George Bowers Movies

A single father who has just found success as the host of an outrageous television talk show begins to question his path in life when he returns home to attend his parents' 50th wedding anniversary party in the company of his famous fiancée -- a reality television star -- in this crisis-of-conscience comedy starring Martin Lawrence. RJ Stevens (Lawrence) is a television talk-show sensation who has transcended his modest Southern beginnings to become the most popular self-help guru ever to grace the small screen. His show, "Team of Me," is a ratings juggernaut, his fiancée is a beautiful reality television star, and his pockets are always lined with large bills. There are few Tinseltown dreams that RJ hasn't already achieved, so when his parents announce their 50th wedding anniversary, the family-oriented television star immediately drops everything and sets his sights on Georgia. As a boy, RJ was always the target of ridicule within his family, but these days things are different; not only does RJ have a ten-year-old son, but his bride-to-be is admired by countless viewers all across the globe on a weekly basis. But RJ's egotistical West Coast attitude simply doesn't fly in the South, and when his lovable but relentless family refuses to cut him any slack due to his current superstar status, he must finally pause and take stock of the man he has become. Louis C.K., Cedric the Entertainer, Michael Clarke Duncan, and James Earl Jones co-star in a Southern-flavored family comedy written and directed by Malcolm D. Lee. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A man fights to bring decency and the rule of law back to his hometown in this action drama. Chris Vaughn (The Rock) left his home in Washington State's timber country to join the Army, where he distinguished himself as a member of the Special Forces. When his hitch is over, Vaughn decides to return home to help run the family business, a sawmill, but he soon makes the unpleasant discovery that things aren't what they once were. Vaughn learns that the town's lumber industry has all but dried up, and an old high school buddy, Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough), has turned the city into a den of vice, running a large gambling casino and strip club while selling drugs and women on the side. Angry at this turn of events, and frustrated by local law enforcement officials who are willing to ignore Hamilton's crimes in exchange for kickbacks, Vaughn decides to run for sheriff, and with the help of another old friend, Ray Templeton (Johnny Knoxville), he wins the election. But Hamilton doesn't take kindly to Vaughn's attempts to clean up the town, and Vaughn discovers Hamilton's henchmen are willing to target his friends, his family, and the woman he loves (Ashley Scott) in order to have their way. Walking Tall was based on Phil Karlson's 1973 action hit of the same name, which was in turn inspired by the true story of Buford Pusser, who was sheriff of Tennessee's McNairy County between 1964 and 1970 and gained fame for his tough tactics against the local criminal element. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The true-life horror story of Jack the Ripper gets a new spin in this screen adaptation of the acclaimed graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. In 1888, a ruthless and cold-blooded killer begins hunting prostitutes in East London, and while the murderer's work is savage, the mutilation of his victims suggests the fiend has an extensive medical background. Amidst a background of political unrest and barely contained scandal among the royal family, the murderer's grisly exploits shock and frighten all of England, and one of Scotland Yard's top inspectors, Fred Abberline (Johnny Depp), is put on the case, along with his partner, Peter Godley (Robbie Coltrane). Abberline, depending on one's viewpoint, is either blessed or cursed with second sight, and while he blurs his ability to see future events with opium and other drugs, he still has an uncanny ability to ferret out dangerous criminals, which is put to the test as he and Godley search for the Ripper. As Abberline and Godley investigate the neighborhood where the crimes occur, they become acquainted with the prostitutes and street people who were friends and compatriots of the victims, and Abberline finds himself falling in love with Mary Kelly (Heather Graham), a beautiful Irish streetwalker. As Abberline tries to identify the killer before Mary Kelly can become the next victim, he and Godley have to contend with Sir Charles Warren (Ian Richardson), their superior who is keen to pin the murders on a culprit who isn't British, and Sir William Gull (Ian Holm), a respected physician who has his own ideas about the murders and the benefits of psychosurgery. From Hell marked a change of pace for Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes, the sibling directorial team best known for their gritty depictions of America's urban underground in such films as Menace II Society and Dead Presidents. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Terry McMillan and Ron Bass wrote this screenplay based on McMillan's semi-autobiographical best-selling novel (over 2,000,000 copies in print before the release of this film). San Francisco stockbroker Stella (Angela Bassett), a 40-year-old divorcee, has a nice Marin County home and an 11-year-old son, Quincy (Michael J. Pagan). With Quincy off to see his dad, Stella and her best friend Delilah (Whoopi Goldberg) vacation in Jamaica, where she meets sexy, good-looking Winston Shakespeare (Taye Diggs). He's the man of her dreams in every way except one -- he's half her age. Even so, a romance develops. Grammy Award-winning songwriters Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis supervised the film's music and produced the R&B-slanted soundtrack album. Shown at the 1998 Urbanworld Film Festival (NY). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

A pair of New York City cops collaborate on a plan to rob a cash-packed subway train in this action-comedy. Charlie (Woody Harrelson) and John (Wesley Snipes) are not just co-workers and close friends but also foster brothers. Because of this family connection, the reluctant John becomes involved in the more capricious Charlie's far-fetched scheme to rob the "money train" that collects the subway's daily grosses. Charlie needs the money for gambling debts, and robbing the train would have the added benefit of angering Charlie's and John's harsh, corrupt boss Captain Patterson (Robert Blake). Romantic interest is provided by a fellow police officer (Jennifer Lopez) who sparks rivalry between the brothers, but the film's main interest is in the violent events that surround the attempted heist, which naturally proves more complicated than planned. The film attempts to capitalize on the chemistry between Snipes and Harrelson, who had previously had a hit comedy with White Men Can't Jump (1992), but Joseph Ruben's unexceptional direction and a bland screenplay by Doug Richardson and David Loughery make the film less distinctive than its predecessor. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Macaulay Culkin tries for a change of pace playing a schoolyard psychotic in The Good Son. When 12-year-old son Mark (Elijah Wood) is his mother's side as she's dying of cancer, she makes him promise her that she won't die. When she does die, Mark is consumed with grief, as well as guilt that he couldn't keep his promise. Mark's father Jack (David Morse) has to go away for a two week business trip to Tokyo shortly after his wife's death. Thinking that the blustery Maine environment will do him good, he drops Mark off with the family of his Uncle Wallace (Daniel High Kelly). At first, Mark is withdrawn, but soon he begins to warm to his Aunt Susan (Wendy Crewson), his cousin Connie (Quinn Culkin), and particularly his cousin Henry (Macauley Culkin). Mark and Henry pal around together, but Mark begins to notice some of Henry's ideas of fun differ significantly from his own. For example, Henry demonstrates his homemade crossbow by killing the neighbor's dog, and shows Mark his dummy (called "Mr. Highway") that he drops from an overpass onto a highway, causing a 10-car pileup. Mark begins to suspect that the death of Henry's baby brother wasn't an accident, and it appears Henry is now making plans to rub out his sister. But when Mark tries to warn Henry's parents of their son's homicidal tendencies, they refuse to listen to him. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Hot off her success in Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts starred in this thriller about a battered wife stalked by her abusive husband. Roberts plays Laura Burney, the wife of a rich investment counselor, Martin (Patrick Bergin). Martin appreciates his wife as a trophy, but at home he abuses her for not keeping the house as clean as he would like it. The verbal abuse descends into physical violence --so much so that Laura decides to disappear rather than live a life under Martin as a brutalized slave. Laura fakes her own death by drowning, and relocates to Cedar Falls, Iowa, where she changes her name to Sara Waters. She starts a relationship with her friendly Iowa neighbor Ben Woodward (Kevin Anderson), but her happiness is short-lived. Martin has discovered that Laura has staged her drowning and is coming to Iowa to reclaim his possession. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The only True Believer at the beginning of this drama is idealistic young attorney Robert Downey Jr., who apprentices under the guidance of celebrated civil-rights activist James Woods. Alas, in the years since the sixties, Woods has become a disillusioned, dope-smoking ambulance chaser. Goaded by Downey, Woods takes up one last "lost cause:" that of Korean-American prison inmate Yuji Okomoto, who is about to be tried for the self-defense slaying of another prisoner. As Woods investigates, he unearths several iniquities in the trial that sent Okomoto to prison. Despite the fact that the one witness who might clear Okomoto is an unhinged conspiracy theorist, Woods endeavors to re-open Okomoto's case--which plays right into the hands of sharkish, politically ambitious DA Kurtwood Smith. Chock full of plot twists and last-minute shockers, True Believer was popular enough to inspire a spin-off TV series, Eddie Dodd. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sidney Poitier makes his long-overdue return to films in the 1988 thriller Shoot to Kill. Poitier plays an FBI agent, on the trail of an elusive killer. Reluctantly teamed with tracker Tom Berenger, the citified Poitier braves the wilds of the Pacific Northwest in search of his quarry. For Berenger, the pursuit is personal; the killer, whose identity is not immediately revealed, has joined a hunting party being guided through the country by the tracker's girlfriend Kirstie Alley. Though only bearing the slightest resemblance to Real Life (you'll love the scene between lifelong city-dweller Poitier and a huge grizzly bear), Shoot to Kill delivers the goods in the suspense department. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Penny Marshall in her feature film directing debut, four screenwriters, and a ebullient Whoopi Goldberg join forces to make Jumpin' Jack Flash, a modern espionage comedy. Goldberg plays Terry Doolittle, a computer operator in a large New York City bank who picks up a cry of help on her computer. The signal is from a man who signs off as Jumpin' Jack Flash. Based on the Rolling Stones tune of that name, she figures out his secret password and opens up a Pandora's box of international intrigue. It seems Jack Flash is a pseudonym for a British agent who is trapped in Russia and desperate for information from the British Embassy that will help him escape. When Terry agrees to help him, the CIA, the KGB, British intelligence, and sundry other law enforcement organizations are all hot on her tail as she tries to help the beleaguered British agent. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Sheriff Little (Don Pedro Colley) is placed in charge of two convicts, one of whom (Judson Scott) has a score to settle with Luke Duke (Tom Wopat). Getting the drop on the Duke boys, the two prisoners force the cousins to help them break out of jail. Unfortunately, the rest of their escape takes the four men straight into the heart of a raging forest fire! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Despite mixed reviews and a disastrous initial release that dumped the film into theaters for a week in the midst of the 1984 Summer Olympics, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eight Dimension went on to become one of the major cult films of the 1980s, developing a rabid following after its release on videotape. Drifting between satire and improbable sci-fi adventure, the film stars Peter Weller as Buckaroo Banzai, the son of an American mother and Japanese father who is a combination physicist, neurosurgeon, martial arts master, secret agent, and rock star who travels with his band of assistants/backing musicians, The Hong Kong Cavaliers. As the story opens, Buckaroo is driving his car through a mountain to test his new invention, the Oscillation Overthruster. However, a race of boorish aliens called the Red Lectroids have been waiting for such an item to become a reality, as they need it to return to the distant planet they call home. One of Buckaroo's arch-enemies, Dr. Emilio Lizardo (John Lithgow), who has been possessed by the Red Lectroids, attempted to created a similar device decades before; now escaped from an insane asylum, he is back at work with the Lectroids on a plan to control the world. Throw in Rastafarian aliens, unscheduled travel between dimensions, and the odd inexplicable watermelon, and you get a film that defies conventional synopsis. With its fast pace, quotable dialogue ("No matter where you go, there you are"), and barrage of gags (subtle and otherwise), you won't be bored even when you're not sure what's going on. The supporting cast includes Jeff Goldblum as New Jersey, a Cavalier with a snappy cowboy outfit, and Ellen Barkin as Penny Priddy, the twin sister of Buckaroo's late wife. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this standard young teen/older woman sex story, Bobby (Matt Lattanzi) has had trouble with French at school, and sex out of school, and so his rich parents hire a winsome 30-year-old tutor (Caren Kaye) to help him with the first subject, without thinking that she would help him with the second as well. The father (Kevin McCarthy) is not exactly subtle about his interest in the tutor, but the discerning woman prefers his much more sensitive son. A few comic moments with Bobby's friends trying to teach him about sex, and a more respectful treatment of the sexual relationship between the tutor and young teen alleviates some of the otherwise, run-of-the-mill storyline. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide