Benjamin Bratt Movies
Benjamin Bratt was already an experienced film and TV actor by the time his four-year stint as Det. Reynaldo "Rey" Curtis on NBC's long-running hit Law and Order made him famous. Born and raised in San Francisco, Bratt studied acting at UC-Santa Barbara and in his hometown. After roles in two short-lived 1980s TV series, Bratt made his film debut as John Travolta's foe in the shelved, then straight-to-cable Chains of Gold (1991). Concentrating on building a movie career, Bratt played supporting roles in the action films Demolition Man (1993), Clear and Present Danger (1994), and The River Wild (1994), as well as one of the lead roles in Bound by Honor (1993), about Chicano gang life. After joining Law and Order in 1995 as the coolly-passionate Curtis, the half-Peruvian Indian, half-Caucasian Bratt's chiseled looks received positive notices along with his acting, but rather than rest on his laurels, Bratt used his hiatus time to produce (with his director brother Peter Bratt) and star in the indie film Follow Me Home (1997). After leaving the show in 1999 (girlfriend Julia Roberts guest-starred in one of Bratt's last episodes), Bratt moved back to San Francisco to be closer to his family and focus on making movies. He costarred as Madonna's paramour in The Next Best Thing (2000).Untouched by The Next Best Thing's failure, Bratt joined the prestigious ensemble cast of Steven Soderbergh's acclaimed, Oscar-winning narcotics drama Traffic (2000), becoming nearly unrecognizable in a brief appearance as a sleazy drug dealer. Scoring his second Christmas 2000 hit, Bratt played off his smooth, sexy law enforcement officer image as Sandra Bullock's FBI ally-turned-love interest in the comedy Miss Congeniality (2000).
Though the first half of 2001 was marked by his well-publicized break-up with Roberts, Bratt was poised to leave his days as tabloid fodder behind with his lead performance in the independent biopic Piñero (2001). Winning the title role over such high profile Latino actors as Jimmy Smits, Bratt's uncanny evocation of troubled Nuyorican writer and drug casualty Miguel Piñero attracted early dark horse Oscar buzz. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- 2009
This documentary mini-series presents 300 years worth of history in the Americas from the perspective of its native peoples. Concentrating on key, important moments in the history of the area, the series examines how various peoples like the Wampanoags of New England fought and resisted the powers of colonialism, facing down the invading forces even when their own destruction was unavoidable. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- 2008
A reformed ex convict and lowrider car aficionado kicks his beloved son out of the house after discovering that the boy has been living a secret life in Sundance Film Festival veteran Peter Bratt's heartfelt family drama. Che (Benjamin Bratt) is out of prison and on the straight and narrow. Still, every day is a struggle as he battles alcoholism and drives a bus in order to support his family. When the workday is done, Che and his friends the "Mission Boyz" pass the time by restoring junked cars into mint condition. Feared by his peers yet deeply respected as the toughest Chicano on the block, Che is the kind of guy whose entire existence is defined by his macho reputation. There's no one in the world that Che loves more than his adolescent son Jesse (Jeremy Ray Valdez), but both father and son are about to discover that love isn't exactly unconditional. Upon discovering that Jesse has been living a secret life, Che flies into a violent rage, assaulting the boy and kicking him out onto the street. Meanwhile, Che's attractive and headstrong neighbor Lena (Erika Alexander) challenges the ultra-macho gear-head to step back for a minute and take stock of the life he thought he had. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benjamin Bratt, Erika Alexander, (more)
Adapted from the best-selling novel by author Michael Crichton, director Mikael Salomon's made for television mini-series follows a group of specialized scientists as they race to cure a fast-spreading plague. A U.S. military satellite has crashed near a small Utah town, unleashing a deadly pathogen. Everyone who's come into contact with the virus has died, except for two survivors. Could something in the blood of these two survivors prove the key to immunizing the rest of mankind and preventing a devastating outbreak? Now, as a lone reporter begins investigating what he believes to be a vast government conspiracy, the military quarantines the area and a specialized team of scientists race to find a cure for the pathogen they have given the code name, "Andromeda." ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benjamin Bratt, Eric McCormack, (more)
- 2005
The titular "E-Ring" in this weekly, hour-long NBC drama series was the nickname for the outer offices of the Pentagon, where all major decisions pertaining to national security were made. Benjamin Bratt and Dennis Hopper respectively starred as Major Jim Tisnewski (aka JT) and Colonel McNulty, a pair of oil-and-water military officers united in top-secret government missions, foreign and domestic. A former Green Beret, Tisnewski was the gung-ho "action" guy, while the older and crabbier McNulty preferred handling the strategic end of each mission. In the tradition of JAG, it was made obvious that, although our two heroes were faultless in their judgment on the job, they both encountered enormous difficulties keeping their private lives in order. In the development stages, Tisnewski had both a wife and child, but it was finally determined that making him a bachelor would be beneficial to the various plotlines involving attractive female guest stars. Just as "Mrs. Tisneski" was written out of the show, Kelly Rutherford was added as the two officers' chief nemesis, Defense Department attorney Samantha "Sonny" Liston. E-Ring premiered September 21, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benjamin Bratt, Dennis Hopper, (more)
Miguel Pinero became a leading figure in New York's art scene during the 1970s as a poet, actor, and playwright whose vibrant, often pointed, work spoke directly to the lower classes and to disenfranchised minorities. As a founder of the influential Nuyorican Poets Cafe, his poetry soon became recognized as a forerunner to rap and hip-hop music. TV screenwriter turned director Leon Ichaso spins this impressionistic biographical look at this artist. Raised in an abusive family, Pinero (Benjamin Bratt) turns to streets for solace. Soon he is engaging in petty crime, drug dealing, and addiction. When he finds himself in Sing-Sing, he turns his experiences in prison into the play Short Eyes, which eventually garners him seven Tony awards in 1974. Uncomfortable with his new fame, he clings to his girlfriend, Sugar (Talisa Soto), and his childhood buddy, Miguel Algarin (Giancarlo Esposito), who is a literature professor and who co-founded the Nuyorican Cafe. Though Pinero makes cameos on such shows as Kojak, his art begins to suffer as he starts to succumb to his drug addictions. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benjamin Bratt, Giancarlo Esposito, (more)
Adapted from an Ernest Hemingway story by Hemingway's longtime friend and associate A. E. Hotchner, After the Storm spent years in development before filming of the movie version began in 2000, several years after Hotchner's death. Set in the Bahamas in 1936, the story concerns a young fisherman on the lam from gangsters, who stumbles upon a fortune in jewels from a yacht sunk in a recent storm. This sudden windfall results in nothing but unhappiness and betrayal for the fisherman -- and for everyone else who embarks upon the treasure hunt that consumes most of the action. When After the Storm failed to secure a theatrical release, it was licensed to the USA network for its first American TV showing. The R-rated video version was released on May 29, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benjamin Bratt, Armand Assante, (more)
- 1999
This episode of Homicide: Life on the Street is the conclusion of a two-part story introduced on its "sister" series Law & Order. Newly appointed to a district court bench, ADA Danvers (Zeljko Ivanek) brings the Baltimore homicide unit into the investigation of the death of governmental official Janine McBride, who, despite being found murdered in New York City, was actually killed in Baltimore. Al Giardello (Yaphet Kotto) is mad that his son Mike (Giancarlo Esposito) turned over confidential information about the McBride case to his FBI bosses, who, in turn, handed it over to Independent Counsel William Dell (George Hearn) -- resulting in immunity for the accused murderer. As it turns out, the ruthless Dell (who bears a startling resemblance to Kenneth Starr) is using both the Baltimore cops and Law & Order regulars Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt), Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), and Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) as unwitting stepping stones for his own political ambitions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Belzer, Giancarlo Esposito, (more)
- 1998
Essentially a feature-length episode of NBC's long-running series Law & Order, this crime and courtroom drama marks the return of Chris Noth (Detective Mike Logan) to Manhattan's 27th precinct. For the past three years, Logan has been stuck on Staten Island, the result of an incident in which he lost his temper. Regretting his outburst, Logan yearns to return to his home station. A murdered hooker's body found floating in the harbor may provide the key to his return. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Noth, Dabney Coleman, (more)
- 1998
With the eighth-season departure of series regular Carey Lowell as ADA Jamie Ross, Angie Harmon joined the cast of Law & Order at the beginning of its ninth season. Harmon, of course, played Ross' replacement, ADA Abbie Carmichael, who, if anything, was even more zealous in her pursuit of justice than her new partner Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston). Having racked up a 95 percent conviction rate while working in Special Narcotics, Carmichael tackled her new job with a zeal and ferocity that shocked even the ruthless McCoy -- to say nothing of her sanguine boss, DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill). There were no ninth-season changes amongst the series' detectives, with Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) continuing to track down clues and collar perps under the supervision of Lt. Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson). However, actor Bratt was anxious to pursue other professional vistas, and thus it was arranged to write Rey Curtis out of the series during the final episode, explaining that he had requested a desk job so that he could devote more time to his wife, who was suffering from multiple sclerosis. But before his character's departure, Bratt managed to persuade his then-girlfriend, cinema superstar Julia Roberts, to appear in a guest role in the episode "Empire." The result was one of Roberts' finest performances, which earned the actress an Emmy. Of the many headline-inspired episodes in season nine, one was a standout: "Sideshow," the series' third and final crossover with the NBC crime drama Homicide: Life on the Street. Clearly inspired by the ongoing efforts to impeach President Bill Clinton, the episode featured a somewhat sinister independent counsel named William Dell, who, as played by George Hearn, bore a striking resemblance to the much-maligned Kenneth Starr. Law & Order closed its ninth season with a powerful two-parter involving the Russian mafia. On this occasion, Carolyn McCormick made a return visit to the series as former police psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Olivet, a recurring character who had been more or less supplanted during the previous two seasons by J.K. Simmons as Dr. Emil Skoda. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benjamin Bratt, Angie Harmon, (more)
- 1997
Fans of Law & Order -- and there were many, many more than there had been in previous years -- were somewhat surprised that the series entered its eighth season with no changes in the regular cast. detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) were still upholding the "Law" at the behest of their NYPD boss Lt. Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson), while ADAs McCoy (Sam Waterston) and Ross (Carey Lowell) continued to maintain "Order" on behalf of their superior, DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill). In other carryovers from past seasons, the series staged its second crossover with the NBC crime drama Homicide: Life on the Street with the episode "Baby, It's You;" as before, selected Homicide cast members appeared on Law & Order, and vice versa. Also keeping in the tradition of its past, the series took home its third Emmy award for Outstanding Cinematography. In addition, the series continued tackling issues that were very much in the news. For example, the episode "Castoff" addressed the culpability of TV violence in fomenting real-life violence. Much more so than in previous seasons, the series boasted a number of narrative throughlines that enhanced its sense of reality and continuity. McCoy's questionable tactics in prosecuting a drunk driver in "Under the Influence" came back to haunt him in the season finale. Likewise, in that same episode, Cliff Gorman was introduced as a politically ambitious judge named Gary Feldman, who hoped to win the DA's office from Schiff in the upcoming election. Feldman received unexpected support in the form of powerful (and paranoiac) millionaire Carl Anderton (Robert Vaughn), who would not forget being "betrayed" by Schiff in the episode "Burned." Both Feldman and Anderton would converge upon the DA in the aforementioned series finale, which also boasted a subplot involving ADA Jamie Ross. To accommodate the fact that actress Carey Lowell planned to leave the series, Ross decided to retire to private practice so that she could devote her spare time to her second husband -- and to an ongoing child-custody battle with husband number one. And in more glimpses of the characters' private lives, Jennifer Bill appeared in a brace of episodes as Cathy Briscoe, the troubled, estranged daughter of detective Lennie Briscoe. The brevity of Bill's contribution to Law & Order was due to a devastating plot twist which threatened to push Briscoe over the edge and back into the bottle he'd successfully abandoned years earlier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benjamin Bratt, Steven Hill, (more)
- 1997
This episode of Homicide: Life on the Street is the conclusion of a two-part story begun on its "sister" series Law & Order. The man accused of stalking Brittany Janaway (Rachel Jane Sacrey), a teenaged model who'd been raped in Baltimore before dying of toxic shock syndrome in New York City, insists that he witnessed her attack. This brings Law & Order detectives Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) and Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) to Baltimore, where they team with the Homicide sleuths to determine if Brittany's father (Tom Tammi) -- the same man who posted a 250,000-dollar reward for the capture of her rapist -- is actually the guilty party. In the ensuing jurisdictional battles both in and out of the courtroom, the facts of the case are all but sacrificed in the interests of a speedy conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, (more)
- 1996
Four young artists embark upon a cross-country journey that will culminate with a mural to be painted upon the White House in this highly allegorical drama. The group leader Tudee is a shrewd, but not always honest Chicano. Temperamental, sociopathic ex-con Abel is also Chicano. Kaz is an African American Buddhist vegetarian and Native American Freddy is an alcoholic. Tensions abound amongst the travelers and when they encounter a white supremacist group, they explode. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
This episode of Homicide: Life on the Street is the conclusion of "Charm City," a two-part story introduced on the TV series Law & Order. Baltimore homicide detectives Pembleton (Andre Braugher) and Bayliss (Kyle Secor) have gone to New York to investigate a subway bombing which may be linked to a similar case that occurred in their own city five years earlier. It soon becomes clear that their investigation is being thwarted by a widespread official coverup. Also involved in the case are three Law & Order regulars: detectives Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) and Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), and ADA Claire Kincaid (Jill Hennessy). The presence of Briscoe ticks off Baltimore detective John Munch (Richard Belzer); it seems that Lennie was once intimate with John's ex-wife. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, (more)
Law & Order entered its seventh season on a note of uncertainty: Had Assistant DA Claire Kincaid (Jill Hennessy) been killed by that drunk driver at the end of season six? The answer would remain vague until it was determined by the producers that actress Hennessy had no intention of returning to the series; it was at this point that the unfortunate Kincaid was sadly and reverently referred to in the past tense. Her replacement was ADA Jamie Ross (played by Carey Lowell). The idealistic Ross, who struggled to balance her career with her home life as a single mom, proved to be an excellent opposite number for the jaded, unattached Executive ADA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston). In addition to claiming Kincaid, death took its toll on another of the series' characters. Throughout season seven, the never-seen wife of DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill) lay virtually comatose in a hospital bed, tenaciously hanging on to life. The final episode of the season concluded with a grieving Schiff sitting at bedside as the monitor attached to his wife flat-lined. Nor was the brief sojourn to Hollywood taken by detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) fraught with merriment. They had gone to Tinseltown to investigate the brutal murder of a female studio executive, a plot line which necessitated the series' first (and, to this point, only) three-part story. This expanded time frame afforded ample opportunity to probe the private lives of two of the series' principals: Curtis, devoted to his ailing wife (who had earlier been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis), nonetheless briefly drifted from his marital vows with a sexy Hollywoodite, and new ADA Jamie Ross was bedeviled by her ex-husband, scheming defense attorney Neal Gordon (Keith Szarabajka), both in and out of court. After several years worth of Emmy nominations but no wins, Law & Order closed out season seven with two new statuettes, for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Cinematography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benjamin Bratt, Steven Hill, (more)
Law & Order launched its sixth season with the addition of yet another new character, Detective Rey Curtis, played by Benjamin Bratt. As the replacement for Mike Logan (Chris Noth), previous partner of Detective Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), Curtis exuded enough youthful idealism and self-consciousness to counterbalance Briscoe's hard-boiled, world-weary persona. Ever so carefully, and without disturbing the plot-driven ambience of the series, the producers continued to provide quickie glimpses of the private lives of the six principal characters. The various casual affairs indulged in by Executive Assistant DA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) in the years before his association with DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill) occasionally come back to haunt him, and never so dramatically as in the episode "Trophy," in which he is forced to prosecute a former lover whose false testimony in an earlier case had enabled him to advance professionally. Another episode, "Charm City," represents the first of three Law & Order crossovers with another NBC crime series, the Baltimore-based Homicide: Life in the Street. This required several Law & Order regulars to make guest appearances on Homicide, and vice versa, thereby opening old wounds between New Yorker Lennie Briscoe and his Baltimore counterpart, John Munsch (Richard Belzer). Inevitably, the 1995-1996 season of Law & Order ended with the departure of one of the regulars, in this instance Jill Hennessy as Assistant DA Claire Kincaid. Onscreen, Kincaid was seriously injured in an auto accident; in truth, Hennessy chose not to renew her contract with the series, leaving her free to pursue other roles. The question of whether Kincaid survived the accident would not be fully answered until well into season seven. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benjamin Bratt, Jill Hennessy, (more)
- 1992
In this made-for-cable actioner a good-hearted social worker embarks upon a one-man crusade to save Miami teens from getting further involved with a gang of crack dealers. The social worker does this in large part to ease his own guilt at having been responsible for the death of his own son back when he was drinking heavily. To save the teen, he pretends to be a dealer and infiltrates the gang. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1990
When his son is killed in a drug-related incident, the father sets out to wreck his revenge on two Las Vegas law enforcers. (AKA Kill Or Be Killed) ~ All Movie Guide
- 1989
The Nasty Boys refers not to a rock group but an elite corps of law enforcement officers. This fact-based TV movie is set in August, 1986. The place is drug-ridden North Las Vegas, Nevada. Unable to stem the drug trade by orthodox means, the police department organizes a group of "commando cops", who swoop down on the narcotics kingpins while garbed in identification-obscuring ski masks. These guerilla tactics worked beautifully in 1986, though the hooded vigilantism inherent in so extreme a police procedure has subsequently triggered racial tensions in some large cities. In 1989, however, The Nasty Boys was regarded as a merely a slam-bang piece of entertainment. It was designed as the pilot for a potential TV series, and was given a "sure-fire" network lead-in with the premiere episode of Baywatch (Baywatch clicked; The Nasty Boys clunked). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Robert Conrad stars in this 2-hour Police Story TV special, directed by another veteran of 1960s series television, James Darren. Conrad plays an unpopular cop who is being sued for harassment by a prostitute. His mob enemies murder the hooker and frame Conrad for the killing. This results in Conrad being sent to a prison nicknamed "the gladiator school," where many of the inmates eagerly await the opportunity to exact revenge upon the hard-nosed cop. Originally telecast on November 5, 1988, Police Story: Gladiator School is an expanded remake of one of the scripts from Police Story's original 1973-1980 weekly run. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Michelle Monaghan stars as a self-reliant trucker forced to take on the responsibility of caring for her 11-year-old son when his father (Benjamin Bratt) ends up in the hospital in this independent drama from Plum Pictures. James Mottern directs from his own script, with Nathan Fillion, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jimmy Bennett set to co-star. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michelle Monaghan, Nathan Fillion, (more)
Based on Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel García Márquez's novel of the same name, director Mike Newell's Love in the Time of Cholera details a passionate love triangle that unfolds in turn-of-the-century South America. Oscar-winning Pianist scribe Ronald Harwood adapts the story of two young lovers who bide their time for years while anxiously awaiting the day they can finally be together. Through marriages, affairs, careers, and deaths, the couple never loses hope that destiny will unite them in the end. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Javier Bardem, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, (more)
A high-school senior finds that fate (and modern medicine) plays some interesting tricks with his personality in this dramatic comedy. Justin Conn (Lou Taylor Pucci) is a neurotic teenager who has a difficult time with his peers, especially Rebecca (Kelli Garner), a cute girl in his debate class with whom he is somewhat mutually infatuated. It isn't much better at home with his obnoxious younger brother Joel (Chase Offerle), his father, Mike (Vincent D'Onofrio), who is busy having a midlife crisis, and mother Audrey (Tilda Swinton), who's infatuated with one of her favorite TV actors (Benjamin Bratt). All this anxiety has to go somewhere, and Justin's manifestation of his troubles comes in the form of sucking his thumb, which makes him even more of an outcast. Dr. Perry Lyman (Keanu Reeves), an orthodontist who seems to double as a new age therapist, treats Justin with hypnosis; meanwhile, the school psychologist decides he has Attention Deficit Disorder, and treats him with medication. Suddenly, Justin stops sucking his thumb and becomes an outgoing overachiever, single-handedly taking his school debate team to the state championship. But Justin's relationshop with his debate coach, Mr. Geary (Vince Vaughn), becomes strained, and the boy tries to mold yet another new identity for himself. Thumbsucker was the first feature film from Mike Mills, who previously distinguished himself in commercials and music videos. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lou Taylor Pucci, Tilda Swinton, (more)
