1917. When his father is accidentally killed, South Dakota farmboy Will Stoneman (Mackenzie Astin) decides to enter the dog-sled race in order to save his family from financial ruin. His mother (Penelope Windust) wants Will to use part of the prospective $10,000 race winnings for college, but Will just wants to save the farm. With the help of Indian handyman Ned Dodd (August Schellenberg), Will begins to train for the race. But the rich mogul underwriting the race, J.P. Harper (David Ogden Stiers), doesn't want Will to enter, thinking the competition too arduous and too dangerous for such a young boy. To Will's aid comes yellow journalist Harry Kingsley (Kevin Spacey), who convinces Harper to permit Will to enter the race. But Harry also has his own agenda -- he sees a great story in Will and thinks it will sell newspapers and advance his journalistic career. With his father's best dog Gus at the head of his dog team, Will is ready and determined to win the race. But Will discovers that winning the race is only half his battle. Dealing with the petty and malevolent human beings involved in the race -- in particular, the egotistical Scandinavian champion Borg Guillarson (George Gerdes) and the wealthy gambler Angus McTeague (Brian Cox) -- prove to be as much of a challenge to his mettle than any natural obstacles Will might encounter. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi