Djimon Hounsou Movies

In this stylized adaptation of her 1988 off-Broadway show, singer/actress/comedian Sandra Bernhard explores celebrity, stereotypes, and her own childhood in a series of monologues and musical numbers. Although much of the material comes straight from the original stage show, Bernhard and co-writer John Boskovich updated many of her pop-cultural musings and added several new production numbers. They also turned a one-woman show into something of a mockumentary, staging interviews with Bernhard's fictional manager (Lu Leonard) and adding several additional characters. Most of the action is staged in a theater full of well-heeled African American patrons who slowly leave in disgust at Bernhard's performance, which includes her deadpan fantasies about an imagined gentile childhood, a dalliance with Warren Beatty, and a trip to Studio 54. Originally given a limited release by New Line Cinema in 1990, Without You I'm Nothing was quickly pulled from theaters when the company that produced it went bankrupt. Eventually, however, it made its was to home video and DVD. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

This lucrative, elephantine-budgeted sci-fi opus paved the way for director Roland Emmerich's mega-hit Independence Day (1996). The story commences in Giza, Egypt, circa 1928, where an archaeological expedition unearths an ancient ring with cryptic hieroglyphs. The film then moves to the present day, where Egyptologist Daniel Jackson (James Spader) is busily trying to convince a group of skeptics that the pyramids were not built by man, but by an extraterrestrial force. After the lecture, a military man approaches him and offers him a job translating the said ring; its inscriptions actually constitute a map to a massive stargate (or interstellar portal). The army sends over resident crackpot colonel Jack O'Neill (Kurt Russell) to travel through the stargate and see what's on the other side; Jackson accompanies him, and the two men turn up in a desert planet on the other side of the universe, with three moons in its sky. The world in question is ruled by Ra (Jaye Davidson), a hermaphroditic Egyptian sun god, who oppresses hordes of slave workers. Jackson and O'Neill then join forces to help the said workers revolt against their oppressor. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

A quintet of young, white gangsta wannabes looks for an opportunity to gain entry into the world of organized crime in this urban drama from writer, director, co-producer, and star Derek Dunsay. Following a stint in a juvenile detention facility, Doug (Dunsay) returns to his old haunts in a working class L.A. suburb, which especially include the tattoo parlor where his pals hang out. They include Jerry (Shawn Andrews), who is somewhat mentally unbalanced, the heroin junkie J.J. (Lee Holmes), spineless Steve (Ron Livingstone), and FL (Christopher Meloni), who is somewhat older and wiser than the others. Although only guilty of petty crimes and occasional gang skirmishes, the group wants to take the next step up the ladder of criminal empire-building, and they get their chance in the aftermath of a violent encounter with a group of racist skinheads. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

A kidnapped African fights for his life rather than allowing himself to be sold into slavery in this historical drama. In 1869, slavery is outlawed in America as well as most of the world, but that doesn't stop certain unscrupulous traders from trafficking in human beings to an underground market in the U.S. As the ship Argon Miss begins to enter British waters, 24 kidnapped African natives are held in chains below the decks, with another 60 soon to be delivered. As the captives ponder their fate, they are visited by an ancient spirit (voice of Eartha Kitt) that has been trapped within the planks used to build the ship. The spirit urges the slaves to escape to freedom while the African coastline is still within reach. One of the slaves, Fyah (Djimon Hounsou), is so moved that he breaks free from his shackles and leads his fellow captives in an effort to take over the ship and sail home. Blending an accurate historical recreation of period slave ships with dialogue that incorporates modern-day slang, Ill-Gotten Gains was shot on the same ship used in Steven Spielberg's drama about a slave uprising, Amistad, and features the same leading actor, Djimon Hounsou, though Ill-Gotten Gains was filmed several months before Spielberg's picture. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this first episode of a two-part story, Ross' (George Clooney) maverick behavior catches up with him when his unauthorized treatment of ALD patient Ricky Abbott (Kyle Chambers) has fatal consequences. This tragedy has long-reaching consequences for others in the ER, beginning with the closing of Carol's (Julianna Margulies) free clinic. Elsewhere, former antagonists Carter (Noah Wyle) and Lucy (Kellie Martin) grow quite fond of one another; Benton (Eriq La Salle) all but depletes his bank account to pay for a sign-language tutor (Marlee Matlin) so that he can communicate with his son, Reese; and Nigerian janitor Mobelage (Djimon Hounsou) balks at telling his wife the real reason that he suffers from severe back pains and impotence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this Emmy-winning concluding episode of a two-part story, Ross (George Clooney) suffers the consequences for his part in the death of ALD patient Ricky Abbott. Also detrimentally affected are Carol (Julianna Margulies) , who assisted Ross in treating Ricky, and his superiors Greene (Anthony Edwards) and Weaver (Laura Innes). Weighed down by controversy and not wishing to cause any more trouble for his colleagues, Ross bids farewell to County General. In other developments, Greene treats injuries stemming from a school bus accident; tragedy strikes in the home of troubled Nigerian janitor Mobalage (Djimon Hounsou); and Carol makes a painful personal sacrifice to save her free clinic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Things get off to a deceptively light-hearted start as popular professional wrestler Kornberg (Nils Allen Stewart) is brought into the ER with a twisted knee. But the story quickly turns deadly serious when, stuck in the middle of a street riot, Carter (Noah Wyle) is forced to man the wheel of the paramedic ambulance -- and in so doing sparks an even worse situation when he accidentally runs over a youngster. Meanwhile, Carol (Julianna Margulies), still mooning over the departed Ross, receives confirmation of her pregnancy. And Lucy (Kellie Martin) comes face to face with an intransigent Asian family who refuse to let their mother know that she is in dangerously declining health. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A.E.W. Mason's perennially popular tale of honor and adventure is brought to the screen yet again in this lavish period action-drama. In 1884, Harry Feversham (Heath Ledger) is a young officer-in-training in the British Army who is soon to graduate and is expected to be shipped of to the Sudan, where the King's military are battling Muslim insurgents who are attempting to overturn English colonial rule. Feversham, however, has developed serious ethical reservations about going along, and on the eve of his departure, he resigns his commission. Feversham's best friend and fellow officer Jack Durrance (Wes Bentley) in response presents him with a white feather (a symbol of cowardice), and two of his classmates follow suit. Ethne Eustace (Kate Hudson), Feversham's fiancée, presents him with a fourth white feather shortly before breaking off their engagement. Sufficiently humbled, Feversham attempts to win back his honor and the respect of his family and friends by secretly becoming an undercover operative in the Sudan. His initial attempts to pose as an Arab are not especially convincing, but he makes friends with Abou Fatma (Djimon Hounsou), a local sympathetic with the British cause who proves to be a valuable source of insider information and advice on how to blend with the rebels. Meanwhile, Durrance is briefly ordered back to England to help recruit new soldiers for the colonial forces, and he takes the opportunity to begin wooing Eustace, the former flame of his former friend. This adaptation is the fifth film version of The Four Feathers, following two silent screen adaptations (released in 1915 and 1928), Zoltan Korda's memorable 1939 version, and a 1977 made-for-TV movie. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

After chronicling various chapters of Irish history in such films as In the Name of the Father and The Field, writer/director Jim Sheridan turns his lens upon his own family's experiences immigrating to the United States in the aptly titled In America. The loosely autobiographical script centers on Johnny (Paddy Considine), a young actor sneaking his wife, Sarah (Samantha Morton), and daughters, Christy and Ariel (real-life sisters Sarah and Emma Bolger, respectively), over the Canadian border in the hopes of jump-starting his career in New York City. They soon find that America is not the land of boundless opportunity, however, as they move into a dank, dilapidated apartment building populated by drug dealers, transients, and thugs. Johnny doesn't snag auditions as easily as he may have hoped, and he and Sarah are forced to take meager jobs after spending their savings on food, rent, and utilities. Still in grief over the untimely death of their toddler son back in Ireland, the couple find their relationship further strained by the pressures of life in the city. Little by little, however, things begin to look up for the fiercely protective family unit, especially when they befriend an eccentric artist neighbor named Mateo (Djimon Hounsou). In America saw its world premiere at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival and played to enthusiastic crowds at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival before its theatrical release in the fall of that year. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

This sequel to the 2001 hit video-game adaptation Lara Croft: Tomb Raider finds Jan de Bont stepping in for director Simon West, helming his first feature since 1999's The Haunting. From a script by first-time scribe Dean Georgaris, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life finds Angelina Jolie once again portraying the titular curvaceous adventurer. But where the first film saw Croft in a race against the Illuminati to acquire an elusive relic that offers control over life and death, this entry in the series follows the heroine as she ventures to an underwater temple in search of the mythological Pandora's Box. Unfortunately, once she secures the legendary artifact, it is promptly stolen by the villainous leader of a Chinese crime syndicate. It is then up to Lara to get the box back before an evil mastermind gets hold of it and uses it to construct a weapon of catastrophic capabilities. Gerard Butler, Djimon Hounsou, and Noah Taylor head up the supporting cast. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

From Jan Kounen, the French director of the violent cult actioner Dobermann, comes this loose adaptation of Jean "Mobius" Giraud's comic series Blueberry. Vincent Cassel stars as Mike Blueberry, a lawman whose past comes back to haunt him when his town is invaded by the nefarious Blount (Michael Madsen), the man responsible for his first love's murder. Led by a German con man by the name of Prosit (an unrecognizable Eddie Izzard), Blount and his crew search for an ancient treasure buried deep within Indian tribal grounds, while Blueberry and his Indian friend Runi (Temuera Morrison) race to keep the land sacred and stop the thieves by any means possible. Featuring Juliette Lewis and her father, Geoffrey Lewis, in supporting roles, the film sports a solid American cast that boasts an additional performance by Colm Meaney and a rare appearance by none other than Ernest Borgnine. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Blockbuster action director Michael Bay delivers a striking look at a strange world of the future in this sci-fi action drama. Midway through the 21st century, Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) lives in a confined indoor community after ongoing abuse of the Earth has rendered most of the planet uninhabitable. One of the only places in the outside world still capable of sustaining life is an idyllic island where citizens are chosen to live through a lottery. Or at least that's what Lincoln and his fellow citizens are taught to believe; the truth is that Lincoln, like everyone he knows, is actually a clone who is kept under wraps to provide needed organs when the person who supplied his or her DNA falls ill. When he becomes aware that his existence is a fraud, Lincoln escapes to the outside world with a fellow clone, Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson), though the powers that be are determined to see that no one gets away alive. The Island also stars Steve Buscemi, Djimon Hounsou, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Sean Bean. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide