Travis Swords Movies

The harsh realities of life on the street merge with the universal themes of youthful pain and exhilaration in director Dito Montiel's telling tale of one boy's struggle to escape the grim fate that awaits his aimless, trouble-minded peers. For most of Montiel's friends, the only means of escaping their bleak surroundings were drugs, prison, or death. In breaking the cycle and making a name for himself as a filmmaker, Montiel showed that there are ways to overcome the urban malaise that consumed the majority of his friends. He couldn't have done it alone, though, and with this film Montiel pays tribute to those he left behind by bringing their story to the screen so that their struggles may give others in similar situations the courage to pursue a more positive, creative means of overcoming their anger. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A fish-out-of-water comedy in the vein of 1997's oft-imitated The Full Monty, Greenfingers takes as its inspiration the true story of a group of British criminals who bettered themselves through the delicate art of gardening. Croupier's Clive Owen plays Colin Briggs, a taciturn inmate doing time for murder. When it's suggested he transfer to a minimum-security prison, Colin is reluctant; at the idyllic Edgefield compound, he's slow to warm to his gregarious, botanically inclined roomie Fergus (Waking Ned Devine's David Kelly). When the warden forces Colin and his prison mates to cultivate the prison's grounds, however, the men decide it's a fate better than mopping the lavatory, and begin to take pride in their work. Their stellar efforts attract the attention of haughty celebrity gardener Georgina Woodhouse (Helen Mirren), who arranges furlough work for the men. Colin becomes particularly fervent with his bulbs and seeds, not to mention his affection for Georgina's daughter Primrose (Natasha Little). When he's offered the chance to go straight, Colin is torn between the freedom of the outside world and the comforts of his lockup flowerbed. Greenfingers made its North American premiere at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival before making the U.S. festival rounds. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

Cry in the Wild: The Taking of Peggy Ann eschews the usual "today's headlines" approach to fact-based TV movies. This 1991 film recounts an event which took place in Shade Gap, Pennsylvania, way back in 1966. A lunatic backwoodsman (David Morse) abducts a 17-year-old local girl (Megan Follows) and spirits her away to the deep woods. During her eight-day ordeal, Peggy Ann develops a sort of sympathy for the pathetic creature who has kidnapped her out of a misguided sense of love. Meanwhile, virtually every authority within a 50-mile radius scours the timberland in search of the girl and her captor. Whether or not Cry in the Wild: The Taking of Peggy Ann was necessary 25 years after the fact is debatable, but one can't deny that the accomplished performances of David Morse and Megan Follows smooth over the script's bumpier sections. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Karen Arthur, the Emmy-winning director of Cagney and Lacey, was in the driver's seat for the made-for-TV psychological terror film Bump in the Night. Meredith Baxter-Birney plays a onetime famous reporter who's drunk herself into near-oblivion. Her turbulent life takes a desperate turn when her 8-year-old son (Corey Carrier) is kidnapped by a dangerous pedophile (Christopher Reeves). The boy has escaped from his captor, and now his mother must find him before the kidnapper does. Richard Bradford plays the cop on the case, who'd rather do without the interference of Ms. Baxter-Birney. Bump in the Night is commendably subtle and straightforward in handling the potentially lurid details of its story. Historical note: In March of 1995, Bump in the Night became the first feature film ever telecast on the E! Entertainment Cable Network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Made for the TNT cable network, The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson concentrates on the wartime service of major league baseball's first black player. Robinson (Andre Braugher), a star athlete at UCLA, is drafted during World War II. He hopes that his academic record will assure him entry into Officers Candidate School, but the racism inherent in the military at the time puts several roadblocks in his way. After finally making OCS, Robinson's belief in himself is strengthened tenfold--to the point that he refuses to bow to the "Jim Crow" laws regarding the seating arrangements on an Army bus, and is subsequently threatened with a court martial. Stan Shaw costars as boxing great Joe Louis, likewise a victim of prejudice during the war years (the script intimates that Louis was more willing to roll with the punches than Robinson). Ruby Dee, who played the ballplayer's wife in the 1950 film The Jackie Robinson Story, is here seen as Robinson's mother. The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson premiered on October 15, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

For his third film as a director and his third film directing Clint Eastwood, stunt-man Buddy Van Horn helmed this action comedy involving a skip tracer, some neo-nazis, and the titular vehicle. Eastwood stars as Tommy Nowak, a bounty hunter with a knack for catching bail-skippers with an array of costumes and characters. After he captures a young woman (Bernadette Peters), he suddenly finds himself between the woman's good-for-nothing husband and his white supremacist cohorts and the wads of cash hidden in the pink Cadillac she's driving. With the skin-heads hot on their tail, a romance sparks between the skip-tracer and his captive. Written by John Eskow, Pink Cadillac costars Timothy Carhart and Michael Des Barres. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Project X is a top-secret government undertaking involving trained chimpanzees. Grounded pilot Matthew Broderick, assigned to teach the chimps how to operate a flight simulator, discovers that his charges are to be subjected to high levels of radiation to test potential human endurance. Risking a court martial, Broderick links up with Helen Hunt, the researcher who has taught the chimps sign language, to save the simians from destruction. The serious subtext of Project X is forgotten during a Disneyesque comic finale, wherein the lovable chimps nearly trigger a nuclear meltdown! Without taking anything away from human stars Matthew Broderick and Helen Hunt, we must note that the most engaging performance in Project X is delivered by Willie the Chimp, who essays the challenging role of Virgil the Chimp. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This heartwarming tale of courage and devotion is set during the Vietnam war and centers upon a young medic who makes extra money on the side dealing drugs. His life is forever changed when he meets an Army doctor who persuades him to help her save a group of war orphans. First she appeals to his sense of guilt; then she blackmails him into assisting. The children are cared for by a few Vietnamese nuns. The doctor and the medic bring them badly needed food and supplies. To do this, the brave duo must face enemy bombs and the resistance of the US government. This is based on a true story and though wrenching, it is not syrupy or sentimental. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide