John Heard Movies

Adapted from the six-issue comic book series originally published in 2004, the animated adventure Justice League: The New Frontier follows the epic adventures of Superman and his fellow DC Comics superheroes from the end of World War II to the global tensions of the Cold War. In addition to detailing the ultimate fate of DC war comic squadron The Losers and showing how reluctant fighter pilot Hal Jordan made the stunning transformation into The Green Lantern, the film also follows Superman and Wonder Woman as they struggle with their involvement on the East Asia battle arena, finds the Martian Manhunter arriving on planet Earth, and showcases John Henry's valiant struggle against the evil Ku Klux Klan. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The ABC sitcom Cavemen was inspired by a popular TV advertising campaign for GEICO Auto Insurance. These were the ads which a smarmy commercial spokesman who claimed that a GEICO policy was so simple that "Even a caveman could understand it" was taken to task by a pair of real cavemen, who despite their goonish Neanderthal appearance--matted hair, buck teeth, bushy eyebrows et.al.--were urbane, sardonically witty and very easily offended! In the weekly-series version of this concept, a trio of young, hip cavemen lived and worked in contemporary San Diego, doing their best to fit in with the non-caveman world while still remaining fiercely loyal to their prehistoric "roots". Bill English played Joel Claybrook, the hardest-working of the three "primitives", who secretly broke the unofficial Code of the "Maggers" (a nickmame for Cro-Magnons) by falling in love with Kate (Kaitlin Doubleday), a blonde, blue eyed "Sape" (short for "Homo Sapiens", a cavemen term for those who'd evolved into "modern" humans). Nick Kroll was Joel's roommate Nick Hedge, a sullen slacker who militantly disapproved of mixing the species and had no intention of ever assimilating into the "Sape" world. Sam Huntington rounded out the threesome as Joel's nerdish, whiny younger brother Andy. Jeff Daniel Phillips, who'd starred in the original GEICO commercials, was seen as the protagonist's friend and fellow "Magger" Maurice. Others in the cast included Stephanie Lemelin as Kate's best friend Thorne, a "Sape" with an insatiable Caveman fetish, and Julie White as Leslie, the realtor for the boys' apartment building, who had to keep admonishing them to behave like everyone else and not be so "primal." The ABC publicity department proudly trumpetted the rather obvious fact that Cavemen was intended to be a metaphorical slam against racial prejudice (it was even more obvious in the pilot episode, which was set deep in the American south--Atlanta, to be exact) and a plea for tolerance and understanding for those among us who were a little bit different. . .or even a whole lot different! The series' unsung heroes were the talented members of the makeup crew, who convincingly transformed the three stars into hirsute cavedwellers without sacrificing the actors' personalities or hampering their natural facial movements. The much-ballyhooed network premiere of Cavemen took place on October 2, 2007. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When a mob mule carrying five million dollars in cold hard cash suddenly goes missing, the kingpin awaiting the substantial delivery discovers that he isn't the only one searching for the missing money in this quirky crime comedy starring Armand Assante, Steven Bauer, John Heard, Nicole Eggert, and Joe Piscopo. Tony Thick is a mobster who was expecting a lucrative visit from Los Angeles-based delivery man Lenny Long. But Lenny has failed to show, and now the impatient Mafioso suspects that the courier may have met with foul play. Hoping to find out the whereabouts of his cash as quickly as possible, Tony sends his henchman Shady to L.A. to recover the tidy sum. Little does Shady realize he's about to run into a whole cast of crazies who seem to be on the same mission. From Lenny's desperate wife to his scatterbrained mistress, his bodybuilding brother, and one seriously eccentric neurosurgeon, this exhausting money run seems to get more outlandish with each passing day. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A decorated Coast Guard search and rescue specialist still haunted by the death of his teammates during a disastrous mission off the coast of Alaska is charged with the task of training the next generation of Coast Guard rescue swimmers in director Andrew Davis' ocean-bound adventure drama. Ben Randall (Kevin Costner) was the best swimmer of his graduating class, but upon surfacing as the sole survivor of an Alaskan rescue mission attempted during a Category Three storm, his outlook on life has grown increasingly jaded. Now, as hotshot young swimmer Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher) arrives at Coast Guard rescue school looking to accomplish something meaningful with his life, he will be forced to endure the rigorous training methods of a man who expects nothing less than the very best in order to become a member of one of the most elite rescue squads on the planet. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

An ex-con who once traded his soul for his freedom is forced to carry out a kidnapping in order to summon the cleansing winds of redemption in director Adam Golomb's fact-based look at the criminal underworld in the Windy City. Nate Maycott (Dean Rabaiov) has just finished serving a four-year prison sentence, and now he's determined to start life anew with his young daughter. Had he paid off the police like most others, Nate may have been able to avoid his stint behind bars altogether, but sometimes the "tax" is too steep even for those who can afford to pay. Now that Nate is back on the outside, the police step up their plans to ensure that he never forgets the past. Instructed to keep tabs on the prostitution practices at the Chicago Uptown Hotel, Nate gradually finds himself backed into a dangerous corner. The streets of Chicago can be an unforgiving place even for the innocent, but for a man with a murder to hide and daughter to protect, they can be downright infernal. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A European exile finds herself a stranger in a strange land when she comes to the United States in this independent romantic comedy-drama. As a man ponders what to do with his family's estate after the death of his grandmother, he thinks back to how she first came to America shortly after World War I. Olaf (Tim Guinee) is a Norwegian-American farmer looking for a wife to share his home on the Minnesota prairie, and with eligible women in short supply locally, he sends away for a mail-order bride. Inge Ottenberg (Elizabeth Reaser) soon arrives at Olaf's doorstep, but while she's pretty, smart, and amiable, he's taken aback to discover she's not Norwegian but German, which after several years of anti-German propaganda does not make her popular with her new neighbors. Inge isn't very good with English, making it even harder to keep her background a secret, and the local pastor, Rev. Sorrensen (John Heard), is so outraged at the presence of a presumed Hun he refuses to perform their wedding. But Inge struggles to make friends with her new neighbors, in particular Olaf's best friend, Frandsen (Alan Cumming), a gadget fancier whose wife, Brownie (Alex Kingston), is better with mechanical items than he is. In time, Inge's cheerful nature and love of music begin to make an impression on the community as she shares her favorite tunes on her ever-present gramophone. Sweet Land was the first feature film from writer and director Ali Selim. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A young man struggles to hold his family together while keeping his own life on track in this independent drama. P.J. Lee (Thomas Guiry) is a teenager growing up in a decaying industrial town in Illinois. Few kids have it easy where P.J.'s from, but he has it harder than most -- his parents split up several years ago, and P.J.'s father, Carl (John Heard), is in jail on vehicular manslaughter charges he's not likely to shake. P.J.'s big brother, Ben (Clayne Crawford), is married and has a life of his own, through his fondness for booze and other women suggests he's following the same sorry path as his dad. P.J.'s mother, Marianne (Laurie Metcalf), is remarried to a police officer, Randall (James McDaniel), and they have little to offer him other than a chance to join the police academy. When P.J. loses his job as a busboy, he finds he can no longer pay the rent on his house, and has a falling out with his girlfriend, Amy (America Ferrera), who works at the same diner. With nowhere else to go, P.J. moves in with his uncle Vic (Raymond J. Barry), but he soon begins to buckle under Vic's "straighten up and fly right" attitude. The first feature film from writer and director Brian Jun, Steel City was enthusiastically received during its premiere screening at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Money and power bring major corruption to the world's energy marketplace in this taut political drama. After a long war between the United States and a coalition of Middle Eastern nations leads to a gap in the flow of multinational oil trading, the price of gasoline in America shoots past six dollars a gallon and both the energy industry and the stock market are walking on thin ice. In the midst of this instability, Tom Hansen (Christian Slater), a leading advisor at of one Wall Street's top firms, is looking to hire new talent to help with his latest client, Condor Oil and Gas. Condor's CEO, Jared Tolson (Robert Loggia) used to employ Tom's best friend until the younger man died in a mysterious accident, and Tom is eager to do what he can for Jared. Tom hires Abbey Gallagher (Selma Blair) to assist with the Condor account; Abbey is a passionate environmental activist who is wary of associating herself with a major energy firm, but her mentor Prof. Roseman (John Heard) persuades her she can be an advocate for green concerns on the inside. As Tom and Abbey spend more time together, they become romantically drawn to one another, but Tom's love for her puts Abbey in great danger when she finds out what he knows about illegal oil trading operations and money laundering schemes that link Condor with the Russian Mafia. The Deal also stars Colm Feore, Angie Harmon, and Françoise Yip. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A man is called by the military to defend himself against long-ago charges of criminal misconduct in this made-for-cable drama based on a novel by Nelson DeMille. Ben Tyson (Don Johnson) has done well for himself 30 years after his tour of duty in Vietnam -- he's a successful businessman and happily married to a beautiful woman, Marcy (Sharon Lawrence). But Tyson's contented life is shattered when a book is published accusing him of being responsible for a bloody ambush in a field hospital that took the lives of a number of Vietnamese civilians. Tyson is recalled to duty by the army to answer these charges in a court martial. As his professional and personal lives begin to buckle under the strain, Tyson must defend his actions, as well as his responsibilities to his comrades and himself, to prosecutor Major Karen Harper (Jeanne Tripplehorn). Don Johnson's son, Jesse Johnson, plays the young Ben Tyson in Vietnam flashback sequences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Allen and Janice Lowry (John Heard, Patricia Kalember) discover that their only child Erica (Jennifer Brox) has leukemia, and needs an immediate bone-marrow transplant. Unfortunately, neither parent completely matches Erica's DNA; if only she had a sibling who was willing to be a donor. Just when the situation is at its bleakest, who should arrive at the Lowry's doorstep but 16-year-old Robbie (Trever O'Brien), who claims to be Alan's illegitimate son. This turns out to be true--and sadly, it is also true that Robbie's embittered mother Debbie (Sherry Hursey) flatly refuses to allow her son to be tested as a donor. It is up to Monica (Roma Downey) and the angels to not only melt Debbie's hard heart, but also save the Lowrys' now-fractured marriage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide