Matthew Modine Movies

Matthew Modine and Michèle Laroque star as two warring neighbors who discover that they might just be a match made in heaven during a date that was originally devised to send them on their separate ways. Christine (Laroque) is a powerful real estate developer who longs to acquire the apartment of her upstairs neighbor Jeff (Modine). Jeff is a businessman and artist who recently learned that his ex-wife is about to marry his ex-best friend. Recognizing that Christine wants him out of the building he has lived in for many years, Jeff agrees to move out if Christine will pose as his fiancée at his ex-wife's upcoming wedding. Christine realizes that this may be her only chance to rid herself of her longtime nemesis, and reluctantly agrees to take part in the ruse. Things get complicated, however, when Jeff and Christine step out onto the dance floor and lock lips during a slow dance. In the complicated aftermath of that confusing dance, Christine begins to rethink her renovation plans and Matthew realizes that he may have finally found the perfect mate. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

An "ensemble drama" along the lines of The O.C. -- but with characters who wore more clothes and stayed indoors more often -- the WB network's weekly, hour-long Bedford Diaries was set at fictional Bedford college, a liberal-arts establishment somewhere in Manhattan (the series was lensed on-location at Barnard College).The focus of the drama was "Sex and the Human Condition," a seminar presided over by Kinsey-like professor Jack Macklin. Heading the cast was onetime Gilmore Girls co-star Milo Ventimiglia as Richard Thorne III, a wealthy student and recovering alcoholic, who was rather sweet on straight-A student Sarah Gregory (Tiffany DuPont) -- who in turn was having an affair with one of the teachers. Owen Gregory (Penn Badgley), Sarah's brother, was dating the resident (and self-proclaimed) "nutcase," Natalie Dykstra (Corri English). Other enrollees included freshman Lee Rasmussen (Ernest Waddell), torn between his high-school sweetheart and classroom seductress Zoe Lopez (Victoria Cartagena); Macklin's assistant, Prof. Carla Bonatella (Audra McDonald); and Harold Harper (Peter Gerety), Bedford's dean. Originally slated to debut in February 2006, Bedford Diaries did not make its WB bow until March 29 of that year, due to its producers' trepidations over presenting such raw, uninhibited material in an era of heavy FCC fines (virtually all of the episodes dealt with a particularly lurid aspect of contemporary sexuality, albeit always stressing personal responsibility over the antiquated "if it feels good, do it" attitude). However, the series was telecast uncut in Canada, and was likewise uncensored on the WB's Internet web stream. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bad Lieutenant director Abel Ferrara takes the helm of this allegorical drama concerning an actress locked in the throes of a profound spiritual crisis, and the affect that it has on both the director of her latest film and a New York journalist. Marie Palesi (Juliette Binoche) is a major European screen star who has just finished shooting her latest film, a revisionist religious drama directed by maverick American film director Tony Childress (Matthew Modine). In the film, Palesi portrayed the character of Mary Magdalene not as a common prostitute, but a full-fledged disciple whose power struggle with Peter set the stage for centuries of controversy. But the role has had a greater impact on Palesi than anyone could have foreseen, and after the shoot wraps, she makes the decision to remain in the Middle East and make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. A year later, New York investigative journalist Ted Younger (Forest Whitaker) is producing a week-long network series examining the historical facts about Jesus Christ. After attending a screening for Childress' film, Younger contacts the director about the possibility of interviewing both himself and Palesi for the project. Unfortunately for Younger, Palesi has disappeared and Younger has no idea how to track her down. But while married journalist Younger is currently having an affair with an actress (Marion Cotillard) who just happens to know Palesi's number in Jerusalem, convincing the elusive starlet to appear on his special will pose a whole new set of challenges. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Two young girls, Kerry Lynn Palmer and Dana McNamara, are raped and murdered--fourteen years apart. At the time of the first murder, Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) had nailed Gordon Rickett (Matthew Modine) as the perpetrator, only to let Rickett slip through his fingers. Now, Stabler is determined to sweat a confession out of Rickett for both murders, even if it means interrogating the suspect nonstop during the 24 hours he is able to keep him in the holding tank. But Stabler's colleagues are worried: will he be able to retain his professional detachment, or will his all-consuming hatred of Rickett get the better of the desperate detective? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Executive produced by Steven Spielberg, the sprawling six-part, 12-hour TV miniseries Into the West covers 65 years of American history, from the first major migration westward in the mid-1820s to the massacre at Wounded Knee in the early 1890s. The story is largely seen through the eyes of two protagonists (and their families): Jacob Wheeler (Matthew Settle), a wheelwright who leaves his Virginia hometown and his family's business in 1827 to seek his destiny in the company of legendary mountain man Jedediah Smith (Josh Brolin); and Loved by the Buffalo (George Leach), a Lakota Sioux holy man who spends a lifetime seeking the answers to his profound and disturbing images about the future of his country -- and his people. Eschewing the usual "old-age makeup" route often pursued in epic tales of this nature, the main characters are played by progressively older actors in the course of the story: for example, Loved by the Buffalo is portrayed by no fewer than four different performers! In a more traditionalist How the West Was Won vein, the miniseries is festooned with major stars, some cast in very brief roles: among these are Josh Brolin, Keri Russell, Matthew Modine, Beau Bridges, Gary Busey, Tom Berenger, and Judge Reinhold. Nor is How the West Was Won the only inspiration for the multi-plotted storyline: other films echoed and emulated throughout the saga include The Iron Horse, The Big Trail, Westward the Women, The Searchers, and Dances With Wolves. As mentioned, the story is divided into six parts: "Wheel to the Stars," in which the fates of Jacob Wheeler and Loved by the Buffalo become forever intertwined; "Manifest Destiny," chronicling the first major trek to California; "Dreams & Schemes," wherein the Lakota lands are despoiled by Gold Fever and war breaks out between the North and South; "Hell on Wheels," chronicling the postwar chaos and the coming of the railroad; "Casualties of War," wherein the conflict between Native Americans and the white man results in wholesale bloodshed -- and, surprisingly, a "counter-revolution" of compassion and understanding; and "Ghost Dance," the last great stand of the Lakota, which brings the story full circle. Largely filmed in the Canadian Rockies over a six-month period, and utilizing the talents of six directors, Into the West premiered June 10, 2005, on the TNT cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When a rogue CIA agent and a kung fu fighting chimp named Clemens stage a daring escape from a top-secret government testing facility, the stage is set for an adventure that's sure to please the entire family in this primate crowd-pleaser featuring Matthew Modine, Seth Adkins, and Roma Downey. Appalled at the conditions under which chimpanzees are transformed into kung-fu fighting soldiers in a high-tech government lab, sympathetic trainer Jack McCall (Modine) smuggles experimental test subject Clemens out of the lab -- but not before being noticed by the nefarious henchmen who guard the facility. As the government agents close in, Jack and Clemens seek refuge in the house of single mother Megan Dean (Roma Downey) and her young son, Michael (Adkins). When the escape plan goes sour and Clemens is taken back into custody, it's up to Jack and his new friend Michael to bust their hairy pal out of primate prison! ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Based on the 1997 National Book Award-nominated novel of the same name by Diane Johnson (co-writer of the script for Stanley Kubrick's The Shining), Le Divorce is a romantic comedy from director James Ivory. Revisiting the "Americans in France" theme that Ivory explored in 1998's A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, the film stars Kate Hudson as Isabel Walker. When she receives word that her pregnant poetess sister Roxy (Naomi Watts) has been left by her philandering French husband, artist Charles-Henri de Persand (Melvil Poupaud), Isabel offers her help and moral support. As the depressive Roxy struggles with the separation proceedings -- which include the rights to ownership of a work of art that's a family heirloom -- Isabel takes a job with author Olivia Pace and has a fling with the bohemian Yves (Romain Duris). But things get complicated when the younger, more impudent sister decides instead to pursue Charles' uncle, the snooty, married diplomat Edgar (Thierry Lhermitte), and when a mysterious man (Matthew Modine) starts stalking Roxy. Eventually, the rest of the plucky Walker clan has to come to the aid of the siblings. Stockard Channing and Sam Waterston co-star. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Volunteering to teach literature to the inmates of the Dalesboro Correctional Institute, novelist Paul Freeman (Matthew Modine) becomes fascinated with the plight of Charles Henderson (Obba Babatunde), a former Black Panther serving a life sentence for a murder committed 20 years before. Of the four Panthers involved in the killing, Charles is the only one still doing time, a fact that leads Paul to believe that there may be a best-selling book in Henderson's story. As he digs deeper, Paul discovers that Charles was most likely the victim of a complicated governmental cover-up -- not to mention his own sense of honesty and integrity. Even so, all hopes for Charles' redemption (and possible release) rests in the hands of Sharon Davidson (Michelle Greene), the embittered sister of the man killed in that long-ago Black Panther assault. Produced for the USA cable network, Redeemer was first broadcast on March 26, 2002; ironically, the film aired a mere few weeks after real-life '60s black activist H. Rap Brown was sentenced to life imprisonment on a murder charge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wealthy businessman Jack Robinson (Matthew Modine) is building a new casino on the site of the family castle in England when the construction crew makes a startling discovery: They find the skeleton of a gigantic human being. Soon, foul weather and natural disasters occur at an unnatural rate. Countess Wilhelmina (Vanessa Redgrave) tells Jack that he's related to young Jack (J.J. Feild) who, 400 years ago, climbed a vine into the sky and came back with a goose that lays golden eggs and a harp that can play itself. Disbelieving, Jack encounters the lovely Ondine (Mia Sara), a mysterious woman who says she's 10,000 years old and that the evil weather can be stopped -- in fact, the world can be saved -- if Jack goes to the land in the sky with her to stand trial for his ancestor. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

Stanley Kubrick was one of the most acclaimed and controversial filmmakers of his generation, but he was also an intensely private man who rarely gave interviews and produced most of his films under a shroud of secrecy, which tended to foster a great deal of rumor and speculation about his working methods. Jan Harlan, who worked as Kubrick's assistant and executive producer on several projects (and was also his brother-in-law), directed this documentary, which offers a rare in-depth look into Kubrick's career as a filmmaker, structured around interviews with a number of actors, writers, technicians, composers, friends, and family who speak on the record about his relentless perfectionism, his creative vision, his life both on and off the set, his relationships with actors, his unrealized projects, and his importance and influence as an artist. Among those who share their thoughts in Stanley Kubrick -- A Life In Pictures are actors Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Malcolm McDowell, Peter Ustinov, and Keir Dullea; writers Arthur C. Clarke and Michael Herr; special effects artist Douglas Trumbull; composers Wendy Carlos and Gyorgy Ligeti; filmmakers Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Paul Mazursky, and Sydney Pollack; and Kubrick's spouse Christiane Kubrick. Stanley Kubrick -- A Life In Pictures was originally produced as a television project, to be aired in three parts, though the project was shown in its entirety at the 2001 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Matthew Modine stars in this adaptation of the classic novel by Daniel Keyes. In the film, Modine plays Charlie Gordon, a gentle, simple man with an IQ of 68 who is the subject of an intelligence-enhancing experiment. This lowly janitor, who was the butt of many of his co-workers' jokes, is soon alienating his friends by quoting Shakespeare and reading Aramaic. Unfortunately, his heightened intelligence proves to be temporary and he soon slides back into being unintelligent. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide