Bruce McGill Movies

As America geared itself for another possible armed conflict in Iraq, the HBO cable service offered a dramatization of events surrounding the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Originally telecast on December 8, 2002, Live From Baghdad recounted the efforts by the CNN network to be first on the scene when hostilities broke out in the Gulf in late 1990. Inaugurating round-the-clock coverage of the warfare with the invasion of Kuwait, dauntless CNN producers Robert Wiener (Michael Keaton) and Ingrid Formanek (Helena Bonham Carter), aided and abetted by on-the-scene reporters Bernard Shaw (Robert Wisdom), Peter Arnett (Bruce McGill), and John Holliman (John Carroll Lynch), among many others, represented the only American news service on the scene during the first night of bombing on January 16, 1991. Not only does Live From Baghdad celebrate the heroism (and meticulous fairness) of the CNN crew, but it also vividly demonstrates how a tiny but tenacious basic cable channel managed to out-scoop the Big Three networks, thereby becoming one of the most powerful and influential journalistic forces in the world. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jack Black continues his march to stardom with this typical Farrelly brothers blend of broad comedy and a heartfelt message. Black is Hal Larsen, a shallow man rapidly approaching middle age whose superficiality can be attributed to his father's deathbed admonition to only date young, beautiful women. Hal and his best friend, Mauricio (Jason Alexander), have taken the advice to heart, but Hal finds all of his physically impressive girlfriends consistently lacking in other qualities that would make them ideal mates. When he bumps into self-help guru Tony Robbins (playing himself), the motivational entrepreneur is intrigued by Hal's predicament and hypnotizes him so that he'll only see the inner beauty of women. Hal is quickly smitten with Rosemary Shanahan (Gwyneth Paltrow), a blonde Peace Corps volunteer who's tenderhearted, funny, and intelligent. She is also gorgeous and meets Hal's basic criteria of outer perfection, but what he doesn't realize is that Robbins' spell is working and he cannot see that Rosemary actually weights 300 pounds. When Mauricio is finally able to snap Hal out of his charmed state, Hal's in love with the inwardly perfect woman and must overcome his obsession with beauty. The script for Shallow Hal (2001) was developed when Peter Farrelly enjoyed the humorous letters written to a mutual friend by Sean Moynihan, a computer software executive who followed the filmmaker's advice to take up screenwriting. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Noted baseball fan Billy Crystal directed this made-for-cable drama set in the summer of 1961, as two of the strongest hitters in the major leagues, Mickey Mantle (Thomas Jane) and Roger Maris (Barry Pepper), find themselves neck and neck in a battle to break Babe Ruth's long-standing record for most home runs in a season. Both men were playing for the New York Yankees at the time, and as the two men came within grasping distance of Ruth's record, their loyalty as friends and teammates was put to the ultimate test. 61 also features Richard Masur, Bruce McGill, Anthony Michael Hall, and Renee Taylor; the scenes set in Yankee Stadium were filmed at Michigan's Tiger Stadium, shortly after the Detroit Tigers shuttered the venerable playing field and relocated to a newer facility. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The second of two made-for-TV biopics on the same topic (the first was Side by Side: The True Story of the Osmond Family), Inside the Osmonds was co-produced by Jimmy Osmond and Dick Clark, and as such can be regarded as reasonably accurate, if a tad on the hokey side. Matt Dorff's teleplay recounts the rise in popularity of the singing Osmond clan, from their humble beginnings in Utah onward. The act is strictly stag -- that is, it consisted largely of the Osmond Brothers -- until siblings Donny and Marie break out and matriculate to superstardom. Perhaps inevitably, the Osmond juggernaut begins to collapse under its own weight, due to dissension, jealousy, and the questionable financial escapade of the singers' father, George (played by Bruce McGill). The story ends in a tune-filled concert re-creation, featuring the real-life Osmonds (or as many as could be assembled herein). Standouts in the cast are Thomas Dekker and Patrick Levis as the younger and older Donny Osmond, Janaya Stephens as Marie, and Veronica Cartwright as the siblings' mother, Olive; there are also adequate Hollywood casting-service approximations of musician/politician Mike Curb and the Osmonds' longtime TV director Jack Regas. The abruptness of the continuity suggests that the film was originally much longer than its present two hours. Largely filmed in Toronto, Inside the Osmonds made its ABC network debut on February 5, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ego-driven industrialist Alan Morrisey (Harry VanGorkum) has paid to develop the ultimate mining machine -- a nearly invincible vehicle that uses laser energy to burrow through anything. But the machine's creator, Brian Goodman (Craig Sheffer), knows that it is too good at what it does and could cause repercussions beneath the Earth's core. So he destroys it. Years later, Morrisey has hired another scientist, Allison Saunders (Terry Farrell), to rebuild the machine, and Goodman's predictions of devastation come true. There are earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcano eruptions around the world, and they're only getting worse. It's up to Goodman and his crack team of subterranean disaster fighters -- Sam Dalton (Bruce McGill) and Rodney Bedecker (Wil Wheaton) -- to save the planet by setting off a series of subterranean nuclear explosions, with Morrisey and Saunders along for the ride. Meanwhile, topside, the sinister Daryl Simmons (James Russo) is planning to sabotage the rescue in order to help the Chinese military. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

Tom Selleck stretches his dramatic range by playing a liberal Democrat in this comedy-drama satirizing the underside of party politics. Governor James Pryce (Tom Selleck) is a well-respected politician with a strong reformist streak who is a shoo-in for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, thanks to a well-run primary campaign organized by his manager Lauren Hartman (Laura Linney), and the savvy speechmaking and moral support of his wife Jenny (Nancy Travis). Now Pryce has to pick a vice-presidential candidate, which proves to be not all that simple. Senator Parker Gable (Robert Culp) helped give Pryce his start in politics, and his wife Meg (Faye Dunaway), a Queen Bee on the Washington social scene, has asked Pryce to consider Gable as VP. Pryce believes Gable would be the right man for the job, but he's well known to chase anything in a skirt, and Pryce thinks his nomination would be a scandal waiting to happen. Besides Gable, the two most likely choices for Pryce's running mate are Senator Mitchell Morris (Bruce McGill), whose strong links to a number of corporate benefactors make Pryce nervous, and Senator Terrence Randall (Bob Grunton), whose outspoken support of campaign finance reform does not sit well with Shawna Morgan (Teri Hatcher), the fundraising expert who has been filling Pryce's war chest. Running Mates was produced for the TNT cable network, where it first aired on August 13, 2000; Gerald Rafshoon, the film's executive producer, has an inside perspective on Washington wheelings and dealings, having served as White House director of communications under President Jimmy Carter. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The Insider tells the true story of a man who decided to tell the world what the seven major tobacco companies knew (and concealed) about the dangers of their product. Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) was a scientist employed in research for a tobacco firm, Brown and Williamson. Not long after he was fired by Brown and Williamson, Wigand came into contact with Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino), a producer for 60 Minutes who worked closely with journalist Mike Wallace (played here by Christopher Plummer). Bergman arranged for Wigand to be interviewed by Wallace for a 60 Minutes expose on the cigarette industry, though Wigand was still bound by a confidentiality agreement not to discuss his employment with the company. Despite Wigand's willingness to talk, CBS pulled his interview from at the last minute after Brown and Williamson threatened a multi-billion dollar lawsuit. The staff of 60 Minutes and CBS News were soon embroiled in an internal struggle over the killing of the story, and Wigand found himself the subject of lawsuits and a smear campaign, without his full story reaching the public. The Insider was directed by Michael Mann and also features Diane Venora, Philip Baker Hall, Debi Mazar, Colm Feore, and Rip Torn. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Ground Control follows the reluctant return to work of Jack Harris (Kiefer Sutherland), a retired air traffic controller who is still haunted by his role in a probably unavoidable plane crash that has left him guilt-ridden and professionally gun shy. When a Phoenix airport fighting budget cutbacks calls him in for emergency duty, he begins experiencing flashbacks to the night of the disaster, all while trying desperately not to lose concentration even for the single moment it would take to cause a fresh disaster. He is supported by a seasoned supervisor (Bruce McGill) but challenged by a cocky young controller (Robert Sean Leonard) who not so privately questions his mettle. All must put aside their differences and band together when stormy weather and failing equipment puts another flight in harm's way. The tension mounts as a resourceful mechanic (Henry Winkler) tries to paste together the outdated circuitry and give the skeleton crew technical support beyond their professional cunning. Ground Control also stars Kristy Swanson and Kelly McGillis. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

Rosewood is the true story of an almost unknown incident in a small Florida town, (fictionalized, but faithful to the known facts, as documented in a 1994 report by the Florida Legislature). The town was inhabited almost entirely by quiet, "middle-class" African- Americans (most of them home and land owners and better off than average at the time.) On New Year's day, 1923, the town was wiped off the face of the earth by angry whites from a neighboring community. Based on palpably false testimony by a single white woman against one "Black" stranger, many of the men of Rosewood were hunted down and lynched, or shot, or burned. The rest of the town's residents fled into the swamps and never returned. At the time, official reports stated that two to six people from the black community were slain. Neither the perpetrators nor the victims spoke of the incident again, which was promptly forgotten until 1983 when a reporter stumbled across the old story and began investigating. Interviews with surviving victims indicated that the previous reports were wrong; in reality, between 70 and 250 people were killed in Rosewood during the four-day attack.

The film is a human story, about human envy, greed and lust, about the totally insane psychology of a mob, but also about the courage and decency of common folks facing an unbelievable onslaught of evil. The courage of the black residents is self evident, and the decency on the part of a few white neighbors is reluctant, until they realize that they can't live with themselves if they don't help the woman and children to escape. The most notable black heroes are Sylvester (Don Cheadle) -- a music teacher and the best-educated man in town -- and Mann (Ving Rhames) -- a stranger on horseback with Samson-like strength who becomes the focus of white hatred and black resistance. The penny-pinching, adulterous town grocer John Wright (John Voight), one of the few white residents, also plays a key role in saving lives, but before he does, he must resolve painful racial issues and make a difficult personal choice. Eventually, though, he sees enough of the mob's evil to know what he must do, and with the help of the reluctant owner-operators of the Gainesville railway, he does it. John Singleton's powerful epic film does not present a "comfortable" view of the circumstances of this grim, little-known page from American history. ~ Michael P. Rogers, All Movie Guide

Appalled by the civil unrest on Earth, Sheridan declares Babylon 5 as an independent state. As President Clark summons his forces to seize control of B5, Delenn asks Minbari for help. A Ranger arrives with news that throws Delenn for a loss. And that is all that can be said without giving away the many plot surprises in "Severed Dreams." Written J. Michael Straczynski, this episode won the 1997 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. In America, it was first made available for syndication during the week of April 1 , 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A soldier discovers how elusive the truth can be in this first major film about America's role in the Gulf War. Lt. Col. Nathaniel Serling (Denzel Washington) was the commander of a unit during Operation Desert Storm who mistakenly ordered the destruction of what he believed to be an enemy tank, only to discover that it actually held U.S. soldiers, including a close friend. Since then, Serling has been an emotional wreck, drinking heavily and allowing his marriage to teeter on the brink of collapse. As a means of redeeming himself, Serling is given a new assignment by his superior, Gen. Hershberg (Michael Moriarty). Capt. Karen Walden (Meg Ryan) was a helicopter pilot who died in battle during the Iraqi conflict, and the White House has proposed that Walden be posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Serling is asked to investigate Walden's actions on the field of battle, but he quickly discovers that no two stories about her are quite the same; Ilario (Matt Damon) says Walden acted heroically and sacrificed herself to save the others in her company, while Monfriez (Lou Diamond Phillps) claims she was a coward who was attempting to surrender to enemy troops. Meanwhile, reporter Tony Gartner (Scott Glenn) is hounding Serling, trying to get the inside story on Walden and on Serling's own difficulties. Matt Damon lost 40 pounds to prepare for his role in Courage Under Fire, which resulted in a potentially life-threatening illness for the young actor. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Based on a comic book story, this futuristic film follows the time-travel exploits of policeman Max Walker (Claude Van Damme). In 1994, Walker's wife Melissa (Mia Sara) is about to tell him that she is expecting their first child when they are attacked by a group of criminals. Walker is shot and beaten and lies helplessly on his lawn while he sees their home and his wife blown up by the killers. Ten years later, Walker remains an employee of the Time Enforcement Commission, a federal agency which was set up in 1994 after the U.S. government learned that time travel technology is feasible. The commission's role is to prevent time travel to protect U.S. economic interests. Walker learns that the corrupt Senator McComb (Ron Silver), who helped establish the agency, is exploiting it for personal gain, trying to establish a monopoly on time travel so that he can enrich himself in the stock market. Walker travels back in time to stop McComb from murdering his former partner. At the same time, Walker hopes to rescue his wife, and he learns that the attack on his home was ordered by McComb to stop Walker from foiling his plans. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Former Bewitched TV-star Elizabeth Montgomery plays against type and stars as a murderess in this made-for-television movie. Based on the book Preacher's Girl by Jim Schutze, Montgomery stars as the real-life killer Blanche Taylor Moore who was caught by authorities in 1989. The movie chronicles her transformation from the innocent 1950s daughter of a preacher into the serial killer known for poisoning her husbands with arsenic. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide