Paul Sorvino Movies

Mr. Fix It stars David Boreanaz as Lance, a man who makes a living by being a terrible boyfriend. He takes money from ex-boyfriends to date the women who dumped them. He treats the women even worse that the exes, prompting the girls to go back to the guys that dumped them. His career threatens to fall apart when he accidentally falls in love with one of his clients. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

From the dawn of cinema moviegoers have been strangely seduced by stories about the criminal underworld, and from Scarface (1932) to The Sopranos the sordid stories of the mafia in all their lawless glory continue to thrive on screens large and small. In this documentary, Goodfellas star Paul Sorvino narrates a comprehensive retrospective of cinematic criminality featuring behind-the-scenes clips and archival footage of everyone from true-life thug John Gotti to well-known screen mobsters Robert De Niro, James Cagney, and Humphrey Bogart. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The Best of Safari Africa Volume 1 contains footage of a variety of African animals in their natural habitat. Lions, elephants, and cheetahs, are among the many animals on display. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Having recently earned his college degree, Lorenzo Primavera (Eddie Malavarca) leaves his home in Boston to travel to his family's ancestral homeland in Italy -- as was requested by his late grandfather. Upon arriving, Lorenzo is offered a short-term position as coach for an American-style football team by the team's manager, Giulio Fellini (Maurizio Nichetti). As the young American immerses himself in his new duties, he makes the acquaintance of Paola Angelini (Violante Placido) and the two begin a friendship that quickly blossoms into something more. In between spending time with Paola and working with the team, Lorenzo also begins investigating his own family's history and learns the reason for his grandfather's departure from Italy, as well as why his grandfather never returned to visit. As Lorenzo begins to forge an identity for himself in Italy -- not to mention strong romantic attachments to Paola -- he must eventually decide whether or not to return to the States. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

Moral hypocrisy and the woes of America's public schools and educational system are the focus of Cheaters, which is based on a real-life 1995 cheating scandal at a Chicago high school. In a working class area of the city, teacher Dr. Gerald Plecki (Jeff Daniels) is desperate for his students to triumph at an upcoming academic decathlon against students of a more affluent high school across town. His desperation causes him to cast a blind eye when one of his students gets hold of a copy of the decathlon test -- and, thanks to their combined dedication to cheating -- the team wins the competition with the highest total score in state history. Of course, the score leads to suspicion on the part of Illinois officials, and the resulting scandal is accompanied by a media frenzy of monolithic proportions. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

For her second feature, Canadian director Kari Skogland (The Size of Watermelons) treads Tarantino turf with the violent visuals of this crime drama. Small-time hoods Eddie (Donal Logue) and Lucas (Gregory Sporleder) go to a rural area to collect a debt but instead get a dose of sexual humiliation from thugs they encounter there. With stoned Mamet (Callum Keith Rennie) accompanying them, they return to the farm, battle it out, and leave with a big cocaine stash, property of druglord Horace Burke (Paul Sorvino). Soon the trio is pursued by both criminals and cops. Skogland made TV commercials and music videos before her first feature. Her Men With Guns is not to be confused with John Sayles' Men With Guns, released the same month. Shown at the 1998 Rotterdam Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

In this complexly-plotted action-packed police drama, Pittsburgh policewoman Keri Finnegan (Linda Kozlowski) returns to her home turf to clean up crime and clear the ruined name of her father, a cop who was wrongfully disgraced and fired from the force. McKees Rocks is one Steeltown's roughest ethnic neighborhoods, and though many residents are impoverished, they have yet to surrender their pride. Keri's father's reputation, plus her gender, make it very difficult for her to do her job. When a serial killer begins slaughtering owners of local property, Keri masquerades as an old woman and is attacked by what appears to be a policeman. He is eventually arrested for killing his wife, but for some reason the cops ignore the other killings. Keri, however, doesn't and thus launches her own investigation. She finds herself opposed at every turn, not only by her lover and fellow-detective Nick Donovan (John Shea), but also by the police chief, Nick's father, and a powerful gangster. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Directed by Linda Yellen, this made-for-cable movie originally aired on the Showtime network and featured a star-studded cast including Dudley Moore, Liza Minelli, and James Belushi. The plot centers around several fraternity and sorority graduates who have decided to regroup at their alma mater. Nick (Belushi), a determined but gloomy reporter, attends on the sole hope of finding some good gossip. His highest hope lies within the career ties of his ex-lover Winnie (JoBeth Williams), who now serves as publicist to rising politician Rebecca Ferguson Stone (Patricia Wetig). Fellow alumni Charlie (Ben Gazzara) is returning for equally dishonest reasons--he's hoping to convince his ex Francie (Gena Rowlands) to pay off his gambling debts. Francie, however, has found herself more interested in bonding with a single mom/housekeeper (Ally Sheedy). All of their lives take a turn for the unexpected when the big man on campus mysteriously dies. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Another major casting change occurred during the third season of Law & Order, although not until the series had offered eight episodes. In "Prince of Darkness," an undercover police operation goes tragically awry, and Detective Phil Ceretta (Paul Sorvino) ends up seriously wounded. Though Ceretta would recover sufficiently to take up a desk job, Sorvino himself decided to leave the series for good; like George Dzundza before him, the actor felt that the series' format was too confining for his talents. Brought in as Mike Logan's (Chris Noth) new partner was Jerry Orbach as laconic veteran detective Lennie Briscoe, a recovering alcoholic with a multitude of family problems (which, in fine old Law & Order tradition, were only revealed to the audience on a "need to know" basis). At the time Orbach joined the series, there was much speculation (usually tongue-in-cheek in nature) as to how long it would be before he, too, was shot down in the line of duty, just like Logan's two previous partners, Greevey and Ceretta. As it turned out, Orbach not only outlasted Noth as Logan, but by season 13, he had been on the series longer than any other regular. A few stylistic changes marked season three. The "street action" was more or less cut to the bone, as was the background music. Also, in answer to viewer demand, the handheld camerawork became more steady and less distracting. One thing still remained constant from season one: the series' lack of regular female characters. At least Carolyn McCormick, in the recurring role of police psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Olivet, was spotlighted in the compelling episode "Helpless." Once again, Law & Order was honored with several Emmy nominations during the 1992-1993 season. This time out, the series copped the Emmy twice, for Elaine Stritch's guest-star turn in "Point of View" and for Constantine Makris' photography. Ratings remained steady, if not spectacular, but things would change dramatically during the next season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Not yet a hit, though certainly sustaining decent ratings, Law & Order entered its second season with the first of its many cast changes -- and a spectacular one it was indeed, with Detective Max Greevey being shot down and killed in front of his own house. In truth, George Dzundza, who played Greevey, had already left the series, so his "death" largely occurred off-camera. Reportedly, Dzundza felt that the series' format gave his character no room to grow or develop, though some reports indicate that he was asked to leave because of his inability to get along with certain other cast members. At any rate, he was replaced by Paul Sorvino as Detective Phil Ceretta, who, likewise, departed the show early on (a few weeks into season three, in fact). As was the case in the first season, the regular Law & Order cast lineup was still all male, although a few recurring female characters were given sporadic moments to shine, notably police psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Olivet, played by Carolyn McCormick. Again, viewers were given only brief and tantalizing glimpses of the off-duty lives of the detectives and lawyers, in keeping with creator Dick Wolf's edict that the show would be story-driven rather than character-driven. Having received one Emmy nomination during the 1990-1991 season (Michael Moriarty as best leading actor), Law & Order chalked up six more nominations during season two, winning the award for Best Sound Editing (David Hankins). Also, with its move from Tuesday to Wednesday evening, the series increased its viewership, though still not enough to crack the Top Ten -- or even the Top 25. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Paul Sorvino, Royana Black, and Mary Wickes star in the 60-minute comedy Almost Partners. Fourteen-year-old Molly McCue (Black) is stymied when an urn containing her father's ashes turns up missing. Who'd want to steal something of only sentimental value. To find out, Molly engages the services of hardbitten NYC detective Jack Welder (Sorvino). This family-oriented confection was first telecast May 16, 1987, on PBS' Wonderworks series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide