Richard Gere
Richard Gere, Jodie Foster, and Sally Field host this documentary TV series with clips from movies cited in the American Film Institute's controversial 100 Greatest Films special (aired June 16, 1998 on CBS). The AFI list irritated numerous movie buffs, film academics, and cinema critics, who noted the omission of Buster Keaton, Preston Sturges, King Vidor, Ernst Lubitsch and other top talents. The opening hour-long installment, "Against the Grain," skips lightly over any historical context while honoring American movie heroes with clips from Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Easy Rider (1969), the Oscar-winning To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and other classics. The series' second episode, "Beyond the Law," focuses on American film noir and crime movies -- from Billy Wilder's grim Double Indemnity (1944) to Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994). Interviews include Capra, Fred Zinnemann, Milos Forman, and the 88-year-old Elia Kazan. The series premiered June 23, 1998 on TNT. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
In this episode of AFI's 100 Years. . .100 movies, viewers look at American film's treatment of crime, including a loving investigation of that most American of genres, film noir. From Double Indemnity to Pulp Fiction many of the classic films of the genre are investigated. This is the second episode in the AFI's 100 Years. . .100 Movies series. ~ Rob Ferrier, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere
In this episode of AFI's 100 Years. . .100 movies, viewers look at those films concerned with people and forces that spin wildly beyond what anyone would call normal. Films examined include Sunset Boulevard, King Kong, Psycho, Jaws, and many more. Other titles in the AFI series include Beyond the Law and Family Portraits ~ Rob Ferrier, All Movie Guide
In this episode of AFI's 100 Years. . .100 movies, viewers examine Hollywood's take on war. Films looked at include Lawrence of Arabia, Patton, Apocalypse Now, Dr. Strangelove, and many others. Other titles in the AFI series include Beyond the Law and Family Portraits ~ Rob Ferrier, All Movie Guide
Hilary Swank and Richard Gere star in director Mira Nair's biopic tracing the life of famed aviator Amelia Earhart -- who made history in 1932 by becoming the first woman ever to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Five years later, as Earhart attempted to fly around the world, the pilot and her plane simply vanished after crashing into the Pacific Ocean. Virginia Madsen and Ewan McGregor co-star in the Avalon Pictures production. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, (more)
A slick Los Angeles callboy finds love and redemption in Paul Schrader's ultra-stylish drama. High-living prostitute Julian Kay (Richard Gere, stepping in for John Travolta) has it all: the Mercedes, the clothes, access to Beverly Hills' swankiest establishments, and a stable of rich, older female clients. But it all falls apart after he does a favor for his former pimp (Bill Duke) and the trick turns up dead a short while later; Julian's actual client won't give him an alibi, and police detective Sunday (Hector Elizondo) doesn't believe the gigolo's denials. The one person who can help him is frustrated politician's wife (and sole non-paying bedmate) Michelle (Lauren Hutton), if only Julian could let down his defenses and accept her gesture of love. Mixing his admiration for European art cinema with a voyeuristic view of the seamier side of sex and affluence, Schrader renders Julian an inscrutable, emotionally disengaged purveyor of pleasure, decked out in Giorgio Armani clothes coordinated with Ferdinando Scarfiotti's meticulous production design. Amid critical doubts about its artiness and distanced eroticism, American Gigolo surprised everyone by not dying on the box office vine. With some audiences reportedly showing up for repeat viewings of Gere's seductive charms, it became a moderate hit, turning Gere into a star and Armani into the new fashion sensation. Whatever reservations one may have about the movie, it provided two indelible images of 1980s decadence to come: Gere's perusing his "artist's palette" of shirts, ties, and jackets, and Gere's cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway in his convertible to the New Wave strains of Blondie's "Call Me". ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton, (more)
Richard Gere plays Zack Mayo, an aloof, taciturn man who aspires to be a navy pilot. Once he's arrived at training camp for his 13-week officer's course, Mayo runs afoul of abrasive, no-nonsense drill sergeant Emil Foley (Louis Gossett Jr.). Mayo --or "Mayonnaise," as he is dubbed by the irascible Foley -- is an excellent cadet, but a little cold around the heart. Foley rides Mayo mercilessly, sensing that the young man would be prime officer material if he weren't so self-involved. Zack's affair with working girl Paula Pokrifi (Debra Winger) is likewise compromised by his unwillingness to give of himself. Only after Mayo's best friend Sid Worsley (David Keith) commits suicide over an unhappy romance does Zack come out of his shell and mature into a real human being. Take away the R-rated dialogue and the sex scenes, and Officer and a Gentleman could have been a 1937 MGM flick, maybe with Robert Taylor as Zack, Wallace Beery as Foley, and Jimmy Stewart as Sid. An Officer and a Gentleman was nominated for 7 Oscars, with wins to Gossett and to the hit song "Up Where We Belong." The closing scene has surely become a classic of movie romance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Debra Winger, (more)
The late journalist Randy Shilts' best-selling book on the burgeoning AIDS crisis was adapted for cable TV by Arnold Schulman. In 1981, researchers begin discerning a mysterious new disease that apparently affects only homosexual males (or so they thought at that time). Working independently, and with marked hostility toward one another, an American and a French research team manage to identify and name the dreaded HIV virus. The long-range effects of AIDS is experienced through the first- and secondhand experiences of several unfortunates, including a choreographer (Richard Gere) whose character is said to be based on Michael Bennett. The all-star cast (most of whom eschewed their usual high salaries) includes Lily Tomlin as San Francisco health official Selma Dritz, Matthew Modine as Centers for Disease Control researcher Don Francis, Alan Alda as NIH official Robert Gallo (who emerges as the villain of the piece), Ian McKellan as gay activist Bill Kraus, and Glenne Headley, Steve Martin and Anjelica Huston in cameo roles. And the Band Played On debuted September 11, 1993, on HBO. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
An man gets an unexpected lesson in love and life from a much younger woman in this romantic drama. Will Keane (Richard Gere) is a wealthy 50-year-old restaurant tycoon who has a knack for wooing beautiful women, but is unable to commit to a lasting relationship. On day Will meets a beautiful woman in her early-20s named Charlotte Fielding (Winona Ryder); he turns on the charm in an effort to impress her, and soon the two are having an affair. But what Will thought would be a brief, casual fling proves to have far deeper repercussions when he learns that Charlotte is suffering from a serious illness and does not have long to live. Autumn in New York was directed by actress-turned-filmmaker Joan Chen and co-stars Anthony LaPaglia, Elaine Stritch, and Jillian Hennessy. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Winona Ryder, (more)
In this WWII-era drama, Jan-Michael Vincent plays Marion Hedgepeth, a young Marine who fails out of a boot camp in 1943 and gets sent home wearing a baby blue suit to symbolize shame and dishonor. In Los Angeles, he runs into a veteran who -- eager to be discharged -- k.o.'s him and switches their uniforms. When Marion regains consciousness, he's clad in a hero's uniform. He begins hitching his way toward his home in St. Louis, dreading the prospect of confessing to his folks, but stops for a time in a small town where he's mistaken for a hero and immediately falls in love with a waitress, Rose (Glynnis O'Connor). Meanwhile, as the truth threatens to emerge and bring disgrace raining down onto his head, several residents of a Japanese internment camp escape. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jan-Michael Vincent, Glynnis O'Connor, (more)
Adapted from the novel by Myla Goldberg, Bee Season tells the story of a family whose turmoil is brought to the surface by a young girl's unexpected talent. Eleven-year-old Eliza (Flora Cross) is the invisible element of her family unit -- her mother and father (played by Juliette Binoche and Richard Gere) are both consumed with work and busy avoiding their faltering marriage. Her brother, praised for musical genius, is wrapped up in his own adolescent life. Eliza ignites not only a spark that makes her visible but one that sets into motion a revolution in her family dynamic when she wins a spelling bee. Finding an emotional outlet in the power of words and in the spiritual mysticism that he sees at work in her unparalleled gift, Eliza's father pours all of his energy into helping his daughter become spelling bee champion, further distancing himself from his wife and son. A religious studies professor, he sees the opportunity as not only a distraction from his life but as an answer to his own crisis of faith. His vicarious path to God, real or imagined, leads to an obsession with Eliza's success and he begins teaching her secrets of the Kabbalah. Now preparing for the National Spelling Bee, and with her family spreading further and further into four separate directions, Eliza looks on as a new secret of her family's hidden turmoil seems to be revealed with each new word she spells. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Juliette Binoche, (more)
John Mackenzie directed this schematic adaptation of Graham Greene's best-selling thriller The Honorary Consul. Richard Gere stars as Dr. Eduardo Plarr, a brilliant doctor who has chosen to practice in the provinces rather than the teeming city of Buenos Aires because his father remains a political prisoner in Paraguay. As the story begins, Plarr is awaiting word from his father after years of silence. One day Leon (Joaquim de Almeida), an old childhood friend, contacts him. Leon was a priest who had left the church and is now working for the Paraguayan underground. Leon blackmails Plarr into obtaining information on an upcoming visit to the province by the United States Ambassador. Leon's plan is to kidnap the ambassador and hold him for ransom in order to obtain the release of Paraguayan political prisoners -- including Plarr's father. The source for the information is an alcoholic has-been, Charley Fortnum (Michael Caine), the province's honorary British counsel, whose wife Clara (Elpidia Carrillo) also happens to be Plarr's mistress. When the kidnapping goes wrong, Plarr is forced to re-examine his relationship with Clara and with Charley, whose betrayal by Plarr has put Charley's life in jeopardy. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Richard Gere, (more)
Older brother Chubby (Paul Sorvino) is a combative, booze-swilling, rough-edged construction worker, following in the footsteps of his brother Tommy (Tony Lo Bianco). Macho in the extreme, these fellows have no time for the sensitive moral quandaries which are at the heart of the two younger brothers' lives. Stony (Richard Gere), has worked with his father in the construction business, but longs to work with children. Albert (Michael Hershewe), the youngest, is a sensitive lad, the butt of his father and oldest brother's rough manner, and is constantly being harassed by his stressed-out mother (Lelia Goldoni). After a few attempts to communicate with his insensitive older brother and his parents, Stony must decide for himself if the rejection he will experience from his family on leaving the construction business is worth it; and if it is, what can be done to protect his younger brother from the rest of the family? ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
A botched attempt to remake Jean-Luc Godard's classic nouvelle vague entry, Á Bout de souffle, Breathless follows Jesse (Richard Gere), a fugitive wanted for the murder of a police officer. In the course of his flight from the law, he hitches up with a beautiful French college student (the stunning Valerie Kaprisky), and together the two attempt to escape to Mexico. From start to finish, Breathless places style over substance; the film is almost insufferably hip, although its hipness now seems more dated than a time capsule. More attention seems paid to wardrobe, set design and soundtrack than anything else, yet it lacks any of the stark visual impact the original managed to achieve. Gere is passable as the sociopathic killer (although he relies on shirtlessness to carry him through much of the film), but Kaprisky, though beautiful, demonstrates limited acting range. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Valérie Kaprisky, (more)
Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, and Ethan Hawke star in this cop drama from director Antoine Fuqua and Millennium Films. The story surrounds three Brooklyn cops from varying sides of the force who unknowingly converge together at a hot crime spot. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, (more)
A starry-eyed would-be star discovers just how far the notion that "there's no such thing as bad publicity" can go in this screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Chicago, originally directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse. In the mid-'20s, Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) is a small-time chorus dancer married to a well-meaning dunderhead named Amos (John C. Reilly). Roxie is having an affair on the side with Fred Casley (Dominic West), a smooth talker who insists he can make her a star. However, Fred strings Roxie along a bit too far for his own good, and when she realizes that his promises are empty, she becomes enraged and murders Fred in cold blood. Roxie soon finds herself behind bars alongside Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a sexy vaudeville star who used to perform with her sister until Velma discovered that her sister had been sleeping with her husband. Velma shot them both dead, and, after scheming prison matron "Mama" Morton hooks Velma up with hotshot lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), Velma becomes the new Queen of the scandal sheets. Roxie is just shrewd enough to realize that her poor fortune could also bring her fame, so she convinces Amos to also hire Flynn. Soon Flynn is splashing Roxie's story -- or, more accurately, a highly melodramatic revision of Roxie's story -- all over the gutter press, and Roxy and Velma are soon battling neck-to-neck over who can win greater fame through the headlines. A project that had been moving from studio to studio since the musical opened on Broadway in 1973, Chicago also features guest appearances by Lucy Liu and Christine Baranski. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger, (more)
Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven, the long-awaited follow-up to his 1973 debut Badlands, confirmed his reputation as a visual poet and narrative iconoclast with a story of love and murder told through the jaded voice of a child and expressive images of nature. In 1916, Chicago steelworker Bill (Richard Gere, stepping in for John Travolta) flees to Texas with his little sister Linda (Linda Manz) and girlfriend Abby (Brooke Adams) after fatally erupting at his boss. Along with other itinerant laborers, they work the harvest at a wealthy, ailing farmer's ranch, but the farmer (playwright Sam Shepard) falls in love with Abby, and, believing her to be Bill's sister, asks the three to stay on at his elysian spread. Seeing it as his one real chance to escape perpetual poverty, Bill urges Abby to marry the sick man. Marriage, however, has more restorative powers, and the farmer has more magnetism, than Bill had planned. "Nobody's perfect," Linda impassively observes in one of her many voiceovers, after their brief paradise is erased by plagues of locusts, fire, and lethal jealousy. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, (more)
Director Robert Altman reteams with Cookie's Fortune scribe Anne Rapp for this tale of a Dallas gynecologist and the parade of anxious patients, haggard family members, and potential love interests who come his way. Richard Gere plays the titular role of Dr. Sullivan Travis, a calm, successful, and much sought-after ob-gyn who witnesses his normally stable life come apart over the course of one rainy autumn. As the film opens, Dr. T and his wife Kate (Farrah Fawcett) are preparing for the wedding of their Dallas Cowboys cheerleader daughter Dee Dee (Kate Hudson). Their other daughter -- the Kennedy-assassination conspiracy theorist Connie (Tara Reid) -- has her doubts about the impending nuptials, but Dr. T chalks them up to routine sibling jealousy. Meanwhile, escaping a messy divorce, boozy sister-in-law Peggy (Laura Dern) moves into the Travis household with her three toddler daughters in tow. For release, Dr. T finds solace target shooting and golfing (occasionally at the same time) with his buddies, and at his country club, he meets a beguiling golf pro, Bree (Helen Hunt). When the childlike Kate loses her grip on reality during a flatware shopping spree, Bree offers to give the kindly doctor some lessons in his swing -- both on and off the fairways. Dr. T had its North American Premiere at the 2000 Toronto International Film Fest. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Helen Hunt, (more)
A Tibetan-American filmmaker seeking to capture the tales of former political prisoners on film is drawn into the plight of Tibet's exile community in this drama from filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam. Though she currently hails from New Your City, Karma (Tenzin Chokyi Gyatso) is one-hundred-percent Tibetan by blood. Upon arriving at the Indian border town of Dharamsala that is currently occupied by a number of Tibetan exiles, Karma makes the acquaintance of ex-monk Dhondup (Jampa Kalsang), who has fled from Tibet after fighting against the government. Soon embarking on a journey with Dhondup to seek out the missing Loga (Phuntsok Namgyal Dhumkhang) and deliver to him a treasured charm box, Karma finds herself immersed in Tibetan Buddhist culture and forming a close bond with a handsome young Tibetan adventurer named Jigme (Tenzin Jigme). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jampa Kalsang, Tenzin Chokyi Gyatso, (more)
- Starring:
- Richard Gere
Filmmakers Phillip B. Kunhardt III, Nancy Steiner, and Peter W. Kunhardt explore the eternal struggle for liberty in America while simultaneously illuminating the hypocritical underlying factors that undermined the colonist's bold "experiment in freedom," in a revealing documentary featuring the voices of Brad Pitt, Martin Sheen, Michael Caine, Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins , Meryl Streep, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Robert Redford and many more. As the newly arrived British subjects staged the revolution that would cut loose their ties to Great Britain and give birth to a new era of freedom, a new hope for liberty emerged - but how then does one justify the presence of slavery in a society founded on the claim of all men being "created equal?" A blight on the quest for liberty and freedom that literally divided a struggling young nation right down the middle, slavery would be the last true obstacle in ensuring that the land of the free would truly live up to the ideals set forth by the founding fathers. As the north and the south set the stage for a bloody four-year war that would go down in history as one of the most brutal internal struggles ever waged, the resulting Civil War showed the willingness of Americans to actually stand up and fight to protect the rights of others as stated in the Constitution. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
In Final Analysis, Richard Gere stars as Isaac Barr, a San Francisco psychiatrist whose alluring patient Diana Baylor (Uma Thurman) is being treated for traumatic memories. In order to find out more about her trauma, Diana suggests that Isaac speak to her sister and question her about what went on between them in the past. But when Isaac sets eyes on Diana's sister Heather (Kim Basinger), they become involved in a torrid and steamy sex affair. Unfortunately, Heather is married to psychotic sadist Jimmy Evans (Eric Roberts). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Kim Basinger, (more)
The tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is always ripe for retelling. In this rendition, the sexy Richard Gere is Sir Lancelot, threatening to supersede the aging King Arthur (Sean Connery) by winning the love of his young wife Guinivere (Julia Ormond). This update of the age-old legend succeeds on the strength of Gere's happy-go-lucky sex appeal, Ormond's gorgeous period costuming, and Connery's unbeatable wry nobility. The script focuses on the triangle of the three principals: the older man's reluctance to relinquish his love and power to the younger man destined to supplant him; the young woman torn between her loyalty to her aged husband and her love for his rival; the young man balancing the demands of loyalty to his sovereign with the rewards of true love. This beautiful production forgoes the legend's usual elements of magic and fantasy, leaving Merlin the Magician completely out of the picture. ~ Laura Abraham, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Richard Gere, (more)
Based on the 1987 Japanese film Hachiko Monogatari, as well as on a true story, Hachiko: A Dog's Story stars Richard Gere as a college professor who finds an abandoned dog and takes the poor lost animal in. The film follows the two as the man and animal soon form a strong and unexplainable bond. Joan Allen co-stars in the Inferno Entertainment production. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Joan Allen, (more)























