Brion James Movies

Jon Dichter directs this taut psychological thriller about a narcissistic man getting his overdue comeuppance from a vengeful telephone operator. Lawyer Gary Wheelan (Michael Laurence) lives the good life -- he has a beautiful wife, a huge bank account, and an excess of young female associates. He is accustomed to getting what he wants, and he tends to have a fit when he does not get it. Dissatisfied with his phone service, he berates the operation with such vituperation that the badly rattled woman (Jacqueline Kim) resolves to fight back. Using a vast computer network, the operator slashes his credit rating, drains his bank account, and eventually ruins his marriage. The formerly smug Gary is soon overwhelmed and frantic as he tries to regain control of his life. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Philippe Mora's drama Joseph's Gift, adapted from the biblical story of Joseph, stars Freddy Rodriguez as Joseph Kellar. Joseph has long been the apple of his father's eye, making his brothers seethe with jealousy for years. When the father gives Joseph a gift of an expensive coat, the brothers decide to finally act on their base impulses. During a visit to New York City, the brothers strand Joseph and convince their father that Joseph is dead. Cut off from his family, Joseph is forced to start his life over again. Decades later, Joseph confronts his family, and must decide if he will sink to their level, or take the high road. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Brion James and Valerie Perrine star in this drama about a young woman who runs away from home after her father tries to force her into a loveless marriage. After she arrives in New Orleans, she discovers a strange woman is following her every move -- and stealing her lovers away from her. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

When someone starts killing famous fashion models, poor Margo -- one of the world's most famous cover girls -- begins to get a little paranoid. Is someone trying to kill her? She has a few suspects, especially her dweeby stalker. Other potential killers include a flirty private eye and her acting coach. There is also the chilling possibility that she does not know the killer at all. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this action-packed drama, Max Lightener (Loren Avedon) is a Navy SEAL and intelligence operative who is pushed too far when his fiancée Jackie Martin (Lisa Crosato) and her father are abducted by Bobby Rico (Brion James), an underworld financier involved in drug running and Wall Street swindling. Max teams up with FBI agent Luis (Francesco Quinn) to rescue Jackie and give Rico the punishment he deserves, but it soon becomes evident that Rico has snatched Mr. Martin for other reasons than merely taking his money. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This unusual comedy-drama, set in an experimental psychiatric institute, is a departure for genre director Philippe Mora, whose usual oeuvre is science fiction, horror, and low-budget action films. Rene Auberjonois stars as Dr. Sam Cohen, director of the Temporal Displacement Foundation. Cohen's highly-offbeat but well-funded mission is to treat psychotic patients whose particular dysfunction is the belief that they are famous historical figures, with the chief therapy being psychodrama, the reenactment of passages from that figure's life. Although he has some patients who believe themselves to be artists or religious icons (Mick Fleetwood as Pablo Picasso and Jesse Grey Walken as Jesus Christ), Cohen's star patient (Angus MacFadyen) believes himself to be Adolf Hitler. The clever, mentally ill genius has inexorably drawn several fellow patients into his delusion, including Tessa (T.C. Warner), who now believes herself to be Eva Braun. Enacting the part of Hitler's father, Cohen hopes for a breakthrough with the group. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

A man's past comes back to haunt him -- literally -- in this thriller. After surviving a traumatic auto accident that took the life of a close friend and injured his brother, young Michael Sanford was sent off to a boarding school and didn't see his hometown in California's Sonoma Valley for close to two decades until he returned after the death of his mother. Michael (Brett Cullen) has inherited the family business, a winery, and he and his wife Diane (Tamlyn Tomita) try to build the business as they make a new home. But a psychotic killer has invaded the community, murdering a number of children, and one night Michael drives past the site of the killings and thinks that he sees more bodies. A number of people in town are convinced that Michael has never revealed everything he knows about the auto accident from 20 years ago, and as he tries to tell the police what he thinks he's seen in connection with the sudden rash of child killings, he discovers that he's now a leading suspect in the police's investigation. The Killing Jar also stars Wes Studi, Brion James, and M. Emmet Walsh. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Philippe Mora, the genre filmmaker whose marsupial-themed Howling III and alien-abduction hit Communion solidified his reputation as a director of clunky, substandard fantasy, returned with this space-set remake of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. True to form, it's a clunky mess, with Harold Pruett as a young prospector named Ben (complete with a lovable canine sidekick), who teams up with gambler Armand Crile (Rutger Hauer) and a shifty engineer named Horton (Brion James) to look for Au79, a valuable ore also called "Precious." Mora throws in everything but the kitchen sink with sabotage, explosions, crazed hijackings, and a few tacky aliens in an obligatory cantina scene. He also includes a lame CGI monster and some campy humor (as if Don Stroud as a long-haired Asian robot wasn't campy enough). Brion James steals the show as the cynical Horton, and even gets to sing, while Mora makes a cameo appearance as a scummy merchant. Despite its outer-space setting, the science fiction elements pretty much fall by the wayside once the cast leaves the moon and gets to Asteroid 18, which may as well be Bronson Canyon in an old B-Western. While it is true that most science fiction movies are basically frontier Westerns at heart anyway, this one forces the issue in such a way that one can only wonder why Mora didn't just do a straight ripoff of Sierra Madre rather than adding the unnecessary spaceships. Probably because low-budget sci-fi rents and low-budget Westerns don't. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

A collection of losers, misfits, and outcasts find their lives unexpectedly converging at a diner along a desert highway in this violent and offbeat comedy drama. Dwayne (John Savage) is a strait-laced-looking vacuum cleaner salesman with a bad habit of murdering prospective customers, while Patty Mae (Jennifer Tilly) is a sexy mystery woman who has amassed an impressive collection of carpet sweepers. Martin (Eric Roberts) is a down-on-his-luck family man wondering how he'll support his wife and kids now that he has lost his job. Johnny (Luke Perry) is a deeply depressed young man who has arranged for a hired killer (Sam J. Jones) to murder him, not knowing that the killer has no intentions of allowing him to die quickly or easily. And Harv (James Russo) and Gene (Joe Viterelli) are a pair of mobsters from Las Vegas who discuss their various problems with women, not very concerned about the fact there's a man locked in the trunk of their car. American Strays also features Carol Kane, Brion James, and Melora Walters. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Sketch artist Jeff Fahey returns in this made-for-television sequel. Jack Whitfield stars as Fahey, a police artist whose latest job is to help blind rape victim Emmy O'Connor (Courtney Cox) come up with a description of her attacker. The rapist is also a serial murderer and Emmy is the only one to survive after one of his attacks -- but the murderer isn't through with her yet. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

In this Canadian/Japanese sci-fi actioner, the trouble begins as a boozy ex-cop tries to forget the horrible killing of his partner by the nefarious, white-wigged Nassim. The only job the cop can find now is as a janitor at a high-tech bio-research lab where they have been working on a super deadly virus. One night, Nassim and his cronies break into the high security installation so they can "cyberjack" the virus. They gain an evil edge by abducting the daughter of the head scientist and now only the janitor can save them all. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A man trying to escape his criminal past becomes involved with a woman born under a bad sign in this crime drama. Frank T. Wells (Mickey Rourke) has just been released after spending ten years in prison, the result of a manslaughter conviction stemming from an act of self-defense. Frank wants to rebuild his life and start his own ranch; to raise the money, he begins riding on the rodeo circuit. While on the road, Frank meets a woman named Scarlet Stuart (Lori Singer), who has "F.T.W." tattooed on her hand (though it doesn't stand for "Frank T. Wells," but "F--k The World"); Scarlet was both partner in crime and unwilling lover to her brother Clem (Peter Berg), who recently died after shooting four people in a bank holdup. When Scarlet discovers Frank's initials are F.T.W., she believes it means that they were meant to be together, and they quickly fall into a relationship as Scarlet supports herself the way she knows best, armed robbery. Musicians Aaron Neville and Charlie Sexton appear in supporting roles. F.T.W. was also released as The Last Ride. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide