Christopher McDonald Movies
Hollywood character actor Christopher McDonald at first specialized in playing uptight and slightly vexing young urban professionals. When the material demanded it, McDonald occasionally heightened these qualities to the obnoxious level for persuasive villainous portrayals, appearing as philandering husbands, condescending jocks, and manipulative powermongers to tremendous effect.The Manhattan native grew up in Romulus, NY. A Renaissance man and overachiever in high school, McDonald studied dentistry at Hobart College in the upstate New York town of Geneva but soon discovered an enduring passion for drama, studying after his 1977 graduation at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. When plum adolescent roles in the musical clunkers Grease 2 (1982) and Breakin' (1984) did little to further McDonald's career, he moved to Manhattan and sought tutelage from the legendary acting coach Stella Adler -- with such aggressive determination that he actually convinced the 83-year-old Adler to offer her services in exchange for domestic chores.
The actor landed one of his most visible parts circa 1986, in the Bette Midler-Shelley Long female buddy comedy Outrageous Fortune (1987). He also essayed a memorable nice-guy turn opposite Cybill Shepherd and Ryan O'Neal in the first act of the wonderful reincarnation comedy Chances Are (1989). But McDonald's watershed moment came with his portrayal of Geena Davis' browbeating husband, Darryl Dickinson, in Ridley Scott's blockbuster feminist road movie Thelma & Louise (1991). Thanks to the success of that picture, McDonald's screen time escalated, and he began tackling an average of four to six roles per year. He ushered in an outstanding portrayal of Jack Barry, the natty host of Twenty-One, in the Robert Redford-directed Quiz Show (1994); played an abusive golf pro in the Adam Sandler comedy Happy Gilmore (1996); and was suitably annoying as an ignorant dad in John Duigan's suburban drama Lawn Dogs (1997). That same year, McDonald also portrayed Ward Cleaver in the big-screen version of Leave It to Beaver.
McDonald resumé during the first several years of the millennium includes such Hollywood blockbusters as 61* (2001) and Spy Kids 2 (2002) and such arthouse hits as Requiem for a Dream (2000) and Broken Flowers (2005). In 2007, McDonald played Boss Hogg in the big-budget sequel The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning and Marty Schumacher in the Jamie Kennedy vehicle Kickin' It Old Skool. Four years later he essayed a recurring role on the hit HBO drama Boardwalk Empire. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
Grover Reindorf (Kyle Howard) is a kid with a problem, which is how to keep his parents from divorcing. He hits on a solution that makes sense to him. Why not lock them up in the basement, and keep them there until they reconcile? He and his younger sister Stacey (Amy Sakasitz) agree to do just that, and they successfully lure their parents into the basement and lock them in. When their junior-high-school friends find out what they've done, they decide that their own misbehaving parents need exactly the same treatment. One after another, all are tricked into entering into the Reindorf's basement. Meanwhile, upstairs, the youngsters have a very mild good time, as they can't even bring themselves to swallow the champagne they try. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Pollak, (more)
This is a domestic thriller in the Hitchcock mode with a legalistic twist involving that modern invention, the prenuptial agreement. Halle Berry stars as Josie Potenza, the unhappy wife of alcoholic, philandering executive Tony Potenza (Christopher McDonald). Josie is unfaithful too, but she wants to salvage her marriage and proposes an alcohol-free vacation in a remote backwoods location. Tony agrees, but soon after they arrive, he's called back to work. Angry and lonely, Josie goes to a nearby bar, where she meets sympathetic Cole Wilson (Peter Greene), who's actually a psychotic ex-con. After hearing Josie's tale of marital woe, Cole proposes that he kill Tony. Appalled, Josie refuses, but soon Tony is murdered in a carjacking, leaving Josie the possible inheritor of millions. A prenuptial agreement that would've left her penniless in a divorce puts the LAPD on Josie's scent, while Wilson blackmails her and both her lover Jake (Clive Owen) and his cuckolded wife Nora (Clea Lewis) scheme to profit from Josie's loss. Of course, it's also possible that Josie manipulated the events to transpire exactly as they did. Writer-director Amy Holden Jones also wrote the screenplays for Mystic Pizza (1987) and Indecent Proposal (1993). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Halle Berry, Christopher McDonald, (more)
Two basketball fans, whose enthusiasm overwhelms their intelligence, come up with a new but legally problematic way of helping their favorite team in this comedy. Physical education instructor Mike O'Hara (Daniel Stern) and plumber Jimmy Flaherty (Dan Aykroyd) are close friends and obsessive followers of the Boston Celtics; to them, the Celtics are everything, to the point where Mike's marriage is falling apart because his wife can't deal with his mood swings, hinged as they are on the Celtic's fortunes. One night, with the Celtics and the Utah Jazz tied at three games each in the NBA championships, Mike and Jimmy spot Lewis Scott (Damon Wayans) in a sports bar. The star player with the Jazz, Lewis is known to sink up to 50 shots a game, and his talent on the court is exceeded only by his arrogance. Emboldened by alcohol, Mike and Jimmy start buying Lewis drinks, posing as Jazz fans; the next morning, they wake up hung over to discover that they kidnapped Lewis while drunk, and he's tied to a chair in Jimmy's living room. Neither of them planned on doing anything like this and at first they think they ought to let him go. But then again, if Lewis can't play the final game of the championship series, the Celtics chances look a lot brighter. Former Celtics star Larry Bird has a cameo as himself; as do sports heroes Bill Walton and Deion Sanders. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Damon Wayans, Daniel Stern, (more)
Adam Sandler's second popular starring vehicle after Billy Madison is a goofy lowbrow paean to golf, hockey, and the comic hysterics of its childlike star. In Happy Gilmore, Sandler plays the title character, a raw, determined, but ultimately untalented hockey player who keeps trying out for the pros. When Happy discovers his grandmother (Frances Bay) will lose her home if she doesn't fork over 270,000 dollars to the IRS, he tries to figure out how he can possibly scrounge up the cash. An idea strikes during a game of one-upmanship with a couple furniture movers stripping his grandmother's home: On his first-ever swing, he drives a golf ball farther than the movers have ever seen. Before long, he has transplanted the foul-mouthed, aggressive persona of the hockey rink to the links, winning an amateur tourney that earns him a spot on the pro tour. Throttling everyone from a helpless caddy to game show host Bob Barker during the course of his 90-day quest to amass prize money, Happy also wins the sport a legion of new fans with his in-your-face style. Guiding him on his quest is a whimsical retired pro who lost his hand to an alligator (Carl Weathers) and an attractive public relations woman charmed by Happy's antics (Julie Bowen). Opposing him, however, is sneering hotshot Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald), who will do anything to win his championship jacket and see Happy fail. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi
- Starring:
- Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald, (more)
- 1996
- R
With a cast comprised of a few professional and many more non professional actors and a realistic, earth setting, this independent drama of a young pool shark's decision whether or not to turn pro rings convincing and true. Most of the tale is set at the Crab Tree, a funky East Bay, San Francisco poolhall run by the aging curmudgeon, Pop. Pop and his real son have a tense relationship and frequently bicker. It is very different with his informally adopted on, T.C., a talented pool huckster who wandered into his bar two decades before as an orphaned 12-year-old. Though T.C. has the stuff to make it as a professional billiards player, he lacks ambition and no amount of cajoling from either Pop or his girl friend Lois seems to make him want to stop scamming nickel and dime winnings out of suckers, for though he really is good, T.C. remains unsure of himself. Then Pop gets diagnosed with throat cancer. To pay for the life-saving operation, loyal T.C. decides to overcome his fears and try to make it as a pro. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Based on a true story, The Tuskegee Airmen chronicles the experiences of the first African-American fighter pilots in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Using Hannibal Lee (Laurence Fishburne) as a focal point, the movie follows the airmen from their initial training at Tuskegee, Alabama, through their combat assignments during World War II. Featuring fascinating vintage military planes and exciting air-combat footage, the film also depicts the racism encountered by the pilots. In one example, the airmen are forced to give their seats on a crowded train to German prisoners of war. Even after the airmen complete their training, the military brass is reluctant to trust them in battle. But First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt publicizes their plight by going to Tuskegee and having one of the African-American pilots take her for a plane ride, and shortly thereafter the airmen are assigned a combat role. Eventually they join with other African-American pilots in the 332nd Fighter Group where their skill in protecting bombers from enemy fighters finally earns them the respect they deserve. The screen story was co-authored by Robert Williams, one of the pilots trained at Tuskegee. ~ Rovi
- 1995
- R
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When a group of white supremacists seize control of a quiet Midwestern town, a fearless martial arts master and a righteous sheriff team up to take back the streets. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Phillip Rhee, Gina Gershon, (more)
Jason London stars in this teen wish fulfillment romantic comedy, playing Todd Boomer, a would-be cartoonist who needs a recommendation to Harvard from his smarmy math teacher (Christopher MacDonald). However, calculus is the one subject in which Todd isn't pulling his weight. One rainy night he picks up a woman stranded by the side of the road who needs a ride (Tia Carrere). The woman turns out to be a whiz in his rusty subject, and she begins tutoring him. Only later does he start to fall for her -- and only later does he realize she's the wife of his math teacher. Although they begin a tentative affair, both are constantly worried about being discovered, which could ruin each in different ways. Meanwhile, Todd runs afoul of his own doting girlfriend, Kirsten (Alexondra Lee), as well as his best friend Paul (Zak Orth), who has a crush on Kirsten. The happy trio is splintered by Todd's romantic dalliances. My Teacher's Wife uses Todd's drawings, actually inked by cartoonist Bill Plympton, as loose narration. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jason London
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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cindy Crawford, William Baldwin, (more)
It's 1958, and the producers of the quiz show 21 have a problem. Their current champ, Herbert Stempel (John Turturro), has a phenomenal memory and a broad range of knowledge. He's also a pudgy loudmouth with a grating personality, so Herbert is encouraged to "take a dive" and allow Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes), a handsome and charming college professor, to become the show's new champion. Audiences like Van Doren, and he's certainly not averse to the money he's winning, but the ethics of the situation begin to trouble him, especially when the show's producers begin to give him the questions in advance. Director Robert Redford and writer Paul Attanasio paint a telling portrait of how the network heads and advertising men who manipulated the quiz shows were also able to manipulate the responsibility for the scandal away from themselves. While on the surface a story about the scandal itself, Quiz Show is just as importantly about a turning point in the 1950s when TV and advertising began to change American character and culture. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Turturro, Rob Morrow, (more)
- 1994
The Road Flower was given a limited release in 1993, then reissued two years later under the title The Road Killers. Essentially a rehash of the old drive-in perennial Hot Rods to Hell, the film stars Christopher Lambert as the taciturn head of a vacationing family. While motoring somewhere in the middle of Nevada, the family man and his loved ones are terrorized by a looney gang of hot-rodders, headed by wild-eyed Craig Sheffer (he did get better). Political correctness be hanged: these dysfunctional drivers must be dealt with, deprived childhoods or no deprived childhoods. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
A young girl secretly adopts a runaway monkey only to have to deal with the simian's mischief-making tendencies in this family comedy. Young Eva (Thora Birch)'s dreams of having a pet are frustrated by the objections of her mother (Mimi Rogers) and allergic stepfather (Christopher McDonald). When she finds a stray capuchin monkey, she cannot resist it, and she keeps the animal -- which she names Dodger -- hidden in her room. Eva doesn't know that Dodger has just escaped from an evil organ grinder named Azro (Harvey Keitel, playing a regrettable Gypsy stereotype), who had trained the monkey to become an accomplished pickpocket. Old habits prove hard to break, and Dodger begins stealing everything in sight, landing Eva in plenty of trouble. Her problems are only compounded by the actions of the unscrupulous Azro, who wants to find Dodger and use him as part of an important robbery. The standard misunderstandings and slapstick comedy ensue, with the spunky Eva struggling to protect her new pet and herself. While probably too predictable to appeal to many adults, Monkey Trouble's skillful animal antics and resourceful young heroine may prove entertaining to youngsters. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Finster, Thora Birch, (more)
Party-hard skydiving teacher Ditch Brodie (Charlie Sheen) has a knack for getting himself into trouble, but his booze-babes-and-planes shenanigans hardly prepare him for an international plot that pits Brodie and a mysterious KGB agent against a post-Cold War Russian villain called Kerr (Chris McDonald) and an American heavy named Ben Pinkwater (James Gandolfini). Aerial set pieces alternate with tongue-in-cheek flirtation and conspiracy-theory suspense as Brodie meets a beautiful new student, Chris Morrow (Nastassja Kinski), then must try to explain to the authorities how he allowed her to fall out of a plane to her death. Soon Brodie -- on the run from both Kerr and the police -- begins to realize that in espionage, as in romance, often nothing is as it seems. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charlie Sheen, Nastassja Kinski, (more)
- 1993
Cybill Shepherd takes a ride into the dark side in this two-part TV movie, purported based on a true story. Shepherd is cast as wealthy and seductive Phoenix socialite Faith Kelsey, who opts not to get mad but to get even when her husband, Terry (Christopher McDonald), enters into an affair with Stacey Eckhart (Denise Gentile), herself a married woman with children. When Stacey is brutally murdered, the police have great difficulty linking either of the Kelseys to the crime -- and no one has more difficulty than Detective Jay Jensen (Ken Olin), who, entranced by Faith's beauty and charm, concludes that she is as "much a victim" as the dead woman. But as the story unfolds, it becomes painfully clear that Faith has hatched an elaborate scheme to get away with murder, and to cover her tracks by persuading a number of people -- mostly male people -- to help her cover her tracks and leave the dots unconnected. But will Jensen finally wrest free of Faith's alluring spell and see to it that justice is done? And of more importance, can this be done before Faith makes her good her plan to leave the country and totally escape extradition? Telling Secrets was originally seen over NBC on January 17 and 18, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
This cheerful holiday comedy, a surprise box office smash, featured a generous dollop of raunchy, crude humor and was greatly elevated by the presence of masterful performers in the lead roles. Jack Lemmon is John Gustafson, an ice-fishing Minnesota native who has been feuding with his neighbor and former best friend Max Goldman (Walter Matthau) for decades. The battle of wills between John and Max is characterized by crude name calling and harmless practical jokes. Max is unaware that John is having serious problems, chiefly that his daughter Melanie (Daryl Hannah) is experiencing marital woes and that his house is about to be confiscated by an officious IRS agent (Buck Henry). When it seems that John and Max may finally put aside their childish rivalry, however, sexy new neighbor Ariel (Ann-Margret) arrives and dates both men, pitting them against each other more fiercely than ever before. Despite their mutual loathing, the death of a friend, John's problems, and a budding romance between Max's son Jacob (Kevin Pollak) and Melanie may force the two old friends to reconcile. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, (more)
Fatal Instinct is an Airplane-style spoof of the late-'80s, early-'90s cycle of erotic crime thrillers. Setting the plot in motion is a kinky murder. Armand Assante plays the cop assigned to the case; he's also the prosecuting attorney; the "Sharon Stone" part is essayed by Sean Young. A dash of Body Heat is thrown in the pot as Assante's wife Kate Nelligan plots her hubby's demise. Tony Randall has a bit as a judge, while the film's semi-mocking jazz score is provided by Clarence Clemmons -- who shows up on screen to toot his sax at various crucial plot junctures. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Armand Assante, Sherilyn Fenn, (more)
- 1993
- R
In this suspense thriller, a woman wonders if she can trust her memory when her father returns from prison a very different man from the violent psychopath she remembers. Karen (Amy Irving) is a single mother who twenty years ago delivered the testimony that put her father Frank (Donald Sutherland) behind bars for the murder of her mother. While Karen has no doubts that Frank is guilty of the crime, the years have clouded her memory a bit and she doesn't recall all the events with complete clarity. Now that Frank has been released, he's returned to Karen's neighborhood and is going out of his way to ingratiate himself with Pete (Rider Strong), her son, and Dan (Christopher McDonald), her boyfriend. A furious Karen confronts Frank, but she discovers a father who is not the ogre she sent to prison but a calm, charming, well-spoken gentleman who seems to bear her no ill will. They discuss the death of Karen's mother and Frank begins to convince her that it was all a terrible accident. Frank begins to work his way back into Karen's life as he gradually cuts her off from her circle of friends; when Dan dies under mysterious circumstances, Karen thinks nothing of it, but Sheriff Calhoun (Graham Greene) wonders if Frank might have something to do with the crime. Benefit of the Doubt marked the feature debut for producer Jonathan Heap. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Donald Sutherland, Amy Irving, (more)
- 1992
- R
A small-time crook (Judd Nelson) runs a nightclub and conspires to ruin the life of a cop (Christopher McDonald) by killing his wife and framing his son for murder. ~ John Bush, Rovi
- 1992
- R
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All poor Blue really wants is to be a regular, suburban Southern California teen from the 1950s, with a boy friend and lots of normal friends. Unfortunately, Fate has other plans. This erotic drama (related to it's predecessor in name and director only) chronicles her experiences. Blue's father is a heroin-addicted jazz musician and her estranged mother is a hooker. The trouble begins when her father, Ham, runs out of heroin and gets too upset to play. Blue procures him a fix, but when he learns that she sold herself to the club owner to get it, he drops dead of shock. Blue continues working at the club, but she is no great shakes in the sex department and the club owner sells her to an upscale brothel that caters to high-ranking government officials. On one of her days off, she meets a handsome young man outside a church. Josh is everything she dreams of, clean-cut and kind. Unfortunately, she cannot tell him of her true profession and they must separate. Blue is despondent and makes a lousy call girl. To try and liven her up a bit, a senator hires her for a private gang bang. He films the festivities, but fortunately, just before she is raped by the depraved politicians, her chauffeur, Sully, who has become her friend, rushes in to save her and they leave town. Eventually they end up in Josh's town. She and Josh fall in love. Unfortunately, the irate madame has come looking for her. To break them up, she show's the young football captain the politician's video-tape of his girlfriend in action. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nina Siemaszko, Wendy Hughes, (more)
- 1991
- PG13
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John Hughes re-works his already over-used formulas from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, and Uncle Buck in this bald-faced rip-off directed by Peter Faiman. Ed O'Neill stars as working stiff Dutch Dooley. Dutch is in love with Natalie (JoBeth Williams), who is recovering from a failed marriage to the priggish Reed (Christopher McDonald). Her 13-year-old son Doyle (Ethan Randall) blames Natalie for the break-up of the marriage. Doyle is an effete and snobbish rich kid betraying inflections of William F. Buckley. When he refuses to join his mother for Thanksgiving, Dutch heads off to Doyle's Atlanta boarding school to kidnap him and force him to go on a ride to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his mother. Doyle hates Dutch for his loutish working-class ways, but when the vengeful teenager destroys Dutch's car, the two must join forces to get to Chicago by any means necessary. Along the way the two learn to love and respect each other. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ed O'Neill, Ethan Randall, (more)
Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon play Thelma and Louise, two working-class friends who together have planned a weekend getaway from the men in their lives. Thelma's husband, Darryl (Chris McDonald), is an overbearing oaf, and Louise's boyfriend, Jimmy (Michael Madsen), simply will not commit. Though the road trip starts out as a good time, the pair eventually wind up at a bar. A tipsy Thelma ends up in the parking lot of the bar with a would-be rapist. Louise shoots the man dead. The two decide that they have no choice but to go on the run. They eventually meet up with a young criminal named J.D. (Brad Pitt), whose cowboy spirit rubs off on the timid Thelma. The pair is pursued by a police officer (Harvey Keitel) sympathetic toward their plight. He chases them to the Grand Canyon, where the women make a fateful decision about their lives. Directed by Ridley Scott, Thelma & Louise brought first-time screenwriter Callie Khouri many accolades including the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, (more)
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