James Russo Movies

In this action drama, Frank DaVinci is out to avenge the murder of his sister. To follow through with his vendetta he enlists the aide of a hired killer and a group of Vietnam Vets. Violence and explosions ensue. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Celebrated indie filmmaker Eddie Israel (Harvey Keitel) heads to California to shoot his latest movie, Mother of Mirrors, an examination of a marriage in which the wife pressures her husband to abandon their formerly mutual sex-and-drugs lifestyle and seek the same kind of religious conversion she has experienced. Leaving behind his own wife Madlyn (Nancy Ferrara) and his young son, Eddie explains the impetus of his latest project in a series of behind-the-scenes interviews. Meanwhile, Sarah Jennings (Madonna), a TV actress, has taken the wife role in Eddie's film, and her first item of business on the set is to sleep with Francis Burns (James Russo), who is set to play her husband. Things go sour between the two players and their conflicts spill onto the set, adding even more tension to a shoot in which Eddie alternately bullies and cajoles his actors to elicit more authentic performances. Perhaps Eddie manipulates Sarah onscreen because he's ashamed of having bedded his "very L.A." star just minutes before his wife and son arrived early for a weekend visit. Eddie soon finds the existential dilemmas of his film seeping into his own life, forcing him to question the compulsive adultery he practices. One of the first movies overseen by the film arm of Maverick, the record label and media company Madonna founded in the early '90s, Dangerous Game was produced by the singer's longtime manager, Freddy de Mann, alongside Mary E. Kane, who produced several earlier Ferrara efforts. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Like its theatrical-feature precursor Not Without My Daughter, the made-for-TV Desperate Rescue is based on a true story, though it would appear that several liberties have been taken. Mariel Hemingway plays a young mother whose daughter Lindsay Haun is abducted by Andrew Masset, Mariel's Jordanian ex-husband. Masset takes the girl back to his native Jordan, beyond the reach of the US authorities. Denied aid and comfort by the American government, Mariel takes matters into her own hands, hiring ex-Delta Force commandos Clancy Brown, Jeff Kober and James Russo to muscle their way into Jordan and rescue Lindsay. Based on an article by David Halevy and Neil C. Livingstone, Desperate Rescue premiered January 18, 1993: its title at that time was Desperate Rescue: The Cathy Mahone Story. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this thriller, a poor aspiring rock singer earns a steady wage at night working as a phone-sex girl. Trouble comes in the form of a wacko-caller who talks with her on the phone while murdering another woman. Now it seems he's after her. Fortunately a loner cop shows up and enlists her aid in trying to capture the killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Gus Van Sant's dreamtime riff on Shakespeare's "Henry IV, Parts I and II" features River Phoenix as Mike Waters, a narcoleptic male hustler who is first seen drifting on a stretch of highway in Idaho. Mike shifts from Seattle to Portland, where he has taken up with Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves), who is also a hustler. The difference between them is Mike's sleepy state betrays an uncertain future, while Scott is ready to inherit a fortune from his father within a week. Mike feels a real affection for Scott, but Scott does not believe men can really love each other. Besides, Scott is mostly hustling as a means of slumming and killing time before he inherits his money. Mike, however, delusionally thinks Scott will continue with his life as a drifter after receiving his inheritance. Mike's belief is shared by the dregs of Portland, who live out of an abandoned hotel with their spiritual leader Bob (film director William Richert). They're convinced Scott's fortune will benefit them all, when in reality Scott has other plans. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

American character actor James Russo stars in the Italian melodrama La Cintura (The Belt). Russo's first mistake is to fall in love with Eleanora Brigliadori. His second mistake is to marry her. Experiencing a sexual epiphany on her wedding night, Brigliadori decides that she enjoys being brutally beaten. Reluctantly, Russo indulges his bride's S&M yearnings, but when he wants to put a stop to this activity, he learns to his horror that it's too late to turn back. La Cintura is based on a novel by Alberto Moravia. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A crazed sniper picks off motorists at random, then taunts the authorities by providing cryptic clues to a radio psychiatrist. Sarah "Sunny" Harper (Darlanne Flugel), the fiancee of one of the victims, tries to piece together the evidence without official help, hopefully to beat the psycho at his own game. Directed by Francis Delia, Freeway was inspired by a series of real-life freeway shootings in the Los Angeles area. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

History. A review of the news of the fifties. Reviews: General Douglas MacArthur's retirement speech; President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon; the Korean war; the death of Stalin; testing the hydrogen bomb; the Suez Canal crisis; the Cold War; Cuba's Castro. ~ Rovi

Attacked by a masked assailant, Marjorie (Farrah Fawcett) lives in mortal fear that the unidentified man will strike again -- especially since he knows her address. Sure enough, Joe the attacker (James Russo) breaks into Marjorie's home and subjects her to a night of terror and sexual humiliation. But Marjorie manages to turns the tables on her attacker, knocking him unconscious and rendering him helpless. The remainder of the story charts Marjorie's battle with herself: should she turn Joe over to the authorities, who may very well set him free, or should she mete out her own punishment? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Combining electric song and dance performances with drama (both on and off screen), Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club (1984) looks back to the 1920s-1930s peak of the legendary Harlem nightclub where only blacks performed and only whites could sit in the audience. Mixing historical figures with characters loosely based on actual people, Coppola and co-writers William Kennedy and The Godfather's Mario Puzo create a panorama of love, crime, and entertainment centered on the Club. Among them are cornet player Dixie Dwyer (Richard Gere, playing his own solos), who escapes psycho gangster "benefactor" Dutch Schultz (James Remar) for a George Raft-type Hollywood career as a gangster film star; Schultz's nubile mistress Vera Cicero (Diane Lane), who loves Dixie against her mercenary instincts; Cotton Club Mob owner Owney Madden (Bob Hoskins) and close associate Frenchy Demarge (Fred Gwynne); Vincent (Nicolas Cage), Dixie's no-good Mad Dog Coll-esque brother; Club tap star Sandman Williams (Gregory Hines), who woos ambitious light-skinned Club singer Lila Rose Oliver (Lonette McKee); and cameos by Charles "Honi" Coles and Cab Calloway impersonator Larry Marshall. Complementing the period story, Coppola evokes the style of '30s gangster movies and musicals through an array of old-fashioned devices like montages of headlines, songs and shoot-outs. Conceived by producer Robert Evans as his crowning achievement and directorial debut, Evans had to hand over the troubled production to Coppola, but the budget spiraled out of control as the script was repeatedly re-written throughout the chaotic shoot. By the time it was released, The Cotton Club's epic production story of power struggles, financial bloat, and even a murder overshadowed the "reunion" of The Godfather's creative team. Neither a Heaven's Gate-sized failure nor a wallet-saving hit like Coppola's Apocalypse Now, The Cotton Club got some favorable critical notices (although it drew fire for subordinating the African American stories). It did not, however, find a large enough audience to justify its expense and controversy, becoming another mark against 1970s "auteur" cinema in increasingly blockbuster-driven 1980s Hollywood. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Exposed is the film in which concert violinist Rudolf Nureyev grabs his bow and "plays" the lissome body of Nastassja Kinski. This may well stand as the silliest bit of erotica in screen history, but in the context of the film it's a model of restraint. We're asked to believe that Kinski is Elizabeth Carlson, a Wisconsin girl who has come to the big city to make it as a pianist or model. We're also supposed to be convinced that Nureyev is part-time espionage agent Daniel Jelline, who is determined to bring terrorist Rivas (Harvey Keitel) to justice. Much of the film takes place in Paris, where at least the scenery is lovely. The various plotlines and characters never quite congeal. Despite the fact that director James Toback is given sole screenplay credit, the film seems more like a "committee" project. To its credit, Exposed is never dull; with that cast, how could anyone fall asleep? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Amy Heckerling's adaptation of Cameron Crowe's Fast Times at Ridgemont High is often considered one of the finest films of a disreputable genre (the teen sex comedy), and kick-started the careers of many future stars. The center of this ensemble film is Jennifer Jason Leigh as Stacy Hamilton. She is a young, innocent high-school student who, as the film opens, is asking for advice from her friend, the sexually outspoken Linda Barrett (Phoebe Cates). Stacy takes a liking to nebbish Mark Ratner (Brian Backer), but he is too afraid to make a move even after Stacy all but throws herself at him. She eventually hooks up with Mark's more confident best friend, Mike Damone (Robert Romanus). When not concerning itself with these four characters, the film spends time with stoned surfer dude Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn) and his ongoing feud with history teacher Mr. Hand (Ray Walston). The film includes brief appearances by such future stars as Nicolas Cage, Eric Stoltz, and Forest Whitaker. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi