Wesley Snipes Movies
With sleek, well-muscled good looks that easily lend themselves to romantic leading roles or parts that call for running, jumping, and handling firearms, Wesley Snipes became one of the most popular Hollywood stars of the 1990s. First coming to prominence with roles in Spike Lee's Mo' Better Blues and Jungle Fever, Snipes went on to prove himself as an actor who could appeal to audiences as a man that women want and men want to be.Born in Orlando, FL, on July 31, 1962, Snipes grew up in the Bronx. He developed an early interest in acting and attended Manhattan's High School for the Performing Arts. His mother moved him back to Florida before he could graduate, but after finishing up high school in Florida, Snipes attended the State University of New York-Purchase and began pursuing an acting career. It was while performing in a competition that he was discovered by an agent, and a short time later he made his film debut in the Goldie Hawn vehicle Wildcats (1986). Although he appeared in a few more films during the 1980s, it was Snipes' turn as a street tough who menaces Michael Jackson in the Martin Scorsese-directed video for "Bad" that caught the eye of director Lee. He was so impressed with the actor's performance that he cast him in his 1990 Mo' Better Blues as a flamboyant saxophonist opposite Denzel Washington. That role, coupled with the exposure that Snipes had received for his performance as a talented but undisciplined baseball player in the previous year's Major League, succeeded in giving the actor a tentative plot on the Hollywood map. With his starring role in Lee's 1991 Jungle Fever, Snipes won critical praise and increased his audience exposure, and his career duly took off.
That same year, Snipes further demonstrated his flexibility with disparate roles in New Jack City, in which he played a volatile drug lord, and The Waterdance, in which he starred as a former wild man repenting for his ways in a hospital's paraplegic ward. Both performances earned strong reviews, and the following year Snipes found himself as the lead in his first big-budget action flick, Passenger 57. The film, which featured the actor as an ex-cop with an attitude who takes on an airplane hijacker, proved to be a hit. Snipes' other film that year, the comedy White Men Can't Jump, was also successful, allowing the actor to enter the arena of full-fledged movie star.
After a few more action stints in such films as Rising Sun (1993), which featured him opposite Sean Connery, Snipes went in a different direction with an uncredited role in Waiting to Exhale (1995). The same year he completely bucked his macho, action-figure persona with his portrayal of a flamboyant drag queen in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. Snipes continued to focus on less testosterone-saturated projects after a turn as a baseball player in The Fan (1996), starring as an adulterous director in Mike Figgis' One Night Stand (1997) -- for which he won a Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival -- and as Alfre Woodard's handsome cousin in Down in the Delta in 1998. That same year, Snipes returned to the action genre, playing a pumped-up vampire slayer in Blade and a wrongfully accused man on the run from the law in the sequel to The Fugitive, U.S. Marshals. The former would prove to be a massive cult hit and one of his biggest box-office successes to date. And while the new millenium would see most of Snipes' films relegated to straight-to-video releases, a pair of Blade sequels in 2002 and 2004 helped the actor remain a presence at the multiplexes. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
A thief finds one of his best friends is in jeopardy when a disastrous robbery turns out to yield the score of a lifetime in this action thriller. Jack Tolliver (Wesley Snipes) is a former Delta Force commando who has jumped to the wrong side of the law to take part in a massive heist intended to carry off the winnings of several major London casinos. However, the robbery goes haywire and one of Tolliver's partners is taken hostage by handful of brutal Russian gangsters. It seems the gangsters want something that Tolliver mistakenly grabbed during the foiled heist -- a case containing a rare painting by Van Gogh worth millions -- and Tolliver is forced to team up with rival Kelly Anders (Tamzin Outhwaite) to save both his friend and himself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes
Made especially for the HBO cable network, this well-wrought feature is comprised of three short stories by three noted black American authors, each of which is directed by a respected black director. The first tale, Long Black Song, was written by Richard Wright and is set in Alabama, 1938. It centers on a bored farmer's wife (Tina Lifford) who dallies with a handsome white peddler (Tate Donovan) while her husband (Danny Glover) takes the crops to market. The second story, The Boy Who Painted Christ Black, was written by John Henrik Clarke and takes place in Georgia ten years after the first vignette. It centers on a community-wide conflict created when a student attending a segregated high school paints a portrait of a black Jesus and submits it to a state-wide art contest designed to foster ethnic pride. At first, principal George Du Vaul (Wesley Snipes) is taken aback by the picture, but after much contemplation, he decides to put his career on the line and enter it. Maya Angelou penned the third story, The Reunion. It takes place in Chicago, 1958, and centers on a jazz singer (Lorraine Toussaint) who finds herself reliving painful childhood memories of growing up a servant's daughter in a wealthy white home. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
British director Stephen Norrington helmed this David S. Goyer adaptation of the Marvel Comics character created in 1973 by scripter Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan. In the Tomb of Dracula comic book origin, just before Blade's mother gave birth to Blade, she was bitten by a vampire, which made Blade immune to vampires. Now a vampire hunter, Blade, joined by vampire detective Hannibal King and Dracula-descendent Frank Drake, stalks vampires. In the 1990s (in Marvel's Nightstalkers), Blade teamed with Drake and King in an agency created to fight a variety of supernatural beings. The Marvel origin is retold in this 1998 Norrington film, with Blade's mother dying as he is born. Thirty-some years later, Blade now exists somewhere between the two worlds, not human but not fully vampire. He has become a relentless and superhuman vampire hunter, out to avenge the death of his mother and protect the rest of humankind from the evil vampire race. In this pursuit, Blade storms a notorious vampire nightclub and in a virtual bloodbath manages to wipe out most of the blood-lusting denizens. But the burnt corpse of vampire Quinn (Donal Logue) is reanimated at the hospital morgue and bites hematologist Karen Jenson (N'Bushe Wright). Blade magically appears at the hospital just in time to whisk Karen to his hideaway, a machine-shop run by his mentor Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), who once rescued Blade and who now produces a antidote to keep Blade from turning into a full-fledged vampire and who builds custom weapons for Blade to use against his evil foes. Meanwhile, Blade's vampire arch-nemesis Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) uses computers to translate the Book of Erebus, with the ultimate aim of bringing down the old-guard vampire council, headed by Dragonetti (Udo Kier), and triggering the Blood Tide -- an event in which everyone in the world becomes a vampire. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, (more)
Four years after scoring a box-office touchdown with Blade (1998), actor Wesley Snipes returns to portray the Marvel Comics character again in this sequel that teams him with Mexican horror director Guillermo del Toro. A half-vampire, half-human hybrid, Blade (Snipes) is a merciless vampire hunter bent on destroying the bloodsuckers that feed on humanity. The keys to Blade's success are a serum that allows him to resist the urge for blood and an array of inventive, deadly weapons, both of which were once supplied by his mentor, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson). Since Whistler's death, Blade has relocated to Prague and recruited the pot-smoking slacker Scud (Norman Reedus) to take the place of his father figure, but then he discovers that Whistler's not dead after all: He's been infected with the vampire virus. Reunited with Whistler, Blade is dealt an even bigger surprise: His greatest enemy, vampire leader Damaskinos (Thomas Kretschmann), wants to make peace with him. It seems that the vampires are facing a greater threat than Blade and hope to persuade him to fight the Reapers, a mutated super-race of vampires on a rampage of murder, indiscriminately killing both humans and their fellow bloodsuckers while sucking their victims dry. Blade agrees to a truce and joins the Bloodpack, an elite squad of commandos originally formed to fight Blade himself. Soon, the vampire soldiers discover that the virus responsible for creating their enemies is spreading rapidly and can be traced back to a mysterious "Patient Zero." Blade 2 (2002) co-stars Ron Perlman, Leonor Varela, Donnie Yen, and Matt Schulze. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, (more)
Wesley Snipes returns as legendary vampire hunter Blade in this, the third film inspired by the popular Marvel Comics character. A fearless warrior immune to vampires, Blade (Snipes) has become a hated enemy of the bloodsucking community, and as they gather in their desert compound, a group of vampires is plotting to eliminate Blade once and for all by turning the mortal community against him. The vampires have concocted a misinformation campaign that paints a picture of Blade as a ruthless murderer and has sent the FBI on the vampire hunter's trail, led by the relentless agent Cumberland (James Remar). At the same time, the vampires have brought their founding father, Dracula, back to his undead state, renaming him Drake (Dominic Purcell) and investing him with special powers that allow him to walk unharmed in daylight. After a dangerous encounter with Cumberland, Blade and his ally, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), form an uneasy alliance with a scruffy team of human vampire slayers, the Nighstalkers, led by Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds), and Whistler's daughter, Abigail (Jessica Biel. While Sommerfield (Natasha Lyonne), a biologist working with the Nightstalkers, researches a scientific answer to the vampire problem, Blade and his comrades take a more hands-on approach against Drake and his minions, including Danica Talos (Parker Posey), Asher (Callum Keith Rennie), and Grimwood (Triple H). Blade: Trinity was directed by David Goyer, who also wrote the screenplay for this film, as well as the first two movies in the series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, (more)
The boiling point is mighty low in this tepid action programmer. Wesley Snipes plays Jimmy Mercer, a Treasury agent whose sting operation goes bad. Engineered by Ronnie (Viggo Mortensen), a dull-witted but sadistic ex-con, the operation not only fails, but one of Jimmy's colleagues is killed by Ronnie in the process. As punishment, Jimmy is exiled to Newark, where he is given seven days to find the man responsible for the death of the officer. Meanwhile, slimy con-man Red (Dennis Hopper) has Ronnie deceived into thinking that Mercer is a big-time crook with influential connections. Red does this to enlist Ronnie's aid to participate in a third-rate crime spree. When Ronnie and Red begin their two-man crime wave, Jimmy is in relentless pursuit behind them. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Dennis Hopper, (more)
Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, and Ethan Hawke star in this cop drama from director Antoine Fuqua and Millennium Films. The story surrounds three Brooklyn cops from varying sides of the force who unknowingly converge together at a hot crime spot. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, (more)
Two mismatched lawmen are on the trail of an unusually talented criminal in this crime thriller. Quentin Conners (Jason Statham) is a veteran police detective who is less than pleased when he's assigned a new partner, Shane Dekker (Ryan Phillippe). While Conners has been with the force for years, Dekker is a rookie, and it doesn't take Conners long to realize his partner has a lot to learn about the nuts and bolts of investigation. However, the two are forced to put aside their differences when they're given an important new case to crack -- a brilliant thief (Wesley Snipes) has masterminded a series of high-stakes bank heists, and the police are baffled as to how he seems to know what they're up to just as soon as they do. Chaos also stars Justine Waddell as a police officer who has become involved with one of the detectives. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Statham, Ryan Phillippe, (more)
When a small-time businessman (Richard Pryor) needs a loan, he goes to a loan shark and ends up in jail on false pretenses. After feigning madness to get out, he is tossed into the mental ward of a hospital. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Pryor, Rachel Ticotin, (more)
The plot of this action film begins in 1996, with Los Angeles in a violence-crazed conflagration. One of the LAPD's most notorious cops, John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone), known as "the demolition man," is in hot pursuit of blonde-haired psychopath Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes), who is so nasty he even kills sometimes just because he feels cranky. John captures Simon, but not before Simon kills innocent hostages. John is blamed for the deaths of the hostages, and both he and Simon are cryogenically frozen to remove their brand of ultra-violence from a society that is simply just too violent. The film shifts to the future world of 2032, where Los Angeles has become a megalopolis called San Angeles. There is no poverty, Arnold Schwarzenegger was (at one time) president of the United States, and Taco Bell is the sole survivor of the Franchise Wars. Into this peaceful and bland society, Simon is summarily defrosted by reigning benevolent dictator Dr. Cocteau (Nigel Hawthorne) to have Simon murder Edgar Friendly (Denis Leary), the leader of a group of underground rebels. But Cocteau bites off more than he can chew when the melted-down Simon proceeds to go on a murder-and-looting spree. Reluctantly, Cocteau defrosts John to hunt down his old adversary. As John adjusts to self-driving cars and having sex wearing helmets, he pairs up with Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock), a bored cop with a nostalgic fascination for 20th-century culture. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, (more)
In this drama based on the novel by Terry McMillan, Zora (Sanaa Lathan) is a woman who dreams of becoming a singing star, meanwhile supporting herself as a schoolteacher. Franklin (Wesley Snipes), a father of two whose divorce is about to become final, has lost his job as a construction worker and is trying to scrape up the money to launch his own business. Neither is looking for a relationship, but when Zora moves into Franklin's neighborhood, they find they're attracted to each other and must deal with the ups and downs of being in love. Produced for the premium cable network HBO, Disappearing Acts also stars John Amos and CCH Pounder; Lisa Jones wrote the screenplay from McMillan's novel. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Sanaa Lathan, (more)
Poet Maya Angelou made her feature directorial debut with this African-American family drama, shown theatrically but originally produced for the Showtime cable network. Unemployed single mother Loretta (Alfre Woodward) lives with her mother, Rosa Lynn (Mary Alice), in a Chicago apartment. Drugs and alcohol lead Loretta to neglect her autistic daughter, Tracy (Kulani Hassen). Her teen son Thomas (Mpho Koaho) brings in money by photographing tourists. Rosa Lynn pawns a family heirloom in order to send Loretta and the kids off to their Mississippi Delta hometown where Loretta's Uncle Earl (Al Freeman Jr.) runs his diner. Earl lives in a dry county, so Loretta is reluctant. However, she has no choice after Rosa Lynn threatens to contact child-welfare authorities if she doesn't go. Earl takes in the trio even though he already has enough problems with Annie (Esther Rolle), an Alzheimer's victim under the supervision of caregiver Zenia (Loretta Devine). Toronto locations substitute for Mississippi. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alfre Woodard, Al Freeman, Jr., (more)
Wesley Snipes is battling bad guys in the air again, this time with parachutes, in this action-packed suspense thriller. Pete Nessip (Snipes) is a Federal Marshall who, teamed with his brother Terry (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), is escorting criminal computer genius Earl Leedy (Michael Jeter) to a new prison facility. Pete, Terry, and Earl are on a jet en route to Earl's new lockup when terrorists attempt a daring hijacking; Terry is killed in an explosion aboard the plane, and suddenly Earl is missing. Pete discovers that a team of sky-diving outlaws, led by former DEA agent gone bad Ty Moncrief (Gary Busey), have snatched Earl from his flight and spirited him away for a special raid on Washington D.C.; Ty and his men intend to take advantage of an obscure rule in which the normally restricted airspace in Washington D.C. is open to parachute enthusiasts on July 4. Eager to avenge his brother's death and put both Ty and Earl behind bars, Pete recruits sky-diving expert Jessie Crossman (Yancy Butler) to teach him how to infiltrate Ty's team of sky-bound criminals. Superb aerial stunt work highlights this film; please note that Pete's last name is an anagram for the leading man's last name. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Gary Busey, (more)
This future-set action thriller originally aired on the ABC television network. It takes place in a time when the hottest sport around is a high-tech combination of in-line skating and skateboarding that is so challenging that only the toughest, most dexterous athletes can thrive. Tremaine Ramsey is the greatest athlete of them all. Fame for him is a drug; it is such an obsession that it threatens his personal and professional life. When a terrorist group arises that threatens the world's safety, Tre is asked to use his special skills to stop them. In so doing, he is forced to reevaluate his attitudes and behavior towards others. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Documentarian St. Claire Bourne takes a close-up look at author and historian John Henrik Clarke, who, on camera for much of the film, bounces back and forth between a description of his own personal history, and his views on the history of Africa and of Pan-Africanism. His points are backed up by old newsreel footage, and by images of artwork depicting Africans and their civilization over the centuries. Actor Wesley Snipes executive produced the film and serves as a narrator. John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk was made in 1996, with Clarke suffering from glaucoma, barely able to see as he gives his sweeping account. He talks about his own upbringing, and his growing interest in Pan-Africanism, the failures of the civil rights movement and the Black Power movement, his close friendship with Malcolm X, and his critical assessment of Louis Farrakhan's Million Man March. He also gives a primer on the history of African civilization, and argues that no conquering or colonizing power ever "brought civilization" to Africa, but rather these nations destroyed what civilization they didn't understand, and brought many of Africa's ideas back to their bases in ancient Greece and Rome. He also describes how Black Africans were methodically removed from the history of the civilization of the Nile. He details how leaders like Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Ghanaian Kwame Nkrumah spread the ideas of Pan-Africanism throughout the U.S. and the world. John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk was shown at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, and won the Best Documentary award at the 1997 UrbanWorld Film Festival. Clarke died of a heart attack in 1998. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Spike Lee defines "jungle fever" as sexual attraction between members of two races. In his film Jungle Fever, he examines the repercussions of an interracial affair upon two very distinct communities. Wesley Snipes is Flipper, a happily married and successful architect, and Annabella Sciorra is Angie, an office temp. When she starts working in Flipper's Manhattan office, one day they look at each other and are soon having sex over a blueprint-strewn desk. Their liaison causes an explosion on both homefronts. Flipper's family consists of his father Doctor Purify (Ossie Davis), a former preacher; his mother Lucinda (Ruby Dee); his violent, crackhead brother Gator (Samuel L. Jackson); and his wife Drew (Lonette McKee), whom he loves, despite his sexual attraction to Angie. Angie's family is a typical Italian-American household from Bensonhurst. She's engaged to Paulie Carbonne (John Turturro), who works in a deli owned by his father Lou (Anthony Quinn). When the two families find out about Flipper and Angie's affair, their shock leads to recriminations and racial animosity. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra, (more)
The gritty underbelly of New York's complex, ethnically divided criminal world is exposed in this dark drama from director Abel Ferrara. Christopher Walken stars as Frank White, a drug lord who's just been released from a long stint in prison. Aware that feeding off of society's depravity has made him a wealthy man, Frank has become determined to give something back to the city, and he hatches a scheme to build a multimillion-dollar public hospital in one of Brooklyn's worst ghetto neighborhoods. Needing the assistance of his fellow criminals to pull it off, Frank and his adjutant Jimmy Jump (Laurence Fishburne) encounter a wall of resistance from every faction, including drug-trade partner Lance Wong (Joey Chin) and temperamental cop Dennis Gilley (David Caruso). Frank's do-gooder efforts ultimately result in a Mob war and in a bloody showdown between the city's various ethnic criminal actions. Ferrara followed King of New York with a similarly themed film that many critics considered his masterpiece, Bad Lieutenant (1992). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Walken, David Caruso, (more)
Liberty Wallace (Linda Fiorentino), the wife and business partner of wealthy weapons manufacturer Victor Wallace (Oliver Platt), is on her way to her regular assignation with her boyfriend, Russell (Martin Cummins), an actor who's about to go on-stage for the closing night of his hit play. Their plans are ruined by a mysterious gunman who calls himself Joe (Wesley Snipes). Joe straps Russell to a bomb in his dressing room, which will go off if he moves or speaks too loudly. Joe then calls Liberty on her cell phone and coerces her into chaining herself to a hot dog stand in a plaza outside the theater. The hot dog stand is rigged with a bomb, which will go off if Liberty hangs up her cell phone, or when it runs out of battery power. Joe also has a high-powered sniper rifle, her company's best gun, trained on Liberty. Joe doesn't make any demands at first, but it's clear that he has a problem with Liberty's weapons empire, which she inherited from her late father. He eventually tells Liberty that his young daughter was killed in a school shooting by one of the guns her company manufactured. Joe lets Liberty know that she's going to die, but she can die a hero if she exposes her company's shady business dealings and political connections before she's killed. As Joe monitors and records her every move, Liberty reveals secrets about her own past, and her business dealings. When Victor, who's also having an affair, finds out that his wife has been taken hostage, he's torn between following company protocol -- protecting himself and allowing his wife to be killed -- and going to help her. Liberty Stands Still was written and directed by Kari Skogland. The film premiered on Cinemax in July 2002. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Linda Fiorentino, (more)
Inheriting the Cleveland Indians baseball team from her late husband, covetous ex-showgirl Margaret Whitton wants to move the franchise to Miami, primarily to take advantage of the many personal perks she's been promised by that city. But Cleveland won't yield its lease on the Indians unless the year's attendance falls below 800,000. Figuring that chances for this are already good given Cleveland's inability to win a pennant, Whitton tries to make doubly certain that the fans won't turn out by ordering the club manager to put together the worst team possible. The new players include hasbeen Tom Berenger, blind-as-a-bat pitcher Charlie Sheen, self-protective free agent Corbin Bernsen, and Wesley Snipes, who is constitutionally incapable of hitting straight. Surprisingly, this band of misfits begins winning games, so Whitton decides to break their spirit by forcing them to fly from game to game in a World War II prop plane, assigning them a rickety old bus for road games, and divesting them of their precious whirlpool. Still, the team's talent and esprit de corps grows, especially after "Wild Thing" Sheen dons a pair of glasses and is able to see where he's lobbing his 100-mile-an-hour pitches. Once the players are told that Whitton plans to dump them all whether they win the pennant or not, the team defiantly adopts an "us against the you-know-what" attitude. In a nailbiting 20 minute climax, the Indians face down their hated Yankee rivals in the pennant playoff game. The film's conclusion ties up several loose plot ends, notably the off-and-on romance between the irresponsible Berenger and his "ex" Rene Russo. Though set in Cleveland, Major League was filmed virtually in its entirety in Milwaukee, with the Brewers' play-by-play announcer Bob Uecker giving a terrific performance as the Indians' drink-besotted color commentator. The film represented not only the fictional comeback of the Cleveland Indians, but the actual comeback of producer/director David S. Ward, who'd been in a professional slump for several years. Though containing few surprises, Major League was a box-office smash, inspiring a 1992 sequel, inventively titled Major League II. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, (more)
Spike Lee's 1990 directing effort is a jazz film, the story of a fictional trumpeter named Bleek Gilliam (Denzel Washington). He leads a quintet at the Beneath the Underground club with a flashy saxophonist named Shadow Henderson (Wesley Snipes). Though Shadow takes a few too many solos, everything seems fine in Bleek's life. Trouble soon arises, however, and he is forced to make decisions regarding both his best friend Giant (Spike Lee), and his relationships with two women. Giant, his manager and old pal, is addicted to gambling and often gets roughed up by thugs looking for pay back. Bleek is the only member of the quintet who wants to keep him as manager. The trumpeter's woman problems concern trying to decide between two girlfriends who both love him: a schoolteacher (Joie Lee) and a singer (Cynda Williams). Spike's father Bill Lee scored the film, with contributions from Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Abbey Lincoln and Ruben Blades (who plays Giant's bookie). ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, (more)
A pair of New York City cops collaborate on a plan to rob a cash-packed subway train in this action-comedy. Charlie (Woody Harrelson) and John (Wesley Snipes) are not just co-workers and close friends but also foster brothers. Because of this family connection, the reluctant John becomes involved in the more capricious Charlie's far-fetched scheme to rob the "money train" that collects the subway's daily grosses. Charlie needs the money for gambling debts, and robbing the train would have the added benefit of angering Charlie's and John's harsh, corrupt boss Captain Patterson (Robert Blake). Romantic interest is provided by a fellow police officer (Jennifer Lopez) who sparks rivalry between the brothers, but the film's main interest is in the violent events that surround the attempted heist, which naturally proves more complicated than planned. The film attempts to capitalize on the chemistry between Snipes and Harrelson, who had previously had a hit comedy with White Men Can't Jump (1992), but Joseph Ruben's unexceptional direction and a bland screenplay by Doug Richardson and David Loughery make the film less distinctive than its predecessor. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, (more)
A police detective finds that looking into a murder is anything but routine when one of the suspects is the President of the United States. When the nude and bloodied corpse of an attractive woman is found in a bathroom at the White House, Harlan Regis (Wesley Snipes), a top detective with the Washington D.C. police force, is assigned to investigate. However, Regis soon learns that the Secret Service, headed by Nick Spikings (Daniel Benzali), is launching their own investigation, and they want Regis to stay out of their way. While Alvin Jordan (Alan Alda), National Security Advisor to President Jack Neil (Ronny Cox), intervenes in Regis' favor, it becomes obvious that no one wants him poking his nose into a case in which the suspects include both the President and his ill-tempered son Kyle (Tate Donovan). Eventually, Regis finds an ally in Nina Chance (Diane Lane), a member of the Secret Service's team, while the President tries to fend off the investigation in the midst of an international crisis. Comedian Dennis Miller also appears as Regis' partner Stengel. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Diane Lane, (more)
