Jacob Vargas Movies

The first biographical film produced by the FX cable channel, RFK covers the last five years in the life of Robert F. Kennedy, here played by British actor Linus Roache. The narrative begins in 1963, with the assassination of Bobby's brother, president John F. Kennedy (Martin Donovan). His appointment as Attorney General already a source of outrage for resentful new President Lyndon Johnson (James Cromwell), Bobby now finds himself in the position of proving his worth all over again -- not only to his brother's successor and the world, but also himself. With the spirit of his brother acting as counsel, Bobby succeeds beyond his wildest dreams, especially in the field of social and racial reform. By 1968, he is a viable candidate for the presidency himself, and there seems to be no stopping him -- but fate, as it often will, again takes a hand in matters. Unlike previous cinematic recaps of the early 1960s, RFK is careful not to identify its characters as heroes or heels, but instead as human beings with all the strengths and shortcomings indigenous to the species. Filmed in Ontario, RFK originally aired on August 25, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Four blue collar Latino San Antonio restaurant workers become involved in a hunt for a mythical buried chest of silver coins with a startlingly tragic outcome. Jesse (Jesse Borrego), a dishwasher, is self-taught, intelligent, and very bitter; he's spent years putting together the pieces of the puzzle that lead to the hidden treasure of Jesus Gonzales, the Judas-like traitor who was paid to turn in Gregorio Cortez, a turn-of-the-century Mexican folk hero. Hard working cook Miguel (Jacob Vargas) is Jesse's happy-go-lucky cousin who is working on a graphic novel about Cortez, whom Miguel insists is an ancestor. Nena (Maria Candelaria) is a waitress on her way to graduate school when she discovers the plan to recover the silver, and she involves Carlos (Rick Delgado), a waiter who has had a falling out with Jesse. Somehow they have to get to the spot of the buried silver, which happens to be in the middle of a U.S. military base, and Jesse decides the best cover is during the annual Come and Take It Day celebration that commemorates the Cortez events. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

So many screenwriters have surreptitiously updated the works of Mark Twain with contemporary jargon and "political correctness", without saying they've done as much, that it's a bit refreshing to see an admitted, all-out updating of Twain. Scenarist Chrstopher Sturgeon has transplanted the characters and situations of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn into a modern-day setting that accomodates both Hannibal, Missouri and Las Vegas, Nevada! The "Huck" counterpart, played by Chauncey Leopardi, escapes his abusive stepfather in the company of a cardsharp named Injun Joe-played herein by genuine Native American Graham Greene. Featured in the cast are such surefire laughgetters as Joe Piscopo and John Astin, the latter cast in the "Widow Douglas" role (you have to be there). As audacious and stilted as it sounds, Huck and the King of Hearts works, and works beautifully. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this futuristic sci-fi fantasy, a police officer is assisted in stopping crime by a giant mechanical dinosaur. The great creature was transformed from a child's toy by an enigmatic time traveler. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this fact-based made-for-cable docudrama, Leonard Nimoy stars as Mel Mermelstein, a Nazi death camp survivor who wages a court battle against the revisionist Institute for Historical Review over their claims that the Holocaust never occurred. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

The Children of Times Square are alienated and disenfranchised kids from all over the country. With nowhere to go and no real purpose in life, they converge on the streets of New York, totally vulnerable despite their outward toughness. Howard Rollins plays a ruthless cocaine dealer who, in the tradition of Fagin, wins the confidence of many of these kids and organizes them into a criminal gang. The film traces the "recruitment" by Rollins of two teenagers, runaway Brandon Douglas and New Yorker Danny Nucci. Joanna Cassidy plays Douglas' mother, who desperately tries to free her son from Rollins' influence. Made for TV, Children of Times Square debuted on March 3, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The acronymic B.R.A.T. Patrol originally aired as a 2-hour entry on The Disney Sunday Movie. The appropriately named title characters are the children of a group of Marine non-coms. Running roughshod around a UMC base, the "patrol's" reputation is so bad that no one believes the kids' story about overhearing a plot to steal valuable government equipment. In true Disney fashion, the kids take on the baddies themselves. Sean Astin is cast as the head BRAT, while Brian Keith (the ostensible "star," though he's billed fifth) does his usually over-loud overacting as the General. The B.R.A.T. Patrol first assembled for inspection on October 26, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Christian Slater comes back for another round of that old True Romance in this tale of two young lovers who set out on the lam after discovering a substantial cache of dirty money. Duke is a hapless Iraq War veteran who just can't seem to pull his life together after returning home. While his love for pretty girlfriend Amber runs deep, there seems to be something just beyond reach that's keeping him from making the transition from soldier to civilian. When Duke stumbles onto the scene of a botched drug deal and notices a large duffel bag overflowing with cash, he picks up Amber, stops off for a quick wedding, and hits the road with a bag full of bills and a beautiful new bride. At first it seems like nothing can stop this young couple from conquering the world, but someone is missing that money, and he's determined to get it back. Pollen (Slater) is a corrupt DEA agent who is willing to kill in order to reclaim the cash he believes is rightfully his, and chances are he'll slay this young couple even if they agree to give it back. With time running out and Pollen closing in, Duke and Amber will be forced to outrun and outwit a madman that has all the resources needed to track them anywhere they run to. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Twenty-two people become unwitting participants in a tragic and defining moment of the 1960's in this period drama from actor and director Emilio Estevez. It's early June in 1968, and the California presidential primary elections are occupying the minds of many in the Golden State, with Robert F. Kennedy in a close race against Eugene McCarthy and Hubert Humphrey. The Kennedy campaign staff has set up camp at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, while the staff and guests become observers as the brother of fallen president John F. Kennedy sets out to pick up where his sibling left off. Paul (William H. Macy) is the manager of the Ambassador, and his wife Miriam (Sharon Stone) is a hairdresser who runs's the hotel's beauty salon. Angela (Heather Graham) is a receptionist working the hotel's switchboard who has been sleeping with Paul behind Miriam's back. Timmons (Christian Slater) is in charge of the hotel's restaurant and catering department, and makes no secret of his dislike of the African-Americans and Latinos under his employ. Miguel (Jacob Vargas) and Jose (Freddy Rodriguez) are two young Chicanos on the kitchen staff who have it in for Timmons, while Robinson (Laurence Fishburne) is an older black man who counsels them on dealing with their rage. Virginia Fallon (Demi Moore) sings in the hotel's cocktail lounge and has a serious problem with alcohol; her husband Tim (Emilio Estevez) is a Kennedy supporter and also her manager, and he's nearing the end of his rope in dealing with her problem. William (Elijah Wood) is a young man desperate to avoid being drafted and sent to Vietnam; Diane (Lindsay Lohan) is a pretty young woman dating William's brother who agrees to marry him so William can avoid being drafted, though William is clearly infatuated with her while she considers this a marriage in name only. John Casey (Anthony Hopkins) is one of the owners of the Ambassador, and Nelson (Harry Belafonte) is an old friend who works at the hotel. And Jack (Martin Sheen) is a wealthy Kennedy campaign financier who is married to Samantha (Helen Hunt), an attractive but much younger woman. Bobby also features Joshua Jackson, Nick Cannon and Shia LaBeouf as young Kennedy campaign volunteers, while Ashton Kutcher, Joy Bryant, Kip Pardue and Mary Elizabeth Winstead also highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The truth doesn't come easy, and when the truth involves the mob, the police, and the vengeful survivor of a gangland massacre, it comes screaming in a hail of bullets in this tough-as-nails crime drama from King's Ransom director Jeff Byrd. Left for dead by the mob and then used by police to draw out the same men who nearly sent her to an early grave, Rayne Johnson (Regina King) is caught up in the middle of a battle that's about to blow up. As tension mounts and loyalties shift, the line between good and evil is blurred and Rayne soon learns that the only person she can trust to get her though this mess alive is herself. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Three lifelong friends from East L.A. reach significant turning points in their lives that challenge their unshakable loyalty to one another. Danny (Jacob Vargas) desires to impress his handicapped father by taking a difficult, low-paying job at a bakery; Raymo (Clifton Collins Jr.) turns to selling drugs for a brutal local kingpin, Gramps (Lobo Sebastian); and ladies' man Alfonso (Greg Serano) meets his match in Lucy (Priscilla Garita), who is pregnant. When Raymo is robbed of 1,500 dollars of Gramps' profits, the friends come together to defend Raymo, with ugly consequences. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

Described by director Steven Soderbergh as "Nashville meets The French Connection," this multi-character drama explores the effects of international drug trafficking on all fronts: from their source, to the U.S. border, to the federal government, to the private lives of users. Based upon a miniseries originally aired on Britain's Channel 4, Traffic divides its time among three main storylines and almost a dozen locales. The first and primary plot thread, set in Ohio and Washington, D.C., concerns freshly-appointed drug czar Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas), whose enthusiasm for his new prestige position is quickly offset when he realizes his 16-year-old daughter Caroline (Erika Christensen) is graduating from recreational drug use to habitual abuse -- a secret that his wife, Barbara (Amy Irving), has kept from him. South of the border, Mexican cop Javier Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro) attempts to wage his own war on drugs, heading off a cocaine shipment in the middle of the desert with his less-than-virtuous partner Manolo Sanchez (Jacob Vargas). Surrounded by corruption, Javier approaches the drug war with an attitude of patience and compromise, which opens him up to investigation from General Arturo Salazar (Tomas Milian), the country's dubious drug-enforcement liaison to the U.S. Meanwhile, San Diego drug kingpin Carlos Alaya (Steven Bauer) is caught in a sting operation spearheaded by DEA agents Montel Gordon (Don Cheadle) and Ray Castro (Luis Guzman), leaving behind his very pregnant and very oblivious wife, Helena (Catharine Zeta-Jones). At the behest of Carlos' lawyer and shady confidante, Arnie Metzger (Dennis Quaid), Helena decides to carry on the family business -- with tragic consequences. Adapted by Rules of Engagement scribe Stephen Gaghan, Traffic marked Soderbergh's second major release in 2000 after the critical and box-office success of Erin Brockovich, as well as his second feature as cinematographer (credited under the pseudonym Peter Andrews). A favorite with various guild and critics' awards, Traffic won four Academy Awards in 2001, including statues for Best Supporting Actor (Del Toro) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Gaghan), and surprise wins for Steven Mirrone's editing and Soderbergh's direction. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide