Jason Blicker Movies

A seemingly ordinary bank employee develops an obsession that could destroy his life and that of those around him in this drama. Dan Mahowny (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a quiet, unassuming employee of a bank in Toronto; he lives modestly, drives a used car, and is dating one of the bank's tellers, a sweet but mousy girl named Belinda (Minnie Driver). What no one knows is that Dan has a secret life -- Dan is a compulsive gambler, and after running up massive debts with his bookie Frank Perlin (Maury Chaykin), he begins making regular visits to Atlantic City in the United States, where he often bets (and loses) far beyond his means. Dan's expertise at the bank is rewarded with a promotion to assistant manager; his new responsibilities include approving loans, which gives him the authority to transfer funds in and out of the bank. Needing to cover his debts, Dan starts approving loans to non-existent clients and adding hundreds of thousands of dollars to other accounts, and Victor Fox) (John Hurt), manager of Dan's favorite Atlantic City casino, is more than happy to "help" Dan, comping him to luxury suites and all the attendant amenities and working with him to transfer bank funds into his casino account. As Dan's debts begin to grow into the seven figure range, his dealings become harder to hide, both from the authorities and from Belinda, who has become aware of Dan's addiction to gambling but doesn't know just how far it's grown. Based on a true story, Owning Mahowny was directed by Richard Kwietniowski, who previously worked with John Hurt in the acclaimed Love and Death on Long Island. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Molly Shannon brings her Saturday Night Live character Mary Katherine Gallagher to the silver screen. A mildly hyperactive Catholic school student convinced that she smells bad, Mary Catherine has a dream: she wants a boy to kiss her. Not just any old sloppy teenage make-out party kind of smooch, but the sort of kiss that will make her tingle with joy from head to toe. The trouble is, boys aren't all that interested in Mary Catherine, especially not Sky (Will Ferrell), the boy she'd most like to be kissed by. So Mary Catherine has a goal: if she wants to be kissed the way boys kiss girls in the movies, then she must become a movie star. Not a bad idea, but how does one bring this about? Superstar co-stars Elaine Hendrix and former Kids in the Hall cast member Mark McKinney, while another Kids in the Hall alumnus, Bruce McCulloch, directed. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The fourth entry in the Iron Eagle series follows the return of General Charles "Chappy" Sinclair (Louis Gosset Jr., who deserves better) as he trains a Dirty Dozen-style team of juvenile delinquents to improve their quality of life by flying planes and combatting evil. This time the Air Force itself is the enemy, as the intrepid teens uncover a conspiracy involving biological weaponry. When Chappy contacts his old friend, General Kettle (Al Waxman), he learns the General is in on the action. Along the way, the group manages to combat some ill-prepared drug dealers as well. This installment is better than the second or third, but that's not the highest of praise; Iron Eagle IV is a dumb-dumb fantasy for fourteen-year-old boys who don't yet have their learner's permits, much less their pilot's licenses. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

This made-for-TV crime drama follows the actions of the courageous, determined prosecutor who attempted to put notorious Mafioso John Gotti behind bars. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This Canadian thriller features a cute little kid who kills. Connie and Linda give birth simultaneously in the same hospital. A mix up with the babies occur. Linda, after the baby, Adam, hits her, feels something is wrong. Indeed, the babe's real mother is a homicidal maniac and her illness seems to be genetic. Four years pass and Adam has grown into an autistic child. He cannot speak, but he sure can glower when he doesn't get his way. He despises his grandfather because the old man considers him stupid. His parents really love him, but they are concerned. They should be. It is not long before bodies are dropping like flies in the house. The parents hire Clive, a special ed. tutor, to teach Adam to speak. Detective Atwater becomes involved after he begins to suspect that little Adam is behind the mayhem. His mother is inclined to agree. Eventually the mix-up is discovered and Linda confronts Connie, who is chained up in prison. Soon she discovers the whereabouts of her real son. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Carol Kane plays the wife of a murdered Mafia bookkeeper in Baby on Board. With her baby in tow, Kane tracks the hitman to the airport, intending to shoot the man. A pickpocket causes the gun to discharge prematurely, and now it's Kane who is being pursued. She commandeers a cab driven by Judge Reinhold, and the chase is on. As light as a feather, Baby on Board gets plenty of laughs from the basic situation as well as the fevered rapport between Kane and Reinhold. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A plucky seventeen-year old hockey player proves that he is good enough to play on the Canadian national team in this drama. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This semisweet backwards glance at 1960s impulsiveness stars Margaret Langrick as a Canadian college freshman. She undergoes a bit of a culture shock when her white-bread values are challenged by her new hippie friend Liisa Repo-Martell. With a trio of her new and old chums, Langrick heads to Portland to attend a wedding. Once they arrive at the ceremony, the girls wreak a little bit of sexual havoc amongst the male guests before deciding to journey on to California. Thus a pattern is set for the previously shy and sheltered Langrick of letting her heart rule her head-a pattern ending up as far afield as Europe! American Boyfriends was the sequel to the equally fey, funny and freewheeling My American Cousin (1985). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A pair of American pilots are forced to cooperate with their Soviet counterparts on a mission to destroy a Middle Eastern nuclear weapons site in this predictable, low-budget action sequel. The first Iron Eagle's rebellious fly boy Cooper (Mark Humphreys) has returned, as has his gruff mentor Chappy (Louis Gossett Jr. as yet another military man). They must work with two Russian pilots, one of whom is a beautiful woman that handsome young Cooper naturally sets out to woo. An extended build-up, including the requisite government conspiracy, leads to the climactic final battle. Average-at-best production values fail to elevate the film above a derivative screenplay, although the film did find enough success to produce further installments in the series. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

A grieving mother tries to track down the hit-and-run driver who killed her 12-year-old son in this well-performed drama. Dinah Middleton (Kerrie Keane) is divorced from husband Max (Daniel Pilon). The couple's skateboarding son Alex (Leif Anderson) is hit by Owen Hughes (Saul Rubinek), a New York businessman and later dies in the hospital. After the driver is tracked to the U.S., manslaughter charges are dismissed on a technicality, and Dinah learns the treaty between Canada and the United States will make extradition nearly impossible. The differences and attitudes of the two countries toward each other becomes part of the story in addition to Dinah's search for justice. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide