David Suchet Movies

Discover the true story behind author A.A. Milne's beloved children's character in this tale of the remarkable friendship between a Canadian soldier, and the cub that stood as a symbol of friendship and hope in a world plagued by war. It was during the early days of World War I that 34th Fort Garry Horse Division veterinarian Lieutenant Harry Colebourn (Michael Fassbinder) purchased a small bear cub and named her Winnie after his hometown of Winnipeg. Though Coleburn's fellow soldiers repeatedly warn the Lieutenant against taking Winnie with him to the gathering point in Valcartier, Quebec where Canadian soldiers are gathering to be shipped overseas, the presence of the young cub among the troops serves as a ray of hope to the soldiers faced with the prospect of war. After traveling with the soldiers to Salisbury Plain in England, Winnie is placed in the care of the London Zoo when Harry's regiment is shipped off to fight in France. As the specter of war looms heavy in the conscience of the citizens and children of London, Winnie becomes the star attraction at the zoo. When a man named A.A. Milne brings his young son to visit the zoo, the story of the bear and her friendship with a far away soldier inspires him to create one of the most beloved characters in the history of children's literature. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This informative and disturbing docudrama is about the legal persecution of a whistle-blower, a VIP in a drug consortium with corporate offices in Basle, Switzerland. This executive went to the European Common Market (now the EU) with evidence of his company's malpractice. As a result, he was put in prison for industrial espionage for three months, his wife committed suicide during that time, and he was not allowed to go to her funeral. When he got out of prison on bail only because he managed to get to an outside lawyer, he discovered his small farm holdings in Italy were confiscated (Italy is a member of the Basle drug consortium). At the time of the filming of this documentary, the executive's legal fate was as yet undecided, but the film's implications that a drug company can be powerful enough to silence its accusers is a chilling indictment. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Cinematographer Chris Menges' first directorial effort, A World Apart was inspired by the lives of South African journalist Ruth First and her daughter Shawn Slovo (who wrote the film's screenplay). Barbara Hershey plays the fictional counterpart to Ms. First, Diana Roth, with Jodhi May as her daughter. Told from the daughter's viewpoint, the film shows us that Diana and her husband Jeroen Krabbe are so busy with their anti-Apartheid political activism that they totally shut May out of their lives. In 1963, Hershey is arrested by the South African police, becoming the first white woman to be held under the infamous 90-day-detention act. Left despondent and suicidal by two separate arrests and by constant harassment from the police, Diana still won't include her daughter in her life until the girl presses the issue in a climactic confrontation. Some critics felt that Shawn Slovo was using A World Apart to settle unresolved issues in her own life: Ruth First was killed under suspicious circumstances in 1982, without ever reconciling with her daughter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When the ailing husband of an adulterous wife is discovered bludgeoned to death and suspicions fall on the older woman's young lover, the newly widowed woman claims that it was she who was solely responsible for the death despite evidence that points to the contrary in this dramatic account of true-life 1935 trial that shocked all of England. Though notable evidence and strong suspicion suggests that the murder may have been of crime of passion perpetrated by the jealous lover only half her age, Alma Rattenbury (Helen Mirren) confesses to the murder of her husband and is soon brought to trial. Despite the fact that Alma is already being deemed guilty by the general public for her adulterous indiscretion alone, her lawyer, star attorney T.J. O'Connor (David Suchet), remains convinced that his client will eventually be cleared of all charges. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This made-for-cable thriller stars Omar Epps as Ofusu, one of nine asylum-seeking African refugees who sneak aboard a Russian cargo vessel en route to France. When the ship's captain (Joss Ackland) discovers the stowaways, he is reminded by his aggressively ambitious executive officer (Sean Pertwee) of France's current crackdown on illegal immigration, which could result in criminal and financial penalties for the crew and their parent company. To avoid embarrassment, the captain gives in to his exec's suggestion to murder the unwanted passengers and secretly dispose of their bodies at sea. Thus ensues a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, as Ofusu and his compatriots attempt to outwit their malevolent hosts -- who in turn must keep their murderous machinations hidden from a nosy representative of the shipping company (David Suchet). Slick, stylish, and suspenseful, this otherwise conventional thriller employs slasher-movie clichés in a unique setting and benefits from Epps' compelling performance. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

In this action thriller, a group of Islamic terrorists, led by Nagi Hassan (David Suchet), highjacks a 747 jetliner with 400 passengers aboard, but Lt. Col. Austin Travis (Steven Seagal), a United States intelligence agent, is convinced that this isn't an ordinary case of air piracy. His suspicions are soon confirmed; Hassan's men have obtained a large cache of stolen Soviet nerve gas, and they are using the 747 to smuggle the deadly gas into the United States, where they intend to use it to wipe out Washington D.C. and possibly the entire East Coast. As the jet approaches the U. S., engineer Dennis Cahill (Oliver Platt) designs a plan in which a military plane will be able to transfer U.S. soldiers onto the 747 and regain control of the plane and its deadly cargo. However, when Travis dies in the course of the mission, intelligence agent Dr. David Grant (Kurt Russell) is forced to take his place alongside explosives expert Cappy (Joe Morton), commando Rat (John Leguizamo), and stewardess-turned-anti-terrorist Jean (Halle Berry). Executive Decision was the first directorial assignment for veteran film editor Stuart Baird; he cut the film as well. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A harmless game among friends escalates into a dangerous game of wits against a master criminal in writer/director William Phillips' taut sophomore thriller. For seven years, Kevin (Ryan Reynolds), Samantha (Kristin Booth), and Rob (Joris Jarsky) have mastered the homespun game Foolproof, in which they plan -- but never actually execute -- a series of elaborate, high-tech heists. When ruthless British gangster Leo arrives in town to case an upcoming diamond heist, his suspicions of the three harmless role-players soon lead him to believe he has some competition. Stealing their plans for the heist and pulling off the crime without a hitch, Leo subsequently threatens to implicate the trio with the crime lest they pull off an exceptionally tricky heist for him. As the three friends fall prey to the seasoned criminal and police soon begin to catch their scent, Kevin, Samantha, and Rob must use all of their resources to make it out of the daring heist alive. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes is a reverent retelling of the Edgar Rice Burroughs original, with a 1980s-sensibilities slant. Shipwrecked on the coast of Africa, Lord Jack Clayton (Paul Geoffrey) and his pregnant wife Lady Alice (Cheryl Campbell) attempt to survive in the hostile environment, but both die shortly after the birth of their son John. Abandoned in the wilderness, the orphaned John is adopted by a family of rather highly evolved apes, and raised as one of their own. Years later, John-now known as Tarzan, and now played by Christopher Lambert-comes across a party of white hunters. Rescuing one of the intruders, Belgian Captain Phillipe D'Arnot (Ian Holm) from a horrible death , Tarzan is taught to speak English by the grateful D'Arnot. Coming across the remains and possessions of Tarzan's parents, D'Arnot discovers that the Lord of the Jungle is actually the Earl of Greystoke. Brought back to England, Tarzan is introduced to society, where his crude, apelike manners offend everyone--except the likeable (and painfully senile) 6th Lord of Greystoke (Ralph Richardson, in his final film role) and Greystoke's American ward, Jane Porter (Andie McDowell, whose Southern-fried voice is dubbed by Glenn Close). Disturbed at the notion of Tarzan's inheriting Greystoke manner, his more greedy relatives begin plotting against him. But it is Tarzan himself who decides that he cannot adapt himself to England-especially after a painful reunion with his ape foster father, imprisoned in a science-lab cage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While vacationing in the Pacific Northwest, the Henderson clan's dad George (John Lithgow), mom Nancy (Melinda Dillon), daughter Sarah (Margaret Langrick) and son Ernie (Joshua Rudroy) accidently run over a strange animal with their car, and when they get out to see what it is, they find the seemingly dead body of a hairy Bigfoot-type monster (Kevin Peter Hall). Believing that the creature is a grizzly bear, the Hendersons take it home, planning to stuff the beast and put it on display in their living room. Predictably, the hirsute monster revives and is adopted by the family as a pet. Originally conceived as a TV series by comedian Brad Garrett, Harry and the Hendersons ultimately did make it to the small screen as a weekly syndicated sitcom in 1990, with Kevin Peter Hall repeating the title role during the series' first 24 episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A seat-of-the-pants militia attitude gets a boost from this conventional drama about the heroics of a teen son anxious to free his father from captivity in a small Middle Eastern nation. Doug's (Jason Gedrick) father is an Air Force pilot who was shot down on a mission near the border of an Arab country and is now held hostage. Failing adequate U.S. intervention causes a desperate Doug to enlist his school chums in a wild plan to essentially sneak away with two Air Force jets and take off on a mission to rescue his father. He convinces the veteran Chappy (Louis Gossett, Jr.) into flying one plane, while Doug himself flies another (he learned how to pilot from his father). Yes. If audiences believe all this, then the ending should come as no surprise either. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Another of the many Sidney Sheldon novels given the TV-miniseries treatment in the 1970s and '80s, Master of the Game yielded a three-part, nine-hour extravaganza, with enough corporate and romantic intrigue to fill an entire television season. Covering nearly 100 years, the story (which remained astonishingly faithful to the book) begins in the late 19th century, when ruthless young Scottish entrepreneur Jamie McGregor (Ian Charleson) emigrates to South Africa, in hopes of accumulating enough wealth and power to get even with his longtime enemy, Dutch merchant Van der Merwe (Donald Pleasence). Thanks to an extremely prolific diamond mine, the money comes quickly -- as does vengeance, when McGregor deflowers Van der Merwe's convent-educated daughter, Margaret (Cherie Lunghi). The result of this indiscretion is a daughter named Kate (Dyan Cannon), who turns out to be the "Master" of the title. Upon attaining adulthood, Kate assumes control of her father's vast financial empire, ruling her inherited international conglomerate, and her husband, David Blackwell (David Birney), with an iron fist. The story continues into the next several generations, with Kate's lily-livered son, Tony (Harry Hamlin), giving birth to twin daughters, Eve and Alexandra (both played by Liane Langland). One is good, the other evil; the evil twin threatens threaten to destroy everything that Kate has so painstakingly built up. Eventually, they both become the victims of a sneering, malevolent gigolo (Fernando Allende) with a penchant for beating young women senseless. Told in flashback, the narrative comes to a head during Kate's 90th birthday celebration, an event tainted by the efforts of a mysterious killer to wipe the domineering matriarch and her family from the face of the earth. Largely filmed on location, Master of the Game was telecast by CBS from February 19 to 22, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Daniel J. Travanti plays a glum, no-nonsense Edward R. Murrow in this made-for-TV biopic. We follow Murrow's rise to prominence as America's foremost news commentator between the years 1940 through 1955, beginning with his on-the-spot radio coverage of the bombing of London. After the war, Murrow hosts CBS television's documentary series See It Now, which eventually leads to his legendary confrontation with Red-baiting Senator Joseph McCarthy. Murrow's own occasional compromises with his conscience, and his extramarital affairs, are bypassed in Ernest Kinoy's lean, spare script. Of more importance in the scheme of things is Murrow's edict that TV "can teach, can illuminate, and damn it, can inspire." Also in the cast are Dabney Coleman as CBS head-honcho William Paley, John McMartin as Frank Stanton, Edward Herrmann as Fred Friendly, David Suchet as William L. Shirer, and Robert Vaughn as President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Murrow debuted January 19, 1986, as an HBO Premiere Films presentation ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Academy Award-winner Roberto Benigni adapts the classic children's tale by Carlo Collodi for the big-budget family-oriented comedy Pinocchio. In his usual fashion, Benigni directs and stars, this time as the little puppet boy made out of wood. The familiar story begins as a log of pinewood falls out of a cart and lands in front of woodcarver, Geppetto (Carlo Giuffré), who carves the puppet out of longing for a son. When the puppet begins to come alive and cause trouble, Geppetto is arrested and Pinocchio is left to his own naïve worldview. After getting a stern warning from the Blue Fairy (Benigni's wife and producer Nicoletta Braschi), Pinocchio sets out to reunite with his father, become a real boy, and succumb to some desire for adventure. Along the way, he meets a number of characters played by mostly Italian stage actors, including Franco Javarone, Peppe Barra, and Kim Rossi Stuart. The popular Italian comedy team Fichi d'India plays the roles of the Cat and Fox. Released by Miramax in the U.S., the film received an English-dubbed soundtrack with the voice talents of Glenn Close, David Suchet, and Breckin Meyer as Pinocchio. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide