William Baldwin Movies
Bright and articulate actor William Baldwin, a graduate in political science from State University of New York at Binghamton, left the political arena of Capitol Hill to become an actor after his older brother, Alec Baldwin, became a successful movie star. For his first couple of years in Hollywood, William could only find work in advertisements. He got his first break when he was hired to play Robert Chambers in the television movie The Preppie Murder (1989). That year, Baldwin made his big-screen debut playing a small role in Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July. In 1990, Baldwin had his first major role playing opposite Richard Gere in Internal Affairs. He then had a leading role in the dark sci-fi-fantasy Flatliners (1990). A major hit, Baldwin showed the makings of a real star, following up with Backdraft (1991) and the ill-received Sliver (1993). But though he has demonstrated considerable talent and an appealing boyish sexuality, the major stardom enjoyed by Alec Baldwin has thus far eluded him, though he continues to work steadily in films, such as Curdled (1997). Baldwin's other brothers, Daniel and Stephen, are also actors. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In this dark comedy, a woman fascinated with crime has an unexpected brush with a famous murderer's handiwork. Gabriela (Angela Jones) is a Colombian immigrant living in Miami who has been fascinated with violent death since she saw a falling corpse pass by her window as a child. Today she works for a cleaning service that specializes in mopping up the blood, gore, and bone fragments left behind at crime scenes, and she is tickled to discover one day that she's cleaning up after an execution by her favorite at-large serial murderer, The Blue Blood Killer (William Baldwin), so named because his victims are all wealthy women. But Gabriela doesn't know that the killer is still in the building; he managed to lock himself in the wine cellar while trying to escape, and he is slowly trying to remove the bolts from its lock while Gabriela makes the place livable again. However, while cleaning, she discovers a piece of evidence that could confirm the identity of the killer, just as he's about to emerge from the cellar. Curdled is an expanded version of a short film that director Reb Braddock made in 1991; the short inspired one of the episodes in Quentin Tarantino's film Pulp Fiction, and Tarantino in turn helped produce this feature-length remake, as well as making a cameo appearance. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Baldwin, Angela Jones, (more)
Supermodel and sex symbol Cindy Crawford made her acting debut in this high-decibel thriller. Kate McQuean (Crawford) is a lawyer who -- in the course of a divorce proceeding -- attempts to seize a 157-foot freighter docked off the Florida coast in lieu of unpaid alimony. It turns out that the freighter is the current base of operations of Kazak (Steven Berkoff), a former KGB agent who has become an international money laundering expert and leader of a crack terrorist team. As one might imagine, Kazak is not especially happy about possible eviction, and soon Kate has a hefty price on her head. Kate, however, doesn't know the nature of Kazak's business and isn't sure why someone is trying to kill her. Loose cannon police detective Max Kilpatric (William Baldwin) is assigned to protect Kate, and romance begins to bloom as they dodge a remarkable number of bullets and explosions. Fair Game was originally slated to star Sylvester Stallone alongside Crawford (the film's location was moved to Florida at his request); when he dropped out, Crawford found herself co-starring with Baldwin, another model-turned-thespian. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cindy Crawford, William Baldwin, (more)
This is an offbeat romantic comedy that's the directorial debut of TV producer Joshua Brand, co-creator of St. Elsewhere (1982-88) and Northern Exposure (1990-95). John Leguizamo stars as Sergio, a Toronto pastry shop worker who faints whenever he sees Hattie (Sadie Frost), a neighborhood girl with whom he is smitten. Hattie, however, wants to see the world and avoids all commitments. Sergio's employer, the kindly Linzer (Armin Mueller-Stahl), wants his shop burned down so that he can use the insurance money to give his wife (Joan Plowright) the lifestyle she deserves, so he offers Sergio $20,000 to torch the store. Sergio refuses but then one night the bakery is burnt to the ground. The real culprit is Garet (William Baldwin), a wealthy pyromaniac with a limp who's madly in love with Stephanie (Erika Eleniak). The slightly unhinged Garet uses the fire as his public declaration of affection. Although innocent, Sergio also claims culpability so that he can use Linzer's payoff to whisk Hattie away. To protect Sergio, however, Linzer confesses to the crime, and to prevent her husband from being jailed, Mrs. Linzer also claims responsibility. With four people confessing, local constable Sgt. Zikowski (Mike Starr) is at a loss. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Baldwin, John Leguizamo, (more)
- 1993
- R
In this humorous documentary, Robert Downey, Jr. shares his views of politics, attitudes and himself while travelling across the country in 1992. He spends a special amount of time at the Democratic and Republican conventions. Downey includes brief interviews by such luminaries as Oliver Stone, Spike Lee, Jerry Falwell, and his father, Robert Downey, Sr. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Downey, Jr.
A new '90s expressiveness regarding homosexuality in movies is gently mined for laughs in this 1993 comedy that predates the similar but much more raw Chasing Amy and slightly more humorous Threesome. With her straight greasy hair, semi-paranoid outlook, and leather jacket she wears like a shield, Connie (Kelly Lynch) already seems a bit unhinged. Then her girlfriend, Ellen (Sherilyn Fenn), breaks up their relationship and Connie loses it. In her grief, she hits upon a bizarre plan: Why not hire male prostitute Joe (William Baldwin) to seduce Ellen, then break her heart? Wouldn't that make Ellen rush back into Connie's arms? Of course not. For one thing, Joe's life is complicated by his protective yet sinister pimp (Joe Pantoliano) and a thug who mistakenly believes Joe set him up for a prison sentence. And Joe and Ellen fall in love. Yet an odd, sibling-like friendship develops between Joe and Connie that steers them through the repercussions of Ellen's discovery of their deceit, the thug's attack on Joe, and Joe's desire to give up prostitution. By the story's end, they've lost Ellen, but they have one another, and have learned to step beyond the protective relationships they have lost. Three of Hearts solidified William Baldwin's ascent to leading-man status (along with brothers Stephen and Alec) after 1991's Backdraft. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Baldwin, Kelly Lynch, (more)
Phillip Noyce directed Joe Eszterhas's adaptation of Ira Levin's novel about voyeurism, starring Sharon Stone as Carly Norris, a book editor on the rebound from an emotionless seven-year marriage. Carly decides that a change of location will help her in the healing process, so she moves into a sleek Manhattan high-rise. In her new apartment, she meets a collection of curious neighbors --Vida (Polly Walker), who snorts cocaine along with ingesting all the dark secrets of the building and its tenants; Jack Landsford (Tom Berenger), a successful writer who also wants to also be successful with Carly; and Zeke Hawkins (William Baldwin), Carly's new landlord. Carly is attracted to Zeke, but she sees that he is hiding something from her. Unbeknownst to Carly, Zeke, an obsessive voyeur, watches his tenants from a bank of television screens at his headquarters. But when Carly discovers Zeke's voyeurism, she herself becomes obsessed with the daily lives of her neighbors. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sharon Stone, William Baldwin, (more)
The sons of a Chicago fireman who gave his life in the performance of his duties, firefighting brothers Kurt Russell and William Baldwin carry their lifelong sibling rivalry into their work. Russell is convinced that Baldwin hasn't got what it takes to remain in the fire department. Baldwin is transferred to a "safe" assignment, assisting arson investigator Robert DeNiro, who is trying to make sense of a series of fires involving an oxygen-induced ball of fire called a backdraft. The investigation reveals a link between corrupt alderman J. T. Walsh and imprisoned pyromaniac Donald Sutherland. The trail of evidence leads Baldwin to suspect that his brother Russell, a much-decorated hero, may be the "inside" man setting up the arsons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, (more)
In this glossy L.A. crime drama by Mike Figgis, Andy Garcia stars as Sgt. Raymond Avila, a cop who just joined the Internal Affairs division of the L.A.P.D. An investigation into police corruption has led Avila and his partner, Sgt. Amy Wallace (Laurie Metcalf), to Officer Dennis Peck (Richard Gere). Avila suspects something about Peck from the beginning; his influence and dominance over others seems to extend further than the reach of his badge. When officers who wish to testify against Peck start dying, the depth of his corruption becomes increasingly clear; at his disposal, he has an army of cops and criminals alike. He even agrees to assassinate a sleazy businessman's own parents, and humiliates the businessman while they make the deal. In his drive to dominate others, Peck attempts to seduce almost every woman around him and is obsessed with children and fatherhood. Peck is most dangerous when the investigation threatens his territory and his extended family; he stalks Avila and turns him against his wife (Nancy Travis). ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Andy Garcia, (more)
Despite its occasional lapses into silly self-consciousness, Flatliners is one of the most intriguing and well-constructed supernatural thrillers of the 1990s. A group of brilliant medical students decide to literally play with life and death. They put themselves in suspended animation, electronically inducing a near-deathlike state and then pulling out of it at the last possible moment. Things get hairy when one of the students (Kiefer Sutherland) becomes obsessed with the notion of really dying, the better to experience the Afterlife before being revived--if he can be revived. In her first dramatic starring role (playing a sensitive young lady on a misguided guilt trip), Julia Roberts is very, very good--completely bereft of movie-star mannerisms. Audiences flocked to see Flatliners back in 1990 due to the highly publicized off-screen romance between Roberts and Sutherland. Oh, yes: Kevin Bacon and William Baldwin are in the picture, too. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, (more)
The second of three films by co-writer/director Oliver Stone to explore the effects of the Vietnam War (Platoon and Heaven and Earth are the others), Born On The Fourth Of July tells the true story of Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise), a patriotic, All-American small town athlete who shocks his family by enlisting with the Marines to fight in the Vietnam War. Once he is overseas, however, Kovic's gung-ho enthusiasm turns to horror and confusion when he accidentally kills one of his own men in a firefight. His downfall is furthered by a bullet wound that leaves him paralyzed from the chest down. He returns home, spends an appalling, nightmarish stint in a veterans' hospital, and follows an increasingly disillusioned and fragmented path that ultimately leaves him drunk and dissolute in Mexico. However, Kovic somehow turns himself around and pulls his life together, becoming an outspoken anti-war activist in the process. The film is long but emotionally powerful; many consider it Stone's best work and Cruise's best performance. Both were nominated for Oscars, as was the film itself, but only Stone, who co-wrote the film with Kovic from the latter's book, won for Best Director. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Cruise, Raymond J. Barry, (more)
- 1989
Based on a true story, The Preppie Murder begins on August 26, 1986. This was the day that 18-year-old Jennifer Levin (Lara-Flynn Boyle) was strangled to death in Central Park. The prime suspect, Jennifer's 19-year-old boyfriend Robert Chambers (William Baldwin), confesses to the crime. The well-to-do young man insists that the killing was accidental; he claims that it occurred during a "rough sex" session that Jennifer had inaugurated. The ensuing media frenzy forces the old "she asked for it" defense to rear its ugly head. The Preppie Murder's attempts at fairness caused a great deal of critical turmoil when the film first aired on September 24, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
