Fred Ward

Addison (Kate Walsh) is not happy when Sloan (Eric Dane) joins the staff, and in consequence suffers a severe attack of self-doubt just when her patient, a pregnant woman (Tina Holmes), needs her most. Cristina (Sandra Oh) wants Burke (Isaiah Washington) to continue his rehab, but he is anxious to prove that he's a capable a surgeon as ever, hand tremors or no hand tremors. Still unsettled in matters of the heart, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) is ill-prepared for a medical emergency. And Izzie (Katherine Heigl) receives an astonishing "reward" from the father (Fred Ward) of the late Denny Duquette. Weaving through all this intrigue is the story of ailing car salesman Shawn Sullivan (Alan Blumenfield). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Inasmuch as the made-for-cable The Last Ride was assembled by the same folks responsible for such action films as The Fast and the Furious and XXX, one shouldn't be surprised that the picture is virtually one long thrill-packed car chase. Released from prison after three decades, modern-day outlaw Ronnie Purnell (Dennis Hopper) is determined to get even with Darryl Kurtz (Fred Ward), the cop who in 1974 put Ronnie away after a violent skirmish in which Ronnie's wife was killed. To this end, Purnell enlists the aid of his hero-worshipping grandson, Matthew (Chris Carmack), who brings along his sexy girlfriend (and ace auto mechanic) JJ Cruz (Nadine Velazquez). Wasting no time, Purnell revs up his beloved 1969 Pontiac GTO, in which he has the key to a safety deposit box containing damning evidence against Kurtz, and embarks on a spectacular crime-and-speed spree. Hoping to stop Purnell dead in his tracks is his own police officer son (and Matthew's father), Aaron Purnell (Will Patton), who had been raised by Kurtz after the arrest of his dad and the death of his mom. Described by one critic as "an 87-minute car commercial," The Last Ride originally aired June 2, 2004, on the USA cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Enigmatic rock legend Bob Dylan stars as an enigmatic rock legend (talk about a casting coup!) in this purposefully eccentric satiric comedy. Uncle Sweetheart (John Goodman) is an unscrupulous concert promoter who has figured out a way to cash in on the feelings of doubt and uncertainty that plague his nation, which is being torn apart by civil war and political revolution. Sweetheart has decided he will stage a massive benefit concert, though the unnamed charity would appear to be his checking account. Sweetheart hires television producer Nina Veronica (Jessica Lange) to help promote the show and sell it as a nation-wide cable-cast event, while Sweetheart pulls a few strings to arrange for the perfect headliner -- Jack Fate (Bob Dylan), a legendary songwriter who is currently serving a term in prison. With Fate out from behind bars, Sweetheart and Veronica set out to sell their grand spectacle to the world, though one determined investigative journalist (Jeff Bridges) has set out to throw a spenner into the works of Uncle Sweetheart and his epic fundraiser. Marking the directorial debut of comedy writer Larry Charles, Masked and Anonymous also features Penelope Cruz and Luke Wilson; the film was shown in competition at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A Cinderella story turns into a nightmare when a former waitress' perfect marriage gives way to adultery and physical abuse in this combination of domestic drama and revenge thriller. Motherless young woman Slim (Jennifer Lopez) works in a San Francisco diner with her best friend, Ginny (Juliette Lewis). After almost succumbing to the slick flirtation of an insincere customer (Noah Wyle), she is rescued by another dashing diner named Mitch (Bill Campbell). A few years later, the now happily married couple seem to have it all -- a perfect house, a precocious daughter (Tessa Allen), and a comfortable life. Then, Slim discovers that Mitch is actually a lothario who has been sleeping with other women behind her back. When she protests, he slaps her around and uses daughter Gracie as leverage to keep her in line. Slim enlists the help of her friends to escape with her child, though Mitch attacks and very nearly kills her in the process. Going on the lam, Slim adopts a series of new identities, wigs, and residences to avoid the goons Mitch has sent to retrieve her. Along the way, she receives help from Joe (Dan Futterman), a friend and old flame from college. Ultimately, Mitch and his unexpected allies so terrify Slim that she must turn the tables and transform herself from hunted to hunter. In doing so, she receives some surprise assistance of her own -- from Jupiter (Fred Ward), the rich father who abandoned her mother years ago. Although the soundtrack to Enough features the music of star J. Lo, the title song was written especially for the film by Magnolia tunesmith Aimee Mann. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

A world famous thief's disappearance and assumed murder set the scene for co-directors Stephen Beckner and Michael Huber's feature film debut in the detective film/media satire A.K.A. Birdseye. Two hapless residents of Colorado, Heidi Logan (Amy Hathaway) and Trent Doone (Johnny Whitworth), somehow manage to track down and kidnap Urs Vogelaug (Stefan Kurt), a bizarre performance artist who uses the name Birdseye when committing his fabulously extravagant robberies. Hot on their trail is Sheriff Nolan Sharpless (Fred Ward), who eventually traps the kidnappers at the Denver Airport, but loses Birdseye, who was apparently locked in a suitcase. The thief is initially presumed dead, but is later identified as the chief suspect in a string of robberies throughout Colorado. Meanwhile, the news media seizes upon the story and make a spectacle out of it, much to the chagrin of Sharpless, who has begun tracking Birdseye with the assistance of his son, Ben (Fred Koehler). As the media stretches and distorts the truth, Sharpless starts to lose sight of his investigation, as well as his own sense of reality. A.K.A. Birdseye was chosen as an official selection to the 2002 Locarno International Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

A woman tries to make sense of her relationship with her mother -- who also happens to be her boss and landlady -- in this dramatic comedy. Iris (Laura Linney) has never had an especially warm relationship with her mother Min (Gena Rowlands), but after her husband committed suicide, Iris was emotionally shattered and had nowhere to go, so Min allowed her to move into the family home and help her out with her business, Bluebird Bridals. Eight years later, Iris and her son Lonnie (Emile Hirsch) are still "temporarily" with Min, and they're all still trying to make the best of an often combustible situation. Min finds herself fending off the advances of Mando (Miguel Sandoval), an elderly wedding photographer with romance on his mind, while Iris has to convince Erroll Podubney (Fred Ward) to pay for the wedding being staged for his daughter, whose nuptials have been given a special urgency by her pregnancy. And with no male role models around the house, Lonnie looks for advice from Lud (Lee Tergesen), a gas jockey at a local filling station. Wild Iris was produced for the Showtime premium cable network, where it premiered on August 5, 2001. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

As the title character of Joe Dirt, David Spade plays a "white trash" janitor at an L.A. radio station, whose mullet hairdo is just one of many personal oddities that make him the object of much ridicule. And the sanitation gig is just the most recent of Joe's many incarnations during a tumultuous life, which got off on the wrong foot when Joe was abandoned at the Grand Canyon by his parents as a young child. After stumbling into the on-air studio, Joe steadily recounts the sad and comical story of how he cared for himself and journeyed around the country trying to relocate his family, all while being prodded, teased, and eventually embraced by a sarcastic deejay (Dennis Miller) and a rapt listening audience. His travels involve stints selling fireworks, wrangling alligators, riding aloft in a car dealership display balloon, and being held captive by a Silence of the Lambs-style serial killer. Despite numerous setbacks and bruising physical injuries, Joe emerges from each episode with his spirit intact as he searches optimistically for his roots, and eventually for the chance to return to the one place he was accepted -- a rural farm where the girl of his dreams (Brittany Daniel) awaits. The directorial debut of Dennie Gordon, Joe Dirt was produced by Adam Sandler's production company, Happy Madison, and features musician Kid Rock, also debuting, in the supporting role of Joe's rival. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

Hard-drinking newspaper reporter John McWhirter (Fred Ward) finds himself in the middle of a messy political assassination plot when he is compelled to keep in his house an on-the-lam Palestinian operative, Armiti Khalq (Rachel Ticotin). McWhirter, who is being heavily pressured by his editor (Virginia Madsen) to come up with a scoop, has no choice but to keep the woman safe as a payback to two old friends he apparently betrayed when they were university radicals during the turbulent 1960s. The overreaching FBI bureau chief, Robert Lecker (Christopher Plummer), is anxious to find the woman and send McWhirter and his companions away -- unless they happen to die first. Meanwhile, a manic hit woman, Michelle (Penelope Ann Miller), discovers Armiti's hiding place and closes in for the kill, just as McWhirter returns home. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

In this crime thriller, Jason Chandler (Patrick Muldoon) is an FBI agent who is trying to hunt down a serial killer nicknamed "The Silencer" for his habit of cutting out the tongues of his victims. As Chandler tries to uncover the trail of "The Silencer," he is recruited for an elite FBI unit called the "Red Team," which is devoted solely to hunting down serial killers; however, the more Chandler studies their methods, the more he finds himself thinking the Red Team may be doing more harm than good. Chandler also finds himself developing a very non-professional relationship with his new partner, Stephanie Dobson (Cathy Moriarty). As Jason and Stephanie do research on The Silencer, they discover evidence that there's another unusual killer on the loose -- a multiple murderer who is targeting serial killers. Red Team was also released under the title The Crimson Code. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The third installment of The Crow series, The Crow: Salvation opens with the electrocution of death row inmate Alex Corvis (Eric Mabius) on his 21st birthday. Falsely convicted of the brutal stabbing murder of his girlfriend Lauren (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) three years earlier, Alex spent the duration of his imprisonment insisting that Lauren was murdered by a man with a series of distinctive scars up and down his arms; unfortunately, the police never found any trace of him. Immediately following Alex's messy electrocution, during which his leather mask melted onto his face, his guardian crow appears to resurrect him. After clawing off the mask, which leaves some interesting burn marks on his face, Alex sets out to find Lauren's killer and clear his own name. He finds an ally for his cause in Erin (Kirstin Dunst), Lauren's sister. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Marshall Herskovitz directed this look at life in 16th-century Venice, based on Margaret Rosenthal's 1994 book The Honest Courtesan. Positioned outside of the Venetian court, Veronica Franco (Catherine McCormack) hopes to rise above her station, but her interest in nobleman's son Marco Venier (Rufus Sewell) is blocked since his parents forbid their marriage. Following the path taken by her mother, Paola (Jacqueline Bisset), Veronica becomes a courtesan, finding this gives her a niche in the male-dominated society. When Vatican emissaries accuse her of witchcraft, she lashes back, using the trial as a feminist forum to expose the hypocrisies of the period. Filmed in 1996 in Venice and Rome with a variety of working titles (Courtesan, Venice, and The Honest Courtesan). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide