Philip Baker Hall Movies
Primarily a supporting and character actor, Philip Baker Hall has also played the occasional lead on stage, screen, and television. Hall made his film debut playing a priest in Cowards (1970). He then appeared in three television series during the mid-'70s, including Man From Atlantis (1977). He became best known during the '80s for his portrayal of Richard Nixon in Robert Altman's brilliant Secret Honor (1984), for which Hall also wrote the screenplay. Though the film garnered mixed reviews, the actor's portrayal of Nixon was hailed as a tour de force. Through the '80s and '90s, Hall continued to work steadily in films and on television; his talents were perhaps best, and most famously, utilized by director Paul Thomas Anderson, who cast Hall in substantial roles in Hard Eight (1996), Boogie Nights (1997), and Magnolia (1999), the last of which saw the actor in fine form as a game show host dying of cancer. Hall also had a memorable turn as a private investigator who is far too convinced of the infallibility of his own instincts in Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999); that same year, he gave a strong performance as CBS producer Don Hewitt in Michael Mann's The Insider. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
The hard-ball gamesmanship and casual character assassination of American politics sets the stage for this thriller from writer and director Rod Lurie. When the Vice President of the United States unexpectedly dies, all eyes in Washington D.C. are on President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) as he chooses a new VP. Sen. Jack Hathaway (William Petersen), a respected career politician enjoying a new swell of popularity after a well-publicized attempt to save a drowning woman, is expected to be Evans' choice, but instead he picks Sen. Laine Hanson (Joan Allen), a decision that raises eyebrows on both sides of the political fence. Veteran power broker Shelly Runyon (Gary Oldman) is vehemently opposed to Hanson's appointment, in part because the Democratic senator was once a Republican, and vows to do everything in his power to prevent her from being confirmed. Runyon and his staff start digging for dirt on Hanson, and soon make a surprising discovery -- her personal morality is called into question when it's alleged that she took part in a group sexual liaison while she was a college student. The Contender also stars Mike Binder as one of Hanson's advisors, Mariel Hemingway as an old friend with a surprising secret, Christian Slater as an ambitious congressmen assisting Runyon, and Philip Baker Hall as Hanson's father; it was the second feature from former film critic Rod Lurie. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Allen, Gary Oldman, (more)
A woman who has survived the touch of ultimate evil must now save one man from the same fate in order to protect the world in this supernatural thriller. Maya Larkin (Winona Ryder) is a devout Catholic who is said to have been possessed by a demon as a child; she now works with Father Lareaux (John Hurt) and John Townshend (Elias Koteas), fellow believers who perform exorcisms on troubled souls they believe are controlled by Satan. While performing an exorcism on a mass murderer, Henry Birdsong (John Diehl), Maya, and her cohorts come in contact with Peter Kelson (Ben Chaplin), a journalist and noted authority on the criminal mind who believes the notion of "evil with a capital E" is absurd. Peter is an agnostic despite being raised by a Catholic priest; his uncle, Father James (Philip Baker Hall), raised Peter after the death of his parents while he was still a child. During their failed exorcism, Birdsong tells Maya that Satan will return to Earth, inhabiting the body of a man in order to reclaim this world. As Maya attempts to unravel the code of who the devil's victim will be, she comes to the awful realization that the most likely candidate is Peter Kelson. Lost Souls marked the directorial debut of cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, whose camera credits include Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List, and Jerry Maguire. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Winona Ryder, Ben Chaplin, (more)
The Insider tells the true story of a man who decided to tell the world what the seven major tobacco companies knew (and concealed) about the dangers of their product. Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) was a scientist employed in research for a tobacco firm, Brown and Williamson. Not long after he was fired by Brown and Williamson, Wigand came into contact with Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino), a producer for 60 Minutes who worked closely with journalist Mike Wallace (played here by Christopher Plummer). Bergman arranged for Wigand to be interviewed by Wallace for a 60 Minutes expose on the cigarette industry, though Wigand was still bound by a confidentiality agreement not to discuss his employment with the company. Despite Wigand's willingness to talk, CBS pulled his interview from at the last minute after Brown and Williamson threatened a multi-billion dollar lawsuit. The staff of 60 Minutes and CBS News were soon embroiled in an internal struggle over the killing of the story, and Wigand found himself the subject of lawsuits and a smear campaign, without his full story reaching the public. The Insider was directed by Michael Mann and also features Diane Venora, Philip Baker Hall, Debi Mazar, Colm Feore, and Rip Torn. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, (more)
- 1999
Director and screenwriter Stacy Title (best known for the independent feature The Last Supper) obviously knows a good story when she sees one, and proves it with Let The Devil Wear Black, which takes the framework of Shakespeare's Hamlet and recasts it with present-day characters and dialogue. Jack (Jonathan Penner), a professional student, is convinced something is rotten in the state of his family after the recent death of his father -- especially when Uncle Sammy (Jack Sheridan) decides to marry Jack's mother (Jacqueline Bisset) with what Jack thinks is inappropriate speed. Jack becomes convinced his father's death was at the hands of some shadowy conspiracy, while his girlfriend, Julia (Mary-Louise Parker) starts to unravel in the face of her own tensions and Jack's obsessions. The supporting cast includes Philip Baker Hall, Jonathan Banks, Maury Chaykin and Chris Sarandon; Let The Devil Wear Black was shown as part of the 1999 Slandance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonathan Penner, Jacqueline Bisset, (more)
The sometimes rocky relationship between art and politics in America in the 1930s -- as well as the gulf between the wealthy and the struggling -- sets the stage for Tim Robbins' ambitious comedy-drama Cradle Will Rock. Pulling together a variety of threads from actual events, Robbins examines the lives and ambitions of a variety of creative mavericks and figures of power. Orson Welles (Angus Macfadyen) and John Houseman (Cary Elwes) are working with Marc Bliztstein (Hank Azaria) to stage the latter's leftist musical "The Cradle Will Rock" for the WPA-funded Federal Theater Project. After Congress cuts funding for the embattled Federal Theater over the perceived leftist slant of their presentations, the project is canceled on the day of its premier. Welles and his cast respond by marching 21 blocks from the theater where the show was to open to another venue where, in deference to Actors Equity regulations, they perform the entire show from the audience. A member of Welles' cast, Aldo Silvano (John Turturro), is a dedicated actor from Italy who is trying to resolve his attitudes about his family, who loyally support Mussolini, to Silvano's disgust. Meanwhile, El Duce's former mistress, Margherita Sarfatti (Susan Sarandon), is consorting with industrial tycoon Gray Mathers (Philip Baker Hall) -- whose wife, Contesse LaGrange (Vanessa Redgrave) is a friend and supporter of Welles' project. Elsewhere, Nelson Rockefeller (John Cusack) has hired expatriot Mexican artist Diego Rivera (Ruben Blades) to create a mural for his projected Rockefeller Center, but the two are soon locking horns over their different views on art, politics and the work at hand. And a ventriloquist fallen on hard times, Tommy Crickshaw (Bill Murray), finds himself trying to teach both comedy and speaking without lip movements to a pair of would-be performers at a WPA-backed vaudeville house. William Randolph Hearst (John Carpenter), Marion Davies (Gretchen Mol), Frida Kahlo (Corina Katt), and Olive Stanton (Emily Watson) are also woven into the tapestry of this historical epic, which premiered at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hank Azaria, Rubén Blades, (more)
Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson followed his critical and commercial breakthrough Boogie Nights with this wildly ambitious story of lives intertwining on a single day in California's San Fernando Valley. Earl Partridge (Jason Robards), a successful producer of television game shows, left his wife when she contracted cancer to marry the younger and more beautiful Linda (Julianne Moore). Now, Earl has cancer himself, and Linda spends her day fetching medicines and trying to deal with the imminent death of her husband, whom she has only now come to love. Earl asks his nurse Phil (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to arrange a meeting with his estranged son, Frank Mackey (Tom Cruise), known for his self-help program "Seduce and Destroy," in which he preaches the importance of male sexual prowess; he cared for his mother after Earl left her, and he has no desire to see his father again. Earl's best-known show is hosted by Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall), who also learns that he is dying. Jimmy's show pits bright adults against unusually smart kids; one of Jimmy's child contestants, Stanley (Jeremy Blackman), arrives late for a taping after being left stranded by his father Rick (Michael Bowen), who is supported by his more successful son. Meanwhile, Donnie Smith (William H. Macy), who was a champ on Jimmy's show as a child, is not having as much luck as an adult; he's just lost his job and needs to pay for some expensive dental work. Jimmy wants to reconcile with his estranged and emotionally fragile daughter Claudia (Melora Walters), who despises him and who will become involved with well-meaning police officer Jim Kurring (John C. Reilly), who has been desperately lonely since his divorce three years ago. Magnolia reunites much of the cast and crew of Boogie Nights and features eight original songs by singer/songwriter Aimee Mann and a musical score by Jon Brion. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Robards, Jr., Julianne Moore, (more)
After the Oscar-winning The English Patient, writer/director Anthony Minghella attempted another tricky literary adaptation with The Talented Mr. Ripley, which features heartthrob Matt Damon cast against type as a psychopathic bisexual murderer. Tom Ripley (Damon) is a bright and charismatic sociopath who makes his way in mid-'50s New York City as a men's room attendant and sometimes pianist, though his real skill is in impersonating other people, forging handwriting, and running second-rate scams. After being mistaken for a Princeton student, Tom meets the shipping tycoon father of Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), who has traveled to the coast of Italy, where he's living a carefree life with his father's money and his beautiful girlfriend, Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow). Dickie's father will pay Ripley 1,000 dollars plus his expenses if he can persuade Dickie to return to America. As Ripley and Dickie become friends, Tom finds himself both attracted to Dickie and envious of his life of pleasure. In time, he decides that he would rather be Dickie Greenleaf than Tom Ripley, so rather than go back to his life of poverty, Ripley impulsively murders Dickie and assumes his identity. The Talented Mr. Ripley was based on the first of a series of novels featuring Tom Ripley written by Patricia Highsmith; the story was previously filmed in 1960 as Purple Noon, with Alain Delon as Ripley. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, (more)
- 1998
In the concluding half of Seinfeld's controversial series finale, Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), George (Jason Alexander), Kramer (Michael Richards), and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) find themselves stranded in Latham, MA -- and even worse, they are facing arrest for violating the town's new Good Samaritan law (it seems there was this mugging...). Hoping to beat the rap -- and make it to California in time for Jerry to sell his proposed sitcom "about nothing" -- the gang engages the services of flamboyant lawyer Jackie Chiles (Phil Morris). Alas, the prosecution has managed to round up a daunting array of witnesses to bolster their case against the foursome, including Sidra (Teri Hatcher) of "they're real and they're spectacular" fame, the Soup Nazi (Larry Thomas), Marla the Virgin (Jane Leeves), and the Bubble Boy (Jon Hayman) -- while the sour-faced judge (Stanley Anderson) with the familiar-sounding name fumes, and a vengeful Newman (Wayne Knight) chuckles from the sidelines. As for the now-legendary final scene...haven't we had this conversation before? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Sitcom veteran Larry David, the co-creator of TV's Seinfeld, made his big-screen directorial debut with this clever comedy featuring distinct Seinfeld overtones. Sour Grapes was released April 17, 1998, only four weeks prior to the last Seinfeld episode. Selma Maxwell (Viola Harris) is the adoring mother of boyish, fun-loving shoe designer Richie (Craig Bierko), who would like to see his more-mature cousin Evan (Steven Weber), a respected neurologist, enjoy himself more. So the two head for Atlantic City for a gambling weekend. They lose heavily at the tables and soon are down to pocket change at the slot machines. After Richie inserts his last quarter, he asks Evan for two coins to go a final round. The spinning cylinders land on three grape clusters, triggering alarms, flashing lights, and a $400,000 jackpot. Richie is ecstatic. But Evan feels that since the win was made with his quarters, he deserves 50%. Richie refuses, and heady with power, Richie soon turns nasty and is fired after he insults his boss. Richie's girlfriend Roberta (Robyn Peterman) suggests he settle down and give Evan something, while Joan (Karen Sillas) wants Evan to drop his money demands. An attempt to renew the friendship goes awry when Richie finds Evan's jogging-suit gift ludicrous, while Evan becomes incensed by an offer of only 3% of Richie's $400,000. The film's score punctuates the escalating conflict with witty excerpts from familiar classical compositions. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Weber, Craig Bierko, (more)
Independent film director Gus Van Sant attempts a first in American film history: a shot-by-shot remake of the classic 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho. With a few minor, modern-day changes (including filming it in color), his version is essentially the same film with a different cast and the same Bernard Hermann music. Psycho was and still is the story of Marion Crane (previously played by Janet Leigh and now by Anne Heche), an adulterous woman who steals a stack of money from her boss and hits the road hoping for financial freedom. Pulling over in an old motel for the night, she meets the creepy owner of the Bates Motel, Norman Bates (Vince Vaughn doing his best Anthony Perkins), who lives with his jealous nagging mother. Most people know the film Psycho for what happens next -- the shower scene, where Marion is brutally stabbed in the most over-analyzed scene in movie history. The money, the car, and Marion's remains are quickly sunk in a nearby swamp. As a detective (William H. Macy) and Marion's sister Lila (Julianne Moore) come looking for her, they begin to uncover the dark mysterious secret lurking in Norman Bates' life. ~ Arthur Borman, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, (more)
Peter Weir directed this comedy-drama, a commentary on all-pervasive media manipulation. Scripted by Andrew M. Niccol (Gattaca), the film plays like a combination of the British TV series The Prisoner and Paul Bartel's The Secret Cinema. Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) is unaware that his entire life is a hugely popular 24-hour-a-day TV series. In this real-time documentary, every moment of Truman's existence is captured by concealed cameras and telecast to a giant global audience. His friends and family are actors who smile pleasantly at Truman's familiar catchphrase greeting, "In case I don't see you later, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!" Employed at an insurance company, Truman is married to merry Meryl (Laura Linney), and they live in the cheerful community of Seahaven, an island "paradise" where the weather is always mild and no unpleasantness intrudes. This is the basic situation of the series, which has grown over the years into a billion-dollar franchise for the TV network. As an unwanted pregnancy, Truman was adopted by the network and raised in the zoolike environment of a TV soundstage. Thus, the TV audience became hooked when Truman was very young. Now, at age 30, he still doesn't know he's a prisoner on an immense domed city-size soundstage, simulating Seahaven. Both the illusion and the ratings will collapse if Truman ever leaves Seahaven. In addition to elaborate events staged to make sure he stays put, Truman is given constant reminders of how wonderful Seahaven is compared to dangers in other parts of the world. However, his growing suspicions make him curious enough to try to leave, and the show's director and master manipulator Christof (Ed Harris) must constantly devise ways to thwart Truman's escape attempts. To enter the harbor, Truman must overcome his fear of water, intentionally instilled in him when his father "died" in a boating accident and was written out of the script. Exteriors were filmed in the Victorian-styled upscale community of Seaside, Florida. In addition to the Burkhard Dallwitz score, original music by Philip Glass and classical excerpts are also featured. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Carrey, Laura Linney, (more)
In this offbeat thriller, Ann (Amy Locane) is a young woman trying to put her life back together after she lost her child in a car wreck. Formerly a single mother, Ann has recently started dating a man named Tom (William McNamera), and one day Tom asks Ann for a favor -- would she be willing to baby sit for his boss' daughter? Ann agrees, and she soon finds herself becoming quite fond of the little girl. However, before long, Ann discovers Tom has something less than honest up his sleeve -- the child is actually the victim in a kidnapping scheme, and Ann has been made an accomplice against her will. Also shown under the title Wishful Thinking, Implicated also stars Frederic Forrest and Priscilla Barnes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William McNamara, Amy Locane, (more)
The key figure in this two-part TV mob miniseries is Mafia snitch Sammy "The Bull" Gravano (Nicholas Turturro). Gravano ratted on John Gotti (Tom Sizemore), who manipulated the 1985 murder of mob boss Paul Castellano (Abe Vigoda). Gravano is seen rising in the mob ranks through various blood-brother ceremonies, coercions, threats, family meetings, and confrontations over loyalties. In part two, informant Gravano blows the whistle on Gotti. Turturro, as Gravano, also narrates the drama, which manages to alter accuracy and bend history behind this disclaimer: "Certain events in this film that are based on fact are interpretive, certain characters are composites or have been fictionalized, and some names and locations have been changed." Premiered May 10, 1998 on NBC. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicholas Turturro, Tom Sizemore, (more)
- 1998
- R
Young lovers and small-time New Orleans scammers Coco Chavez (Carla Gugino) and Junior Armstrong (Simon Baker-Denny) move up a few rungs when they kidnap wealthy computer mogul Ben Dyson (Greg Wise) in Sebastian Gutierrez's neo-noir. During the crime, Coco kills Dyson's girlfriend, Patty (Beverly Penberthy), wife of Senator Rupert Hornbeck (Hal Holbrook). Assigned to the case are FBI Agent Sadie Hawkins (Emma Thompson) and Police Lt. David Friedman (Alan Rickman). When Hornbeck threatens Friedman instead of assisting him, the detective suspects that this is no ordinary kidnapping for ransom, and he does his own investigation. A conscience-stricken Coco realizes that she may have been set up to kill Patty, and she, too, takes matters into her own hands. A fairly complex tale of betrayal and corruption, Judas Kiss also spoofs noir conventions -- for instance, agent Hawkins is reading Jim Thompson's crime novel The Killer Inside Me, and he discusses the writer's works with Friedman during lulls in the action. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simon Baker-Denny, Gil Bellows, (more)
Brett Ratner directed this action-comedy that found box-office success by teaming Chris Tucker with Jackie Chan -- performing his own stunts as per his earlier films. As the story begins, Hong-Kong supercop Lee's (Chan), detective savvy leads to the confiscation of $500 million in weapons, drugs, and Chinese art. When Hong Kong Chinese Consul Han (Tzi Ma), is sent on a diplomatic mission to Los Angeles, his 11-year-old daughter, Soo Young (Julia Hsu), is abducted by an international criminal mastermind. The FBI assures Han they will find the kidnappers and return her safely, yet Han only trusts his longtime friend and ally (also his daughter's beloved martial arts teacher) Inspector Lee, who immediately flies in to help. Unwilling to have an outsider interfere in their investigation, the FBI assigns rogue LAPD detective (and buffoon) James Carter (Chris Tucker) to the case. Hoping to impress the FBI, Carter enthusiastically reports for work but is dismayed to discover his real mission is only to keep Lee away from the case (read b-a-b-y-s-i-t-t-e-r). The arrogant Carter reacts by embarking on a one-man crusade to solve the case, but he must first distract Lee. It doesn't take Carter long before he realizes he has greatly underestimated his Hong Kong counterpart, who sees what's going on and slips away. Impatient FBI agents try to cast off these unwanted misfit cops, but with an assist from LAPD bomb expert Tania Johnson (Elizabeth Pena), Carter and Lee eventually confront the bad guys in a full-tilt action sequence. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, (more)
Seduced by the pastoral existence of a vacation, a doctor decides to remain and savor the slow pace of life in another dimension. Unfortunately, he soon discovers that even his newfound paradise is not totally devoid of chaos. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tate Donovan, Ming-Na Wen, (more)
While set within the milieu of the Los Angeles adult film industry, Boogie Nights is less a film about pornography than the serio-comic story of a group of misfits, losers, and lost souls who are embraced by Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds), a director who makes "adult films, exotic motion pictures." In 1977, while hanging out at a disco, Jack spots Eddie (Mark Wahlberg), the new busboy at the club, and tells him he's convinced "there's something wonderful inside those jeans waiting to get out." Jack knows his business well and his expert eye has not betrayed him; Eddie is a pornographer's dream -- good looking, remarkably endowed, and willing and able to do as many takes as might be needed. The product of a woefully dysfunctional upbringing, Eddie is not terribly bright but is very ambitious and eager to prove he has a "special something" to share with the world. Eddie changes his name to Dirk Diggler and quickly becomes the biggest star in hardcore. Working alongside "Dirk" in Jack's films are Amber Waves (Julianne Moore), a porn actress who applies her misplaced maternal instincts to anyone who needs nurturing; Rollergirl (Heather Graham), a cheerful but blank-faced high school drop-out who never removes her roller skates; Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly), a none-too-bright actor, aspiring magician, and failing songwriter; Buck (Don Cheadle), a black actor fascinated with cowboy iconography who wants to open a stereo shop; Scotty J (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a stocky and awkward soundman infatuated with Dirk; Little Bill (William H. Macy), Jack's assistant director, who has trouble dealing with his wife's brazen infidelity; and Colonel James (Robert Ridgely), Jack's backer, who has a weakness for young girls. In the brief, late-'70s moment when porn was chic and sex films seemed poised to break into the mainstream, Dirk becomes a star and Jack a respected name. But a few years later, drugs and pride have taken their toll on Dirk and many of his friends, while the advent of the VCR radically changes the adult movie business; Jack goes from being a "filmmaker" to manufacturing and wholesaling videocassettes, a wealthy but emotionally broken man. In his second film, wunderkind director Paul Thomas Anderson juggled a broad range of characters in a manner reminiscent of Robert Altman's ensemble films, making Boogie Nights a sad but funny story of a makeshift family of damaged people and what happens before and after their brief moment in the sun. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, (more)
In this action drama, Harrison Ford plays James Marshall, a onetime combat hero in the Vietnam War who is now President of the United States. While visiting the former Soviet Union, Marshall gives a speech in which he supports a get-tough attitude against both terrorists and a right-wing general and war criminal from Kazakhstan imprisoned in Moscow, earning him few friends in the Eastern Bloc. While flying back to the United States aboard Air Force One, Marshall and his staff discover that one of the journalists returning with them is actually Ivan Korshunov (Gary Oldman), a Kazakhstani terrorist, who hijacks the plane with three associates and holds the president hostage -- with his wife and daughter on board. Marshall must use his strength and intelligence to keep the terrorists at bay and devise a plan to allow his family to escape to safety, while on the ground the vice-president (Glenn Close), the secretary of defense (Dean Stockwell), and the attorney general (Philip Baker Hall) grapple over what to do and how much control to take in this crisis. Slam-bang action sequences and plot twists fly fast and furious in this nail-biter from director Wolfgang Petersen, who previously generated suspense under water (rather than in the air) with Das Boot. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, (more)
Hit Me is a film adaptation of Jim Thompson's crime novel, A Swell-Looking Babe. Sonny (Elias Koteas) lives with his retarded older brother, Leroy (Jay Leggett), and works very hard as a bellhop at a second-rate hotel. This changes when Monique (Laure Marsac) a beautiful, suicidal nut-case checks in. Sonny delivers her room service order and finds her bleeding from the wrists. She and Del (Bruce Ramsay), a male prostitute, draw Sonny into a robbery scheme which quickly begins to unravel. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elias Koteas, Laure Marsac, (more)
Before his commercial breakthrough with Boogie Nights (1997), writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson made this low-key drama. John (John C. Reilly), a half-bright loser stranded in Reno, is down to his last few bucks when Sydney (Phillip Baker Hall), taking pity on him, buys him breakfast and offers him a few tips on making money in the casinos. Two years later, John has become Sydney's partner, but his lack of common sense goes from problematic to dangerous when he falls in love with Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow), a cocktail waitress who isn't above turning a few tricks when she needs to make money -- and isn't any brighter than John. Hall and Reilly, both first-rate character actors, are cast in rare leading roles, and Paltrow is cast strongly against type as a part-time prostitute with a serious lack of street smarts. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, (more)
An ordinary woman is driven to the point of violent revenge in this tense thriller. Karen McCann (Sally Field) is a suburban wife and working mother with two daughters. Karen's life is turned upside down when her 17-year-old daughter is raped and murdered, a crime she overhears on her cellular phone. Sgt. Denillo (Joe Mantegna), a bright and resourceful police detective, soon tracks down the culprit, an especially sleazy criminal named Robert Doob (Kiefer Sutherland). However, due to a minor technicality, Doob escapes conviction, even though he's clearly guilty. Karen's husband Mack (Ed Harris) suppresses his grief and tries to go on with his life, but Karen doesn't find this quite so easy; she joins a support group for parents of murdered children, and she discovers that within the group is an underground society that seeks vigilante justice against killers who've slipped through the net of the judicial system. Karen buys a gun, learns how to use it, and begins training in martial arts. She starts keeping tabs on Doob, and learns that he not only intends to kill again, he's targeting her younger daughter. Beverly D'Angelo co-stars as Karen's best friend Dolly, and Philip Baker Hall plays Sidney Hughes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sally Field, Kiefer Sutherland, (more)
A convict agrees to go undercover and gather evidence on a notorious crime lord in order to win an early release from prison in this tough, gritty crime drama. Much of the tension develops from the inner conflict of Jimmy Kilmartin (David Caruso), who feels torn between his desire to win freedom for the sake of his family and his belief in a code of honor that sees ratting on others as an unforgivable sin. His misgivings are compounded by fear when he learns that his target is to be the notorious Little Junior (Nicolas Cage), a violent eccentric with a hair-trigger temper. Luckily for the ex-con, Junior takes a shine to Jimmy, welcoming him into his inner circle. While this pleases the investigators, it means further trouble for Jimmy, who would undoubtedly be killed were his deception ever discovered. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Caruso, Samuel L. Jackson, (more)
- 1994
Carl Lumbly stars as an unlikely super-hero in this made-for-television sci-fi movie. Lumbly stars as Dr. Miles Hawkins, a wheel-chair bound scientist who concocts a device that not only liberates him from his chair, but turns him into a crime-fighting super hero. The idea was later developed into a popular TV-series of the same name, also starring Lumbly. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gina Torres
- 1994
Originally made for cable television, Roswell is an entertaining mix of purported actual events and science fiction. The narrative unfolds primarily in flashbacks as retired Army officer Jesse Marcel (Kyle MacLachlan) attends a reunion of the 509th Bomber Group and tries to come to closure on events that had taken place 30 years earlier. Back in 1947, Major Marcel had been part of a military team that investigated a crash site on a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico. The debris recovered from the site had exhibited some remarkable properties such as being able to repair itself instantly after being cut, suggesting that it might have been of extraterrestrial origin. The military brass had ordered Marcel to go along with their phony story that the material was ordinary metal foil from a weather balloon, and he had reluctantly complied. By the time of the 1977 reunion, Marcel is suffering from a terminal illness, and he feels compelled to try to find out what had really happened at Roswell all those years ago. MacLachlan gives an effective performance, particularly when he portrays Marcel as an older man trying to understand his past. Evocative location shooting in the American Southwest adds cinematic impact. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kyle MacLachlan, Martin Sheen, (more)
- 1994
Forget the Hollywood-heavy sci-fi flash of Armageddon and Deep Impact as you experience the terror of a destructive asteroid impact firsthand in this startlingly realistic faux news broadcast from filmmaker Robert Iscove. The unthinkable has happened, and it's not long before television news cameras across the globe bring images of death and destruction to the evening news. With advanced news technology that allows for the kind of extensive coverage never before possible, viewers will be riveted as veteran journalist Sander Vanocur, author Arthur C. Clarke, and Malcolm in the Middle star Jane Kaczmarek step before the camera for a startling piece of speculative science fiction that may be a bit too realistic for more sensitive viewers. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
