Kevin Chapman Movies
The city streets explode into violence when "The Man" kills Black Dynamite's (Michael Jai White) brother in this seamless recreation of the blaxploitation classics of the 1970s. He was the best agent that the CIA ever had, but these days Black Dynamite only answers to one boss -- himself. When "The Man" ices Black Dynamite's brother, starts pumping heroin into the local orphanage, and floods the ghetto with a secret weapon disguised as common malt liquor, the car chases, gunfights, and shirtless brawls that follow prove wild enough to make even Dolemite green with envy. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Jai White, Kym E. Whitley, (more)
A thirtysomething single mother whose boundless potential was squandered through a series of failed relationships and a misguided effort to help her younger sister succeed in life finds the fruits of her labors finally coming together in director Christine Jeffs' dark family comedy. Back in high school, the future looked pretty bright for Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams); not only was she the cheerleading captain, but she was also dating the star quarterback. Flash forward a little over a decade, and Rose is working overtime in hopes of getting her son into a better school. Her sister, Norah (Emily Blunt), is still living at home with their father, Joe (Alan Arkin), a failed salesman whose penchant for jumping into get-rich-quick schemes has left the family without a financial net to fall back on. Rose may be down, but she certainly isn't out, and when she hatches a plan to launch a crime-scene cleanup business, the money starts rolling in. Sure, cleaning up murder scenes and suicide sites may not be the most glamorous job in the world, but death is a fairly profitable business, and as the phone keeps ringing, Rose and Norah finally begin to experience the closeness of sisterhood that has eluded them all these years while also providing their family with true security. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, (more)
- Starring:
- Jason Clarke, Jason Isaacs, (more)
Monica Keena (Abby Morgan on television's Dawson's Creek) headlines the direct-to-video psychological thriller Long Distance. She plays Nicole Freeman, an average young woman who walks into a waking nightmare when she accidentally dials a wrong number one evening, "interrupting" a murder-in-progress. The psychopathic perpetrator spots Monica's name and number on the caller I.D., and repeatedly phones her back. He then stages a trail of homicides across the country that lead to Monica's Boston house, and implicates her in each murder. Ivan Martin, Kevin Chapman and Tamala Jones co-star; Marcus Stern directs, from a script by Michael Rasmussen, Shawn Rasmussen and Glenn Cooper. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monica Keena, Kevin Chapman, (more)
D.J. Caruso's Two for the Money stars Matthew McConaughey as Brandon Lang, a former college quarterback whose life plans changed when he suffered a career-ending injury. Brandon turns out to have remarkable skill at picking winning football bets. Eventually, he comes to the attention of Walter Abrams (Al Pacino), a very successful business tycoon who runs a giant gambling operation. Walter brings Brandon to New York and introduces him to a glitzy, fast-paced, money-drenched lifestyle that Brandon eagerly soaks up. When Brandon's magic touch begins to falter, Walter starts to turn on his protégé. Soon the two men are attempting to outwit each other, with Walter's wife (Rene Russo) caught in the middle. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey, (more)
A middle-aged man finds a callow twentysomething usurping his professional life and worming his way into his family in this alternately funny and poignant comedy drama. Dan Foreman (Dennis Quaid) is a middle-aged man who has spent 20 years as the head of advertising sales for Sports America, a leading athletics magazine. Dan is happily married to Ann (Marg Helgenberger) and has a college-age daughter, Alex (Scarlett Johansson), whom he dotes on, but Dan's comfortable life is given a major shake-up when a large multimedia firm buys the magazine. Seen as a bit long in the tooth to be truly competitive, Dan is demoted to second in command of advertising, and his position is handed over to Carter Duryea (Topher Grace), a 26-year-old who talks a good game about sales but has no practical experience in the field. Dan's wounded ego makes working with the arrogant Carter an uphill battle, but when he learns that Ann is expecting another baby, Dan is in no position to quit. Before long, Dan becomes aware of Carter's intense insecurities about his new job as the younger man reaches out to him for guidance, but this doesn't make Dan any less angry when Carter begins a romance with Alex after his marriage to Kimberley (Selma Blair) crashes and burns. In Good Company marked the solo directorial debut of Paul Weitz; he previously worked in collaboration with his brother Chris Weitz, who serves as producer on this film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, (more)
An everyday hero recalls his life as he's forced to look death in the eye in this adventure drama. Jack Morrison (Joaquin Phoenix) is a young firefighter who is a member of Ladder Company 49, led by Capt. Kennedy (John Travolta), a tough but compassionate man who looks upon his fellow firefighters as a family. While battling a blaze, Morrison finds himself trapped inside a burning building, and as Kennedy and his men try to find a way to rescue him, Morrison looks back on his life and how he came to choose such a dangerous career. Ladder 49 also features Jacinda Barrett and Brooke Hamlin as, respectively, Morrison's wife and daughter. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joaquin Phoenix, John Travolta, (more)
Directed by Clint Eastwood, the mysterious drama Mystic River is based on the novel by Dennis Lehane and adapted by screenwriter Brian Helgeland. Set in an Irish neighborhood in Boston, Jimmy, Sean, and Dave are three childhood friends who are reunited after a brutal murder takes place. Reformed convict Jimmy Markum (Sean Penn) and his devoted wife Annabeth (Laura Linney) find out that their teenage daughter Katie (Emmy Rossum) has been beaten and killed. Jimmy's old friend Sean Devine (Kevin Bacon) is the homicide detective assigned to the case, along with partner Whitey Powers (Laurence Fishburne). Jimmy also gets his relatives, the Savage brothers (Adam Nelson and Robert Wahlberg), to conduct an investigation of their own. Jimmy and Sean both start to suspect their old pal, Dave Boyle (Tim Robbins), who lives a quiet life with his wife Celeste (Marcia Gay Harden) but harbors some disturbing secrets. Clint Eastwood won a Golden Coach for Mystic River at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, (more)
Things get personal for the CSI's Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan) when he heads to his old neighborhood to investigate a particularly tragic drive-by shooting. The victim, who was sleeping in her own bedroom, was the nine-year-old daughter of Warrick's old friend and mentor, Matt Phelps (Keith David). When the grieving Warrick presses a little too hard in putting the heat on the primary suspect, Grissom (William L. Petersen) is forced to take him off the case. Elsewhere, Nick (George Eads) investigates the murder of the much-despised CEO of a dot com, whose skull was crushed at his job site. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Michelle (Reiko Aylesworth) gets word that Tony (Carlos Bernard) has been shot and critically wounded while trying to apprehend Kyle (Riley Smith). As Tony goes into surgery, she reluctantly decides to stay at CTU and run the critical anti-terrorism operation. Realizing he's being pursued, Kyle gets in touch with his girlfriend, Linda (Agnes Bruckner), and convinces her to come and pick him up at the mall. Then he tells her that he could maybe be infected with some kind of deadly virus. Terrified, she tells him to take her car and go, but before she can get away, a group of men grab the young couple and take them to an airtight chamber, where they'll presumably be kept until the virus is contagious. David (Dennis Haysbert) is ready to pay off Anne's (Wendy Crewson) ex, but Anne appeals to his conscience, and convinces him to call it off, much to Wayne's (D.B. Woodside) chagrin. Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) can't convince David to release Ramon (Joaquim de Almeida), so he proposes another plan: he'll go "rogue," break Ramon out of prison, and deliver him to Hector (Vincent Laresca). This way, the biological terrorism threat will be thwarted, without the president appearing to have given in to the Salazars' demands. Jack proceeds to the prison, but is furious when Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) tells him that Chase (James Badge Dale) has disobeyed his orders and gone to the prison himself to interrogate Ramon. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) has caused a riot at the prison, and he and Ramon (Joaquim de Almeida) attempt to escape by knocking out two guards and putting on their uniforms. Unfortunately, they're overtaken by a gang of heavily armed prisoners, and the riot leader, Peel (Lobo Sebastian) forces the two "guards" to play Russian roulette. Michelle (Reiko Aylesworth) learns that Jack is trying to break Ramon out of prison, and orders Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) to search his office for anything pertinent. She finds evidence of his drug use. With Gael (Jesse Borrego) sabotaging their efforts, the CTU team inches closer to finding Kyle. Studying surveillance video, Adam (Zachary Quinto) determines that Kyle (Riley Smith) has been abducted, and Kim discovers the van's license plate number. In an effort to save Linda (Agnes Bruckner), Kyle attempts to kill himself, but she manages to stop him. At the debate, Keeler (Geoff Pierson) makes his accusation against Anne (Wendy Crewson). ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Character actor and noted photographer Todd Field made his directorial debut with this emotionally powerful drama, which earned enthusiastic reviews at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. Frank Fowler (Nick Stahl) is a handsome and amiable young man who has recently graduated from high school and is spending the summer working as a lobster fisherman before heading off to college in the fall. Frank is also involved with Natalie (Marisa Tomei), an attractive woman ten years his senior who is separated from her husband Richard (William Mapother), though their divorce has not yet been finalized. Frank's parents, Matt (Tom Wilkinson) and Ruth (Sissy Spacek) wonder if it's wise for their son to be pursuing a romance that he won't be able to continue in a few months; Matt trusts Frank and leaves him to make his own decisions, while Ruth quietly but firmly registers her objections. One day, Richard snaps, and breaks into Natalie's home; when he discovers Frank is there, he viciously kills him. The wheels of justice turn in an unexpected direction, and Richard is released on bail, free to go his own way as he awaits his trial. Matt and Ruth are both deeply traumatized by the event; while Matt tries to deal with his hurt by retreating into his work and avoiding his feelings, Ruth instead becomes increasingly withdrawn, losing interest in her job as a music teacher and spending her nights chain smoking in front of the television. In the Bedroom was adapted from the short story Killings by Andre Dubus. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, (more)





















