Jon Polito Movies

The pride of Frostbite Falls and Whatsamatta U's most famous alumni find their way onto the big screen (and the real world) in this comedy inspired by the popular cartoon series. Years after their TV show is cancelled, Rocky the Flying Squirrel (voice of June Foray) and Bullwinkle J. Moose (voice of Keith Scott) are barely getting by on residual checks; they're wondering what to do next when Fearless Leader (Robert De Niro), the evil genius of Pottsylvania, transforms himself from a cartoon into a living, breathing, nasty human being, thanks to the assistance of television executive Minnie Mogul (Janeane Garofalo). With the help of his newly flesh-and-blood henchmen Boris Badenov (Jason Alexander) and Natasha Fatale (Rene Russo), Fearless Leader plots to take over the world by using television to zombify people and then persuading the masses to elect him president. Can the daring flying squirrel and the well-meaning but not especially bright moose stop them? Unlike the TV show, which made a virtue of its unsophisticated animation, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle employs a technically sophisticated blend of computer-generated animated characters (Rocky and Bullwinkle) and live actors (Fearless Leader, Boris, and Natasha). Human beings making guest appearances include Randy Quaid, John Goodman, and Jonathan Winters. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Love blooms for a would-be hired killer in Angel's Dance, which blends elements of a crime thriller with black comedy. Tony (Kyle Chandler) is offered a job with a powerful Mafia family after he saves the life of the capo's nephew, even though Tony isn't sure he's really interested in a life of crime. To give him a crash course in his new line of work, Tony is sent to L.A. to study with Rosellini (James Belushi), a hired killer of no small reputation. After assigning him Nietzsche as required reading and staging a few practice sessions with water pistols, Rosellini gives Tony his final homework project -- pick a name at random from the phone book, find the person, and kill him or her. The name Tony comes up with is Angelica Chase (Sheryl Lee), "Angel" to her friends. Tony finds Angel just in time to interrupt her latest suicide attempt; Angel is beautiful and charming, but an emotional wreck with eccentric tastes, a caffeinated personality, and a job at a mortuary (she even lives next door). Tony is immediately infatuated and can't bring himself to kill her, so Rosellini decides he has to take over the job, but to the surprise of everyone, Angel knows how to handle herself in a time of crisis. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The plot of this Raymond Chandler-esque comedy crime caper from the Coen Brothers (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen) pivots around a case of mistaken identity complicated by extortion, double-crosses, deception, embezzlement, sex, pot, and gallons of White Russians (made with fresh cream, please). In 1991, unemployed '60s refugee Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) grooves into his laid-back Los Angeles lifestyle. One of the laziest men in LA, he enjoys hanging with his bowling buddies, pompous security-store owner Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) and mild-mannered ex-surfer Donny (Steve Buscemi). However, the Dude's life takes an alternate route the afternoon two goons break into his threadbare Venice, California, bungalow, rough him up, and urinate on his living room rug. Why? Because Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara) is owed money by the wife of a certain Jeff Lebowski. However, the goons grabbed the wrong Jeff Lebowski. With the right info, they would have invaded the home of philanthropic Pasadena millionaire Jeffrey Lebowski (David Huddleston). The Dude looks up his wealthy namesake, manages to get a replacement for his rug, and meets the millionaire's sexy young wife Bunny (Tara Reid). Later, Jeffrey ("The Big") Lebowski calls in the Dude to deliver a $1 million ransom for the return of his kidnapped wife. Fine -- except that Walter intrudes and botches the ransom drop. As events unravel, the Dude gets caught up in the schemes of Lebowski's daughter, erotic artist Maude (Julianne Moore), encounters both cops and bad guys, and drifts through an elaborate bowling fantasy sequence titled Gutterballs. The soundtrack includes Bob Dylan, Yma Sumac, Moondog, Captain Beefheart, and the Sons of the Pioneers. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Kramer (Michael Richards) and Newman (Wayne Knight) reverse the peepholes on their apartment doors, leading to the usual landlord troubles (usual for Seinfeld, that is). Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) doesn't like carrying his girlfriend's stuff around, but that's nothing compared to his ill feelings toward so-called friend Joe Mayo (Pat Finn). Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) suffers mightily when Puddy (Patrick Warburton) wears a "man fur coat." And George (Jason Alexander) enjoys a new massage chair so much that he "forgets" the chair is a gift for someone else. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two dogs and a cat, separated from their human family, must find their way home and face the dangers of a big city for the first time in this adventure story for the whole family. Bob Seaver (Robert Hays) and his wife Laura (Kim Greist), who live in Northern California, are taking their kids on a camping vacation in Canada, and they're bringing along their pets -- spunky bulldog Chance (voice of Michael J. Fox), self-centered Himalayan cat Sassy (voice of Sally Field), and wise old Golden Retriever Shadow (voice of Ralph Waite). However, Chance doesn't like being cooped up in his travelling cage at the airport, and when he escapes, Sassy and Shadow follow him to the nearest city, San Francisco. After a scary night on their own, the trio are befriended by a gang of stray dogs and cats who have learned to live on their own after running away from their cruel masters. However, Chance, Sassy, and Shadow soon realize that life on the streets is not for them, and they set out to find the Seaver house they call home. Sports fans take note: Bob Uecker, Tommy Lasorda, and Al Michaels appear as themselves and also provide the voices of their pets. The voice of Shadow was performed by Don Ameche in the preceding film Homeward Bound; it proved to be Ameche's last film released before his death in late 1993 (his final film, Corrina, Corrina, didn't reach theaters until several months after his passing), leading the producers of this sequel to cast Ralph Waite in the role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A man learns to be a better person when he turns into a dog in this thoughtful and surprisingly somber drama for the family. Tom (Matthew Modine), a businessman, is so driven to succeed that he all but ignores his wife Carol (Nancy Travis) and their son Brian (Max Pomeranc). Tom's perspective changes when he dies in an auto accident and is reincarnated as Fluke, a big brown dog. Fluke wants nothing more than to be with Carol and Brian, but he gets lost as he tries to make his way home. He's adopted by a homeless woman, and with her, Fluke truly learns to give and receive love for the first time, but when she dies, the dog is left with nowhere to go. Fluke is soon befriended by Rumbo (voice of Samuel L. Jackson), a guard dog at a junkyard who teaches him how to survive on the street, but before long, Fluke once again hears the call from his heart to find Carol and Brian. Fluke also stars Eric Stolz, Ron Perlman, and Jon Polito. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Simone (Jimmy Smits) manages to catch a suspected serial rapist, but his triumph is short-lived. After a violent confrontation with her battling parents, Diane (Kim Delaney) has trouble remaining sober. The victim of a shooting has been attacked several times and doesn't know why; investigating this mystery, Medavoy (Gordon Clapp) is teamed with Lesniak (Justine Miceli) -- who makes a show-stopping revelation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen concocted this stylish screwball comedic amalgam of Frank Capra and Howard Hawks. Tim Robbins stars as Norville Barnes, a dull-wit from Muncie, Indiana who wrangles a job with the big Hudsucker Industries. He has a singular idea for a new children's toy that he wants to present to corporate executive Sidney J. Mussberger (Paul Newman). As he makes his way up to Mussberger's office, the company president Waring Hudsucker (Charles Durning) is on his way down -- through the window of the forty-fourth floor boardroom! Hudsucker's death sets off a panic that Mussberger sees as an opportunity for taking over the company -- by installing a total incompetent in Hudsucker's place and devaluing the stock. When Barnes stumbles into Mussberger's office, Mussberger sees his pigeon and appoints Barnes as the new company president. The only problem is that the new product Barnes proposes for the company, the Hula Hoop, turns out to be a tremendous success, and Mussberger has difficulty manipulating his new corporate president. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Enjoying critical success but only so-so ratings during its nine-episode inaugural season in 1993, Homicide: Life on the Street tentatively returned to the airwaves for four additional episodes in January of 1994. The opener features a poignant guest-star turn by Robin Williams as a tourist whose wife has been gunned down in a shoot-out on the streets of Baltimore. In other developments, the homicide squad's head honcho Giardello (Yaphet Kotto) goes to great lengths to "tame" the unit's loosest cannon, Stanley Bolander (Ned Beatty), who in turn unexpectedly develops an artistic streak while squiring an attractive waitress (Julianna Margulies); and hotheaded Detective Crossetti (Jon Polito) completely, and mysteriously, drops out of sight. ~ All Movie Guide

Giardello (Yaphet Kotto) would rather not hear Pembleton's (Andre Braugher) theory that drug dealer C.C. Cox was murdered by a cop. One of the suspects in the killing is Sgt. Jimmy Tryon (Michael S. Kennedy), a former lover of Kay Howard (Melissa Leo) -- and a man who seems too eager to confess. Meanwhile, Munch (Richard Belzer) has issues with his present girlfriend (surprise!); and Bolander (Ned Beatty) is encouraged by waitress Linda (Julianna Marguiles) to take up the cello again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Robin Williams guest stars on the first of Homicide's four second-season episodes. Williams is cast as tourist Robert Ellison, who can't cope with the fact that his wife was killed in a holdup right in front of him and their children. Angrily demanding justice, Ellison may well get it when the prime suspect confesses. But Howard (Melissa Leo) cannot shake her premonition that the killer, a young man from an excellent home environment and with seemingly everything to live for, may not be entirely guilty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Are you ready for a new kind of superhero -- a thirty-something virgin in long underwear? Darryl Walker (Damon Wayans) is a bright but socially inept man with a gift for inventing things but little skill for functioning in the real world. His brother Kevin (David Alan Grier) works on a low-class tabloid news show featuring beautiful anchorwoman Kimberley Jonz (Robin Givens), whom he secretly loves. The Walkers live in Metro City, Illinois, a city that's been hit with a massive crime wave after the mayor is kidnapped by gangsters. After his grandmother is killed, Darryl builds a collection of crime-fighting robots from household junk, invents bullet-proof long underwear (made from his grandmother's old housecoat), and becomes Metro City's newest crime fighter, Blankman. Blankman's escapades put fear into the heart of mob boss Michael Minelli (Jon Polito), and when Kevin turns out to have an inside track on Blankman's activities, it brings him closer to Kimberley. But how long can a superhero with no superpowers last against the forces of organized crime? Damon Wayans wrote the original story for Blankman as well as co-writing the screenplay and playing the title role, which was based in part on his "Handi-Man" character from the TV comedy series In Living Color. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide