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
- 1995
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The happiness and heartbreaks of first-time parenting are lavishly visualized in this TV adaptation of Danielle Steel's novel Mixed Blessings. The teleplay by Virginia L. Browne and Rebecca Soladay evenly divides its time among three newly married couples, each one seriously contemplating parenthood. Though Brad Coleman (James Naughton) has a touchy relationship with his grown daughter from a previous marriage, his younger bride Pilar (Bess Armstrong) wants to experience motherhood firsthand. The relationship between Andy and Diana Douglas (Bruce Greenwood, Gabrielle Carteris) is imperiled when Diana has trouble conceiving. And while Charlie Winwood (Scott Baio) wants a baby in his life, his spouse Beth (Alexandra Paul) is not so easily persuaded. Add to this mixture a heavy dollop of "outside" emotional baggage and a few picture-book happy endings, and you have a typical (and typically well-received) Danielle Steel soufflé. The film initially aired December 11, 1995, on NBC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gabrielle Carteris, Scott Baio, (more)
- 1994
Some parents are faced with a difficult decision in this dramatic made-for-TV movie. Based on a true story, parents (Bruce Greenwood and Michelle Greene) of an ill infant decide to donate their brain-damaged baby's heart to help save the life of another newborn in need. The film was nominated for a Humanitas Award. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1994
A computer with a mind of its own is the subject of this made-for-television thriller. Set sometime in the future, the film tells the story of a female writer who goes to a secluded cabin to work. She decides to take a programmable male android with her for company. She changes his programming to suit her specific needs but gets more than she bargained for when the android gets his own ideas on what she wants. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Based on the autobiography of country singer Naomi Judd, Love Can Build a Bridge tells the story of how she and her daughter Wynona came to be The Judds, one of the biggest country acts of their time. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Emma Samms stars as a photographer who finds out more than she bargained for when she investigates her brother's murder at a horse breeding farm. The cast also includes Catherine Oxenberg and Tippi Hedren. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emma Samms, Catherine Oxenberg, (more)
The action in Canadian provocateur Atom Egoyan's cryptic Exotica revolves largely around the strip club, which lends the film its name, a faux-tropical hothouse where young female dancers cater to their customers' sexual and psychological needs. Among the regulars is Francis (Bruce Greenwood), a troubled taxman haunted by Christina, a young stripper played by Mia Kirshner. As the film hypnotically unfolds, their relationship is slowly explored, the narrative dovetailing with the stories of a gay pet shop owner (Don McKellar), the Exotica's pregnant owner (Arsinee Khanjian), and its embittered DJ (Elias Koteas). Like all of Egoyan's films, Exotica is a riddle, its answers only fostering more questions. The director's recurring themes of family breakdowns, voyeurism and obsession are all in the mix here as well, but essayed with a new clarity of vision and intensity. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Greenwood, Mia Kirshner, (more)
- 1994
This Canadian comedy spoofs the government film fund and provides valuable insight to those interested in learning the lingo of bureaucracy. Wick Burns is a government official with all the self-motivation and personality of a robot. His newest project is to find funding for a small art film, "Paint Cans." It was directed by his former film school classmate Vittorio Russo and produced by the oily tongued Neville Lewis. Everyone at the film fund hates this film, but simply saying no is not the bureaucratic way. Instead they try to get other agencies to fund the film. The story also introduces elements of Burn's personal life including his relationship with his disapproving father, and a fledgling romance with Arundel, a journalist he meets in Cannes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chas Lawther, Robyn Stevan, (more)
Stars of country music fill out the cast of this made-for-TV western. Kenny Rogers plays a bounty hunter who sets off with his newlywed partner (Travis Tritt) to track down the kidnappers who ran off with Tritt's wife (Laura Harring). ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Tatum O'Neal headlines this dramatic fact-based account of a former model and police officer accused of killing her husband's first wife. The sensationalistic press coverage of her trial turns the ex-cop into a celebrity. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tatum O'Neal, Bruce Greenwood, (more)
If you liked the Australian thriller Dead Calm, then the look-alike American TV movie Adrift will probably tickle your fancy as well. Kate Jackson and Kenneth Welsh play a honeymooning couple, relaxing on their yacht in the South Pacific. When they come upon a shipwrecked couple (Bruce Greenwood and Kelly Rowan), the newlyweds pull the castaways on board their vessel. That's their first mistake; the castaways are evil incarnate, and they proceed to put the young marrieds through hell. Filmed off the coast of New Zealand, Adrift premiered on April 13, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This fast-paced action picture plays like Die Hard (1988) on an airplane. Grieving over the death of his wife at the hands of an armed robber and blaming himself for her death, anti-terrorism expert John Cutter (Wesley Snipes) is retiring from his dangerous job. The flight he's on is occupied by a coterie of FBI agents escorting the lethal terrorist Charles Rane (Bruce Payne), but as the aircraft is taking off, Rane's associates, who have also boarded the plane, take the vehicle by force and free their leader. With the aid of a sheriff on the ground, a pair of stewardesses (Alex Datcher and Elizlabeth Hurley) and his old friend, airport manager Sly Delvecchio (Tom Sizemore), Cutter puts his special training and martial arts skills to good use combating the kidnappers. The clever, dapper Rane has several surprises in store for his nemesis, however, including killing a hostage and an ally who's only pretending to be on Cutter's side. His options becoming increasingly limited, Cutter devises a dangerous plan that involves dumping the airplane's precious fuel reserves. Director Kevin Hooks cast his father, actor Robert Hooks in the role of federal agent Dwight Henderson. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Bruce Payne, (more)
- 1991
In this drama, also titled "Great Pretender," an award-winning reporter, who has been demoted to nowhere position at his paper, reveals a government backed and highly corrupt land deal. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Based on Dean R. Koontz's novel Twilight, Servants of Twilight is a made-for-cable horror film about a Christian cult that plots the assassination of a young boy who their leader believes is the Antichrist. A private detective (Bruce Greenwood) is hired to save the boy and his mother from the terrorization of the religious cult. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Greenwood, Belinda Bauer, (more)
- 1991
This biopic chronicles the rapid rise to fame of the enduringly popular California rock band. Though it was a fast ascent, it was not without problems and each of the band members suffered personal problems. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A beautiful woman discovers a new side of her personality in this erotic drama. Kansas-born Emily Reed (Carré Otis) is an intelligent but naive young woman who has made a name for herself as a lawyer and is hired to work with businesswoman Claudia Lirones (Jacqueline Bisset), who is putting the finishing touches on a major real estate deal. Claudia brings Emily with her as she jets off to Rio De Janeiro to wrap up the sale of a resort hotel to the Chinese. When Claudia is unexpectedly called away, Emily is left in the care of James Wheeler (Mickey Rourke), an expatriate American multi-millionaire with a truly remarkable tan who is in on Claudia's deal. The Carnivale is in full swing in Rio, and James seeks to broaden Emily's horizons by introducing her to the sensual pleasures lurking all around her; James and Emily soon become involved, which complicates matters when Claudia returns. One of Wild Orchid's love scenes between Mickey Rourke and Carré Otis had to be trimmed so that the film could gain an R rating for American release (the uncut version was later released on home video); a widely circulated rumor had it that Rourke and Otis, who were living together at the time, had actually had sex while the scene was filmed, though Otis later denied it. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rourke, Jacqueline Bisset, (more)
- 1990
1990's Little Kidnappers was a remake of the 1954 British film of the same name. Two Canadian orphans (Leo Wheatley and Charles Miller) are starved for affection. Their cantankerous, self-absorbed grandfather (Charlton Heston) pays very little attention to them. The boys "borrow" a baby so they can raise it as their very own, while the real parents--and the police--scour the countryside in search of the missing infant. This location-filmed version of The Little Kidnappers premiered over the Disney cable channel on August 17, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
The four-part British miniseries Pursuit, based upon Robert L. Fish's novel of the same name, was first telecast in the United States as the two-part "movie special" Twist of Fate. Bruce Greenwood essayed the leading role of Helmut Von Schraeder, an ex-S.S. officer on the run after conspiring to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944. Undergoing plastic surgery, Von Schraeder assumed the new identity of Jewish concentration camp survivor Daniel Grossman. And as if that wasn't unbelievable enough, "Grossman" went on to a colorful career as an Israeli freedom fighter. The huge multinational cast included British film and TV stalwart Ben Cross and American leading lady Sarah Jessica Parker. Though made for British television, Pursuit did not air in that country until 1990, a full year after its American debut. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Cross, Veronica Hamel, (more)
- 1989
Spy stars Bruce Greenwood as a defecting CIA agent. Trouble is, Greenwood is privy to classified knowledge about recent atrocities in Central America, masterminded by rogue agents. Knowing that he's a dead man walking the moment he leaves headquarters, Greenwood assumes a new identity and heads for parts unknown. One year after forsaking the espionage business, Greenwood finds himself being stalked...but by whom? An above-average "Who Can You Trust" meller, Spy premiered over the USA cable network on December 27, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
In this entry in the long-running mystery series, Perry Mason must help a wounded hockey star who has been accused of killing an important sports figure. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1988
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The first of several 1980s TV movies based on official FBI files, In the Line of Duty: The F.B.I. Murders premiered on November 27, 1988. Veteran TV "good guys" David Soul and Michael Gross do a typecasting about-face, playing two vicious, homicidal Miami-based bank robbers. The deadly duo's crime spree was climaxed by a bloody 1986 gun battle. Extremely violent, the film tempers its bloodshed with several instructive scenes showing how the FBI pieced together the clues that enabled them to track down their quarry. Doug Sheehan, Ronny Cox and Bruce Greenwood represent the forces of the Law. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
In this lively comedy, a womanizing actor dies and is granted a second chance at life on the condition that he remain faithful to only one woman. That's easier said than done, and once he's back on Earth he must choose between a virtuous lass and a shady lady. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Greenwood, Vanessa Angel, (more)
- 1988
In this disturbing episode of the made-for-television crime drama anthology In the Line of Duty: The FBI Murders, the Miami division of the FBI embarks upon a desperate search for a murderous pair of thieves who kill for the joy of it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
