Stephen McHattie Movies

A certified loser sets out to prove that he's "a real somebody" by procuring the three items that his childhood hero claims every winner has in this morbid comedy from writer/director Simon R. Ennis. Hard as he may try, Robert R. Mutt (Joshua Pearce) can never catch an even break; after failing to take his own life, he's kicked out of Riverside Mental Hospital for being too happy. Desperate to live up to his potential and prove that he's not a loser, Robert seeks out the advice of former local baseball superstar Clinton Manitoba (Michael Madsen). According to Clinton, there are three things a man needs to be whole: a woman, a nice wad of cash, and a championship ring. In no time, Robert has gotten mixed up in the drug racket, hooked-up with a roller-skating transvestite, and entered into an air hockey tournament. It may not be the most conventional path to success, but perhaps if Robert can stay true to his goal he can finally prove that he isn't the biggest nitwit in town. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Luke Kirby and Keith Carradine star in director Leonard Farlinger's adaptation of author Brad Smith's laid back neo-western novel. Ray Dokes (Kirby) has just been released from prison, and now as the laconic ex-con makes his way back home he is stunned to see just how much progress has transformed the countryside of his youth. Looking to lie low for a while, Ray heads to the farm of his good friend Pete Culpepper (Keith Carradine). A garrulous farmer who's drowning in debt, Pete is a true Texas cowboy whose corn seems too stubborn to grow this season. The first order of business for Ray is to visit his old flame Etta (Lisa Ray, but things have gotten complicated since Ray was put away and making his way to the woman he loves isn't going to be nearly as easy as he had hoped. Soon after hooking up with firebrand jockey Chrissis (Rachel Leigh Cook), Ray discovers that his old nemesis Sonny Staunton (Noam Jenkins) - the wealthy heir to a thoroughbred dynasty - is currently attempting to buy up as much farmland as possible in order to start breaking ground on a luxurious new golf course. It seems that Etta is the only member of the rural community bold enough to stand up against Sonny, but when a valuable thoroughbred goes missing from Staunton Stables the desperate entrepreneur forces the sale of the area's few remaining farms. Realizing the danger of contending with such a powerful and determined man (after all, it was Sonny who got Ray locked away in the first place), Ray does his best to sideline Sonny's nefarious plan and save the remaining farmlands without making the one false move that could land him back in jail. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Released from prison after serving ten years for pummeling his opponent to the point of inflicting severe brain damage, working class pugilist Donnie Rose (Rossif Sutherland) finds his efforts to start life anew complicated by simmering racism and long-suppressed vengeance. In the aftermath of Donnie's notorious bout with aspiring boxer Charlie Carvery (K.C. Collins), racial tensions in Halifax, Nova Scotia sharply divided the community between black and white. During his sentence Donnie not only honed his boxing skills to near perfection, but he also entered into a furtive affair with his black cellmate - a fact which he struggles to keep from his deeply prejudiced brother Keith (Greg Bryk. Though Charlie's vengeful father George (Danny Glover) has long looked forward to the day he will take revenge on the man who destroyed his son's life, the conflicted father discovers that he simply isn't a killer when finally given the opportunity to pull the trigger on Donnie. Subsequently offered $20,000 to step into the ring with fearsome local boxing champion Ossie Paris (Flex Alexander) for a high profile grudge match that will surely spell his doom, Donnie soon finds help coming from the most unlikely of places. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Tom Selleck returns to the role of small-town police chief Jesse Stone in this prequel to the CBS TV movie Stone Cold. Having been booted from the LAPD for drunkenness (brought on by his divorce), Stone heads to tiny Paradise, Massachussetts, where through the auspices of local banker Hastings Hathaway (Saul Rubinek) he is appointed chief of police. His first assignment is to investigate the murder of his predecessor Lou Carson (Mike Starr), whose death may or may not be tied in with a local domestic-abuse case involving minor mob functionary Jo Jo Genest (Stephen Baldwin). Although his new staff has a lot of trouble dealing with Stone's eccentricities--not least of which is insisting upon taking his pet dog Boomer wherever he goes--Jesse gradually wins them over. Along the way, he also tries to melt the heart of his staunchest adversary, attractive attorney Abby Taylor (Polly Shannon--all the while fending off the advances of banker Hathaway's libidinous wife Cissy (Stephanie March). Based on a novel by Robert B. Parker, Jesse Stone: Night Passage was originally telecast on January 15, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of a two-part story, simian villain Gorilla Grodd hopes to take advantage of dissension and disagreement within the ranks of the Justice League. Grodd organizes his own team of villains, including such nasties as Giganta, Sinestro, and Killer Frost. Inasmuch as Grodd's team gets along with one another a lot better than the members of the Justice Leage, it looks as though villainy will triumph over virtue this time around! ~ All Movie Guide

In the first episode of a two part story, Superman's perennial nemesis Lex Luthor breaks out of prison. The fugitive is pursued by the Justice League, who soon realize that Luthor is dying. As a "last stand" against the Leaguers in general and Superman in particular, Luthor manages to organize his own team of super-villains called The Injustice Gang, among them the Joker, Star Sapphire, the Shade, Copperhead, Cheetah, and Ultra-Humanite! Clancy Brown and Mark Hamill, who were heard as Luthor and the Joker in several previous animated versions of Batman and Superman, repeat their roles here. Both episodes of "Injustice for All" were released on DVD in tandem with another Justice League two-parter, "The Brave and the Bold," in October of 2004. ~ All Movie Guide

A ride on a Ferris wheel proves fatal to police informant John Gitomer (Rob Stefaniuk)--and may also destroy the career of Adam Kirk (Stephen McHattie), a "loose cannon" police detective who is the prime suspect in Gitomer's murder. Kirk's former partner Lt. Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) asks Monk (Tony Shalhoub) to investigate the situation, a job that Monk takes on despite his intense dislike of Kirk and his deadly fear of heights. The trail of clues leads to a dance club, a secret phone number, and a campaign of terror conducted from a prison cell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A pair of grifters are drawn into a big con that may be more than they can handle in this sexy thriller. Maya (Bonnie Phillips) and her boyfriend Tony (Thomas Heinze) are a pair of con artists who've been working the same scam for some time; sexy Maya approaches wealthy-looking men in hotel cocktail lounges and persuades them to come up to her room. Tony lifts the men's wallets while Maya toys with them, and he copies the information from their credit cards; Tony returns the cards before the men are the wiser, and Maya conveniently loses interest before things can go too far with her marks. Maya and Tony are making a good living off their version of credit card fraud when Maya tries to pick up Pierce; as it turns out, Pierce is a con artist himself, but rather than turn the tables on the couple, he makes them an offer. Pierce is working with a woman who wants to divorce her rich husband; they need a woman who can seduce the heretofore faithful husband -- and do it on film. There's a big payday in store for the woman who can do the job, so would Maya be interested? The Hustle also stars Robert Wagner, Steven McHattie, and Benjamin Sadler. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Aimed at older children, this gentle, gender-bending coming-of-age drama set in Ireland centers on the friendship between bookish, outcast Irish lad Chris and the new kid in town, Joe, an all-American boy. Whereas Chris is wimpy and bullied by the village toughs, Joe is strong, clever and the best fighter around. When Joe befriends Chris, it looks as if things will be improving. At it least it does until Chris finds out that Joe is actually Joanne. Orphaned by her parents, former tightrope walkers, she has been living with her cruel, woman-hating Uncle Curt, an embittered ex-acrobat who make her pose as a male. Joe's main female influence comes from Chris' mother a feminist sculptor of Rubenesque goddess statues. Unfortunately, Uncle Curt doesn't want her associating with her. Poor Joe also finds some solace helping Simon, her parents former coach who became a depressive clown after their fatal accident. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Still recovering from a breakdown caused by the death of her son two years earlier, Menly Nichols (Kelly McGillis) convalesces in the old mansion where her husband Adam (Cotter Smith) grew up. The emotionally fragile Menly is having difficulty enough adjusting to her somewhat dank surrounding when she begins to be haunted by an eerie, faraway voice. Could the sounds be merely a manifestation of her trauma and guilt feelings--or are they caused by the ghost of her son, desperately trying to contact her? Whatever the case, trouble clearly lies ahead for both Menly and her baby daughter Hannah--and that trouble may or may not be linked with a murder case for which Adam has been hired as attorney for the defense. Based on the novel by (who else?) Mary Higgins Clark, this filmed-for-TV gothic melodrama made its CBS network debut on November 19, 1995. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide