Mykelti Williamson Movies
After more than a decade in the business, hard-working actor Mykelti Williamson achieved true fame as Tom Hanks' army buddy in Forrest Gump (1994). Born in St. Louis, Williamson and his family moved frequently during his childhood, finally settling in Los Angeles when he was 15. After studying acting in high school, Williamson landed a recurring role on Hill Street Blues in 1983. Working steadily in TV and movies throughout the 1980s, Williamson appeared in a number of films, including Walter Hill's Streets of Fire (1984); the pilot movie for the stylish cop series Miami Vice (1984); and the Goldie Hawn football comedy Wildcats (1986). By the 1990s, Williamson added a bona fide sleeper hit to his credits with his role as a paternal cop in Free Willy (1993). His transformative performance as Forrest's ill-fated shrimp-loving friend Bubba in the blockbuster, 1994 Best Picture winner Forrest Gump then earned Williamson critical raves, propelling him into a varied range of high-profile films. After appearing in Free Willy 2 (1995) and playing a small but attention-getting role as one of Lela Rochon's unworthy suitors in Waiting to Exhale (1995), Williamson joined forces with Al Pacino in Michael Mann's Heat (1995). Continuing to work in TV as well, Williamson acted in several series, co-starred as Negro League baseball player Josh Gibson in the well-received TV film The Soul of the Game (1996), played a black cavalryman in the TNT Western Buffalo Soldiers (1997), and joined the prestigious ensemble cast of 12 Angry Men (1997). Williamson continued to ride high as Nicolas Cage's ill cell mate in the summer blockbuster Con Air (1997), but his 1998 movie work in Primary Colors and Species 2 was personally overshadowed by his legal troubles when he was arrested for stalking his ex-wife and stabbing her friend. Acquitted of the charges, Williamson returned to form with a blistering performance as an Army colonel in David O. Russell's critically lauded Three Kings (1999). Williamson reprised his role as Lt. Gerard in the second TV series version of The Fugitive(2000). Despite pre-season hype and the prior success of other Fugitives, the series lasted only one season. Williamson then made another onscreen splash when he reunited with Heat director Michael Mann to appear as the flamboyant, shock-haired boxing impresario Don King in Mann's ambitious biopic Ali (2001). Williamson is married and has three daughters. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
The city streets explode into violence when "The Man" kills Black Dynamite's (Michael Jai White) brother in this seamless recreation of the blaxploitation classics of the 1970s. He was the best agent that the CIA ever had, but these days Black Dynamite only answers to one boss -- himself. When "The Man" ices Black Dynamite's brother, starts pumping heroin into the local orphanage, and floods the ghetto with a secret weapon disguised as common malt liquor, the car chases, gunfights, and shirtless brawls that follow prove wild enough to make even Dolemite green with envy. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Jai White, Kym E. Whitley, (more)
The Final Destination series gets a kick-start with this fourth outing, headed up by the production team behind the second film -- director David R. Ellis and writer Eric Bress. The New Line franchise will be presented for the first time in 3-D with this installment focusing on a teenager that dodges a trip to the grave at a racetrack, only to find that death has a way of equaling the playing field after the fact. Shantel VanSanten, Bobby Campo, and Hayley Webb star in the sequel. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten, (more)
Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, and Mykelti Williamson star in director Raul Sanchez Inglis's thriller about a once-respected policeman whose team is targeted for death after a high-profile drug deal goes horribly awry. Detective Max Walker (Madsen) used to be the best cop on the beat, but ever since he lost his wife, things just haven't been the same. These days Walker is like a time bomb just looking for a reason to explode, and when a highly organized drug sting goes horribly awry he may have finally found it. Walker and his team uncovered a large haul of heroin, and were getting ready to strike when everything fell apart. When the smoke finally cleared on the crime scene, several people were dead and one gang member had gotten away. Now, with the harsh glare of the media spotlight bearing down from above, the officers involved in the bust begin to fall prey to a mysterious killer. Bewildered at the thought of who may be responsible for the slaughter of his team but left with precious few leads, Walker asks his partner Salt (Hannah) to look into the killings. Now, as the drugs from the bust go missing and the police begin to suspect that the killer may walk among them, friend will turn against friend until there's only one man left standing. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, (more)
Sarah Jessica Parker produces and stars in stage director Mark Brokaw's adaptation the Rebecca Gilman play concerning a newly hired dean of students at an elite New England college who finds her life consumed by chaos following a vicious series of hate crimes. Sarah Daniels (Parker) was just settling into her new position when she was placed in charge of the investigation into a series of racially motivated campus crimes. Having previously worked at an inner-city school, Sarah makes the decision to get the police involved when Dean Catherine Kenney (Miranda Richardson) and President Winston Garvey (James Rebhorn) -- both more concerned with maintaining the institution's untarnished image than actually capturing the culprit -- begin to question her authority at every turn. Later, when investigative reporter Aaron Carmichael (Mykel Williamson) arrives on campus after receiving an anonymous telephone call, Sarah is saddled with the responsibility of escorting the journalist in order to squelch any potentially negative press. When a "Forum on Race" conducted by Professor Burton Strauss (Beau Bridges) against Sarah's recommendation turns into an all-out riot, the emerging truth about the crimes forces the emotionally shattered dean of students to confront her own long-dormant prejudices. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sarah Jessica Parker, Mykelti Williamson, (more)
Estranged from his parents by circumstance and nudged toward a foster family, a young boy seeks out his long-lost folks and discovers prodigious musical talent in this family-oriented drama from Disco Pigs director Kirsten Sheridan. In the aftermath of a passionate night together above New York's Washington Square, a charismatic Irish guitarist named Louis (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) and a reserved cellist named Lyla (Keri Russell) are forced apart by fate. Despite the fact that they do not remain together, however, their fleeting union has created something amazing that neither could have ever anticipated -- a baby. Unfortunately, just after the child's birth, the mother is misinformed that the infant has died. Cut to 11 years later, when the child, Evan, is living in a Gotham-area boys' home and has developed an acute ability to listen to the sounds of the outside world -- hoping against all hope that his biological mother and father will turn up to claim him, while those in charge try to encourage him to open himself up to the possibility of adoption. Unduly rejecting these bids, Evan runs away into the city. Out on the streets, the child falls into the clutches of a manipulative, untrustworthy street person named Wizard (Robin Williams), who renames Evan "August Rush" and opens the boy up to the depth and breadth of his own musical talent even as he smells the opportunity to grow rich off of the foundling. Meanwhile, Evan/August's hope persists that he will be reunited with his folks, and Louis and Lyla, unable to forget their initial night of love, feel themselves being drawn back together by fate. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, (more)
An innocent man visiting a friend in New York City becomes embroiled in a dangerous series of events after being mistaken for the very man he has come to the city to see in director Paul McGuigan's labyrinthine murder mystery. Upon arriving at the empty apartment of his old friend Nick, the unassuming Slevin (Josh Hartnett) is troubled to hear the voice of his missing friend's next door neighbor Lindsay (Lucy Liu) expressing concern as to Nick's safety and whereabouts. When Slevin ventures into Lindsay's apartment only to be greeted by the uninviting fist of a thuggish mob henchman, he quickly realizes that Nick is indeed in grave danger. Soon summoned by the big boss and accused of being the deeply indebted Nick, Slevin's attempts to prove his identity are foiled by the fact that his wallet had been stolen upon arrival in the city. With time running out and a complex plot to assassinate one of the city's most powerful crime bosses slowly coming into focus, the arrival of a notorious hit-man named Mr. Goodkat (Bruce Willis) forces Slevin to step up his desperate search and reclaim his identity before he's forced to pay a debt that could cost him his life. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Josh Hartnett, Morgan Freeman, (more)
Another of the many serialized TV dramas of the mid-2000s in which important clues and motivations were slowly and methodically revealed on a "need to know" basis, Kidnapped got under way when Leopold Cain (Will Denton), the son of self-made millionaire Conrad Cain (Timothy Hutton) and his wife Ellie (Dana Delaney), was abducted during a quasi-paramilitary attack on his private school. "Don't call the police" was perhaps the least cryptic message received by Mr. and Mrs. Cain in the days that followed; other messages and clues always seemed to be weighted with double meanings and vague allusions to unsavory incidents in the past lives of the victim's parents. Assigned to rescue Leopold (if possible) was chief FBI investigator Latimer King (Delroy Lindo), who much against his will was teamed with rogue ex-agent Knapp (Jeremy Sisto), who in turn worked hand in glove with his mysterious sidekick Turner (Carmen Ejogo). The search for the kidnapped boy whisked virtually everyone in the cast around the world, with Mr. and Mrs. Cain frequently bollixing up the "good guys'" efforts by refusing to follow instructions or going off on their own whimsical tangents. Early on, the Cains' bodyguard Virgil (Mykelti Williamson) abruptly vanished from the scene; was he, like several others involved in the case, a murder victim, or was he pursuing his own agenda. Unfolding in a "Rashomon" fashion with contradictory information and points of view, this was one of those maddening series in which "truth" was an intangible commodity at best, and in which everyone had a skeleton or two in the closet. Kidnapped made its NBC bow on September 20, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeremy Sisto, Carmen Ejogo, (more)
- 2006
- PG13
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A tightly knit group of working-class Atlanta teens spend their time bonding over hip-hop and roller skating while pondering life after high school in director Chris Robinson's coming-of-age comedy drama that draws inspirations from the real-life childhoods of Dallas Austin and Tionne Watkins. For a kid growing up on the south side of Atlanta, the Cascade roller-skating rink is the place to be seen, and it's the place where the orphaned high school senior Rashad (Tip Harris) and his little brother Ant (Evan Ross) go every weekend to forget their financial troubles, hang with their friends and get their groove on. But outside the rink, the brothers have problems they can't avoid: Ant is being recruited into the posse of charismatic drug dealer Marcus (Outkast's Antwan Andre Patton, aka Big Boi). Meanwhile, Rashad's three best friends -- including the ambitious Esquire (Jackie Long) -- are pulling him in different directions, and his new girlfriend New-New (Lauren London) may not be as "street" as she seems. As Rashad tries to hold on to his little brother, he also comes to the realization that if he's ever going to make something of himself, he's going to have to step out of his skates and into the real world. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tip "T.I." Harris, Lauren London, (more)
A hard-line junior senator with a tough anti-terrorism policy finds her outspoken politics have made her the target for a determined sleeper cell of murderous terrorists in a tense political thriller starring Lauren Holly, Lacey Chabert, and Angus MacFadyen. Maggie Davidson is a politician on a mission to make the American public feel safe on their own soil. When Davidson's plan to stomp out terrorism raises the ire of a dangerous group of terrorists just waiting for the right moment to strike, their plan to quiet her with a "dirty bomb" planted in the Mall of America leaves the entire city of Bloomington, MN, on high alert. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lauren Holly
- 2004
- R
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The true story of a man who, on February 22, 1974, was thwarted from an ambitious plan for political assassination provides the basis for this striking psychological drama. Sam Bicke (Sean Penn) is a salesman for an office-supply company whose life is slowly beginning to unravel. Bicke's job is going nowhere, his wife, Marie (Naomi Watts), has left him, and his boss (Jack Thompson) keeps pushing self-help books on him that make a mockery of his state of mind. One of Bicke's few friends is Bonny Simmons (Don Cheadle), an auto mechanic, and together they come up with an idea for a tire shop on wheels; while neither has the money to finance the project, Bicke has learned of a program for small-business loans instituted by President Richard Nixon, which he's certain will come through for him. But Bicke is denied his loan, which dovetails with his increasing suspicion of the president's Vietnam policies and a sudden interest in the "by any means necessary" political activism of the Black Panther Party. Desperate to seem important in some way, Bicke becomes increasingly obsessed with the duplicity of Richard Nixon, until he chooses to take it upon himself to stop the president once and for all. The Assassination of Richard Nixon was the first feature film from director Niels Mueller. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sean Penn, Don Cheadle, (more)
- 2004
Season Three of Monk begins as a clue to the identity of his wife's murderer brings obsessive-compulsive detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) to New York City, along with his nurse-assistant Sharona (Bitty Schram) and his former SFPD colleagues Capt. Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) and Lt. Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford). Almost immediately upon arrival, Monk witnesses the killing of the Latvian Ambassador. NYPD Captain Cage (Mykelti Williamson) thinks that the motive was political, but Monk suspects otherwise. Even so, Monk wants no part of the investigation--until Cage tells him that unless he helps find the murderer, he will not be allowed access to Warrick Tennyson (Frank Collison), the man who may or may not be able to solve the killing of Monk's beloved wife Trudy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
In this caper movie from director Brett Ratner, two brilliant criminals are lured out of retirement...or are they? Max Burdett (Pierce Brosnan) is a master jewel thief who, with the help of his accomplice and lover Lola Cirillo (Salma Hayek), has stolen two of the three Napoleon diamonds, among the most valuable gems on Earth. Stanley Lloyd (Woody Harrelson) is an FBI agent who has been on Burdett's trail for years and is especially eager to bring him to justice after a humiliating incident in which Max swiped one of the Napoleons out from under Stanley's nose. But word has it that Max and Lola have abandoned their lives of crime, and they've taken up residence on an idyllic island in the Bahamas, where they're living the good life on their ill-gotten fortune. Lloyd is not convinced they're out of the game for good, and when he learns that the third Napoleon diamond will be on display aboard a cruise ship headed in Max's direction, Lloyd joins forces with Sophie (Naomie Harris), a Paradise Island police detective, to catch Max and Lola red handed. Henry Moore (Don Cheadle), an expatriate American gangster who also lives on the island, doesn't believe Max has gone straight either and tries to rope him into stealing the jewel for him. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, (more)
- 2002
Recently widowed Tevis Lockwood (Mykelti Williamson) has moved from Los Angeles to Seattle in order to start a new life for himself and his daughters Ashley (Arreale Davis) and Jasmine (Aysia Polk). The girls are none too happy about being uprooted, but Tevis turns a deaf ear to their complaints, choosing to bury himself in his new job at a shipping company. But if Tevis had hoped that by burying the past he could assure himself a happy future, he is wrong: Before long, both of his daughters have been diagnosed with sickle-cell anemia, and one of them dies. Tevis' outrage and loss of faith over this tragedy all but pushes the surviving daughter into a life-threatening act of despair--and it is up to Tess (Della Reese) to set things right in both Seattle and Heaven. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2002
The NBC "ensemble" drama series Boomtown was set in contemporary Los Angeles, where crime and punishment was practically a way of life. Each episode featured a different criminal case which, in Rashomon fashion, was related from virtually everybody's point-of-view: the city detectives, the beat cops, the politicians, the ER staff, the media -- and of course, the criminals. Naturally, not everyone saw things in the same way, and this divergence of opinion (and the scriptwriters' avoidance of taking sides) was the heart of the series. The enormous cast of regulars included Neal McDonough as deputy D.A. David McNorris, Gary Basaraba and Jason Gedrick as uniformed officers Ray Heckler and Tom Turcotte, Donnie Wahlberg and Mykelti Williamson as detectives Joel Sears and "Fearless" Bobby Smith, Nina Garbiras as investigative reporter Andrea Little, and Lana Parrilla as paramedic Theresa Ortiz. Bathed in a hauntingly atmospheric Raymond Chandler-esque ambience, Boomtown made its first TV appearance on September 29, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Donnie Wahlberg, Mykelti Williamson, (more)
Our America is the story of LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman two inner-city Chicago teenagers who eloquently distilled their lives on the Mean Streets into an award-winning Public Radio documentary (and later, a book) titled Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago. When a local NPR broadcaster conducts a search for "two young, intelligent African Americans to be on the radio", Jones (played by Roderick Pannell) and Newman (Brandon Hammond) smooth-talk their way into the offices of radio producer David Isay (Josh Charles), and as a result both young men are hired as reporters. For the next week, LeAlan and Lloyd amble through the Projects, tape recorders in hand, the better to assemble a "sound portrait" of their 'hood. But with the resultant success and fame, Jones and Newman must suffer the admonitions and threats of their neighbors, who feel that the two have sold out to "Whitey" and are exploiting their own people. Things come to a startling climax when, in the course of their investigative reporting, LeAlan and Lloyd put their lives on the line to tell the whole story of a 4-year-old boy who was tossed from a 14th story window to his death by a rampaging gang. Our America made its Showtime cable network debut on July 28, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Josh Charles, Vanessa A. Williams, (more)
Notoriously obsessive director Michael Mann and star Will Smith devoted nearly two years and over 100 million dollars from the coffers of Columbia Pictures and other financiers to creating this biography of boxing great Muhammad Ali, which focuses on the ten-year period of 1964-1974. In that time, the brash, motor-mouthed athlete quickly dominates his sport, meets and marries his first wife (Jada Pinkett-Smith), converts to Islam (changing his name from Cassius Clay), and defies the United States government by refusing to submit to military conscription for duty in Vietnam. His world heavyweight champion title thus stripped from him entirely for political reasons, the champ sets about to win back his crown, culminating in a legendary unification bout against George Foreman (Charles Shufford) in Zaire, dubbed the "Rumble in the Jungle." In his travels, Ali becomes a symbol of power to disenfranchised African-Americans everywhere and meets such luminaries as Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles), Martin Luther King Jr. (LeVar Burton) and Maya Angelou (Martha Edgerton). Ali features an all-star supporting cast that includes Jon Voight, Giancarlo Esposito, Jamie Foxx, Nona Gaye, Michael Michele, Joe Morton, Paul Rodriguez, Ron Silver, Mykelti Williamson, and Jeffrey Wright. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, (more)
- 2000
A remake of the popular 1960s TV series of the same name (which had previously spawned a smash-hit 1993 theatrical feature), CBS' The Fugitive stakes out the old familiar ground. This time out, former Wings star Timothy Daly is cast as Dr. Richard Kimble, who was falsely accused of murdering his wife. Despite his protestations that he'd seen a "one-armed man" fleeing the murder scene, and apparently lacking the financial wherewithal to hire a lawyer like Alan Dershowitz or Johnny Cochran, Kimble was found guilty and sentenced to the electric chair. En route to prison, Kimble managed to escape during a train wreck, and he spends the rest of the series traveling from town to town, adopting a variety of aliases and professions, and helping those whose lives he touches. All the while, Kimble pursues the elusive One-Armed Man (Stephen Lang), even as he himself is being pursued by dogged, single-minded Police Lieutenant Gerard (played by Mykelti Williamson, best known as Bubba Blue in the 1994 Oscar-winner Forrest Gump). Infinitely more expensive and special-effects-laden than its TV predecessor, this "retro" series makes up in energy and high-tech visuals what it lacks in originality. The Fugitive revival began (literally) running on October 6, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tim Daly, Mykelti Williamson, (more)
In this drama with comic touches directed by Robert Townsend, a middle-aged drag queen (Ving Rhames) still dealing with the loss of his longtime lover meets a 12-year-old girl (Jessika Reynolds) who has no home. Touched by her plight, the drag queen takes in the girl and her mother (Alfre Woodard), a talented writer who has fallen into a cycle of drug abuse. With his help, the woman and her daughter try to rebuild their lives, but they have trouble breaking their ties with the drug dealer (Mykelti Williamson) who been the mother's supplier and confidante. Holiday Heart is based on the play of the same name by Cheryl West. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ving Rhames, Alfre Woodard, (more)
Three stars team up for this unusual look at America's role in the war against Iraq. In 1991, as the Gulf War winds to a close, three American servicemen find themselves happy to have achieved victory but wondering about the ultimate importance of what they've done (especially since Saddam Hussein is still in power). Major Archie Gates (George Clooney) is a decorated Vietnam veteran and special forces officer with two weeks to go before he retires; Sgt. Troy Barlow (Mark Wahlberg) has a new baby at home; and Chief Elgin (Ice Cube) is probably just going to end up back in Detroit. So when one of them comes across a map that seems to point out where Saddam's forces have stashed a large cache of gold they stole from Kuwait, they decide to follow the trail and take some of the war booty for themselves. However, the deeper they journey into Iraq, the more they see of the consequences of America's policies in the Middle East. Although President George Bush and the American military urged Iraqi citizens to rise up against Saddam Hussein, and pledged their support to a people's movement against the leader, Iraqis found that when they took to the streets against Saddam, the United States did not back them up, and the loss of Iraqi lives was fearsome. When Gates, Barlow and Elgin become aware of what's happening, they're torn between their desire to grab the fortune they came for and the demands of their conscience to help the people they came to liberate. Three Kings was directed by David O. Russell and marked a significant change of direction after his dark-humored relationship comedies, Spanking the Monkey and Flirting with Disaster. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, (more)
- 1999
The off-court lives of a team of professional basketball players, as well as their friends and family, are the focus of The Hoop Life, a made-for-cable movie that serves as pilot and introduction for a series produced for the Showtime premium cable network. The New England Knights lose the final game of the seven-game championship series after Marvin Buxton (Mykelti Williamson) misses a shot that would have put them ahead, and the players have to figure out what to do in the off-season. Buxton becomes obsessed with the missed shot and eventually goes ballistic at a youth basketball camp he hosts. Greg Marr (Rick Peters), one of Marvin's team mates, finds his infidelity is catching up with him when his wife kicks him out of their house. Coach Leonard Fero (Dan Lauria) is constantly doing battle with General Manager Eliot Pierce (Dorian Harewood) and owner Emily Yeager (Linda Thorson). And Curtis Thorpe (Cirroc Lofton), a high school hoops star who has decided to turn pro rather than attend college, has his eye on a contract with the Knights. However, after the death of his parents, Curtis's Uncle Kenny (Ray Anthony Thomas) takes over "management" of Curtis and puts a stake through his career by signing a contract for him to play pro ball in Greece. The Hoop Life also features a cameo by former NBA star Bill Walton as himself. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mykelti Williamson, Dorian Harewood, (more)
- 1999
- NR
Based on the best-selling book by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth, which was later adapted into a Broadway play, Having Our Say tells the true story of the Delany Sisters, two African-American women who were fathered by a former slave, went on to attend college, and witnessed the slow but steady advance of civil rights in America before a reporter for The New York Times sat down with them to record their story. In the film version, 103-year-old Sadie (Diahann Carroll) is a polite and soft-spoken woman who deals cheerfully with the questions of journalist Amy Hill Hearth (Amy Madigan). Sadie's considerably more feisty 101-year-old sister (and housemate) Bessie (Ruby Dee) grumbles about "white people who ask you to explain the obvious to them," but soon adds her own stories as the Delanys discuss their quietly remarkable lives as career women and racial pioneers who not only survived Jim Crow laws, they outlived Jim Crow, as well. Produced for CBS Television, Having Our Say was first aired April 18, 1999. Incidentally, Bessie Delany died in 1995 at age 104, while Sadie, at 110, passed on in 1999, only a few months before this was first aired. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Diahann Carroll, Ruby Dee, (more)
Mike Nichols directed this Elaine May screenplay adapted from the 1996 bestseller by "Anonymous" (Joe Klein), who fictionalized Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign. In the New Hampshire primary, Governor Jack Stanton (John Travolta) convinces Henry Burton (Adrian Lester), grandson of a respected civil rights pioneer, to become his deputy campaign manager. Stanton's smart wife Susan (Emma Thompson) always comes through with public support for her philandering husband. The film's parallel for James Carville is Stanton's redneck advisor Richard Jemmons (Billy Bob Thornton), who knows every strategy and tactic but worries, "The woman thing, that's the killer." Sure enough, problems during the New Hampshire primary include charges of adultery. To get a handle on past peccadillos, Stanton's staff brings in an old family friend, lesbian Libby Holden (Kathy Bates), who knows how to clean up dirt. Stanton, a strong debater, moves on to Florida and New York. When one opposing candidate drops dead of a heart attack, he's replaced by Florida's Governor Fred Picker (Larry Hagman), but Holden holds the skeleton key to the skeleton in Picker's closet. Just how the Stantons put this information to use reveals whether they are ruthless politicians or inspirational leaders with ideals. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Emma Thompson, (more)
In the science-fiction thriller Species (1995), Natasha Hentsridge appeared as the beautiful but deadly Sil, a human-alien DNA combo. In this sequel, Hentsridge portrays Eve, a government experiment concocted to gain an understanding of how to combat future aliens, while Michael Madsen and Marg Helgenberger repeat their roles from the earlier film. When astronaut Patrick Ross (Justin Lazard) returns from the first manned Mars expedition, he's infected with the same DNA that spawned Sil and Eve. Hailed as a hero, Ross is pressed into politics by his father (James Cromwell), a senator. Any woman who beds the sexually active Ross is immediately impregnated, with embryos quickly developing and killing the mother. Ross hides the offspring on a family estate, as LA cops begin to detect a pattern in the female deaths. At the lab where scientists are monitoring Eve, Dr. Laura Baker (Helgenberger) realizes that Eve has a telepathic link with Ross, and that these two hybrids hope to couple. Press Lennox (Madsen) and Colonel Burgess (George Dzundza) figure Eve can be used to lead them to Ross. Cleared as a murder suspect, Mars mission astronaut Dennis Gamble (Mykelti Williamson), joins Lennox and Baker and gets in on the action as everyone involved closes in on Ross. Richard Belzer does a cameo as the President of the U.S., while Peter Boyle makes an uncredited appearance as a scientist. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Madsen, Natasha Henstridge, (more)
Former war hero Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) is sentenced to eight years in prison when he accidentally kills a man in a barroom brawl while defending his pregnant wife. When his release comes through, he's eager to see the daughter he's never met. However, Poe's original flight is delayed, so he's put aboard a flight transporting ten of the most dangerous men in the American penal system to a new high-security facility. One of the criminals, Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom (John Malkovich), is a serial killer and insane genius who has hatched a diabolical plot: with the help of several other hoods, including Diamond Dog (Ving Rhames), Johnny 23 (Daniel Trejo), and Garland Greene (Steve Buscemi), Cyrus and his men will hijack the plane and fly to a neutral nation where they can live as free men. Poe finds himself stuck in the middle; he has to find a way to get home, keep himself alive, look after his cellmate Baby-O (Mykelti Williamson), who will die without proper medicine, and try to help the cops on the ground, including agent Vince Larkin (John Cusack). Producer Jerry Bruckheimer's first film after the death of his partner Don Simpson, Con Air shows he learned well how to assemble the formula all by himself, with plenty of action, stunts, and special effects and not a lot of story to get in the way. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, (more)
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