James Madio Movies

Christian Slater comes back for another round of that old True Romance in this tale of two young lovers who set out on the lam after discovering a substantial cache of dirty money. Duke is a hapless Iraq War veteran who just can't seem to pull his life together after returning home. While his love for pretty girlfriend Amber runs deep, there seems to be something just beyond reach that's keeping him from making the transition from soldier to civilian. When Duke stumbles onto the scene of a botched drug deal and notices a large duffel bag overflowing with cash, he picks up Amber, stops off for a quick wedding, and hits the road with a bag full of bills and a beautiful new bride. At first it seems like nothing can stop this young couple from conquering the world, but someone is missing that money, and he's determined to get it back. Pollen (Slater) is a corrupt DEA agent who is willing to kill in order to reclaim the cash he believes is rightfully his, and chances are he'll slay this young couple even if they agree to give it back. With time running out and Pollen closing in, Duke and Amber will be forced to outrun and outwit a madman that has all the resources needed to track them anywhere they run to. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Oceanic wise guys meet up with a small fish who has a big attitude in this computer-animated comedy. Don Lino (voice of Robert De Niro) is the patriarch of a family of sharks who lord over a bustling aquatic community based along a massive underwater reef. Don Lino has two sons, Frankie (voice of Michael Imperioli) and Lenny (voice of Jack Black); Frankie is a carnivorous tough guy who takes after his father, but Lenny is, at heart, a kind soul who has earned the ire of his dad by becoming a vegetarian. One of Don Lino's cronies is Sykes (voice of Martin Scorsese), who runs a "whale wash" where Oscar (voice of Will Smith) scrubs aquatic mammals for a living. Oscar is a small but ambitious fish who dreams of making something of himself, and when a dropped anchor accidentally kills Frankie, Oscar is suddenly (if mistakenly) celebrated as "the shark killer." Oscar's overnight fame attracts the attentions of Lola (voice of Angelina Jolie), a slinky dragon fish who woos Oscar away from his steady date, Angie (voice of Renée Zellweger); however, Oscar strikes up a friendship with Lenny and has to decide what to do when Don Lino and Sykes decides it's time to "take care" of the "different" shark. Also popping up in Shark Tale's all-star voice cast are Peter Falk, Vincent Pastore, Ziggy Marley, and Katie Couric. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Very loosely based on the memoir of the same name, The Basketball Diaries transposes the late '60s adolescence of writer/artist Jim Carroll to some unspecified time period at least 15 years later, further confusing the timeframe with three decades of rock music, some by Carroll himself. Jim (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his Catholic school chums are on the hottest basketball team in New York, but their friend Bobby (Michael Imperioli) languishes in the hospital with leukemia. In-between typically boyish adventures, Jim scribbles in his notebook and experiments with sex and drugs. His group of friends begins to disintegrate after coach Swifty (Bruno Kirby) not only makes a pass at Jim, but also catches him and his pals using drugs on the court and kicks them off the team. Out of school and on the streets, Jim turns tricks, betrays friends, robs stores, and deals drugs to feed his heroin addiction. Not even the efforts of former addict Reggie (Ernie Hudson) can cure Jim. Mark Wahlberg appears as one of Jim's basketball and drug buddies, while Carroll himself makes a memorable cameo as an addict who describes the almost Catholic rituals of shooting heroin. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Actor John Turturro spent a dozen years getting his script for Mac before the cameras; he'd originally planned to merely act in the film, but the stringent budget required that he direct as well. Turturro plays Mac, one of three grown brothers in an Italian/American family living in 1950s New York. His other siblings are would-be "macho man" Vico (Michael Badalucco) and idealistic Bruno (Carl Capatoro). All three are unhappily employed at a construction firm run--badly--by Olek Krupa. Convinced he knows more about the business in his little finger than Krupa does in his whole carcass, Mac sets up his own construction company, wooing away most of Krupa's employees. On the verge of great success, Mac finds that his brothers are unwilling to commit themselves to his new business, a fact that causes an irreparable schism in their relationship. Co-starring in Mac as John Turturro's wife is the real-life Mrs. Turturro, Katherine Borowitz. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Steven Spielberg filters J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan through a distinctly 1990s sensibility in Hook. Peter Pan has become Peter Banning (Robin Williams), a 40-year-old mergers and acquisitions lawyer with a permanent scowl on his face and a cellular phone in his belt. Banning has lost any memory of being Peter Pan, and he is also in danger of losing his wife Moira (Caroline Goodall) and two children, Jack (Charlie Korsmo) and Maggie (Amber Scott). Peter and his family travel to London to visit Granny Wendy (Maggie Smith) who recalls Peter's lost youth and asks him, "Peter, dear, don't you know who you are?" With Peter's children asleep in the same bedroom where the original Peter Pan story began, there is a blinding flash. Peter comes into the room to discover a note from Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman), informing Peter that he has kidnapped his children. Granny Wendy now tells him who he really is and encourages him to re-discover his happy thoughts, transform himself into the Peter Pan of the past, and go rescue his children. With the encouragement of Tinkerbell (Julia Roberts), Peter recalls the birth of his son and once again takes wing. Then it's off to Never Land to rescue his kids. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide