Robert Joy Movies

Joel Thomas Hyne's acclaimed novel about a Newfoundland drug addict's attempts to make sense of his own warped existence serves as the foundation for this poetic yet visceral addiction drama that stars the author himself as the damaged protagonist. Keith Kavanagh (Hyne) is a collection of contradictions; he's a coward, a bully, and a clown all at once, and his life is a mess of complicated relationships. Though he longs to start life anew somewhere else, he lacks the motivation to put any genuine effort into doing so. The only thing that Keith knows is that he wants off of the Rock, and he loves his girlfriend Natasha (Mylène Savoie). The first time we see Keith he is lying motionless and bloodied, quite possibly dead. Though it appears to be the end, this is actually the starting point as the viewer travels back in time to see how Keith began his descent into a life of drug pushing, unfaithfulness, and torture. It's not always a pleasant ride, because despite the fact that Keith can at times be a sympathetic figure, a closer look reveals an impulsive, amoral degenerate who seems hell bent on self-destruction. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

CSI: NY, the third incarnation of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation franchise and the spin-off of CSI: Miami, is a crime drama about forensic investigators who use high-tech science to follow the evidence and solve crimes in The Big Apple.

A precocious teenage genius is suddenly forced to adapt to the real world, while the real world around him is having some growing pains of its own in this independent comedy drama from Canada. Emerson Thorsen (Aaron Webber) is an exceptionally talented and intelligent 13-year-old who has been raised and educated by his free-thinking parents ,Rog (Robert Joy) and Kaya (Rebecca Jenkins). While Emerson is clever, witty, and has recently written his first novel, he doesn't seem to have very good socialization skills when he spends time with others, and as he enters adolescence, Rog and Kaya decide to enroll him in public school so he can learn how to function with others (as well as patching up some gaps in his education). While most of Emerson's teachers are happy to have him in class, his ambiguous sexuality and tart intellectualism make him an immediate target for bullies in his small Nova Scotia town. Emerson's English teacher, Don Grant (Daniel MacIvor), has a bigger problem than most with his new student -- Emerson becomes quite infatuated with Don, and isn't at all shy about expressing his attraction, while the closeted Don is torn between a desire to return his advances and the knowledge that he'd be throwing away his career in education if he even acknowledged them. Whole New Thing received its world premier at the 2004 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of a two-part story, Sydney (Jennifer Garner) manages to clear Will (Bradley Cooper) of espionage charges, but she must still deal with the fact that her mother, Irina (Lena Olin), has betrayed her. The situation changes radically when Irina shows up, claiming that she was only pretending to conspire with Sloane (Ron Rifkin) to make sure that all portions of the deadly Rambaldi device would be turned over to the CIA. But can this "explanation" merely be Irina's way of luring Sydney into another trap? Whatever the case, this final episode of Alias' second season provides a whopper of a cliffhanger finale, with Sydney, emerging from unconsciousness after a fight with Francie's evil double (Merrin Dungey), discovering to her astonishment that she has been "out" for two whole years -- and that's only for starters! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The ad copy for the ABC medical drama MDs promised "doctors who'll bend any rule and take on the system." The series looked and sounded a lot like M*A*S*H, the difference being that it took place in peacetime, and in contemporary San Francisco. William Fichter and John Hannah essayed the Hawkeye and Trapper John counterparts, here named Dr. Bruce Kellerman and Dr. Robert Dalgety. Though chronically irreverent and taking special delight in bucking bureaucracy and red tape at every opportunity, the two protagonists also happened to be brilliant and dedicated surgeons, investing an emotional interest in virtually all their patients ("Come on, you're not gonna die on me today!"). In its efforts to sustain a staunchly anti-HMO stance, the series admittedly stacked the deck a bit by drawing virtually all of its authority figures in broad, almost caricatured strokes: For example, Kellerman and Dalgety's chief nemesis was Mission General Hospital's bean-counting new administrator Pangborn (Leslie Stefanson), who had previously managed a theme park and who fainted at the sight of blood. MDs premiered September 25, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Noted baseball fan Billy Crystal directed this made-for-cable drama set in the summer of 1961, as two of the strongest hitters in the major leagues, Mickey Mantle (Thomas Jane) and Roger Maris (Barry Pepper), find themselves neck and neck in a battle to break Babe Ruth's long-standing record for most home runs in a season. Both men were playing for the New York Yankees at the time, and as the two men came within grasping distance of Ruth's record, their loyalty as friends and teammates was put to the ultimate test. 61 also features Richard Masur, Bruce McGill, Anthony Michael Hall, and Renee Taylor; the scenes set in Yankee Stadium were filmed at Michigan's Tiger Stadium, shortly after the Detroit Tigers shuttered the venerable playing field and relocated to a newer facility. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

As a number of luminaries on the international fashion scene converge for a major show, their personal and professional crises come to a head in this comedy-drama. Lorenzo Mancini (Paul Sorvino) is an internationally famous designer who has learned he has only a short time to live. As Mancini tries to make his peace with both his ex-wife (Sonia Braga) and his long-time companion (Peter Gallagher), he also tries to mend fences with his son (and heir) Mario (Michael Sorvino) while persuading him to not merge the family business with the hip-hop fashion empire of J.B. (Omar Epps. Anthony (Jared Harris), a famous and influential fashion photographer, is having a career crisis as his marriage to Francene (Michelle Forbes) begins to collapse. Cutting-edge designer Roberta (Rita Wilson) is scrambling to complete her latest line as her underlings start leaving her one by one. Camille (Leslie Mann), Roberta's business partner, may be the next to hit the road, as she becomes involved with Jamie (Jeff Goldblum), who works for a firm run by arch-rival designer Phillip (Harris Yulin). And Janice (Joanne Baron), the editor of a leading fashion journal, is facing a deadline when she gets an unexpected visitor -- her daughter Halley (Michelle Williams), whom she hasn't seen in over a decade. Taking an unusual approach, director Michael Rymer and screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson wrote a detailed outline for Perfume and in-depth background sketches for all the characters, but allowed the cast to improvise all the dialogue used in the film. Perfume had its world premiere at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Moral hypocrisy and the woes of America's public schools and educational system are the focus of Cheaters, which is based on a real-life 1995 cheating scandal at a Chicago high school. In a working class area of the city, teacher Dr. Gerald Plecki (Jeff Daniels) is desperate for his students to triumph at an upcoming academic decathlon against students of a more affluent high school across town. His desperation causes him to cast a blind eye when one of his students gets hold of a copy of the decathlon test -- and, thanks to their combined dedication to cheating -- the team wins the competition with the highest total score in state history. Of course, the score leads to suspicion on the part of Illinois officials, and the resulting scandal is accompanied by a media frenzy of monolithic proportions. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Four friends struggle to find themselves in the decade that brought us disco, platform shoes, and those smiley-face buttons in this miniseries, which first aired in April of 2000 on NBC. Byron Shaw (Brad Rowe), his girlfriend Eileen (Vinessa Shaw), and his sister Christie (Amy Smart) are all at Kent State University on May 4, 1970, when National Guardsmen open fire on students protesting the war in Vietnam, leaving four people dead. Byron's high-school buddy Dexter Johnson (Guy Torry) is also there -- but as a Guardsman rather than a student. Dexter quits the Guard in disgust and moves to Watts, where he opens a movie theater and becomes a key figure in the Black Power movement. Byron quits law school and takes a job with Richard Nixon's re-election campaign -- just as the Watergate scandal begins to break, Byron becomes an informant to the Justice Department and is nearly killed by a sniper. Eileen embraces the feminist movement and later seeks a career in the advertising industry, where she discovers that women's rights have not advanced terribly far. And Christie becomes a successful model, but fame and fortune do not bring her happiness as she's lured into a religious cult known as "The Path." The 70's soundtrack is loaded with period-appropriate hits, including classic tunes by Stevie Wonder, Jefferson Starship, Marvin Gaye, and Three Dog Night. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A photographer endangers her own life to unearth a plot to bilk elderly nursing-home residents out of their life savings. Based on a Mary Higgins Clark novel, this suspenseful thriller begins with the death of the photojournalist's stepmother. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In 1988, Marlene Moore, the first woman to be designated a "dangerous offender" by Canada's legal system -- even though she had never committed a serious crime -- killed herself in a Kingston, Ontario federal woman's prison. The Canadian TV movie seeks to explain the circumstances that brought the unfortunate Moore to this tragic turn of events. As played by Brooke Johnson, Marlene is shown to be an awkward, withdrawn young girl, cruelly maligned and sexually abused by family and peers alike, and never afforded the moral support or mental-health treatment she deserved. Under these circumstances, Marlene's subsequent self-destructive, sociopathic behavior seems almost predestined, and her many years behind bars for various minor crimes a logical extension of her miserable upbringing. The climactic efforts by her dedicated lawyer to prevent Marlene from being entombed in prison for an indefinite term are heartrending, and Moore manages to evoke audience sympathy almost in spite of herself by the final fade-out. The film earned two Gemini Awards (the Canadian equivalent of the Emmies) for both Brooke Johnsonand supporting actress Jayne Eastwood (as Marlene's mother). Originally telecast by the CBC, Dangerous Offender was first seen in America via the Lifetime network on November 7, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The deep bond formed between a troubled nephew and his simple uncle, whose character is reminiscent of Lenny from Of Mice and Men, is the focus of this Canadian melodrama set during the Depression in rural Ontario. Nine-year old Verlin will not talk, or cannot talk. His concerned and overprotective mother takes him to a doctor. She is angry at her husband Ferris whom she believes is indifferent to her boy's plight. When Ferris's child-like brother Henry comes to visit, the boy's life begins to change. Henry spends time with boy and teaches him about life. The two befriend Mabel, a retired, town prostitute with physical disabilities. The three outcasts become very close as they encounter obstacles to their friendship. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide