Stephen Kronish Movies

A made for TV movie that provides a bridge between the sixth and seventh seasons of the hit FOX action series 24, 24: Redemption features series star Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer. As the program opens, Bauer spends his time doing missionary work in Africa, laying low while the United States government attempts to capture him. His work leads him into contact with an evil warlord who maintains a loyal army by constantly brainwashing children into joining him. Bauer risks his freedom in order to stop the warlord. Redemption co-stars Oscar winner Jon Voight, Gil Bellows, and Robert Carlyle. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Edgar (Louis Lombardi) has successfully regained control of all but six of the nuclear reactors. The only way to stop those six from melting down is to find the override device. Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) calls Heller (William Devane) to warn him about the mole inside CTU. They come up with a plan to root out the traitor, but Marianne (Aisha Tyler) successfully diverts suspicion away from herself, and the wrong person is accused of being a spy and is tortured, under Driscoll's (Alberta Watson) supervision, for information. Tony (Carlos Bernard), now unemployed and separated from his wife, takes Jack and Audrey (Kim Raver) to his place, where they view the video Jack got from the security firm, and Audrey recognizes the man she saw at the compound. Jack gets help from CTU D.C. in identifying the man as Henry Powell (Robertson Dean), a former employee of McLennan-Forster, the defense contractor that developed the override device. Jack also learns that Powell has booked a helicopter flight out of town. Behrooz (Jonathan Ahdout) brings Dina (Shohreh Aghdashloo) to a hospital, where a doctor (Hector Luis Bustamante) recognizes that she has a gunshot wound, and notifies the police, forcing the mother and son to flee. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Season four of the wildly successful "real-time" adventure series 24 begins some 18 months at the end of season three. John Keeler (Geoff Pierson) has succeeded David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) as president of the United States, and the new secretary of defense is James Heller (William Devane) -- who is also the new boss of crack CTU agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland). One of Heller's first moves is to reunite Jack with his old nemesis Erin Driscoll (Alberta Watson), now the head of the CTU. Unbeknownst to most of the principal characters, Jack is in love with Heller's daughter (and policy assistant), Audrey Raines (Kim Raver), this despite the fact that Audrey is still legally married to estranged husband, Paul (James Frain). Outside of Jack Bauer and President Keeler, the only series character from season three to return as a regular in season four is CTU tech analyst Chloe O'Brien (Mary Lynn Rajskub); the rest of the cast is virtually brand-new. The "day" that comprises the fourth season begins, typically, with a nail-biting crisis, when James Heller and his daughter Audrey are captured by a terrorist group headed by Habib Marwan (Arnold Vosloo), who has already set a fiendish master plan in motion with a train bombing in the U.S. It soon develops that the abduction of Heller and Audrey is but a subterfuge to allow an enemy stealth bomber to blow up Air Force One and eliminate the president -- and ultimately to gain control of a nuclear warhead that will destroy a major U.S. city. Making matters worse, there is a turncoat in the ranks of the CTU -- and without giving the game away, it can be noted that CTU agent Sarah Gavin (Lana Parrilla) tumbles to the mole's identity before Jack Bauer does. As the tension mounts, Paul Raines is seriously wounded saving Jack during a covert mission, which "ices" Jack's relationship with Audrey; a shattering personal tragedy forces Erin Driscoll to resign from her post in mid-season; there is dissension in the terrorist ranks during a concerted effort to trigger nuclear meltdowns in six different cities; the seldom-used 25th Amendment is invoked to change presidents in midstream; and an old enemy of Jack's from the series' first two seasons appears virtually out of nowhere to make a terrible situation far worse than could ever be imagined. Clearly, the fourth season of 24 drew inspiration from the headlines of the day, notably the controversial treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. The series also was attacked by certain special-interest groups for making several of the villains Arabs, or of Arab descent. And of course, there were those who carped that the series' notion of "real time" (each episode consisted of a single uninterrupted hour in the same day) resulted in some rather ludicrous lapses of logic. But 24 was as big a hit in the ratings throughout its fourth season as it had been all along. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having shot one guest who insisted upon leaving the hotel, Michelle (Reiko Aylesworth) demands "absolute quiet and absolute cooperation" from the rest. She tells them that medical assistance is on the way, and orders them back to their rooms. The NHS team arrives in their HAZMAT suits and begins testing everyone for the virus. She gets Alvers (Lothaire Bluteau) to describe his employer, and after cross-referencing that description with a list of Jack's (Kiefer Sutherland) contacts, they determine that the mastermind behind the virus plot is Stephen Saunders (Paul Blackthorne), a British Secret Service agent whom Jack believed was killed in Kosovo. Gael (Jesse Borrego) is suffering horribly. Michelle offers him the chance to end his life quickly. She also convinces Tony (Carlos Bernard) to send a package of suicide capsules to the hotel. Chappelle (Paul Schulze), who is following the money trail to find Saunders, suggests to a distraught Tony that he proceed as though Michelle was already dead, and "make it about revenge." Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), struggling with whether or not to raise the threat level and close the airports, receives a package from Saunders, containing an untraceable cell phone. Saunders calls him and demands that he immediately call a press conference, during which he is to use the phrase "the sky is falling." In the interest of buying time, Palmer does as he's told. With help of Trevor (Simon Templeman) from MI6, Jack tracks down Diana White (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick), an associate of Saunders, but Jack's interrogation is interrupted when the MI6 offices are assaulted. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Tony (Carlos Bernard) has taken Jane (Alexandra Lydon) out of CTU, with plans to exchange her for Michelle (Reiko Aylesworth). Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) is in pursuit, with Adam (Zachary Quinto) guiding him using the satellite image. Jack catches up to Tony, who reluctantly tells Jack the location of the pay phone where he's supposed to wait for Saunders' (Paul Blackthorne) call. They go together, and Jack forces Tony to make Saunders change the location for the exchange. Tony angrily tells Jack, "Just because you sacrificed your wife for this job, doesn't mean I'm going to sacrifice mine!" But Saunders agrees to the change, and Jack and Tony join a CTU team at the new location. Michelle makes a daring escape attempt. Chase (James Badge Dale) and Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) discuss the future of their relationship. Keeler (Geoff Pierson) goes to Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) with a photo of Milliken's prescription bottle, which he says has Sherry's (Penny Johnson Jerald) fingerprints on it. He threatens to expose the whole sordid affair unless Palmer resigns after the current crisis is over. With Palmer's blessing, Wayne (D.B. Woodside) teams up with Bruce Foxton (Mark Rolston), a shady mercenary operative, to break into Sherry's house and find the evidence. ~ Josh Ralske, 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

The fourth and final season of Profiler begins with the three-episode conclusion of the cliffhanger established in Season Three, when the elusive serial killer Jack of All Trades (Dennis Christopher) manages to kidnap psychic forensic special Sam Waters (Ally Walker) and seriously wound Sam's boss Bailey Malone (Robert Davi). Spiriting Sam away to his hideout, Jack (whose real name and raison d'etre is finally revealed) embarks on a series of fiendishly clever mind games, designed to transform Sam into one of his disciples. Jack also indulges in some long-distance brainwashing with Sam's daughter Cloe (Evan Rachel Wood), intending to turn the girl violently against her mother. Meanwhile, the convalescing Bailey appoints another FBI "profiler", Rachel Burke (Jamie Luner), to take charge of the Violent Criminal Task Force and hopefully rescue Sam before it's too late. At this point, longtime series regulars Ally Walker, Dennis Christopher, Evan Rachel Wood and Erica Gimpel (cast as Sam's best friend Angel) leave the series, and Jamie Luner is promoted to star billing. It doesn't take long for Rachel Burke to foment ill will amongst the VCTF team members with her brusque know-it-all attitude, though it cannot be denied that she is every bit as talented in tracking down multiple murderers as her predecessor. Rachel also makes powerful enemies within the FBI, most notably rogue agent Mark (Gregory Itzin), who as the season wears on develops into Rachel's own "Jack of All Trades"-style tormentor. Rachel's more sensitive side is revealed in the episode "Clean Sweep", a crossover with the NBC series The Pretender in which the leading character of that series, Jarod Russell (Michael T. Weiss), falls in love with the mercurial Ms. Burke. The series ends on an uncertain note, as Rachel is plunged into despair over her inability to prevent the death of a loved one, her colleagues Grace (Roma Maffia) and George (Peter Frechette) respectively struggle with a crumbling marriage and an increasing dependency upon prescription pain killers, and Congress prepares to yank all funding from the VCTF. An additional episode, "Tsuris", originally scheduled to air at an earlier date, brings Profiler to an end with everyone's fate still dangling precipitously. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the life and career of Tony Schembri, police chief of Rye, NY, the weekly, hour-long ABC crime series The Commish starred Michael Chiklis as Tony Scali, police commissioner of the fictional New York community of Eastbridge. Although dedicated to his job and extremely tough on perpetrators, Tony often took an unorthodox approach to police methods, and he was often known to be quite a jovial fellow amongst his co-workers. Tony also enjoyed his "down time," especially with his wife, Rachel (Theresa Saldana), son David (Kaj-Erik Eriksen), and infant daughter Sarah (played by twins Dayna and Justine Cornborough), who was born at the end of the series' first season. Anoher member of the Scali household -- at least during the show's first year or so on the air -- was Tony's cheerfully indolent brother-in-law, Arnie Metzger (David Paymer). Back on the job, Tony's associates included three different Chief of Detectives: Irv Wallerstein (Alex Bruhanski), Paulie Pentangeli (John Cygan), and Cyd Madison (Melinda McGraw). Among the other crew members were officer Stan Kelly (Geoffrey Nauffts), who is killed by a car bombing at the end of season three, patrol car officer Ricky Caruso (Nicholas Lea) and his partner officer Carmela Pagan (Gina Belafonte), officers Jonathan Papdakis (Ray Scrivano), Gordy Tuefel (Michael Patten), and Mike Rose (Pat Bermel) and detectives Lopez (Jason Scott Schombing) and Hibbs (Ian Tracey). Another fine product from Stephen J. Cannell's production firm, The Commish was filmed in its entirety in Vancouver, despite its distinctively "New Yawk" setting and attitude. The series lasted four full season, plus a limited run of four "movie specials" in 1995. ~ All Movie Guide