Chris Owens Movies
A brilliant young man is tapped to join the elite branch of American intelligence, only to discover how complex and dangerous the job can really be in this suspense-drama. James Clayton (Colin Farrell) recently completed his studies at MIT, where he graduated at the top of his class and is pondering his next move while he works as a bartender at an upscale nightspot. One evening, Clayton is approached by Walter Burke (Al Pacino), a recruiter for the Central Intelligence Agency, who describes himself as "a scary judge of talent" and believes Clayton is just the sort of man the CIA is looking for. Clayton, who has little interest in an ordinary nine-to-five career and suspects his father (whom Burke claims to have known) worked for the Agency, accepts the offer and is soon sent to the CIA's secret training camp. It soon becomes obvious that Burke's intuition has not failed him; Clayton is smart, fast on his feet, a crack shot, and possesses a very agile mind. In training, Clayton notices a few things, most notably one of his fellow students, Layla (Bridget Moynahan), a beautiful woman whose skills equal his own. Clayton becomes quite infatuated with Layla, and after a fashion the attraction appears to be mutual, but Clayton has to keep in mind Burke's dictum that "nothing is as it seems," especially when Clayton is given a special assignment -- find the mole within the Agency's training program who is actually feeding information to America's enemies. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, Colin Farrell, (more)
- 2001
A nice guy discovers just how complicated his life can get in this quirky comedy-drama. John Toma (Chris Owens), an Italian immigrant living in Canada, is the manager of a successful Italian restaurant. John's work puts no small amount of pressure on him, and it hardly helps that he's having an affair with Rochelle (Veronika Hurnik), the wife of the owner, Lino Rossi (Dino Tavarone), who is adamant that John take over the business some day. John hardly gets any respite at home, where he has to look after his rather eccentric family. His elderly mother Talia (Nicola Lipman), whose husband abandoned the family years before, refuses to learn to speak English. His thirty-ish sister Celia (Tara Rosling), who is mentally retarded, has recently become keenly interested in sex and motherhood -- and has developed the bad habit of bringing home babies she's taken from women in the neighborhood. And John's younger brother Marco (Kelly Harms) is stumbling through college, more interested in sports than in his grades. John's problems come to a head when Rochelle announces she wants a baby, and since Lino isn't interested in helping her get pregnant, she wants John to do the honors. The Uncles was the first feature film directed by Jim Allodi, who is better known for his work as a character actor. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Owens
- 1998
Sha're (Vaitiare Bandera), the alien wife of SG-1 crew member Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks), has returned to her home planet Abydos. But don't excpect a tender reunion: Nine months pregnant, Sha're is about to give birth to the son of SG-1's sworn enemy Apophis (Peter Williams). As if this wasn't bad enough, a nosy reporter (Chris Owens) has stumbled onto the secret of the Stargate project, and the father (Carmen Argenziano) of Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) is dying of cancer. The episode's climax is a showdown involving SG-1's O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson), Apophis, and their mutual nemesis Heru'ur (Douglas H. Arthurs). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Based on actual events, this made-for-TV drama stars Lindsay Wagner as Barbara Colvin, a woman about to become a grandmother. The new birth stirs up her own interest in finding the love-child she gave up for adoption some 20-odd years ago. With the help of the courts, Colvin is reunited with her long-lost daughter (Tracey Griffith) who now wants to meet her biological father Larry Kellum (Perry King) as well. The reunion of the three forces Barbara and Larry to reconcile with the past, their lost love and their child. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lindsay Wagner, Perry King, (more)
- 1996
This fact-based TV movie melodrama stars Joe Penny as John Dubroski, a veteran cop with a history of erratic behavior and casual philandering. Dubroski's passive wife, Cindy (Teri Garr), is aware of her husband's peccadilloes, but she has always forgiven him and steadfastly remained at his side. Enter Julia Neuland (Brittany Murphy), a 16-year-old waitress and self-styled "cop groupie" who despite her innate naïveté quickly ensnares Dubroski and maneuvers him into bed. When Julia finds out that she's pregnant, she is certain that John will leave his family for her sake. But he flatly denies the affair and insists the child is not his, leading the girl to file a paternity suit. Ultimately, Julia turns up murdered, and of course John is the number-one suspect. The question: will Cindy offer loyal support as before or is this one indignity too many? Originally titled Double Jeopardy when it first aired over CBS on January 30, 1996, the film has since been retitled Victim of the Night for cable-TV play. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on E.T.A. Hoffman's classic book The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, this animated holiday tale utilizes the vocal talents of such stars as Kiefer Sutherland, Peter O'Toole and Phyllis Diller. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kiefer Sutherland, Megan Follows, (more)
Tom Cruise juggles Martini shakers and ice cubes as the materialistic Brian Flanagan, a bartender who drops out of school to search for the perfect "rich chick" who will bankroll him into luxury. Brian meets up with bar veteran Doug Couglin (Bryan Brown) and they put together a dance-duo bar-tending act, taking five minutes to a mix a drink as they dance and toss gin bottles behind the bar to cutting-edge rock music circa 1988. The patrons, instead of demanding the booze, are dazzled by their antics and cheer them on. As a result, the bartenders become wildly popular -- in particular, Brian, who finds the bar babes falling all over each other to hop into the sack with him. As a result of their bar-tending success, they get hired to tend bar at a swanky disco, but there Brian and Doug have a falling out, and Brian takes off for Jamaica. There he meets vacationing New York City waitress Jordan Mooney (Elisabeth Shue) and the two fall in love. But then Brian meets rich New York fashion executive Bonnie (Lisa Banes) who wants to take Brian back to Manhattan with her to become her drink-mixing stud. When Jordan sees this, the love affair is put on hold. But not for long, as pangs of consciousness begin to filter through Brian's drunken haze. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown, (more)
The Big Town is Chicago, circa 1957. Matt Dillon stars as a small-town crapshooter who heads to the Windy City to seek his fortune. There he becomes the pawn of two high-rolling professional gamblers, played by Lee Grant and Bruce Dern. He later gets mixed up in a revenge scheme cooked up by Diane Lane, the embittered wife of strip-joint owner Tommy Lee Jones. Before he knows what's happened, Dillon is embroiled in two torrid romances, one with Lane and the other with "nice" girl Suzy Amis; he also nearly loses his life by ending up in the middle of a deadly feud between Dern and Jones. Based on The Arm, a novel by Clark Howard, Big Town tends towards uneveness, a result perhaps of the defection of its first director, Harold Becker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, (more)
- 1985
Manhattan-based writer David Carradine falls victim to AIDS in As Is. Virtually abandoned by friends and family, Carradine is looked after by his gay lover, photographer Jonathan Hadary. Based on a play by William M. Hoffman, As Is wisely avoids editorial comment on the principals' lifestyle, nor does it wallow in the tragedy of the situation. As directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, the film never quite overcomes the staginess of its source material; its principal strength lies in the byplay between its stars. The film was produced for cable television in 1985, and telecast early in 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
