Jim Coleman Movies

Driver and muscle for hire Frank Martin returns in this sequel to the 2002 box-office hit. Frank Martin (Jason Statham) is a former special-forces officer who will transport anything anywhere for a price, and his latest assignment is acting as chauffeur for Jack Billings (Hunter Clary), the young son of politician Jefferson Billings (Matthew Modine), who has garnered no small amount of controversy for his aggressive efforts to stamp out the trade in illegal drugs. One day, Frank is to take Jack to the doctor for a checkup while his mother, Audrey (Amber Valletta), sets up a birthday party for the tyke. However, Jack's doctor is not who he appears to be -- he's actually Dimitri (Jason Flemyng), a Russian agent well versed in viruses who works with criminal kingpin Gianni (Alessandro Gassman). After a long and hard-fought chase with Frank, the bad guys get ahold of little Jack and hold him for ransom. The parents comply with their monetary demands and soon have their son back at home -- but little do they know that the boy has secretly been injected with a deadly and easily spread virus, which the terrorists hope to spread to the boy's powerful father and other politicians whom Jefferson will soon be addressing at a public event. When Frank learns what has happened to young Jack, he sets out to find the culprits -- and the antidote that will save the boy and all others who have been exposed to the virus from dying a painful death -- though his foes have stacked the deck so that it looks as if Frank has been complicit in the crime. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Noted indie filmmaker Beth B. directs this documentary about three Vietnam veterans travelling back to Indochina and confronting their pasts. With their grown family in tow, the three revisit cities, temples, villages, and jungle trails, an experience that proves to be difficult, though revelatory. Through one-on-one interviews, the veterans' children relate their resentment toward the war and the trauma that it inevitably wrought. This film was screened at the 2000 Rotterdam Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Ken Hastings' quirky romantic comedy Olive Juice stars Leighanne Littrell as a woman whose life changes during a visit to her mother. Michelle Malloy (Littrell) finds her life spinning out of control when she learns some unfortunate facts about her fiancée. Luckily, the owner of the local pet shop, Keeler (James Berlau), slowly becomes a new love interest. A pair of Backstreet Boys, A.J. McLean and Brian Littrell, make cameo appearances. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

This made-for-TV melodrama is based on an actual event that had been so thoroughly documented by the news services of the day that one is amazed that any suspense could possibly be engendered. In Dade County, Florida, disgruntled taxpayer Harry Kee (Michael Paul Chan) angrily protests a huge IRS bill by wiring up a box of explosives and hijacking a school bus full of special-needs children. Although the kids are terrified, Marta Caldwell (Maria Conchita Alonso), the bus' Cuban-born driver, remains calm and collected throughout the ordeal, not only helping her charges survive the crisis, but also providing comfort and support to a teacher's aide on the verge of a diabetic seizure. But while Marta keeps her head about her, the kidnapper grows more and more unhinged, and the police surround the hijacked bus, ready to shoot to kill if necessary. Though slightly weighed down by a subplot involving the courageous driver's home life, Sudden Terror: The Hijacking of School Bus #17 manages to pack a wallop,even for those who are aware of the outcome. The film made its first network appearance on September 13, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Writer-director Hal Hartley's first feature -- shot in less than 12 days in his backyard for a mere $200,000 -- is a dry and dark comedy about the dangerous undercurrents that exist below the surface of normal middle class existence. Over the credits, Josh (Robert Burke), a man garbed in black, is seen hitch-hiking back to his Long Island home. People ask him, "Are you a priest?" and Josh responds, "No. I'm a mechanic." Back in Long Island in the town of Lindenhurst, beautiful and somber 17-year-old Audry (Adrienne Shelly) is busy worrying about the forthcoming apocalypse. Josh arrives in Lindenhurst and is hired by Audry's father (Chris Cooke) as a mechanic at his garage. But Audry's father worries about him, particularly when he falls in love with Audry. Her father's problems compound when Audry dumps her old boyfriend and rejects an invitation to attend Harvard. The whole town is now gossiping about Audry's new boyfriend, with rumors spreading that Josh is a mass murderer who killed two members of the family of local waitress Pearl (Julia McNeal). Pearl tells Audry, "He seems like a nice man." Audry responds, "Even though he killed your father and your sister?" Audry finally makes her father happy when she tells him she won't see Josh again, but dad's relief is short-lived when Audry informs him she's moving to New York to become an underwear model. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide