Ruben Rabasa Movies
Supermodel and sex symbol Cindy Crawford made her acting debut in this high-decibel thriller. Kate McQuean (Crawford) is a lawyer who -- in the course of a divorce proceeding -- attempts to seize a 157-foot freighter docked off the Florida coast in lieu of unpaid alimony. It turns out that the freighter is the current base of operations of Kazak (Steven Berkoff), a former KGB agent who has become an international money laundering expert and leader of a crack terrorist team. As one might imagine, Kazak is not especially happy about possible eviction, and soon Kate has a hefty price on her head. Kate, however, doesn't know the nature of Kazak's business and isn't sure why someone is trying to kill her. Loose cannon police detective Max Kilpatric (William Baldwin) is assigned to protect Kate, and romance begins to bloom as they dodge a remarkable number of bullets and explosions. Fair Game was originally slated to star Sylvester Stallone alongside Crawford (the film's location was moved to Florida at his request); when he dropped out, Crawford found herself co-starring with Baldwin, another model-turned-thespian. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cindy Crawford, William Baldwin, (more)
Old and new loves are turned upside down through a complex case of mistaken identities in this romantic comedy-drama. In 1980, Juan Raul Perez (Alfred Molina) is released from a Cuban prison after spending 20 years behind bars and is allowed to join a mass emigration to the U.S. While Juan was incarcerated, his wife Carmela Perez (Anjelica Huston) escaped to Florida with their daughter, and Juan lives for the day when they can be reunited. En route to Miami, Juan meets Dottie Perez (Marisa Tomei), a fiery young woman who wants to leave behind her career as a prostitute. Juan and Carmela miss finding each other when his boat reaches Miami, and immigration personnel mistakenly assume that Juan and Dottie Perez are husband and wife; when they learn that families tend to find American sponsors much faster than individuals, they play along with the mistake, even convincing other Perezes to pose as their child and grandfather. Juan discovers that trying to renew an old relationship isn't easy as one tries to start a new life, especially since Carmela has attracted the attentions of police lieutenant John Pirelli (Chazz Palminteri). Cuban jazz legend Arturo Sandoval contributed to the soundtrack. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marisa Tomei, Alfred Molina, (more)
A Cuban woman who escapes to America finds herself in political, financial, and romantic jeopardy in this taut drama. Cuban refugee Isabel (Greta Scacchi) flees her country and makes her way to Miami after her husband, Nestor (Jimmy Smits), a political activist, is sentenced to a long stay in a Cuban jail. In their dangerous voyage to the United States, Isabel and her daughter are rescued by Sam (Vincent D'Onofrio), a fisherman from Miami; Sam helped Isabel find her way in her new home, and a romance blossoms between the two. However, when Nestor is finally released from prison eight years later and escapes to Miami to be with his wife, he discovers that Isabel's affections are now divided between himself and Sam, while his daughter barely remembers or recognizes him. Danger faces all three sides of this romantic triangle; Sam is asked to use his boat to smuggle Cuban dissidents into Miami, Nestor falls in with a radical fringe group hoping to stage an armed invasion of Cuba, and Isabel, who has become involved with a numbers racket, is in deep trouble after several massive payments were made to someone who never placed a bet. Fires Within was also shown under the title Little Havana; it premiered in Miami, appropriately enough, in its short-lived theatrical release. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greta Scacchi, Jimmy Smits, (more)
- 1990
In Miami, Ray Sharkey plays a recovering alcoholic-ex-cop/ex-con and possibly a soon-to-be-ex-husband. Upon release from the pen, he tries to go straight, but is confronted once again by the very thing that landed him inside: a Cuban drug cartel. This thriller was made for cable. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1988
- R
An up-and-coming prizefighter inadvertently entangles himself with the mob after he saves a young woman's life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1988
- R
Archbishop Mosley (Hal Holbrook) assigns Father Michael (Ben Cross) to a church in New Orleans in this supernatural horror film. The parish church was the site of the throat-slashing murders of two priests two years earlier. While Father Michael tends to the mostly impoverished flock of parishioners and their needs, he launches his own investigation into the mysterious unsolved deaths. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Cross, Hal Holbrook, (more)
- 1988
- PG
- Add Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach to QueueAdd Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach to top of Queue
America's most inept law enforcement team mixes business with pleasure as they head to sunny Florida in this comedy. The aging and often-confused head of the Police Academy, Commandant Lassard (George Gaynes), has reached mandatory retirement age, much to the pleasure of the devious Capt. Harris (G.W. Bailey), who is still scheming to take over his job. Lassard, Harris, and a handful of the Academy's "distinguished" graduates (including Bubba Smith, Michael Winslow, Leslie Easterbrook, and Marion Ramsey) travel to Miami Beach for a special ceremony to commemorate Lassard's years of service as he leaves the force; however, a luggage mix-up puts the clumsy cops in the middle of a massive illegal arms deal. Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach was the first film in the long-running series that did not star Steve Guttenberg (Bob Goldthwait also left the franchise at this point), but most of the other regulars bravely soldiered on without him. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matt McCoy, Janet Jones, (more)
- 1987
- PG
Sportswriter Frank Deford wrote the screenplay to this romantic melodrama about a washed-up baseball pitcher and a second-rate lounge singer. Vinnie (Raul Julia) is the veteran hurler who has just been cut in spring training by the Boston Red Sox. He stops off at a hotel where Donna (Beverly D'Angelo) is singing in the lounge. Donna's baseball-loving daughter Yvonne (Jenny Lewis) recognizes Vinnie from her baseball card collection and is convinced he should be her new daddy. After an initial misunderstanding, Donna and Vinnie resolve their differences, but Yvonne's wealthy grandfather Robert (Parris Buckner) threatens to gain custody of the little girl. Vinnie and Donna leave with Yvonne, who forges a $10,000 check of her grandfather's so the trio can escape. Vinnie again makes the rounds in Florida in hopes of making one last comeback in the majors. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raul Julia, Beverly D'Angelo, (more)
- 1987
- PG
Happy New Year is an Americanized remake of the 1974 French film of the same name. Peter Falk and Charles Durning play Nick and Charlie, a pair of seedy but suave jewel thieves. Preparing to rob the exclusive Florida jewelry store managed by Tom Courtenay, Nick and Charlie meticulously pre-plan their heist, adopting a variety of false identities and silly costumes along the way. Unfortunately for our heroes, Nick becomes enamored of Caroline (Wendy Hughes, in her American film debut), the beautiful owner of the antique shop next door to the jewelry store. Nick's fascination with Caroline effectively scuttles his and Charlies' "perfect" crime. Claude Lelouch, writer/director of the original Happy New Year, appears in an amusing cameo role. Bedeviled with production problems, the Falk-Durning Happy New Year didn't see the light of day until nearly a year after its completion; after a fitful theatrical release, the film went straight to video, where it finally built up a following. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Charles Durning, (more)
- 1987
- PG13
In this follow-up to Revenge of the Nerds the nerdy frat boys from Lambda Lambda Lambda go to Ft. Lauderdale to a national frat conference where they again must outwit the thick-tongued jock frat-boys who are also at the conference. This they can do. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Carradine, Curtis Armstrong, (more)
Filmed in Spanish, Amigos is a fairly realistic look at the plight of the Mariel Boat People, the so-called "undesirables" who were shipped off to America by Cuba's Fidel Castro in 1980. Ruben Rabasa plays a Cuban who comes to Miami after nearly 20 years in prison. He is given shelter by his old friend Reynaldo Medina, who'd escaped from Cuba during the Castro revolution. In seeking work, Rabasa suffers from the resentment of longtime Cuban residents of Miami, who disdainfully regard the incoming Boat People as the dregs of the earth. Desperate for a job, Rabasa is tricked into joining a smuggling ring, but is rescued by his friends before any real damage can be done. Amigos writer/director Ivan Acosta is best known for his off-Broadway play El Super. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ruben Rabasa, Raynaldo Medina, (more)
- 1985
In a storyline as thin as the underwear worn by Cathy (Shari Shattuck) in the opening scenes, this housewife is having sex all by herself when a rapist armed with a knife bursts into the house. Her husband unexpectedly arrives on the scene, discovers the rapist, stabs him with his own knife, and then has a heart attack. Not exactly knowing what to do with two corpses, Cathy buries the rapist in the garden and stages a fake auto accident to explain her husband's untimely death. The problem is, his evil sister and her lover cannot be trusted -- but by now some viewers may not trust the plot either. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shari Shattuck, Park Overall, (more)
This red-baiting action film stars Chuck Norris as Matt Hunter, a retired CIA agent who lives in the Florida Everglades. A communist invasion of Miami brings Hunter out of retirement to fight the encroaching hordes led by everyone's favorite low-budget bad guy, Richard Lynch. The film is extremely jingoistic, presenting the evil communists staging an invasion on Christmas, demolishing a church, and attempting to blow up a school bus full of children. From the same school of thinking which produced Rambo and Red Dawn, this film at least features some convincing gore by makeup wizard Tom Savini (Friday the 13th), working on his third gig for director Joseph Zito. Zito and Savini returned with Red Scorpion. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chuck Norris, Richard Lynch, (more)
