Jason Matthew Smith Movies
A man hoping to make his way back to the big time starts by heading back to middle school in this comedy. Roy McCormick (Martin Lawrence) is one of the most successful coaches in college basketball, but he's just as famous for his hair-trigger temper as he is for molding winning teams. When an outburst of anger during a game escalates into an embarrassing public indecent, McCormick loses his job and is banned from college sports. Looking for a way to rehabilitate his image, McCormick takes a job coaching the basketball team at the middle school he used to attend, only to discover his players are a handful of misfits and losers with no skill on the court. Can McCormick mold the kids into a winning team -- and make himself into a better man along the way? Rebound also stars Wendy R. Robinson, Breckin Meyer, Horatio Sanz, Megan Mullally, and Patrick Warburton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Lawrence, Wendy Raquel Robinson, (more)
- 2003
Premiering August 26, 2003, the weekly, 60-minute Playmakers was the first "scripted" series presented by cable's ESPN network, which normally focused on sports events and discussion programs. The 11-episode series chronicled a season in the life of the Cougars, a fictional pro football team in a league that resembled the NFL. Omar Gooding, younger brother of Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr., headed the cast as hotshot running back Demetrius Harris. Also appearing were Russell Hornsby as Harris' principal rival, veteran gridiron star Leon Taylor; Jason Matthew Smith as Taylor's linebacker friend Eric Olczyk ; Marcello Thedford as offensive tackle "Buffalo" James, who idolized Harris; Christopher Wiehl as Derek McConnell, an all-pro quarterback in a deep and seemingly inescapable slump; and Tony Denison as head coach Mike George. To avoid alienating TV fans who felt surfeited with sports, the series devoted much of its time to the off-field lives of the principals and their loved ones. Filmed in Toronto, Playmakers was created by John Eisendrath, who was also an executive producer on the popular ABC espionage series Alias. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Omar Gooding, Jason Matthew Smith, (more)
Further cementing 2003 as the year of Ron Shelton cop movies, the director continued his vacation from the sports genre with Hollywood Homicide, a police comedy that comes right on the heels of Shelton's Dark Blue, a decidedly grittier cop thriller. The film stars Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett as LAPD homicide detectives Joe Gavilan and K.C. Calden, two cops with bigger dreams. Gavilan moonlights as a real estate agent, while Calden teaches yoga and yearns for a career on the big screen. When an entire hip-hop group is murdered on-stage, Gavilan and Calden are called in to handle the case. As their investigation progresses, they begin to suspect that the rappers were offed for attempting to get out of their recording contract with label head Sartain (Isaiah Washington). Along with Bruce Greenwood and Keith David, the supporting cast boasts a plethora of real-life musicians, including Dr. Dre, Gladys Knight, Dwight Yoakam, Master P, and Ronald DeVoe of New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harrison Ford, Josh Hartnett, (more)
The director of such off-beat independent films as In the Soup, director Alexandre Rockwell once again teams with that film's star to deliver this Los Angeles-based comedy concerning superstition and intersecting lives. Things aren't looking so good for television clown Banana's (Steve Buscemi) career, and the fact that his estranged wife, Suzi (Jennifer Beals), has just been arrested for assaulting his girlfriend, Lily (Karyn Parsons), just serves to compound Banana's despair. Teaming with sidekick Binky (Peter Dinklage) to enlist the aid of bail-bondsman Mo (David Proval), Banana and Binky discover that Mo is currently negotiating the release of hip-hop mogul Lenny's (Daryl Mitchell) wife, Sandra (Rose Rollins). The hapless group soon teams to help Mo by finding a suitable kidney donor for the bail-bondsman's ailing son, and though they quickly happen across a drunk (Peter Stormare) who fits the bill, the trouble comes in keeping the prospect in the hospital. Doing their best to help Mo's son under increasingly chaotic circumstances, personal tensions flare as each character desperately tries to simultaneously battle their own inner demons. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Buscemi, Peter Dinklage, (more)
- 2001
After a five-year absence, Sherry Stringfield returns to ER in the role of Dr. Susan Lewis -- the same week that series regular Erik Palladino makes his farewell appearance as Dr. Dave Malucci. In Chicago to interview for a job at another hospital, Lewis drops into County General to see her former "crush" Greene (Anthony Edwards) -- and is offered a position in County's ER when Weaver (Laura Innes) fires one employee and kicks another one "downstairs." Naturally, Lewis welcomes the chance to come home -- but what will Greene's current spouse, Elizabeth (Alex Kingston), think? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
