Sy Richardson Movies

Much against his will, Monk (Tony Shalhoub) checks into a hospital to be treated for a bloody nose. His mortal fear of being left alone in a hospital room is only exacerbated when Monk stumbles upon the body of a doctor who has been bludgeoned to death by an oxygen tank. The weapon belongs to an elderly patient who couldn't possibly have arisen from his sickbed to commit the crime, but he's the only suspect the police have. In his efforts to solve the murder, Monk not only learns the true significance of the old adage "physician heal thyself", but also ends up at the mercy of a killer who is fully prepared to "medicate" our hero into the next world. This is the final episode of Monk's fifth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Antwon (Anthony Anderson) now has a hold on Shane (Walton Goggins) and Army (Michael Pena), and uses it to get them to bust one of his competitors, and give Antwon half his stash to replace the heroin he's lost. Monica (Glenn Close) gets injunctions against the One-Niners, meaning the gang members can no longer openly associate with one another, making it difficult to do business. Vic (Michael Chiklis) stumbles into a DEA sting. The DEA is trying to tie Antwon's heroin supply to a Salvadoran stolen car ring, and the local cops work with them to make a bust, but Shane tips off Antwon, so they end up with nothing. Vic is able to track down another drug stash at a local church. Julien (Michael Jace) refuses to be a part of the raid, angering Monica, who later suggests he request a transfer. The church raid is ugly, but successful. Lem (Kenny Johnson) tells Vic that Angie has disappeared, and he worries that Shane might have turned her over to Antwon or even killed her himself. Vic doesn't believe it, even though Vic and Ronnie (David Rees Snell) have surveillance video of Shane and Antwon making deals and sharing information. Claudette (CCH Pounder) isn't speaking to Dutch (Jay Karnes). Investigating the strangling of a young black woman, they bring in Kleavon Gardner (Ray Campbell), who recently moved to L.A. from Texas, where authorities suspected him of being a serial killer. The case goes in a different direction, but Dutch still believes that Kleavon is a murderer. Dutch also decides to ask Corrine (Cathy Cahlin Ryan) out on a date. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Directed by Mike Mitchell, Surviving Christmas finds Drew Latham (Ben Affleck) uneager to spend another lonely Christmas in his own home. Longing for holidays past, Drew travels to his childhood home intending to relive the experience of a family Christmas -- unfortunately, his family no longer lives there. This represents only a small snafu to Drew, who offers the Valco patriarch and his wife (Sopranos star James Gandolfini and Catherine O'Hara) a huge amount of money if they consent to pretend they are his parents and that he is a cherished member of the family. This entails participating in Latham family traditions, such as Christmas tree selection and crowded holiday shopping excursions. Though the Valcos reluctantly go along with Drew's requests, Alicia, their eldest daughter, arrives at home and refuses to comply with her "brother's" wishes. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, an honest lawman has to decide where his loyalties lie in a corrupt system. All his life, J.J. (Michael Boatman) has dreamed of being a cop, and after graduating from the Police Academy, he gets his wish, becoming the first African-American policeman based out of Los Angeles' Edgemar station. However, J.J. discovers that his race makes him an outsider among his fellow officers. His presence is not welcomed by his superior, Massey (Richard Anderson), and the only colleague who is truly hospitable to him is Deborah (Lori Petty), the only female cop at Edgemar and the target of as much abuse as J.J. Hoping to somehow fit in, J.J. digs into his work and tries to be "just one of the guys," ignoring the racism and corruption around him. However, one night J.J.'s fellow officer Bono (Don Harvey) pulls over Teddy Woods (Ice Cube), an arrogant and uncommunicative young black man, and in the midst of an illegal search of his car, he finds a gun; even though he knows that Bono acted improperly, J.J. put his loyalty behind the force and lies to support Bono's story. The gun's serial number matches that of a weapon used to murder the wife of Mr. Greenspan (Elliott Gould), a prominent Jewish businessman, and Woods is charged with the killing. However, J.J. discovers that the number of the gun had been altered, and he has to decide what to do when he realizes that Teddy could be sentenced to death without having committed a serious crime. The Glass Shield also features Bernie Casey, Sy Richardson, and M. Emmet Walsh. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The plot in this suspenseful mystery evokes the old westerns while dealing with contemporary issues concerning the further development of the West. It all begins when a stranger rolls into a remote little town and discovers that they are doing their best to keep secret the murder of a civil liberties lawyer who was threatening to prevent developers from exploiting the land. The stranger finds out and takes steps to ensure that justice is done. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Anxious to afford an engagement ring for Kelly (Jackie Swanson), Woody (Woody Harrelson) takes a part-time job as a gravedigger. Unfortunately, the extra work load -- combined with the spookiness of his new surroundings -- causes him to begin hallucinating, not a pretty sight to behold for Kelly's hypersensitive grandmother (Celeste Holm). Elsewhere at Cheers, it is Rebecca's (Kirstie Alley) turn to take a fantastic voyage into the furnace duct. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally prepared for European release under the title Catchfire, Backtrack wasn't given a wide distribution until 1991, and then only to capitalize on the Oscar win of Silence of the Lambs star Jodie Foster. In Backtrack, Foster plays a youngish innocent who witnesses a mob hit. Professional assassin Dennis Hopper is contracted to silence Foster for keeps. Instead, he falls in love with her. Directed by star Hopper, Backtrack has some of the feel of his earlier, better Easy Rider: the cast is populated by such old Hopper chums as Dean Stockwell, Charlie Sheen, Joe Pesci, Bob Dylan, Vincent Price and Julie Adams; and, like Easy Rider, it looks as though the story was improvised during filming. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the first half of a two-part story, brothers Joe (Tim Daly) and Brian (Steven Weber) are once again two cogs in a never-ending romantic wheel. Brian's ex-wife Carol (Kim Ulrich), who had dumped Joe in favor of Brian six years ago, subsequently divested herself of Brian to pursue another man. Now, the "other man" is history, as are several of Carol's interim romances. When Brian finds out that Carol is making a stopover in Boston en route to London, he decides to re-spark the old flame, choosing the Prudential Building as their meeting place (not quite Sleepless in Seattle, but it'll do). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A pair of garbage workers (Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez) are shocked to find the body of a city councilman in one of their trash cans. With help from a supervisor (Keith David), the duo must solve the case and find the man's killer while hiding the body from the cops. Estevez also directed and provided the screenplay for Men at Work. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Written and directed by the ever-unpredictable Jim Jarmusch, Mystery Train is comprised of three short anecdotes involving foreign tourists in Tennessee. Each story is set in a fleabag Memphis hotel which has been redressed as a "tribute" to Elvis Presley. Story #1 involves two Japanese tourists whose devotion to Elvis blinds them of everything around them. Story #2 finds eternal victim Nicoletta Braschi sharing a room with stone-broke Elizabeth Bracco and having her problems solved by a spectral vision of The King. And story #3 offers the further misadventures of Bracco, her no-good boyfriend and her dysfunctional family. Any film that features Screamin' Jay Hawkins as a hotel clerk has us squarely in its pocket. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Once again, Charles Bronson plays a renegade cop out for vigilante justice in the darkest heart of the urban jungle. This time, he is targeting an especially ruthless pimp who has been leading innocent young girls into prostitution. When the pimp kidnaps the beautiful daughter of a Japanese businessman, rapes her and forces her to begin streetwalking, the cop decides to let nothing, not even the law, stop him from bringing the slimeball to graphically violent justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Colors stars Robert Duvall and Sean Penn as partners on the LAPD's gang crime division. Duvall had hoped to spend more time with his family, but he's pulled back into active service because of a step-up in gang activity. He makes no secret of his contempt for his novice partner Penn, but eventually comes to rely on the younger man as a valuable street contact. The central crisis is the battle for supremacy between the "Crips" and the "Bloods", with every effort to call a truce stymied by the gang members themselves and by undue police intervention. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide