Joe Morton

A veteran of the first Gulf War who later went on to serve in Afghanistan and Iraq discovers that returning to civilian life after the trauma he endured is but an empty dream in director Francesco Lucente's harrowing drama. Years ago, when he served in the first Gulf War, Jerry (Jamie Dreven) was a patriotic Marine reservist driven by a desire to protect his fellow countrymen. Later, despite being embittered by the broken promises of the military and still not having received the respect that he so badly craved, the civically minded father of three is redeployed to Afghanistan and Iraq only to be irreversibly damaged by the horrors of war. Now Jerry has returned home to his wife and family, struggling beneath the poverty line in a cramped trailer and devastated by night terrors. Jerry's wife Nora is unsympathetic to her husband's plight, and soon begins stashing their children's newspaper route earnings in order to fund an escape. When Jerry discovers that Nora has betrayed him, the atrocity that he commits proves so shocking that even the most seasoned war veterans will recoil in horror. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A man whose life has been touched by tragic illness is drawn into the life of another victim whose story has an unsettling twist in this drama. Gabriel Noone (Robin Williams) is a radio talk show host who has developed a loyal following for his deeply personal on-air monologues, many of which deal with his relationship with his companion Jess (Bobby Cannavale), who is HIV-positive and struggling with his health. When Jess' condition improves, he surprises Gabriel by announcing he needs his space and has decided to break up with him. Gabriel is shaken and feels creatively blocked until Ashe (Joe Morton), a friend in the publishing business, gives him an advance copy of a memoir by Pete Logand (Rory Culkin), a 14-year-old boy living with AIDS. Pete's book is a harrowing memoir of a childhood fraught with abuse of all sorts meted out at the hands of his parents, and Gabriel is deeply moved by his story. One night, Gabriel gets a phone call from Pete, who claims to be a big fan of his radio show, but the call is cut off by Donna (Toni Collette), Pete's stern and protective stepmother. While Gabriel admires Pete's book, he begins to question its veracity, and with the help of Anna (Sandra Oh) tries to research the facts behind the story. As he uncovers more loose ends, Gabriel begins to suspect that Pete isn't the true author of the work, and that Donna has created his terrible past in the name of literary celebrity. The Night Listener was adapted from the novel by Armistead Maupin. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

American Experience: The Berlin Airlift documents the time in 1948 that the Soviet Union blocked off all land access to Berlin, forcing humanitarian efforts to deliver food, medical supplies, and other necessities by plane for almost twelve months. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Though innumerable American history books have praised the doings of polar explorer Robert Peary over the years, few relayed a heartbreaking and seldom-publicized story tied directly to Peary's accomplishments. In the spring of 1897, Peary arrived in New York City, with a ship full of Greenland-born Eskimos in-tow. Peary dropped the immigrants off in Manhattan (fully unaware of the ramifications of such an act), then promptly turned around and hearkened back to the North Pole. Left to fend for themselves in New York City, the Eskimos fared poorly; they experienced extreme difficulty adjusting to the climate and urban lifestyle, then quickly grew ill and weak, and died off, one-by-one - all except for the last survivor, a seven-year-old Eskimo boy named Minik. For over ten years, Peary persisted in his efforts to reach the North Pole, while Minik tenaciously struggled - with little success - to adapt to his surroundings as a fish-out-of-water in New York City. Axel Engstfeld's documentary American Experience: Minik, the Lost Eskimo cross-cuts between the two men's stories, revealing how one meeting between them irreparably altered each individual's life. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

The latest innovation in high-tech defense hardware turns out to have a very dangerous mind of its own in this action thriller. Kara Wade (Jessica Biel), Henry Purcell (Jamie Foxx), and Ben Gannon (Josh Lucas) are three highly ranked U.S. Navy pilots who are part of a top-secret project involving the next generation of stealth fighter technology, the Talon Jet. Wade, Purcell, and Gannon are surprised when their commander, Captain George Cummings (Sam Shepard), introduces them to the new member of their team -- "Edi," an "extreme deep invader" developed as part of the "Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle" program. Utilizing the latest innovations in artificial intelligence, Edi is a computer-based flight controller that will take over the wingman's position in the team's formation, and while the pilots initially balk, Edi performs admirably in its first mission. However, after Edi is struck by lightning on a return trip, the computer's circuits and software begin to change in unexpected ways, and Edi not only begins to think for itself, it begins to violate direct orders. During a mission investigating the forces of a dangerous Chinese extremist, Edi starts an attack that could launch World War III, and it's up to Wade, Purcell, and Gannon to stop both Edi and its dangerous plan before it's too late. Stealth also stars Joe Morton and Richard Roxburgh. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This documentary chronicles the 1942 building of the Alaskan Highway. It illustrates the effect that the Pearl Harbor bombing had on the decision to begin construction and examines the hardships that the American soldiers tasked with this job were forced to endure, from fierce cold to forced segregation. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

A young man is torn by divided loyalty in this hard-edged urban drama. Reggie (Ja Rule) was raised by his father (Giancarlo Esposito) after a violent incident in the neighborhood where he lived with his mother (Pam Grier). While Reggie has been encouraged to take up a life of crime by his older friend and street mentor J-Bone (Ving Rhames), his father thinks Reggie has a good head for business and urges him to use his smarts rather than his gun. When Reggie's father is murdered, J-Bone takes the young man under his wing, but as a consequence of their friendship, Reggie is linked to the killing of a local preacher -- whose daughter (Tatyana Ali) is Reggie's girlfriend. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A chip designed to instantly train any dog falls into the hands of an evil scientist looking to enslave the children of the world and achieve ultimate power in directors Oren Goldman and Yariv Ozdoba's family-oriented comedy-adventure. Newyville misfit Zach Dylan hasn't had a very good day. In addition to being tormented by his ruthless classmates, his attempts to break the ice with brainy and beautiful classmate Becky Green are met with the kind of cool indifference that can only indicate rejection. Crossing through the park on his way home from school, lonely Zach finds a wandering pup that looks like he could use some human companionship. After smuggling the amiable pooch upstairs to his bedroom as to not irritate his mother's allergies, Zach makes a shocking discovery about his new four-legged friend -- this dog can talk! After explaining that he was the subject of a bold experiment by local scientist Dr. Island designed to train dogs by implanting them with a microchip, Lenny and Zach are soon interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Becky Green. When a group of nefarious scientist Dr. Wagner's henchmen burst into Zach's home, sending the young boy, Lenny, and Becky fleeing for safety, their ensuing investigation leads the trio to discover that the former colleague of Dr. Island has been kidnapping the children of Newyville in a bid to take over the world. Now, with little time left before the children of Newyville are all implanted with the secret microchip, Zach, Lenny, and Becky must work together to get the word out and stop Dr. Wagner before his dastardly plan is set into motion. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Directed by Hoop Dreams producer Peter Gilbert, With All Deliberate Speed is a reflection on the state of civil rights in America 50 years after the May 17, 1954, unanimous Supreme Court ruling stating that the doctrine of "separate but equal" was inconsistent with the constitution of the United States. This documentary offers a glance into the lives of the unsung heroes in the struggle for America's desegregation. A series of intimate interviews, eyewitness accounts, and unique original footage helps to illustrate the stories of the teachers, students, lawyers, and judges whose commitment would have a profound effect on African-Americans for decades to come. Among the film's participants are the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall's son, Thurgood Marshall Jr., as well as the Reverend Joe Delaine, Barbara Johns, Vernon Jordan, and Julian Bond. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

The time: June 1998. The place: The sleepy town of Jasper, TX. Three young, self-styled white supremists overpower a 49-year-old black man named James Byrd Jr., chain him to the back of their pickup, and literally drag him to death. What follows is a media firestorm, exacerbated by scores of network and cable-TV news services, the grim pronouncements of so-called pundits, and the intrusion upon Jasper of several extremist activists, ranging from members of the Ku Klux Klan to the newly formed Black Panthers. As the frenzy continues, the heretofore peaceful, if somewhat tenuous, relationship between the white and black residents of Jasper is severely strained, with echoes of past racism resounding throughout the area. In the center of the controversy are two decent, hard-working public servants: R.C. Horn, the first black mayor of Jasper, and Billy Rowles, the town's white sheriff. Also profoundly affected by the appalling murder of Byrd are the respective parents of the victim and the killers. Happily, when the dust clears, justice is done (two of the murderers are condemned to death, the third sentenced to life imprisonment), and, instead of being wrenched apart, the black and white communities of Jasper draw closer together than they have ever been. Made for cable TV, this feature-length reenactment stars Louis Gossett Jr. as Horn and Jon Voight as Rowles. Although certain liberties are taken (the actor playing Byrd is clearly much younger than his real-life counterpart and the Black Panthers and KKK are incorrectly shown descending upon Jasper the same day), the film is, by and large, accurate. Better still, there is a minimum of preaching and proselytizing. Previewed at the Philadelphia Film Festival, Jasper, Texas was given its official Showtime network cable premiere on June 8, 2003 -- almost five years to the day after Byrd's death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On the night of her prom in 1994, teenager Freya McAllister (Navi Rawat) suddenly begins hearing strange voices. As a result, Freya is diagnosed as schizophrenic and squirreled away in a mental hospital, where she remains for the next eight years. Along comes psychologist Michal Welles (Peter Horton), who while treating Freya calmly informs her that she is not insane, but instead telepathic: the voices she'd heard were the thoughts of the people around her. What Dr. Welles doesn't tell Freya--at least not at first--is that he is in the employ of the National Security Agency, which hopes to use Freya's special talents to hunt down potential terrorists! Something of a cerebral La Femme Nikita, Thoughtcrimes may have been intended as the pilot for a television series, but was released on home video before making its USA network TV bow on October 15, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide