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Adam Beach Movies

Adam Beach began his screen career by rowing the canoe that held the stars of the television adaptation of Farley Mowat's Lost in the Barrens (1990). A little over a decade later, the hardworking Native American actor -- who used to run home from school to watch Johnny Depp on 21 Jump Street -- had a coveted spot in Vanity Fair's notorious Hollywood Issue and was one of E! Entertainment Network's Sizzling Sixteen.

A member of the Saulteaux Tribe, Beach was born on the Dog Creek Reserve, located north of Lake Winnipeg in Canada. He was only seven years old when a drunk driver killed his mother, who was eight months pregnant. Beach's father drowned only two months later. The tragic deaths of their parents forced Beach and his brothers to move south to live with relatives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. There, he attended Gordon Bell High School, where he became interested in music and theater. He formed a short-lived garage band called Lethic (which covered heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath) and took drama classes. He soon earned roles in local theater productions and eventually dropped out of school for a lead role in Red River Valley at the Manitoba Theatre for Young People.

Shortly afterward, Beach was cast as an extra in Lost in the Barrens, starring Graham Greene and Evan Adams. The next few years saw him playing the title role in Disney's family film Squanto: A Warrior's Tale (1994) and earning a Best Actor Award from First Americans in the Arts for his performance in the television film My Indian Summer (1995). He also frequently appeared on both Canadian and U.S. television, in shows such as Walker, Texas Ranger, Legend, Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years, Touched By an Angel, Dead Man's Gun, First Wave, The Rex, and Madison.
By 1998, Beach had a recognizable face and well-refined talent. He landed a starring role in Sherman Alexie's Smoke Signals (1998) after only his second reading. The film, which achieved international acclaim, earned both the Filmmaker's Trophy Award and the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, as well as re-teamed Beach with Lost in the Barrens star Evan Adams. He went on to play a small role in the Russell Crowe vehicle Mystery, Alaska (1999), which basically required that he play his favorite sport, ice hockey, for three months. After starring in the thriller The Last Stop (2000), Beach showed off his comedic skills as David Spade's sidekick, Kicking Wing, in 2001's Joe Dirt. That same year, he played the romantic lead in Helen Lee's comedy The Art of Woo and appeared in the independent film Now & Forever.

Beach was living in Canada when producers asked him to fly to Los Angeles to audition for the lead part in John Woo's big-budget action film Windtalkers. Only days later, he was introduced to Woo and cast as Ben Yahzee, a Navajo codetalker charged with deciphering crucial U.S. military dispatches during World War II. The star-studded production includes Nicolas Cage, Mark Ruffalo, and Christian Slater, and required that Beach, who speaks Saulteaux, learn Navajo for the part. The hype surrounding the film influenced Beach to make the permanent move to Los Angeles. He was cast in the TV series Bliss in 2002, and continued to appear on the big screen in a variety of projects, scoring one of his most high-profile gigs when he portrayed Ira Hayes in Clint Eastwood's World War II drama Flags of Our Fathers. Other highlights in his career include Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Comanche Moon, Cowboys & Aliens, Warrior's Heart, and a small role on the HBO drama series Big Love.

Beach uses his present fame to visit Canadian schools and serve as an inspirational speaker to Native American children. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, Rovi
2011  
PG  
Add A Warrior's Heart to Queue Add A Warrior's Heart to top of Queue  
Twilight's Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene re-team in a story of young love and the values that can be learned through a shared passion for sport. In shock and denial over his Marine father's death in combat, high school lacrosse star Conor Sullivan (Kellan Lutz) starts acting out in self destructive ways until he's kicked off the team and sent to a wilderness lacrosse camp run by his dad's combat buddy (Adam Beach). Strengthened by the support and understanding of his new found love (Ashley Greene) , and though a deep understanding of the game and its Native American roots, he opens his eyes to the true meaning of sportsmanship, love and life.

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Starring:
Kellan LutzAshley Greene, (more)
 
2011  
PG13  
Add Cowboys & Aliens to Queue Add Cowboys & Aliens to top of Queue  
Based on the graphic novel by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, Cowboys & Aliens is set in 1800s Arizona, where the local cowboys, headed by gunslinger Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig), and the indigenous Apache tribe have been feuding fiercely for quite a while. Their skirmish is interrupted, however, by the appearance of a spaceship, commanded by an alien creature that's bent on enslaving the human race. It's time for a six-gun shoot-out between these cattle rustlers and space invaders, and there might even be a temporary peace between the cowboys and Indians as they both take aim at these extraterrestrial uninvited guests. Jon Favreau directs from a script by Star Trek scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, with help from Lost's Damon Lindelof. Olivia Wilde, Harrison Ford, and Sam Rockwell fill out the headlining cast. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

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Starring:
Daniel CraigOlivia Wilde, (more)
 
2009  
R  
Add The Stranger to Queue Add The Stranger to top of Queue  
His family killed and his memory erased, a former member of an elite FBI task force wages a one-man war to reclaim his past in this explosive action thriller starring Steve Austin. With the Russian mob and the FBI closing in on both sides, The Stranger realizes that in order to re-discover his true identity, he'll have to fight for his life while gathering the pieces of an elaborate, and deadly, puzzle. He can't be caught, and he won't be broken. Now with each life he takes, The Stranger comes one step closer to finding out where he came from, and why so many people want him dead. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
"Stone Cold" Steve AustinAdam Beach, (more)
 
2008  
 
Add Comanche Moon to Queue Add Comanche Moon to top of Queue  
This epic western starring Val Kilmer, Steve Zahn, Linda Cardellini, and Rachel Griffiths was adapted from Larry McMurtry's sprawling novel of the same name, and actually constitutes a prequel to Lonesome Dove. Texas Rangers Woodrow Call and Agustus McCrae may be getting up there in years, but their determination to capture Comanche war chief Buffalo Hunt, Comanche horse thief Kicking Wolf, and an elusive Mexican bandit king certainly hasn't faded with age. Now, as Gus attempts to resolve his personal issues with longtime love Clara Forsythe and Call comes to terms with his feelings for local prostitute Maggie Tilton, fellow Texas Rangers Deets, Jake Spoon, and Pea Eye Parker do their best to safeguard the advancing western frontier from the legions of Comanches who have vowed to defend their land to the death. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Val KilmerSteve Zahn, (more)
 
2008  
 
Add Older Than America to Queue Add Older Than America to top of Queue  
The truths of the past come to light in a series of haunting visions in this drama starring Adam Beach, Tantoo Cardinal, and Wes Studi. Traumatized by the strange visions that grow more vivid with each passing day, a young woman of Native American heritage begins piecing together a Catholic priest's diabolical plot to prevent her mother from revealing the atrocities that unfolded at a Native Indian boarding school. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Adam BeachTantoo Cardinal, (more)
 
2008  
 
Paroled from prison after serving two years for grand theft auto, vengeful ex-con Don Keys (Matthew Stefiuk) sets out on a mission to take down his back-stabbing former partner in crime, and rescue the love of his life from a vicious gang of kidnappers. Don is no snitch, so when the police picked him up for lifting a car, he didn't drop dime on Tommy. But he hasn't forgotten how Tommy hung him up to dry, and he certainly hasn't forgiven him that cowardly transgression. More than anything in the world, Don wants to reconnect with his childhood sweetheart Bella, the daughter of powerful street boss Joseph Riccoli. Unfortunately for all three, Bella has just been abducted by three kidnappers hoping to collect $5 million in exchange for her safe return. When Riccoli reveals that he doesn't have the cash to pay off the kidnappers and he's too concerned about drawing attention from the Feds to try and save his own daughter, Don realizes that if he wants to save Bella, he'll have to resort to his old ways. Fortunately Don won't have to go it alone, because his unpredictable best-friend Ricky and feisty lesbian drug dealer Stevie are more than willing to lend a few helping trigger-fingers. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Matthew StefiukGregory Wilson, (more)
 
2007  
 
Add Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Season 09 to Queue Add Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Season 09 to top of Queue  
Changes greet the SVU gang at the outset of the ninth season: Munch (Richard Belzer) is put in charge of the department after Capt. Cragen (Dann Florek) is temporarily removed from duty, and Det. Lake (Adam Beach) is now a full-time member of the squad. In Alternate, the season's first episode, Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Christopher Meloni) investigate a case involving a woman (guest star Cynthia Nixon) with multiple personalities. Before long Cragen is back in command, but the themes of people taking on new roles and different personalities continue in Avatar, which focuses on the case of a missing woman who portrayed an underage prostitute in an online video game. In Undercover, Fin (Ice-T) poses as a corrections officer while Benson poses as a prison inmate and has an eye-opening new experience. Benson then finds herself in another precarious situation when she is kidnapped in the series' 200th episode, Authority. This milestone episode features guest star Robin Williams as a man with an antiauthority agenda who attempts to trick people into committing criminal acts. When Williams' character abducts Benson, he uses mind games to try to get Stabler to inflict pain on her. Stabler is also no stranger to pain this season: In Blinded, he temporarily loses his sight after suffering a head injury courtesy of a suspect. That same episode finds ADA Novak (Diane Neal) confronting a dark part of her personal history as she attempts to convict a schizophrenic artist. While Novak faces her past, Stabler worries about his family's future in Paternity, which finds his wife, Kathy (Isabel Gillies), and their unborn child in jeopardy after being hurt in a car accident. An unconventional family of homeless children are at the center of Streetwise, which features guest star Mae Whitman as the clan's pseudo-mother. Other notable Season 9 guest stars include Aidan Quinn, Erika Christensen, and Melissa Joan Hart. ~ Jennifer Sankowski, Rovi

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Starring:
Christopher MeloniMariska Hargitay, (more)
 
2007  
 
Add Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee to Queue Add Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee to top of Queue  
Director Yves Simoneau explores the plight of the American Indian in the later half of the 19th century in this docudrama exploring the effects of westward expansion and based on the book by Dee Brown. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Aidan QuinnAdam Beach, (more)
 
2007  
 
Add Turok: Son of Stone to Queue Add Turok: Son of Stone to top of Queue  
Twenty years after being exiled from the village in which he was born, a mighty warrior returns to his home to find that a ruthless tyrant has slaughtered his family and spread death and despair across the land. Everything Turok ever knew is now gone, and the man responsible for this untold destruction is a ruthless warlord named Chichak. Now, with vengeance in his blood and nothing left to lose, Turok will cross fearlessly over into the Lost Land - a treacherous place where savagery rules, and primeval beasts stalk their prey with vicious ferocity. But Turok's tireless quest for revenge won't be easy, because before he reaches Chichak he will be forced to contend with not only man-eating dinosaurs and brutal cave-dwellers, but also the darkness that dwells somewhere deep within his own troubled soul. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Adam BeachIrene Bedard, (more)
 
2007  
PG  
Add Luna: Spirit of the Whale to Queue Add Luna: Spirit of the Whale to top of Queue  
Adam Beach, Graham Greene, and Jason Priestly star in director Don McBrearty's fictionalized account of the events that took place in the harbor of a Vancouver Island village and shocked animal lovers around the world. When a government representative (Priestly) announces that he intends to reunite an orphaned orca with his pod by transporting him hundreds of miles over dry land, the Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nations Band, which believes that the spirit of their late chief resides in the majestic ocean mammal, does everything within their power to thwart the controversial plan. As the community grows increasingly divided over how to handle the situation, a young aboriginal boy wrestles with his own identity and new Band chief Mike Maquinna (Beach) prepares for the trial by fire that could shape his entire future. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Adam BeachTantoo Cardinal, (more)
 
2006  
R  
Add Bottoms Up to Queue Add Bottoms Up to top of Queue  
A Midwestern bar tender hungering for life in the fast lane enters a Hollywood King of the Bar contest in this fast-paced showbiz satire starring Jason Mewes and Paris Hilton. Owen Peadman (Mewes) is Minnesota's "Golden Boy" of bartending, but the Midwest has grown a little bland, and now Owen is looking make a name for himself in the thriving L.A. nightclub scene. When Owen gets word of a high profile bartender contest with a hearty cash prize, he sets his sights on Hollywood and prepares to knock the judges dead. Unfortunately for Owen things don't quite work out as planned, and after losing out to a well-known L.A. barman he is forced to seek the help of his flamboyant Uncle Earl. A fast-talking producer of a popular tabloid new program, Uncle Earl offers Owen a job and the pair soon set out to get the scoop on Hayden Field - the hottest young star around. Getting to Hayden isn't going to be easy though, and after hatching a plan to befriend Hayden's glamorous girlfriend Lisa Mancini (Hilton), the one-time drink slinger find out just how wild the west coast nightlife can truly get. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Paris HiltonJason Mewes, (more)
 
2006  
R  
Add Flags of Our Fathers to Queue Add Flags of Our Fathers to top of Queue  
Clint Eastwood's adaptation of the non-fiction book Flags of Our Fathers concerns the lives of the men in the famous picture of soldiers raising the American flag over Iwo Jima during that historic WWII battle. Battle scenes are intercut with footage of three of the soldiers - played by Ryan Phillipe, Jesse Bradford, and Adam Beach -- who survived the battle going on a goodwill tour of the United States in order to sell war bonds. Many evening they are forced to reenact their famous pose, something each of them finds more and more difficult to do as they suffer from survivor's guilt. Eastwood frames the story by having one of the men's grown son (Tom McCarthy) interview his father's old comrades in order to find out more about what happened to his father. Eastwood followed this film with Letters from Iwo Jima, a second film about the battle of Iwo Jima, but told from the Japanese perspective. Flags of Our Fathers was produced by Eastwood and Steven Spielberg. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

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Starring:
Ryan PhillippeJesse Bradford, (more)
 
2005  
 
A man struggles to reconnect with his family and community as he deals with the scars of war in this independent drama from writer and director Shirley Cheechoo. Johnny Tootall (Adam Beach) is a Native North American from Vancouver who joined the military when he found himself unable to handle his responsibilities at home. Johnny ended up serving as a soldier in Bosnia, and the war and devastation he witnessed has had a lasting impact on him; he's especially haunted by the death of a young boy he killed in battle. When his hitch is over, Johnny comes home and has to face the loose ends he left behind -- his girlfriend, Serena (Alex Rice), the members of his tribe, and especially his brother, RT (Nathaniel Arcand). RT is a scruffy political activist who long found himself at odds with Johnny, and the returning soldier discovers RT is in the midst of a campaign to save the sacred land of their people. RT wants Johnny to help him in this fight to save their culture, but as Johnny struggles to sort out his demons, he wonders how much he can really do for others. Johnny Tootall was named Best Feature Film at the 2006 Native American Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Adam BeachAlex Rice, (more)
 
2003  
 
When gunshots ring out in a tragic roadside shooting, police officer Delbert Nez winds up dead. His close friend Officer Jim Chee (Adam Beach) is the first on the scene, and upon spotting an elderly, drunken Navajo Shaman named Ashie Pinto (Jimmy Herman) with the murder weapon tucked in his belt, he takes the man into custody as the prime suspect. Though Pinto does not confess to the crime, the case against him is strong, and Detective Joe Leaphorn (Wes Studi) begins to look into the case at the behest of his wife, Emma (Sheila Tousey) -- who remains staunchly convinced that her relative was set up. As Chee and Leaphorn investigate the case, they are troubled to discover a number of inconsistencies in the murder. How did Pinto get to the scene of the crime when he has no means of transportation? And how could the elderly Pinto be the man that Officer Nez said he apprehended as a vandal in his final communication to police headquarters? When their investigation leads Chee and Leaphorn to a local trading post run by a shady man named John McGinnis (Keith Carradine), the case soon begins to come into focus as the body count rises and the spirit of the coyote lurks in the shadows awaiting its next victim. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Adam BeachWes Studi, (more)
 
2003  
R  
Add The Big Empty to Queue Add The Big Empty to top of Queue  
A guy looking for easy money gets a lot more than he bargained for in this noir-flavored independent comedy. John Person (Jon Favreau) is a struggling actor living in Los Angeles who is starting to buckle under the pressure of his own failures. With no acting jobs coming in and a massive credit card debt to pay off, John works part-time as a courier but needs a big payday if he's ever going to get back on his feet. Out of the blue, a strange man in the neighborhood makes John an offer that seems too good to be true -- in exchange for delivering a suitcase to a man in Baker, CA (midway between L.A. and Las Vegas), John will receive $27,000 in cash. John's first tip off that something odd is going on comes when, along with the suitcase, he's given a loaded gun and instructions to defend the package with his life if necessary, but he's just desperate enough to go along. However, things become more complicated when John misses his connection in Baker; he's suddenly followed by a number of threatening eccentrics, is informed by an FBI agent that his benefactor in L.A. has become the victim of a grisly murder, and incurs the wrath of Cowboy (Sean Bean), the ominous trucker who was supposed to pick up the suitcase. The Big Empty features a stellar supporting cast, including Kelsey Grammer, Melora Walters, Daryl Hannah, Joey Lauren Adams, and Rachael Leigh Cook. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Jon FavreauJoey Lauren Adams, (more)
 
2003  
 
Add A Thief of Time to Queue Add A Thief of Time to top of Queue  
This adaptation of Tony Hillerman's A Thief of Time keeps that book's original storyline. The protagonists Joe Leaphorn (Wes Studi) and Jim Chee (Adam Beach) are a pair of Navajo police officers whose beat is their reservation. They must investigate why some important historical artifacts have gone missing. This film was directed by Chris Eyre and produced by Robert Redford. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

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Starring:
Adam BeachWes Studi, (more)
 
2002  
 
The first season of the provocative Canadian anthology Bliss offers eight different tales of erotica, written and directed by women, for women. The opening episode, "Valentine's Day in Jail," stars Tory Higginson as a compassionate teacher who arranges a special visit with her prize pupil -- a prisoner serving time for drug smuggling. In "Six Days," a farm woman who has never spent a day without her husband develops an intimate relationship with a hired hand (Collum Keith Rennie) while the "mister" is recovering from an accident. "Guys and Dolls" finds a successful and famous lawyer (Jenny Levine) having a fling with a stranger (Peter Wingfield) who is unaware of her true identity -- and would not be overly pleased if he found out. Tara Spencer-Naim appears in "The Value of X" as a high school senior who fantasizes about the school's most popular boy -- that is, she fantasizes what it would be like if he were a girl! In "Voice," Mikela J. Mikael is cast as a woman whose dreams are invaded by the wife (played by Veronica Hurnik) of her lover. "Leaper" concerns two lost souls (Michelle Lipper, Paula Ducharme) drawn together in an unexpectedly sinister fashion by the "suicide" of a third woman (portrayed by Mille Tresierra. Victoria Sanchez plays a mild, reserved young miss whose animalistic urges are unleashed by a martial-arts class in "The Footpath of Pink Roses." And in the season finale, "In Praise of Drunkenness and Fornication," a dinner party attended by six middle-aged couples devolves into an exercise in overindulgence (in more ways than one). ~ Rovi

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2002  
 
Adapted from Tony Hillerman's best-selling novel by James Redford (stepson of Robert Redford), Skinwalkers was the vanguard of the proposed PBS anthology American Mystery. Returning to the Navajo reservation of his birth after many years, police detective Joe Leaphorn (Wes Studi) investigates a series of bizarre murders. Though Leaphorn has no doubt that the killer is a human being, his young FBI-trained partner, Jim Chee (Adam Beach), has an entirely different theory. A medicine man-in-training, Chee believes that the murders have been committed by a mystical figure called the Skinwalker, who according to Navajo legend is an amalgam of all murdered Native Americans. Symbolic clues left at the scene of each murder -- some written in paint, some in blood -- confirm Chee's conclusion that the shapeshifting Skinwalker is seeking revenge on the modern-day despoilers of the Navajo's sacred land. Skinwalkers was filmed on location in Utah and Arizona by Native American director Chris Eyre, of Smoke Signals fame. ~ Rovi

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Starring:
Adam BeachWes Studi, (more)
 
2002  
R  
Add Windtalkers to Queue Add Windtalkers to top of Queue  
Loosely based on a real-life operation during World War II, this action-adventure from director John Woo stars Nicolas Cage as Joe Enders, a Marine traumatized by the loss of his entire platoon in the Solomon Islands during an ambush he believes was deadlier than necessary due to his indecision. Suffering from eardrum damage in Hawaii, Joe manages to be declared fit for duty once again thanks to a sympathetic nurse (Frances O'Connor), but his new assignment isn't what he expects. Joe is ordered to safeguard a Navajo soldier named Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) because the military has developed a new secret code based on the near-dead Navajo language that is proving unbreakable to the Japanese. Any soldier that speaks Navajo is an immediate asset, including Ben and his pal, Charlie Whitehorse (Roger Willie). Joe's orders are to "baby sit" Ben during the invasion of Saipan, protecting him if possible, but -- if the code-talker's capture becomes imminent -- to kill him before he falls into enemy hands. Meanwhile, Charlie is to be guarded by affable harmonica player Ox Henderson (Christian Slater). Joe reluctantly accepts this new duty as a way to get back into the war, and in the ensuing carnage, his nearly suicidal acts of bravery make him a hero while Ben becomes paralyzed by fear. Determined to live up to Joe's example, Ben musters up his courage, even in the face of racism from a fellow soldier (Noah Emmerich), and ends up rescuing his own protector behind enemy lines by briefly posing as a Japanese soldier. Despite their growing mutual respect, Joe is eventually forced to take an action that threatens to shatter his bond with Ben, as the war's tragic losses strike closer to home for both men. Windtalkers co-stars Peter Stormare, Jason Isaacs, and Mark Ruffalo. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

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Starring:
Nicolas CageAdam Beach, (more)
 
2001  
R  
Add Now & Forever to Queue Add Now & Forever to top of Queue  
Two young people learn an invaluable lesson about what love really means in this romantic drama. Angela (Mia Kirshner) and John (Adam Beach) have been close friends since childhood, and as they've grown into adulthood, John's feelings for Angela have matured into love. John is of Cree Indian heritage, and Ghost Fox (Gordon Tootoosis), a spiritual advisor of the tribe, tells John that it is his destiny to be with Angela. Angela, however much she cares for John, has other plans, and ends up involved with T.J. (Gabriel Olds), a mean-spirited man who shows her little respect. John saves the day for Angela after she's brutally attacked by T.J., but rather than stay by his side, Angela, who has always dreamed of being an actress, decides to move to Hollywood and try her luck, only to learn that her bond with John is deeper and more complex than she imagined. Now and Forever also stars Theresa Russell as Dori, Angela's mother. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Mia KirshnerAdam Beach, (more)
 
2001  
PG13  
Add Joe Dirt to Queue Add Joe Dirt to top of Queue  
As the title character of Joe Dirt, David Spade plays a "white trash" janitor at an L.A. radio station, whose mullet hairdo is just one of many personal oddities that make him the object of much ridicule. And the sanitation gig is just the most recent of Joe's many incarnations during a tumultuous life, which got off on the wrong foot when Joe was abandoned at the Grand Canyon by his parents as a young child. After stumbling into the on-air studio, Joe steadily recounts the sad and comical story of how he cared for himself and journeyed around the country trying to relocate his family, all while being prodded, teased, and eventually embraced by a sarcastic deejay (Dennis Miller) and a rapt listening audience. His travels involve stints selling fireworks, wrangling alligators, riding aloft in a car dealership display balloon, and being held captive by a Silence of the Lambs-style serial killer. Despite numerous setbacks and bruising physical injuries, Joe emerges from each episode with his spirit intact as he searches optimistically for his roots, and eventually for the chance to return to the one place he was accepted -- a rural farm where the girl of his dreams (Brittany Daniel) awaits. The directorial debut of Dennie Gordon, Joe Dirt was produced by Adam Sandler's production company, Happy Madison, and features musician Kid Rock, also debuting, in the supporting role of Joe's rival. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

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Starring:
David SpadeDennis Miller, (more)
 
2001  
 
Toronto-based indie filmmaker Helen Lee spins this frothy romantic comedy about an ersatz glamour girl who unexpectedly gets what she wants. Concealing her working-class upbringing, young, ambitious Alessa Woo (Sook-Yin Lee) poses as a high-rolling Asian heiress, even though she lives in a decidedly low-end apartment and cannot even make the rent. Fortunately, the landlady's son, Steph, is sweet on her along with a bevy of other potential suitors, including Nathan (Don McKellar), a particularly dogged would-be boyfriend who has camped out on her doorstep. She rejects one and all because they do not meet up with her rather strict fiduciary standards. One day, talented native-Canadian artist Ben Crowchild (Adam Beach) moves into the adjacent apartment. Inevitably, the romantic sparks fly just as Alessa catches the eye of a fantastically wealthy bachelor. Will Alessa choose love over money? This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

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Starring:
Sook-Yin LeeAdam Beach, (more)
 
2000  
R  
Add The Last Stop to Queue Add The Last Stop to top of Queue  
In this claustrophobic thriller, Jason (Adam Beach) is a State Trooper who has found himself stranded in a cabin in the Colorado Rockies when a severe snowstorm hits the area. Waiting out the storm with Jason are his former girlfriend Nancy (Rose McGowan), the owner of the cabin, Fritz (Jurgen Prochnow), and a handful of travelers they've never met before. While the blizzard rages outside, Fritz makes a shocking discovery. Hidden in the cabin is a bloody corpse and a bag full of money. Jason figures that the murder must have been committed since they arrived at the cabin, so whoever the culprit is, they're patiently waiting with him for the storm to die down. But he's not sure how to figure out who the killer might be -- especially since they may very well be willing to kill again to hold onto the cash. The Last Stop was filmed on location in Vancouver, British Columbia. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Adam BeachJürgen Prochnow, (more)