Bruce Greenwood Movies
Canadian character actor Bruce Greenwood spent the 1970s working in regional Vancouver theater, and appeared in many Canadian TV shows during the '80s. His first American film was a walk-on role in Rambo: First Blood. In the U.S., he fared much better with television pilots, miniseries, and made-for-TV movies. His first big role was Dr. Seth Griffin on St. Elsewhere from 1986-1988. Other TV projects included The FBI Murders, The Servants of Twilight, and Summer Dreams: The Story of the Beach Boys. By the '90s, he had found a home for himself on television. Greenwood played Pierce Lawson in 1991 on the evening soap opera Knots Landing, earned a Gemini (the Canadian Emmy) nomination for The Little Kidnappers, and then took home an award for his role in Road to Avonlea. He also starred as Thomas Veil on the UPN dramatic series Nowhere Man and guest starred as Roger Bingham on the HBO comedy series The Larry Sanders Show. He did quite well on NBC, as well, appearing in many TV movies (including Naomi & Wynonna: Love Can Build a Bridge) and starring in the sci-fi mystery show Sleepwalkers as Dr. Nathan Bradford. Greenwood made the leap to the big screen with a fellow Canadian, Egyptian-born filmmaker Atom Egoyan. In Exotica, he played the troubled Francis, a tax collector obsessed with a stripper. The film was a hit at the Cannes Film Festival, and Greenwood re-teamed with the director for his next film, The Sweet Hereafter, which won a special jury prize at Cannes, while Greenwood was nominated for a Genie award for his supporting role of mourning father Billy Ansell. By contrast, he played bad guys in mainstream thrillers in the '90s, with starring roles in Disturbing Behavior, Hide and Seek, Double Jeopardy, and Rules of Engagement He may be most well known, however, for playing President John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis in the political thriller Thirteen Days, for which he won a Golden Satellite Award. With this role under his belt, Greenwood moved into more dramatic territory with the A&E miniseries The Magnificent Ambersons as well as a dual role in Egoyan's Ararat. In 2003, he produced fellow Canadian Deepa Mehta's film The Republic of Love and appeared in the action comedy Hollywood Homicide and the sci-fi thriller The Core. Projects for 2004 include Being Julia, I, Robot, and Racing Stripes. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Stockard Channing stars in this made-for-cable comedy-drama as Dr. Beth Noonan, a female psychiatrist trying to hold her life together as she guides four of her patients through personal turmoil. Lauren Travis (Elle MacPherson), a respected lawyer, finds her sexual identity thrown into question when she discovers she's attracted to another woman, Casey (Kate Capshaw). Helen McCormick (Glenne Headly) is forced to spend a week with her two estranged sisters, Kathy (Allison Janney) and Kim (Rebecca DeMornay) after the death of their mother. Nia Morgan (Lynn Whitfield) is convinced her husband is being unfaithful to her; she hires Rachel (Linda Hamilton) to lure her spouse into infidelity, but Rachel learns that Nia's husband is actually involved with Betty (Mia Farrow), an older and unglamorous waitress. And after Dr. Noonan decides she can't handle the deep neuroses of Suzanne Nabor (Camryn Manheim), Suzanne snaps and takes the doctor hostage, along with three other people. It's a Girl Thing also stars Scott Bakula, Buck Henry, and Bruce Greenwood; it first aired in two parts on the Showtime premium cable network in January, 2001. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stockard Channing, Elle MacPherson, (more)
An American journalist takes on the dangerous responsibility of rescuing nearly a thousand refugees from a Nazi concentration camp in this two-part made-for-TV movie based on a true story. In the early days of America's involvement in World War II, Ruth Gruber (Natasha Richardson) is a reporter who has been giving particular attention to a recent story: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in violation of United States policies of the day, has announced he will grant asylum in America to 982 European refugees from Nazi labor camps. But someone needs to escort the prisoners to the U.S.; Gruber, of European ancestry and Jewish faith, volunteers for the assignment over the objections of her parents (Anne Bancroft and Martin Landau). Gruber travels to Italy on behalf of Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes (Hal Holbrook), where she helps the refugees board the U.S.S. Henry Gibbins. But Gruber discovers that the American sailors manning the ship regard their passengers as little better than their Nazi jailers, and the State Department declares, upon their arrival in the United States, that all the refugees are to be housed in a camp in Oswego, NY -- even those who have families willing to sponsor them in America. Gruber realizes her work with the refugees is far from done, and she bravely battles against both bureaucracy and prejudice to win both dignity and fair treatment for the new settlers. Haven was originally broadcast on the CBS television network on February 11 and 14, 2001. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Natasha Richardson, Hal Holbrook, (more)
This lavish, cable-TV remake of Orson Welles' The Magnficent Ambersons endeavored to prove Welles right by adhering to his original screenplay, restoring several scenes which provided additional substance and significance to the story and deepened the characterizations. Set in Indianapolis at the beginning of the 20th century, the story parallels the "destruction" of a gentle, elegant way of life thanks to the introduction of the automobile with the disintegration of the aristocratic Amberson family, the wealthiest clan in town. Self-made millionaire auto manufacturer Eugene Morgan (Bruce Greenwood) returns to Indianapolis after a lengthy absence, determined to wed the recently widowed Isabel Amberson Minafer (Madeline Stowe), who still regrets having spurned him years earlier in favor of a "safer" marriage. Most of those concerned want to see the decent, self-effacing Eugene find happiness with the lovely Isabel, but her spoiled, snobbish son George (Jonathan Rhys-Davies), resenting the threat that Eugene and his automobiles pose to his pampered, superficial lifestyle, violently opposes his mother's romance. George's obnoxiously obstreperous stance seriously strains his own relationship with Eugene's sweet, sensible daughter Lucy (Gretchen Mol). Watching from the sidelines are George's neurotic maiden aunt Fanny Minafer (Jennifer Tilly), Isabel's likably bombastic senator brother George Amberson (William Hootkins), and frail family patriarch Major Amberson (James Cromwell), who, like virtually everyone in the story except Eugene, cannot accept -- or see -- that the times are indeed a-changing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madeleine Stowe, Bruce Greenwood, (more)
In this drama, two U.S. Marines who stood side by side on the field of battle are reunited in a court of law. Attorney Hayes Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones) once aspired to a career as an officer, but a serious injury in Vietnam put an end to his military future, leaving him bitter and resentful. Col. Terry L. Childers (Samuel L. Jackson) fought alongside Hodges and once saved his life; when Childers is threatened with a court martial for ordering his troops to fire on civilians during a raid on an American embassy, Hodges is the only lawyer that he can trust, and the case gives Hodges a chance for revenge against the military system that he feels has wronged him. Rules of Engagement also features Kim Delaney, Ben Kingsley, Blair Underwood, and Anne Archer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Lee Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, (more)
In this romantic drama, a young man must make some difficult decisions when he discovers that his girlfriend's future is almost used up. Kelley (Chris Klein) and Samantha (Leelee Sobieski) are waiting out the summer after their high school graduation before moving on to college. Although Kelley comes from a wealthy family and Samantha's folks are working class, they soon find that they have more in common than they imagined, and they fall in love. However, Samantha's parents (Annette O'Toole and Bruce Greenwood) soon learn that their daughter has only a few more months to live. When Kelley learns the awful truth, he must decide if he should stay by the side of the first girl he's ever loved or obey his father's wishes and go to college. This was the second feature film for director Mark Piznarski, who has directed episodes of the TV series E.R., My So-Called Life, and Relativity, as well as the TV miniseries The 60s. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leelee Sobieski, Chris Klein, (more)
Director Roger Donaldson teams up with star Kevin Costner for another political thriller (after their 1987 pairing, No Way Out), only this time with a film based on the actual events surrounding the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, taking place during the titular thirteen days wherein the U.S. and the Soviet Union nearly engaged in full-scale nuclear war. After President John F. Kennedy (Bruce Greenwood) is shown photographs from a spy plane detailing the presence of missiles in Cuba capable of obliterating massive areas of the U.S., he must immediately decide the most effective course of action for the country. With the aid of best friend and special assistant Kenny O'Donnell (Kevin Costner) and brother Robert (Steven Culp), the President must avoid a dire chain of events that could be dictated by General Curtis LeMay (Kevin Conway), who would rather take immediate action and invade Cuba. After initial reticence about leaking the information to the nation, President Kennedy eventually tells of the conflict, leading to widespread panic and a blockade of Cuba. With the aid of Robert McNamara (Dylan Baker) and Adlai Stevenson (Michael Fairman), the leaders must find a way to alleviate the tension of the situation. Thirteen Days also features Walter Adrian as Lyndon Johnson. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood, (more)
Some people just shouldn't have children, and this offbeat thriller shows why. Jack (Bruce Greenwood) and Ann (Daryl Hannah) are a married couple whose lives seems nearly perfect, and they couldn't be happier when, after months of trying, Ann discovers that she's going to have a baby. Jack is understandably distraught when Ann is kidnapped, and he's later told that she's been killed. Actually, the truth is considerably more disturbing -- a psychotic doctor (Vincent Gallo) and his wife (Jennifer Tilly) want a child but have been unable to conceive, so they kidnap the pregnant Ann and attempt to falsify her death, intending to keep her until her child is born, and then raise the baby as their own. Hide and Seek was also released under the title Cord. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daryl Hannah, Jennifer Tilly, (more)
The Lost Son brings together talented British director Chris Menges with a well-known face of French cinema, Daniel Auteuil, who plays a detective in self-exile in London who deals mostly with cases of adultery. At the same time, he is trying to come to terms with the ghosts of his past. While trying to locate the brother-in-law of an old friend who once saved his life, he finds himself in the middle of a network of pedophiles. The director tries to avoid voyeurism or over-simplification in dealing with such a sensitive issue. The tone is not judgmental. One memorable image sums up the thrust of the film: a silent boy urinating on the corpse of one of his torturers. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Auteuil, Nastassja Kinski, (more)
In this thriller, Ashley Judd plays Elizabeth Parsons, who is convicted of murdering her husband and sentenced to a long stretch in prison. After Elizabeth has spent six years behind bars, it turns out that her husband is still alive: he faked his own death as part of an insurance scam, and Elizabeth is soon released. However, Elizabeth's feelings for her husband can hardly be described as warm, and she wants custody of her son. Elizabeth's parole officer (Tommy Lee Jones) wonders if she might try to make his murder a real thing after all, especially since the law states a person cannot be convicted of the same crime twice. Double Jeopardy was directed by Bruce Beresford, from a screenplay by Douglas S. Cook and David Weisberg. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Lee Jones, Ashley Judd, (more)
- 1999
Based on Kathleen Kane's novel Pocketful of Paradise, the fanciful TV movie The Soul Collector stars Bruce Greenwood in the title role. As an emissary from Heaven, Zachariah (Greenwood) helps recently departed souls to make a smooth and happy transition from life to death. But after showing signs of boredom and carelessness in his work, Zachariah is brought before supervising soul collector Mordecai (Ossie Davis), who "sentences" him to be a mortal for 30 days. While serving out his term, Zachariah falls in love with Rebecca (Melissa Gilbert), the widow of a man he'd "collected" earlier. As Zachariah struggles to help Rebecca save her farm from her creditors, Mordecai wonders if he's done the right thing in forcing Zachariah to experience humanity firsthand. Filmed just outside Austin, TX, The Soul Collector posted excellent ratings for CBS when the film first aired on October 24, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Greenwood, Ossie Davis, (more)
Two self-styled criminal masterminds find themselves in a turf battle neither much cares about in this underworld story that balances comedy against drama. Alec Baldwin plays Mackin, a career thief who picks his jobs shrewdly and carefully, and prefers to spend his downtime with his collection of rare jazz LP's and looking after his dog. Pointy (Michael Jai White) is a young upstart gangster trying to develop a taste for refinement and the good life. When Pointy sets up Mackin, Mackin is forced to retaliate, and before long both men and their associates are in the middle of a war neither is especially interested in winning, which begins to escalate in comic fashion. The skirmish eventually attracts the attention of a female cop (Rebecca De Mornay) who's become interested in Mackin's method of operation. Thick As Thieves received its world premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alec Baldwin, Andre Braugher, (more)
- 1998
- PG
Inspired by a true story (the events of which led to the Sipes vs. McGhee trial, in which the United States Supreme Court declared that covenants used to segregate neighborhoods were unconstitutional), The Color of Courage concerns Mac McGhee (Roger Guenveur Smith), his wife Minnie (Lynn Whitfield), and their two sons, an African-American family who move into an all-white neighborhood in the early 1940s. Hoping to avoid trouble early on, The McGhees move in at night, but the neighbors soon become aware that a black family is living nearby. Anna Sipes (Linda Hamilton), who lives next door, is a bored housewife whose husband forbids her to work outside the home; wanting to be a good neighbor, she bakes a cake as a welcoming gift for the McGhees, and Minnie accepts it graciously. Minnie and Anna get to know each other and discover that they have a good bit in common. However, as their friendship grows, animosity against the McGhees begins to build, and Anna's husband Benjamin (Bruce Greenwood) joins with members of the neighborhood association to use legal means to force the McGhee family to move elsewhere. The Color of Courage was shown at the 1998 Chicago Film Festival before making its bow on the USA cable network in 1999. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Linda Hamilton, Lynn Whitfield, (more)
David Nutter made his directorial debut with this fantasy thriller, attempting a switch on The Stepford Wives premise. The Clark family moves from Chicago to Cradle Bay, and Steve Clark (James Marsden) is cautioned by Gavin Strick (Nick Stahl) about the separating factions at the local high school, where the Blue Ribbons, a club of robotic perfect students, rule. Gavin claims a conspiracy is afoot, and sure enough, he turns into an ultra-perfect himself. Rachel Wagner (Katie Holmes) joins Steve in investigating, and they soon suspect school psychiatrist Dr. Caldicott (Bruce Greenwood), a neuropharmacology specialist. The soundtrack contrasts alternative rock with tunes by Barry Manilow, Wayne Newton, and Olivia Newton-John. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Marsden, Katie Holmes, (more)
- 1998
When shady network suit Kenny Mitchell (Josh Malina) is appointed "Creative Liaison" and begins to implement drastic changes in the show's format, Larry (Garry Shandling) starts to sweat, but when his agent, Stevie (Bob Odenkirk), appears to be avoiding contract negotiations and ends up having lunch with Jon Stewart, Larry really starts to feel the heat. It seems that Kenny has been dropping increasingly frequent hints that the show could get better ratings with Stewart at the helm, and it's not long before he and a frustrated Artie (Rip Torn) nearly come to blows. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1998
When Jon Stewart guest hosts and draws even bigger ratings that The Larry Sanders Show's eponymous host, Larry's paranoia starts to kick in. When the increasingly sex-obsessed host targets Winona Ryder for conquest, he is devastated upon finding Ryder and Stewart making out in the dressing room. The appearance of two network suits compounds Larry's anxiety, and his fears may be justified when it's revealed that there may be some big changes on the show. Meanwhile, Hank (Jeffrey Tambor) has difficulties changing his license plates to his trademark "Hey Now" when oddball doppelganger fan Paul (George Wyner) already has the customized plates. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1997
When Larry (Garry Shandling) relents to his new girlfriend Alex's (Melinda McGraw) requests to appear on the show, he offers to cast her as a mermaid in an upcoming skit. All seems well until Alex spots sleazy network VP Roger Bingham (Bruce Greenwood) and attempts to turn a one-time appearance into an extravagant career starter. This was the final episode of The Larry Sanders Show's fifth season. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Two of the screen's most popular comic actors meet in this movie about two men brought together by unexpected circumstances. On the surface, Jack Lawrence (Billy Crystal) and Dale Putley (Robin Williams) wouldn't appear to have much in common. Jack is an efficient, serious-minded lawyer with a successful practice and a beautiful wife, Carrie (Julia-Louis Dreyfus). Dale is a very single performance artist given to dramatic mood swings and extreme overreaction to the sad state of his career. However, 17 years ago both men were involved with the same woman, Collette Andrews (Nastassja Kinski); she later had a son, Scott (Charlie Hofheimer), without being sure if Jack or Dale was actually the father. Collette chose to raise the boy on her own, but when Scott runs away from home and she can't track him down, she calls both Jack and Dale looking for help. It doesn't take long for the two men to discover that they're both looking for the same boy in the same places, and they decide to join forces, though their personalities don't get much more compatible the longer they hunt for Scott. Keep an eye peeled for a brief cameo by Mel Gibson and an appearance by the rock band Sugar Ray, shortly before their commercial breakthrough. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, (more)
Atom Egoyan's haunting adaptation of the Russell Banks novel The Sweet Hereafter was the Canadian filmmaker's most successful film to date, taking home a Special Grand Jury Prize at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival and scoring a pair of Academy Award nominations, including Best Director. Restructured to fit Egoyan's signature mosaic narrative style, the story concerns the cultural aftershocks which tear apart a small British Columbia town in the wake of a school-bus accident which leaves a number of local children dead. Ian Holm stars as Mitchell Stephens, a big-city lawyer who arrives in the interest of uniting the survivors to initiate a lawsuit; his maneuvering only drives the community further apart, reopening old wounds and jeopardizing any hopes of emotional recovery. Like so many of Egoyan's features, The Sweet Hereafter is a serious and painfully honest exploration of family grief; no character is immune from the sense of utter devastation which grips the film, not even the attorney, whose interests are in part motivated by his own remorse over the fate of his daughter, an HIV-positive drug addict. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, (more)
- 1997
Los Angeles district attorney Jess Kostner (Lori Laughlin) inaugurates her own personal descent into hell when she agrees to prosecute an accused rapist named Sean Ferguson (Tracey Walter). Having just recovered from a nervous breakdown brought about by the mysterious death of her mother, Jess is in no mood to discover that Sean's defense attorney is her own ex-husband Don Shaw (Bruce Greenwood). Things get really dicey when Ferguson's victim Connie (Lauren Tom) refuses to appear in court. Jess manages to persuade Connie to testify, only to be plunged into the abyss of guilt and self-loathing when Connie is "mysteriously" killed just before her testimony. The only positive aspect of this sordid affair is Jess' growing relationship with amiable courtroom spectator Adam Stiles (Joe Flanigan). Ultimately, the trial--and acquittal--of Sean Ferguson is revealed to be an elaborate charade, designed as a prelude to a uniquely perverse form of vigilante justice! Boasting so many plot twists that one virtually needs a scorecard to keep abreast of new developments, Tell Me No Secrets debuted January 20, 1997 on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lori Loughlin, Bruce Greenwood, (more)
- 1996
Clearly inspired by the events surrounding the Bill Clinton sex scandal, the made-for-TV The Absolute Truth starsJane Seymour as Alison Reid, crusading anchorwoman for the top-rated TV magazine show "Focus." Upon obtaining evidence that powerful senator and presidential candidate Jake Slaughter (Bruce Greenwood) has sexually harassed his press secretary Jean Douglas (Linda Purl), Alison wants to make her findings public--but fears that she will damage the reputation of Jean, who happens to be her best friend. Not so nobly motivated is the production staff of "Focus", which uses questionable tactics to bring the truth forward, thereby revealing that Slaughter has secured Jean's silence by threatening to expose an unpleasant secret from her own past. An ironic ending caps this feature-length ethical debate, which originally aired April 30, 1997 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
The struggle of country music's mother-daughter duo The Judds is told in this made-for-television drama. Kathleen York stars as Naomi Judd (then known as Diana Judd) a single mother of two daughters, who turned to music as way to help positively influence her increasingly belligerent and rebellious eldest daughter Wynonna (then known as Christina). The movie chronicles Naomi's struggle to provide for her daughters (the youngest is actress Ashley Judd), the singing duo's rise from Nashville fame to national celebrity, the ups and downs that accompanied a working family relationship, and Naomi's eventual retirement from the music business. The movie was based on Naomi's autobiography Love Can Build A Bridge. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
Based on a popular novel by Judith Krantz, this sudsy romantic drama features a prominent photographer who heads to Gay Paree, unaware that greedy family members are plotting to bilk her father out of his valuable ranch land. Love blossoms in the City of Light when she encounters a fellow picture taker. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lisa Hartman, Cliff Robertson, (more)
