Jake Weber Movies
One of Hollywood's standbys for playing genial everymen during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, Jake Weber hailed from Britain. His roles typically constituted bit parts in A-list Hollywood features, beginning with that of Kyra Sedgwick's (unnamed) boyfriend in the Oliver Stone-directed period saga Born on the Fourth of July (1989) and continuing with work for directors including Sidney Lumet (A Stranger Among Us, 1992), the late Alan J. Pakula (The Pelican Brief, 1993) and Martin Brest (Meet Joe Black, 1998). Weber fortified his nice-guy image -- and scored one of his premier leads -- as Dr. Matt Crower, a kindly physician who takes charge of a young boy and protects him from a possessed sheriff -- in actor-turned-producer Shaun Cassidy's short-lived supernatural drama series American Gothic (1995) on CBS. Unfortunately, that program soon folded after it first bowed, as did the Mike Binder sitcom The Mind of the Married Man (2001), in which Weber signed on as one of the leads, Chicago newspaper employee Jake Berman. After a substantial role in the gory horror remake Dawn of the Dead (2004), Weber played one of the leads in the popular CBS series Medium -- as Joe Dubois, the husband of a woman (Patricia Arquette) plagued by psychic visions, who uses her ability to help solve crimes. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Though this film is billed as a comedy, it does contain some violent moments as it follows a young man's journey across the U.S. in search of himself. Our hero is vegetarian Charles Thundertrunk whose father owns the fabulously successful fast-food chain Burger World. At his father's request Charlie reluctantly goes on a tour to promote the restaurants. His journey turns inward after he witnesses a violent shootout at a Burger World outlet. Upon his new journey he re-encounters his childhood hero, Glosser. Glosser is a spaced New Ager who believes everything happens for the best. He bases his philosophy upon a near-death experience. Glosser's journal was stolen by an evil arsonist. Charlie and Glosser decide to search for it together which leads them to the films fiery climax. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Huddleston, Vincent Schiavelli, (more)
- 1994
- R
Will (Kirk Baltz) served in the American Army in Vietnam. More particularly, he became a prisoner of war in Vietnam. In fact, the thing it is most necessary to know about him is that, after being tortured to reveal everything he knew which might be of use to his captors, he was nursed back to health by one of the women Viet Cong, a mixed-race girl named Sophia (Hil Cato). The experience so scalded him that he cannot bring himself to have sex with any of the pretty Asian prostitutes he usually tattoos for a living. One of his non-Asian female customers (Nora Ariffin) decides to try cut through the sludge of his neuroses and see what makes him tick. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jake Weber
Embroiled in an affair with Thomas Callahan (Sam Shephard), her alcoholic professor, precocious 24-year-old Tulane University law student Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts) writes up an insightful theory about the recent murder of two Supreme Court justices, one of whom, Abraham Rosenberg (Hume Cronyn), served as Callahan's mentor. When Callahan shares this so-called "Pelican Brief" with buddy Gavin Verheek (John Heard), an FBI lawyer, the document makes its way to White House flack Fletcher Coal (Tony Goldwyn), who believes it could topple the current administration. When Callahan is murdered and the President (Robert Culp) convinces the FBI to hold off on investigating Darby's theory, the resourceful student must go into hiding, stalked by relentless assassin Khamel (Stanley Tucci). Her only hope of escaping Callahan's fate and proving her theory lies in Washington investigative reporter Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington), who's already had one confidential source back out of sharing information about the assassinations. This John Grisham adaptation is fairly faithful to the best-selling novel, but the book's interracial romance between Shaw and Grantham was left out of the script (or at least the finished product), leaving many progressive viewers annoyed at Hollywood's conservatism. Fans of HBO's Sex and the City will notice one of its future stars, Cynthia Nixon, in a small role as one of Darby's New Orleans classmates. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, (more)
When a Jewish jeweler is found dead and his store is missing more than one million dollars in diamonds, a New York police detective (Melanie Griffith) goes undercover in a community of Hasidic Jews to find the criminal. Once she is immersed in the community, she falls in love with one of the most devout members, who helps her find the criminal. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melanie Griffith, Eric Thal, (more)
- 1990
Originally scheduled to air on October 11, 1990, this Law & Order episode was bumped forward to November 20 of that year. The flames of racial unrest are fueled when a young African-American honors student is shot by Freddo Parisi (John Finn), a white cop. Much to their dismay, detectives Greevey (George Dzundza) and Logan (Chris Noth) are faced with the likelihood that the cop may have planted a weapon on the deceased to get himself off the hook. Likewise made uncomfortable by the implications and possible consequences of the incident, assistant D.A.'s Stone (Michael Moriarty) and Robinette (Richard Brooks) nonetheless set a trap to catch Officer Parisi in his own web of deceit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The second of three films by co-writer/director Oliver Stone to explore the effects of the Vietnam War (Platoon and Heaven and Earth are the others), Born On The Fourth Of July tells the true story of Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise), a patriotic, All-American small town athlete who shocks his family by enlisting with the Marines to fight in the Vietnam War. Once he is overseas, however, Kovic's gung-ho enthusiasm turns to horror and confusion when he accidentally kills one of his own men in a firefight. His downfall is furthered by a bullet wound that leaves him paralyzed from the chest down. He returns home, spends an appalling, nightmarish stint in a veterans' hospital, and follows an increasingly disillusioned and fragmented path that ultimately leaves him drunk and dissolute in Mexico. However, Kovic somehow turns himself around and pulls his life together, becoming an outspoken anti-war activist in the process. The film is long but emotionally powerful; many consider it Stone's best work and Cruise's best performance. Both were nominated for Oscars, as was the film itself, but only Stone, who co-wrote the film with Kovic from the latter's book, won for Best Director. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Cruise, Raymond J. Barry, (more)
