John Michael Bolger Movies
- 2009
- R
- Add Public Enemies to Queue
Based on author Bryan Burrough's ambitious tome Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43, director Michael Mann's sprawling historical crime drama follows the efforts of top FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale ) in capturing notorious bank robber John Dillinger. A folk hero to the American public thanks to his penchant for robbing the banks that many people believed responsible for the Great Depression, charming bandit Dillinger (Johnny Depp) was virtually unstoppable at the height of his criminal career; no jail could hold him, and his exploits endeared him to the common people while making headlines across the country. J. Edgar Hoover's (Billy Crudup) FBI was just coming into formation, and what better way for the ambitious lawman to transform his fledgling Bureau of Investigation into a national police force than to capture the gang that always gets away? Determined to bust Dillinger and his crew, which also included sociopathic Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Alvin Karpis (Giovanni Ribisi), Hoover christened Dillinger the country's very first Public Enemy Number One, and unleashed Purvis to take them down by whatever means necessary. But Purvis underestimated Dillinger's ingenuity as a master criminal, and after embarking on a frantic series of chases and shoot-outs, the dashing agent humbly surmised that he was in over his head. Outwitted and outgunned, Purvis knew that his only hope for busting Dillinger's gang was to baptize a crew of Western ex-lawmen as official agents, and orchestrate a series of betrayals so cunning that even America's criminal mastermind wouldn't know what hit him. Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum, and Stephen Dorff co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, (more)
- 2007
Hell's Kitchen, New York City: In an era when real estate development and gentrification threaten to squeeze low-income residents out of this vibrant, multi-ethnic community, filmmaker Kamal Ahmed turns his camera on the people who walk these streets every day to offer a portrait of the neighborhood that has been immortalized in movies for decades. It's one of the Big Apple's most notorious neighborhoods, and the people who live there are the kind of folks who have to struggle just to get by. In order to pay tribute to Hell's Kitchen, Ahmed speaks with the very people who made it great. These are the laborers, the painters, barbers, tattoo artists, and other working class heroes. After paying tribute to a place many thought would never change, the filmmaker returns to highlight the redevelopment project that made it virtually unrecognizable in 2007. Appearances by such neighborhood fixtures as John Michael Bolger, Charlie Sheen, Lloyd Kaufmann, and Mira Sorvino make this an urban love letter that's sure to strike a chord deep within every nostalgic New Yorker. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2005
Three 12-year-old boys grow up a bit faster than they expected when an adventure takes an unforseen turn in this bittersweet comedy. Joe (Soren Fulton), Tiger (Matthew Borish), and Chris (Sam Semenza) are best friends growing up together in Allentown, PA. The three boys look to one another for support as they struggle with their personal issues -- Joe's big brother is in Europe, Tiger's dad is a cop who has developed a drinking problem, and Chris is a target for bullies since he's overweight. When Joe reads some open mail in his house that leads him to suspect his parents haven't been honest with him about a trip they're planning while he's away at baseball camp, he and his friends hit the road for Philadelphia to find out the truth. While Joe, Tiger, and Chris try at first to make the 60-mile trip on their bikes, the fates have other plans, and they soon turn to hitchhiking. The boys are picked up by a grubby guy named Rascal (Michael Dean), who en route sticks up a convenience store, and the three runaways aren't sure if they're hostages or accomplices as the police begin looking for them and Rascal at the same time. Rounding First was the first feature film from writer and director Jim Fleigner. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Soren Fulton, Matthew Borish, (more)
- 2001
Andy Sipowicz' (Dennis Franz) joy over being promoted is tempered by his grief at the funeral of former partner Danny Sorenson. Additionally, Andy is nervous about being teamed with John Clark Jr. (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), the son of an old and vengeful enemy (Joe Spano). Before the reason for the animosity between Andy and Joe Sr. is revealed, the squad tackles a burglary-homicide case involving a valuable guitar and a nutty roommate (Pamela Gordon), and tries to nail the victim's husband in a stabbing death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Simmons
- 2000
A man finds himself filled with questions when he learns that his time is drawing to a close in this semi-improvised drama. Francis Seed (John Michael Bolger) has just been told that he is seriously ill and does not have long to live. Emotionally shattered, Seed begins to drift, contemplating the mess that he's made of his life and trying to figure out what it all means. Seed takes to stopping strangers at random and asking them to discuss the meaning of life, running the gamut from housewives, religious leaders, and jazz musicians to alcoholic street people and sex workers. Seed's aimless travels eventually take him to the ocean, where he dives into the water and allows fate to take its course. The directorial debut for director and cameraman Bobby Sheehan, Seed was well received in its screening at the 2000 L.A. Independent Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Michael Bolger
- 1999
Carey Lowell makes a return appearance as former A.D.A. Jamie Ross, now in private practice as a defense attorney. Jamie's reunion with her former partner Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) and boss Adam Schiff (Steven Hill) is hardly a festive occasion: She is representing a previous client who claims to have new evidence concerning a death-row prisoner. If what her client says is true, Jamie is in the unenviable position of going head to head with her ex-colleagues in a tense courtroom battle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Simone (Jimmy Smits) has dinner with Jill (Andrea Thompson). A million dollars' worth of diamonds turns up missing -- along with the sister of a diamond dealer. Martinez (Nicholas Turturro) is galvanized into action when Gina Colon (Lourdes Benedicto) is attacked and slashed, while the rest of the precinct tries to shield Gina from further emotional damage. And after filing her report on the Liery case, recovering alcoholic Diane (Kim Delaney) thinks seriously about crawling back into a bottle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
After seven weeks of reruns and pre-emptions, ER resumed its third season on April 10, 1997, with a steady string of new episodes. In this one, Greene (Anthony Edwards) is accused of favoring a white patient over a black one when both teenagers arrive at the same time in the ER with gunshot wounds. Elsewhere, Jeanie (Gloria Reuben) discovers by accident that Carla (Lisa Nicole Carson) is pregnant with Benson's (Eriq La Salle) baby; Carol (Julianna Margulies) suspects that an 18-year-old patient was drugged and date-raped; and Carter (Noah Wyle) devotes his entire shift to a case that has already been written off as hopeless. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Dean (John Michael Bolger) is tired of wandering around the world as a merchant marine, and is trying to settle down in his hometown of New York City. He is just barely able to keep body and soul together as a part-time taxi driver, and will be out on the streets if his sister succeeds in selling his parent's old apartment to their cousin. Nonetheless, he has a yen to marry a nice Asian girl, and contracts with a mail-order-bride service to marry Dalisay (Madeline Ortaliz), a young Filipina. She has entered into this arrangement because she wants to earn money for her impoverished family and for her sister to have a needed operation. It is not until they are married that Dalisay discovers that Dean, otherwise a decent enough husband, doesn't want her to work. This would not be a problem, except that Dean is unable to keep a job. Their efforts to cope with one another's needs and expectations form the backbone of this independent film production. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
A talented young rock keyboardist allows his life to fall into the gutter after he loses both hands during a mugging. He is later fitted with special hand extensions, but these neither allow him to play music nor much of anything else. Despondent, he starts drinking heavily and soon finds himself a self-pitying homeless street bum in New York. His life starts improving after he encounters Anamika, a New Age girl who befriends him and introduces him to special friends, one a computer genius and the other, her landlady, a metal sculptor. Together with some assistance from his roommate, the three devise a marvelous set of hands for the boy, ones endowed with special qualities that allow to play music even better than before. Billing himself as Cyberstorm, the lad becomes a star. A hometown concert gives him a chance at revenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christina Applegate, James Marshall, (more)
Carlito's Way is a tale of a former hood trying to escape his former life. Al Pacino is Carlito Brigante, a high-level Puerto Rican drug dealer sprung from a three-decade jail sentence after only five years, thanks to a technicality and his sleazy, cocaine-addled lawyer, Dave Kleinfeld (Sean Penn). Carlito renounces his previous ways and takes a job as the manager of a club that Kleinfeld has invested in, planning to save enough money so that he can eventually move to the Caribbean. But no sooner is Carlito back on the streets of New York than his old life claws at him in the form of both old partners (Luis Guzman) and vicious up-and-comers (John Leguizamo). Nevertheless, Carlito stays clean and even restarts his relationship with a dancer named Gail (Penelope Ann Miller), until he is finally led astray by Kleinfeld, who manipulates Carlito into participating in the murder of a Mafia don from whom Kleinfeld has stolen a million dollars. At that point, the race is on to see whether Carlito and Gail can escape his world for good. The film is based on two novels about Carlito written by New York State judge Edwin Torres. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
John Candy plays Jack Gable, a soap-opera writer who finds himself trapped inside his own television program with a magic typewriter in this toothless comedy. Jack finds himself embroiled in protecting his beloved Laura (Emma Samms), an actress who plays Rachel Hedison in Jack's show -- "Beyond Our Dreams" -- from having her character being killed off by the program's producers, the Sherwoods (Jerry Orbach, Renee Taylor). Laura has recently broken off with her co-star and lover Dennis (David Rasche) and is heading off for a weekend with Jack. As Jack unloads Laura's luggage, he conks himself on the head and knocks himself out. He awakens in a town bearing a name similar to the town in his soap opera. Dennis is on hand, but as his character in the show -- Dr. Paul Kirkland. Jack realizes that he has found himself in an alternative world made up of his soap opera world -- particularly apparent when he is recognized as Jack Gates, "the Wolf of Wall Street." Jack then meets Laura, who, in this soap opera world, is actually Janet Dubois, the daughter of a late biochemist who invented a pill that allows anyone to eat whatever they want and not gain any weight. The unscrupulous Hedison family (Raymond Burr, Charles Rocket, Dylan Baker) want to steal the formula for the pill and make a fortune for their pharmaceutical company. Jack then discovers that he can exit and re-enter the show at will and can alter the narrative of the show however he wants by typing up new plot points on his typewriter. In order to save Laura's character from the Sherwoods, Jack re-writes the show to save Janet by having his own character come to her rescue at the last minute. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Candy, Mariel Hemingway, (more)
- 1990
Metro officer Joanne Molenski (Darlanne Fluegel) goes undercover to investigate a series of robberies in which the victims were wealthy women who'd been followed home by the perpetrators. Unfortunately, Molenski is mugged, and her gun is stolen. Worse still, the gun is later used in a robbery-murder--and unless Hunter can do something about it, Molenski's career (and self-esteem!) may be in serious jeopardy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The central "gimmick" of the comedy-adventure Twins is established early on. Unbeknownst to one another, king-sized Arnold Schwarzenegger and gnomeish Danny De Vito are twin brothers. Even better: Schwarzenegger is a mild-mannered, bookish type, while De Vito is a vitriolic troublemaker. The film takes satiric jabs at the notion of "perfect" genetics, and makes several pointed comments concerning the dangers of youthful pre-conditioning by insensitive parents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito, (more)
