Robert Greenwald Movies

Join documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald (Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Outfoxed) in assessing the damage done to average Americans when corporations decide to wage war. For critics of the current administration, the connection between the war in Iraq and the private corporations who profit from the fighting is plain to see. For those who may not be so easily convinced, however, Greenwald and company not only explore the questionable motivations of the corporate decision-makers whose wartime profiteering has affected the lives of countless soldiers and their families, but also the increasingly negative international reputation of the United States as a result. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

While the Fox News cable network has promoted itself as a "fair and balanced" news outlet -- so much so that they've even trademarked the phrase -- not everyone believes that they're living up to their slogan, and this activist documentary by filmmaker Robert Greenwald takes a close look at the political perspective of Fox's coverage. Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism examines the right-wing slant of Fox News' reporting, as represented in stories the network chooses to cover and their shoehorning of editorial opinion into stories, revealed in interviews with former Fox employees and several noted journalists (including Walter Cronkite) who discuss the pro-conservative, anti-Democratic views of the channel's management and how they're manifested in their programming. The film also puts talk show host Bill O'Reilly under the microscope and offers potent examples of his frequently abrasive interviewing style. Production of Outfoxed was supported in part by the leftist political action network Moveon.org. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States Congress passed what became known as "The Patriot Act," a package of legislation President George W. Bush and his cabinet claimed was intended to help law enforcement officials take steps to stop terrorism. However, the bill was run through Congress so quickly that very few lawmakers were able to read it before it was passed, and it wasn't long before many Americans began to ask if the act posed a real threat to civil liberties and constitutional freedoms at home. Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties is a documentary that takes a close look at the Patriot Act, offers opinions from legal and constitutional scholars about its possible dangers, and features interviews with law-abiding citizens who've run afoul of the broad interpretations and implications of its regulations. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This eerie cable-TV movie begins as married couple Jim and Patty (played by one-time L.A. Law costars Harry Hamlin and Susan Dey), accompanied by their children, drive through the Nevada desert in their SUV. Through an unfortunate set of circumstances, the family finds itself marooned in a deserted (and uncharted) town called Weaver. Or is it truly deserted? The spectral images encountered by Jim and Patty may be the spirits of Indians interred in a local burial mound, or they might be the hideously misshapen victims of a botched nuclear test. Whatever the case, it is what the audience doesn't see that induces the goose pimples. Filmed in Australia, Disappearance originally appeared over the TBS cable service on April 21, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Independent filmmakers Richard Ray Pérez and Joan Sekler direct the political documentary Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election. Narrated by Peter Coyote, this 50-minute film examines the controversial occurrences in Florida during the 2000 presidential election leading up to the eventual administration of George W. Bush. The filmmakers examine what went wrong before, during, and after the disputed election decision. It explores the topic of voter rolls, ballot design, vote recounting, and the actions of the Supreme Court. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

The remarkable life and tragic death of Marilyn Monroe has fascinated film fans for decades, but this two-part TV miniseries, based on a novel by Joyce Carol Oates, takes an unusual approach, using dramatic license (the film announces itself as a work of fiction using the names of real people) to look inside the minds of Monroe and those around her to ponder the circumstances of her rise and fall. Young Norma Jeane Baker (Skye McCole Bartusiak) is raised by single mother Gladys (Patricia Richardson), who is unstable, uncaring, and poorly equipped to deal with the responsibilities of parenthood. As Norma Jeane grows up without a father and with little affection from her mother, she suffers from a poor self-image and craves attention; when she grows into a beautiful young woman who is unusually attractive to men, she falls into a number of romances and a short-lived marriage in search of the approval she needs so desperately. When Norma Jeane (now played by Poppy Montgomery) turns 20, she meets a photographer, Otto (Eric Bogosian), who sees star potential in her beauty. Otto's cheesecake pictures catch the eye of I.E. Shinn (Wallace Shawn), an agent who in turned introduces her to Mr. R (Richard Roxburgh), the head of a movie studio, who offers to make Norma Jeane a star -- if she would be willing to have sex with him. Norma Jeane unenthusiastically agrees, and Mr. R proves good to his word; renamed Marilyn, she becomes an major film star and an international sex symbol. But the adulation proves to be a poor substitute for the love she craves, and as she falls into relationships with any man who treats her with a modicum of respect -- including a famous baseball player (Titus Welliver) and an acclaimed author (Griffin Dunne) -- her life begins to spiral out of control. Blonde also stars Ann-Margret, Kirstie Alley, and Patrick Dempsey; the series first aired May 13 and May 16, 2001, on the CBS television network. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

David Caruso and Charles S. Dutton play two men at the end of their wits in this beat-the-death-sentence TV drama. Jacob Doyle (Dutton) has just seen his son wrongly convicted of murder and decides to take the law into his own hands: He sequesters the jury himself -- at gunpoint -- and demands that they re-try the case. To this end, he summons prosecuting attorney Ned Stark (Caruso), a level-headed legal eagle who, despite the fact that he just convicted the boy, believes that he's innocent. Meanwhile, the SWAT team closes in on the courthouse. Deadlocked originally aired on the TNT network. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

A young girl stuck in a horrific cycle of familial violence finds the power to build her own future from the place she least suspected in an inspiring tale of friendship and devotion starring Ossie Davis and Della Reese, and directed by Bruce Pittman. For years Jo Ann Foley (Madeline Zima) has suffered under the cruel hand of her ruthless grandfather. A chance meeting with kindly neighbors Honey (Reese) and her husband Too Tall (Davis) finds things looking up, however, as the nurturing couple provides Jo Ann with the support needed to break free of her grandfather's tyrannical grip. As the future lies before her ready to be molded however she sees fit, Jo Ann must now find the courage to let go of the past and seek the redemption needed to start life anew. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Small screen veterans Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster), Ari Meyers (Kate & Allie, Evening Shade) and Tess Harper (Tender Mercies) co-star in the melodrama The Secret (AKA The Killing Secret), which took its initial bow on Mon., Jan. 6, 1997 as an NBC prime-time telemovie, but is now available in this home video release. While fictional, the story nonetheless bears eerie parallels to such real-life incidents as the Scott Peterson homicide. It tells of Greg (Mark Krassenbaum), a well-to-do high school senior and football star who divides his time and attention between two girlfriends: ritzy cheerleader Nicole (Meyers) and poor-as-dirt Emily (Frye). All is well until Emily drops the bombshell that she's expecting - and Greg does away with mom and the baby. Although Greg protests his innocence, his vice tightens when Nicole and Emily's mother become friends, and the authorities discover Emily's body in a lake. Noel Nosseck directs, from a teleplay by Rob Fresco. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Adapted from Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey's best-selling novel, Woman of Independent Means follows the journey of a woman forced to face fresh challenges following the unexpected death of her husband. Sally Field stars as Bess Steer Garner, a widow who documents her many triumphs and tragedies in a series of poignant letters. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide