Randy Ryan Movies
Based on author Bryan Burrough's ambitious tome Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43, director Michael Mann's sprawling historical crime drama follows the efforts of top FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale ) in capturing notorious bank robber John Dillinger. A folk hero to the American public thanks to his penchant for robbing the banks that many people believed responsible for the Great Depression, charming bandit Dillinger (Johnny Depp) was virtually unstoppable at the height of his criminal career; no jail could hold him, and his exploits endeared him to the common people while making headlines across the country. J. Edgar Hoover's (Billy Crudup) FBI was just coming into formation, and what better way for the ambitious lawman to transform his fledgling Bureau of Investigation into a national police force than to capture the gang that always gets away? Determined to bust Dillinger and his crew, which also included sociopathic Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Alvin Karpis (Giovanni Ribisi), Hoover christened Dillinger the country's very first Public Enemy Number One, and unleashed Purvis to take them down by whatever means necessary. But Purvis underestimated Dillinger's ingenuity as a master criminal, and after embarking on a frantic series of chases and shoot-outs, the dashing agent humbly surmised that he was in over his head. Outwitted and outgunned, Purvis knew that his only hope for busting Dillinger's gang was to baptize a crew of Western ex-lawmen as official agents, and orchestrate a series of betrayals so cunning that even America's criminal mastermind wouldn't know what hit him. Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum, and Stephen Dorff co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, (more)
Sam Rockwell and Vera Farmiga star in director George Ratliff's uncomfortable psychological thriller Joshua, as Brad and Abby Cairn, an affluent young stockbroker and his wife, raising children in New York City. Their firstborn, the nine-year-old Joshua (Jacob Kogan) is a frighteningly intelligent child - to such a degree that he thinks and acts decades ahead of his age. Nearly always clad in formal wear and demonstrating limitless brilliance as a pianist - with a marked predilection for "dissonant" classical pieces - Joshua gravitates toward his gay aesthete uncle (Dallas Roberts) as a close friend, but distances himself from his immediate kith - particularly when Abby brings a newborn baby sister home from the hospital and unwisely alienates the young tyke. As the days pass, one at a time, the mood at the house regresses from healthy and happy to strange, unsettled and disorienting; meanwhile, bizarre events transpire. As the baby's whines drive an already strained Abby to the point of a nervous breakdown, Joshua devolves from eccentric to downright sociopathic behavior, discarding all of his toys, disemboweling a stuffed animal, and killing off pets. One at a time, family members also begin to suffer tragic fates - but are they Joshua's fevered and psychotic doings or merely the result of happenstance? ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, (more)
When an experienced and staunchly religious U.S. Army enlistee is thrust into command of two tanks stranded deep inside enemy territory during the October 1950 invasion of North Korea, his faith - as well as his will to live - is put to the ultimate test. As U.N. forces breach the 38th Parallel, North Korean forces launch a devastating surprise attack on the unprepared invaders. As a result, the U.S. Army Tank Platoon is forced to retreat. Somehow, in the confusion and chaos of the melee, two tanks become separated from their company. Corporal William Byrne was among those unfortunate enough to become lost in hostile territory, and when the platoon's Sergeant is suddenly killed, the idealistic soldier is forced to take command. Later, the spirits of this desperate crew fast begin to darken, Corporal Byrne's will is pushed to the breaking point as a result of growing tension and a wounded North Korean POW. Now left with only his faith and his fading memories of a beautiful wife, the morphine-addled corporal leads the desperate crew of the Cowboy 2 on one last push to victory. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randy Ryan, David McMahan, (more)
