Andrew Davis Movies
Before gaining recognition as a director of action films, Andrew Davis worked as a TV and movie cameraman, a journalist, and a photographer. Davis entered Hollywood in 1969 as an assistant to cinematographer Haskell Wexler while filming Medium Cool. In 1972, he acted as the cinematographer for two films, Private Parts and Hit Man, and he spent much of the remainder of the decade working on a number of films in this capacity. In 1977, Davis co-wrote, produced, and directed his first feature film, Stony Island. Davis' first work on action films was as the director of the Chuck Norris vehicle Code of Silence (1985). He scored his first major success when he co-wrote and directed another action movie, Above the Law, starring newcomer Steven Seagal; in 1992, he teamed with Seagal for a second time on the action-packed box-office hit Under Siege. The following year, Davis once again thrilled audiences with the tense, spectacular movie adaptation of the '60s TV serial The Fugitive, starring Harrison Ford. A huge critical and commercial success, it was hailed as one of the best films of the year. In contrast, Davis' subsequent action film, Chain Reaction (1996), was a colossal flop. He then switched gears for A Perfect Murder, a 1998 re-make of Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder. Starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Michael Douglas, the film was a great disappointment, leading some observers to opine that perhaps Davis should entertain a return to the action genre, something he did with the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle Collateral Damage which was the subject of some controversy because it dealt with terrorism and came out around the time of the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001. avis changed gears and had a modest hit with the family-friendly Holes in 2003. Three years later he returned to the action genre with the coast guard drama The Guardian starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In this children's adventure, Paco, an orphaned Colombian boy leaves the family farm to search for his uncle in the big city. Unfortunately, he discovers that his only living relative is running a youthful gang of jewel thieves. More trouble ensues when he forces poor Paco to join them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1972
- R
Featuring an all-African American cast, this crime drama is basically a retread of the movie Get Carter. It is the story of a former football player who has become involved with pornographers and seeks revenge upon the gangster who killed his brother, who in turn was out to avenge the rape of his daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A teenage runaway gets more than she bargained for when she moves into an old hotel in this wildly offbeat shocker from director Paul Bartel. Cheryl (Ayn Ruymen) fled an unhappy home in Ohio for the sunny skies of California with her best friend in tow; however, after they have a falling out, Cheryl is left with no place to stay. Remembering that her Aunt Martha (Lucille Benson) runs a hotel, Cheryl arrives at the King Edward, a decaying residential inn located in one of L.A.'s less desirable neighborhoods, and persuades Martha to give her a room for a few days. Cheryl soon discovers the King Edward is home to a wide variety of eccentrics -- defrocked priests with muscle-men fetishes, falling-down alcoholics, senile old women, and a voyeuristic photographer named George (John Ventantonio). Cheryl, who indulges her own voyeuristic impulses by sneaking into the rooms of her fellow boarders, is attracted to George and enjoys playing dress-up as he watches her though a peephole, despite Aunt Martha's warnings not to interact with the other guests. But when Cheryl decides to cross the line into physical action with George, she learns his obsessions are more dangerous than she imagined -- and that both he and Aunt Martha have some rather surprising secrets. Private Parts was cult figure Paul Bartel's first feature film; it was produced for MGM, but was released through their Premier Productions subsidiary, perhaps in deference to the film's kinky sexual content. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
