Bruno Kirby Movies
Character and supporting actor Bruno Kirby (he also billed himself as B. Kirby or Bruce Kirby) made his film debut in Young Graduates (1971). Kirby was born Bruno Quidaciolu Jr. and is the son of actor Bruce Kirby. For a while he appeared regularly on the television education drama Room 222 (1969-1974) and launched into steady carefree appearances in made-for-TV movies such as The Summer Without Boys (1973) and features such as The Harrad Experiment (1973). He first gained notice for a small role he played as Clemenza in The Godfather, Pt. II (1974). It was not until the late '80s that he began getting much larger roles and greater respect. The turn-around came when Kirby was cast as Lieutenant Hauk, the hilariously untalented wanna-be comedian, in charge of zany Robin Williams' morning radio show in Good Morning Vietnam (1987). One of his most memorable roles of the '80s was that of Billy Crystal's best buddy, a man who finds romantic bliss with Carrie Fisher, in When Harry Met Sally (1989). In 1991, he again turned in another charming performance as Ed Furillo in City Slickers (1991). In 1997, he played a supporting role in Donnie Brasco. In addition to feature-film work, he also continued to appear frequently on television series as a guest star and in movies-of-the-week. He died suddenly of leukemia, at age 57, on August 14, 2006. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Making its world premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, this story adapted for the screen and directed by first-timer Toni Kalem is based on the Anne Tyler novel of the same name. The story deals with finding love in a dead-end life. Evie (Lili Taylor) is a loner, living with her widowed father, who works at an aging kiddie park where she is a costumed cartoon character. One night she hears the words and music of a musician named Drumstrings Casey (Guy Pearce) on the radio, and Evie is immediately infatuated by him. She attends his concerts and falls in love with him. The problem is he doesn't know she exists, so Evie decides to carve Casey's name on her forehead with broken glass. The resulting media attention gets her an introduction to Drumstrings Casey himself. From there, a relationship develops as Casey needs Evie for creative support and Evie needs Casey for emotional stability. Soon after, they get married; unfortunately their problems only get worse as Casey's career takes a nosedive and Evie's father passes away. Will these two people make something of themselves or will they forever just be slipping down life? ~ Chris Gore, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lili Taylor, Guy Pearce, (more)
- 1978
Bruno Kirby was labelled an "overnight" star of the early 1990s thanks to such films as The Freshman (90) and City Slickers (91), but he'd been working since the late 1970s in both films and TV. The 1978 low budgeter Almost Summer top-bills Kirby as a "mover and shaker" high schooler who helps a nice-guy student, Darryl (John Friedrich), run against his former girlfriend. Darryl resigns from the class presidency when he learns the election was fixed. But Kirby is popular enough to win the re-election, without the crooked political machinations of certain school administrators. Featured in the cast were several members of Hollywood's 1970s equivalent to the 1980s "brat pack", including Didi Conn, Lee Purcell and Tim Matheson. The subtlety and perceptiveness of Almost Summer would be buried within a year by the onslaught of Animal House and its many clones. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruno Kirby, Lee Purcell, (more)
The real-life drama of the 1994 O.J. Simpson trial is given quasi-fictional treatment in this two-part CBS miniseries, which aired in November 2000. Much of the miniseries' plot focuses on the battle of egos between defense lawyers Johnnie Cochran (Ving Rhames) and Robert Shapiro (Ron Silver) and how the personalities of these men in part shaped the outcome of the trial. Also included in the cast are Bruno Kirby and Christopher Plummer. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ving Rhames, Ron Silver, (more)
In Armed and Dangerous, John Candy plays a cop who has been kicked off the force on a trumped up charge. Eugene Levy costars as a disbarred lawyer. The two outcasts take low-paying jobs as security officers at a company controlled by mob boss Robert Loggia. In their own stumblebum fashion, Candy and Levy uncover a smuggling operation masterminded by Loggia. Meg Ryan also shows up in an early leading role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Candy, Eugene Levy, (more)
- 1976
In this WWII-era drama, Jan-Michael Vincent plays Marion Hedgepeth, a young Marine who fails out of a boot camp in 1943 and gets sent home wearing a baby blue suit to symbolize shame and dishonor. In Los Angeles, he runs into a veteran who -- eager to be discharged -- k.o.'s him and switches their uniforms. When Marion regains consciousness, he's clad in a hero's uniform. He begins hitching his way toward his home in St. Louis, dreading the prospect of confessing to his folks, but stops for a time in a small town where he's mistaken for a hero and immediately falls in love with a waitress, Rose (Glynnis O'Connor). Meanwhile, as the truth threatens to emerge and bring disgrace raining down onto his head, several residents of a Japanese internment camp escape. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jan-Michael Vincent, Glynnis O'Connor, (more)
- 1989
Veteran Hollywood screenwriter Clyde Ware handled the directing chores in Bad Jim. The film is worth noting as the cinematic debut of John Clark Gable, the son of guess who. Gable, James Brolin, and Richard Roundtree play three soft-hearted bandits who purchase a horse from Billy the Kid. They use the easily recognizable steed to convince their victims that they are members of Billy's gang-thus eliminating the nasty necessity of gunplay. One of the gang members breaks away from the others, taking the horse with him, and pretty soon he's every bit as mean and dangerous as the real Billy. The film's pace may be a bit too measured for some tastes, but the characters are believable and the story has its own peculiar logic. Bad Jim is slightly reminiscent of John Ford's Three Godfathers; both films, in fact, feature Harry Carey Jr. is a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Brolin, Richard Roundtree, (more)
- 1989
- R
Tony award-winning British musical comedy star Robert Lindsay makes his first important American film appearance in Bert Rigby, You're a Fool. Lindsay, of course, plays the title character, a coal miner who dreams of becoming a big showbiz star. Only problem is, there's very little demand for Bert Rigby's impersonations of Buster Keaton and Gene Kelly. Undaunted, Bert heads to Hollywood, where, while working as a butler in the household of movie mogul Jim Shirley (Corbin Bernsen), he must fend off the advances of Shirley's hot-to-trot wife, Meredith (Anne Bancroft). Befitting the old-fashioned nature of Bert Rigby's behavior and tastes in entertainment, director Carl Reiner adopts a "retro" approach to his material; at times, the film looks as though it was made in 1939 rather than 1989, despite its R-rated sex, profanity, and body-function jokes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Lindsay, Cathryn Bradshaw, (more)
- 1977
- R
Director Joan Micklin Silver's follow-up to her acclaimed debut, Hester Street, is a more ambitious film that manages to be both an entertaining comedy and a pointed look at the corrupting power of money on an idealistic enterprise. Writer Fred Barron's characters are all associated with a weekly alternative newspaper in Boston, modeled after the Phoenix. (Silver did once work on the Village Voice, but this enterprise is several rungs below that esteemed paper.) Harry (John Heard) is an ambitious reporter romantically involved with Abbie (Lindsay Crouse), the paper's star photographer. Michael (Stephen Collins) is a writer trying to work on a novel and stay faithful to his loving wife, Laura (Gwen Welles), while Max (Jeff Goldblum), the paper's rock critic, shamelessly uses his job to try to pick up women. Lynn (Jill Eikenberry), a typist who is the paper's mother-hen figure, is also its most principled employee. When a publishing mogul (Lane Smith) buys the paper and promises changes that will compromise its aggressive political stance in favor of more "lifestyle" articles, Lynn resigns, and it's clear to the group that their carefree days are behind them. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Heard, Lindsay Crouse, (more)
Director Alan Parker tackles this adapation of William Wharton's novel, which retains much of the source material's texture and complexity. Matthew Modine is Birdy, who comes back from Vietnam mentally shattered and deludes himself into thinking that he is a bird, an animal that has obsessed him since childhood. Birdy is confined to a military hospital, where he spends his time sitting naked in his room, not acknowleding anyone, moving and acting like a parakeet. His best friend Al (Nicolas Cage), also a wounded Vietnam vet, visits Birdy every day, determined to bring him back to reality. Birdy is occasionally disjointed but enriched by strong performances from Modine and Cage and a number of hard-to-forget moments. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Modine, Nicolas Cage, (more)
- 1980
- R
Charles Bronson switches from his traditional role as a vigilante to playing an actual lawman in this crime drama. Jeb Maynard (Bronson) is a border patrol agent who is trying to stem the tide of illegal aliens from Mexico into the United States. Jeb is hot on the trail of Hotchkiss (Ed Harris), a "coyote" who brings illegals into the United States for a hefty price and with little concern for their safety. But while Jeb is sworn to keep illegal immigrants out of America, he finds his relationship with Elena Morales (Karmin Murcelo) becoming more than professional. Elena is an illegal alien who wants to cooperate with Jeb by leading him to Hotchkiss, who smuggled her into the United States. But businesslike Jeb soon finds that the plight of Elena and her young son, who are desperate to build a better life for themselves, has touched a soft spot inside him. While the story may sound similar to the Tony Richardson/Jack Nicholson picture The Border, Borderline actually preceded it by two years. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Bronson, Bruno Kirby, (more)
A "Cinderella Liberty" is Navy jargon for a pass that runs out at midnight. Sailor John Baggs, Jr. (James Caan) has such a pass, and intends to make the most of it while his ship is docked in Seattle. He "wins" prostitute Maggie (Marsha Mason) in a pool game, but backs off at a "wham-bam-thank you ma'am" when he finds out that Maggie has a son, an 11-year-old mulatto (Kirk Calloway) -- and that there's another baby on the way. John has so much empathy for Maggie's travails that he marries her. When she loses her baby, however, Maggie feels unable to resign herself to living with John, plagued by both guilt and an unwillingness to be tied down -- thus forcing John to fight for her. Darryl Ponicsan adapted his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
City Slickers blends sight gags, one-liners, and sincerity, with both humor and drama arising from the characters and their situations. Mitch (Billy Crystal) is a radio station sales executive who finds himself in the throes of a mid-life crisis; accompanied by two friends, Phil (Daniel Stern) and Ed (Bruno Kirby) in the grip of similar problems, he heads to New Mexico for his birthday to participate in a two-week "vacation" cattle drive to Colorado. The three friends and the rest of their group, including an attractive, newly single young woman and two African-American dentists, are all urbanites lost when it comes to herding cattle and surviving on the prairie; it's up to authentic, almost mythic cowboy Curly (Jack Palance, who won an Oscar for the role), to whip them into shape. As various adventures occur along the way, including run-ins with outlaw cattlehands, treacherous natural mishaps, and Mitch's delivery of a newborn calf, the three "city slickers" open up to each other, learn to appreciate Curly's Old West values, and begin to resolve their midlife dilemmas. When Curly dies, it's left to Mitch, Phil, and Ed to bring in the herd. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, (more)
This drama about an undercover cop who learns the hidden dangers of working his way inside the mob was based on a true story. Joe Pistone (Johnny Depp) is an FBI agent who is given an assignment to infiltrate the Mafia; calling himself Donnie Brasco, he befriends Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino), a low-level mob hit man whose personal life is in tatters. Lefty's marriage is falling apart, his son is a junkie, and his health is failing, which only adds to his growing disillusionment about having spent 30 years with the Mafia (and killing 26 people) with little to show for it. But in Donnie, Lefty sees someone who can succeed where he failed; he takes the young man under his wing, and under Lefty's tutelage Donnie quickly rises through the ranks of organized crime; however, the longer he plays the role of the gangster, the more Joe Pistone finds himself becoming Donnie Brasco in his increasingly rare off hours; it drives a wedge between himself and his wife (Anne Heche) and children, and Joe realizes that a break in character among the hoodlums he's come to know could mean a death sentence for himself and his family. Just as importantly, Joe has come to regard Lefty as a close and trusted friend, and Joe realizes that when the day comes where he has to turn in his Mob associates, he'll be ending Lefty's life as surely as if he put a slug in his head himself. The supporting cast includes Michael Madsen as Sonny, Lefty's boss, and Bruno Kirby as Nicky, one of Sonny's henchmen. The real-life Joe Pistone today lives under an assumed name with a 500,000-dollar contract on his life still in effect. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Depp, Al Pacino, (more)
- 2006
The newest member of Vince's posse, Dom (Domenick Lombardozzi), tells a moving story that helps Vince land a role in his dream project, Medellin. ~ Joe Friedrich, All Movie Guide
- 1993
The second volume in this film noir style TV-anthology series, this collection of short stories revolves around the dark world of detectives and police officers. Called to look into a murder, an investigator (Gary Oldman) discovers that the victim of the crime is none other than his estranged wife (Gabrielle Anwar) in "Dead End for Delia." When an attractive woman captures the attention of a detective, he ends up entangled in mob business in "I'll Be Waiting." In "The Quiet Room," the underhanded plans of two unscrupulous officers go amok ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
When an attempted political coup in Northern Italy fails, most of the mercenaries hired by the coup leaders disperse. Not so Martin (Rutger Hauer), who intends to rob his duplicitous former employer Arnolfini (Fernando Hillbeck). Martin is able to raise his own army by using a stolen religious artifact as a talisman. He later kidnaps Arnolfini's prospective daughter-in-law Agnes (Jennifer Jason Leigh),who saves herself from gang rape by feigning eternal devotion to her captor. Weeks of plunder and destruction follow, with a deadly plague thrown into the stew. Flesh and Blood has also been released under the title The Rose and the Sword. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rutger Hauer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, (more)
- 1993
Not for the first time in his life, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) finds himself on the horns of an ethical dilemma. It seems that Frasier has begun dating an attractive woman named Catherine (Amanda Donohoe). Trouble is, Catherine's boyfriend has just broken up with her -- acting upon the advice given him by a certain radio psychologist named Frasier Crane. When the ex-boyfriend calls into Frasier's radio show expressing a desire to patch things up with Catherine, our hero is forced to pull a few desperate strings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Based on Robert Anderson's novel, the made-for-television Getting Up and Going Home is a drama about a divorced attorney (Tom Skerritt) who copes with a mid-life crisis by having affairs with no less than three women: his ex-wife, a single mother, and a married suburbanite. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1994
- R
Playwright David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) wrote this ambitious epic that attempts to examine the communist witch hunts of the 1950s, racial prejudice, abuse of governmental powers, guilt, and suicide. The film begins in 1952 as an eager young FBI recruit, Kevin Walker (Matt Dillon), finds himself assigned to root out communist subversives in San Francisco's Chinese community. Unable to find evidence of communist influence anywhere, Kevin is pressured by the FBI office to get indictments anyway. As a result, Kevin drags innocent Chinese laundry man and labor organizer Chen Jung Song (Tzi Ma) into court on trumped up charges and Song is sent to prison. The film then shifts to 1962, and in the intervening years, Kevin's guilt at what he has done has grown into an obsession. But when Song is newly released from prison, he finds himself once again tracked by Kevin. Song, emotionally unable to deal with his new freedom, kills himself by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge. Kevin, shattered, now decides to look after and protect Song's daughter, Marilyn (Joan Chen). Gradually, from his role as Marilyn's protector, Kevin's feelings of concern turn into love. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matt Dillon, Joan Chen, (more)
The film begins in 1965, when disc jockey Adrian Cronauer (Robin Williams) is assigned to take over the AFR's Saigon radio broadcasts. In contrast to the dull, by-rote announcers that have preceded him, Cronauer is a bundle of dynamite, heralding each broadcast with a loud "Goooooood morning, Vietnaaaaam," playing whatever records tickle his fancy (even those not officially sanctioned by his hidebound superiors), and indulging in wild flights of improvisational fancy. Cronauer's immediate superior Lt. Hauk (Bruno Kirby), whose own notions of humor are puerile and pathetic, jealously attempts to dethrone Vietnam's favorite rock jock. Fortunately, Cronauer's popularity is such that he enjoys the full protection of the higher-ups. But when Cronauer, after experiencing the horrors of war first-hand, insists upon telling his listeners the truth instead of the official government line, he is instantly replaced by the unfunny Hauk and must struggle to get back on the air. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker, (more)
The most infamous multiple murders of the 1960s are brought back to life in this, the second made-for-television adaptation of Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry's best-selling account of Charles Manson and his "family." Linda Kasabian (Clea DuVall) is a young runaway with a baby who, while wandering the fringes of Los Angeles' hippie subculture, encounters Charles Manson (Jeremy Davies), a charismatic ex-convict and aspiring musician who travels with a group of young people, mostly women, whom he calls his "family." Kasabian soon falls into Manson's orbit and moves in with the group at a combination riding range and standing Western-movie set, where she and the other members of the family -- among them Patricia Krenwinkel (Allison Smith), Susan Atkins (Marguerite Moreau), Squeaky Fromme (Mary Lynn Rajskub), "Tex" Watson (Eric Dane), and Bobby Beausoleil (Michael Weston) -- subsist through petty crime, handouts, and rescuing food from trash bins and bond with their leader through drugs, group sex, and constant study of his apocalyptic philosophy. Like the other members of the group, Kasabian's life soon revolves around Manson, who is desperate to record his music and frustrated with the slow progress he's seeing from his patron Dennis Wilson, drummer with the Beach Boys. Certain that an international race war foretold in his songs will soon wipe out civilization, and that he and his family will ultimately persevere, Manson decides it's time to kick start events by staging a pair of spectacularly repellent murders, which are carried out by members of his family who have been taught not to question Manson's word. In time, Manson and his family are arrested in connection with the murders, and District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi (Bruno Kirby) is given the difficult task of untangling the mingled strands of the bizarre killings and making a case in court against the family. Helter Skelter was first aired on Sunday, May 16, 2004, by CBS; the film was subjected to last-minute cuts to tone down the violent content in the film's gruesome murder sequences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeremy Davies, Bruno Kirby, (more)
- 1995
The sudden exhumation of the remains of a person who was obviously walled up alive reopens a ten-year-old unsolved crime. Howard (Melissa Leo) and Munch (Richard Belzer) follow the trail of clues to a fanatical devotee of Edgar Allan Poe (this is, after all, in Baltimore). Elsewhere, the entire police force learns of the pregnancy of Pembleton's (Andre Braugher) wife, and Munch's date with Dr. Alyssa Dyer (Harlee McBride) takes an unexpected detour thanks to Alyssa's roommate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, (more)
- 1995
Bruno Kirby guest stars as Victor Helms, a former plumber's assistant who was convicted of murder after causing the deaths of an entire family in a gas explosion. Newly released from prison, Helms has sworn vengeance against the Baltimore homicide cop who put him away: Frank Pembleton (Andre Braugher). In concert with his buddy Danny Newton (Richard Newton), Helms conducts a carefully plotted campaign of persecution and harassment against Frank and his family -- a campaign that, unless nipped in the bud, will culminate in murder. This was the final episode of Homicide: Life on the Street's third season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Baldwin, Ned Beatty, (more)
In this comedy, a bungling bookkeeper's assistant works in the Dalton city hall and finds himself framed for embezzling by his corrupt superiors. A sweet young woman helps him clear his name. He is also assisted by Leo the computer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
