Edward Burns Movies
One of a number of American independent filmmakers launched to prominence in the '90s by virtue of their success at the Sundance Film Festival, writer/director Edward Burns was born in Woodside, Queens, in 1968 and raised on Long Island. After attending Oneonta College and S.U.N.Y.-Albany, he transferred to Hunter College in New York City to study motion pictures; there he helmed a number of short films, including the 15-minute Hey, Sco! Upon graduating, Burns began working at a local news outlet and made Brandy, a 45-minute effort screened as a work in progress at the 1992 Independent Feature Film Market.During the spring of 1993, while working as a production assistant for the television newsmagazine Entertainment Tonight, Burns began conceiving The Brothers McMullen, a comedy focusing on the romantic troubles facing three Irish-Catholic siblings. Shot primarily in his parents' Long Island home, with a cast of unknowns including Burns himself and his then-girlfriend Maxine Bahns, the feature was filmed over eight months' time with a budget of about 25,000 dollars and with the aid of a technical crew comprised largely of fellow Entertainment Tonight staffers. Rejected by a series of distributors, The Brothers McMullen bowed at Sundance in 1995 and won the festival's Grand Jury Prize, becoming one of the most successful independent efforts of the year.
For his follow-up, She's the One, Burns retained much of the McMullen cast and crew, including Bahns and actor Mike McGlone; by virtue of his newfound fame, he was also able to cast up-and-coming stars Jennifer Aniston and Cameron Diaz in pivotal roles, and he even solicited an original soundtrack from rocker Tom Petty. Filmed with a comparatively lavish budget of about three million dollars, the romantic comedy premiered during late August 1996. Burns soon began work on his third feature, No Looking Back, a romantic drama set in a coastal town's working-class community. The film co-starred Lauren Holly and was released in 1998; that same year, Burns co-starred in the Steven Spielberg World War II epic Saving Private Ryan. In 1999, he was back on the screen with an appearance in Oliver Stone's football drama Any Given Sunday. In the years that followed, Burns wrote and directed a series of additional comedy-dramas incluing Sidewalks of New York (2001), Ash Wednesday (2002), Looking for Kitty (2004) and The Fitzgerald Family Christmas. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
A single woman who has served as a bridesmaid a shocking 27 times wrestles with the prospect of supporting her sister at the altar on number 28, despite having fallen helplessly in love with her smitten sibling's handsome husband-to-be. Jane (Katherine Heigl) has the kind of altruistic traits that everyone looks for in a friend, yet lately the perennial bridesmaid has begun to feel as if something is missing in her life. One night, local newspaper reporter Kevin (James Marsden) spots the devoted bridal attendant racing between receptions in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and quickly surmises that her quirky tale may be just the story to get him off the bridal beat and into the big time. Immediately suspicious of the cynical reporter's motivations, Jane butts heads with Kevin just as her younger sister Tess (Malin Akerman) shows up in town. While Jane has always put the needs of friends and family before her own wants and desires, she's suddenly prompted to reevaluate her priorities when her boss -- with whom she is secretly in love -- falls for her younger sister Tess. When Tess and Jane's boss George (Edward Burns) make plans to marry, the smitten younger sibling mistakenly assumes that her lovelorn older sibling will be happy to take part in the wedding. For as far back as Jane can remember, she has sacrificed her own happiness for the sake of those she holds dearest, but now that her heart has been broken, she's finally found the courage to be honest with herself. Now, as Jane finally comes to terms with her true feelings, her life begins to change in ways she never expected. Judy Greer and Melora Hardin co-star in a romantic comedy scripted by The Devil Wears Prada screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna and directed by Anne Fletcher (Step Up). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, (more)
A young American engineer comes into possession of a cell phone that bestows unlimited wealth upon him, never realizing the danger posed to him by the device until security agents close in and start shooting to kill. Now, as a frantic chase across the continents gets under way, the stability of the entire world hangs in the balance. Shane West stars in a globe-trotting action thriller featuring Ving Rhames, Jonathan Pryce, and Martin Sheen. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shane West, Edward Burns, (more)
A man determined to right suddenly isn't sure what the right thing should be in this independent comedy-drama. One of the few things Johnny Rizzo (Matt Bush) loves as much as his job as a host on a sports-talk radio station is his longtime fiancée Claire (Anna Wood), who is gently but firmly persuading him to find a more responsible career. Johnny's show is currently airing at 2 a.m. and doesn't pay very well, and as much as he enjoys it, he decides to make good on a promise he made to Claire that if he wasn't making at least $50,000 a year by the time he turned 25, he'd take a job with her wealthy father's box making company. As Johnny heads to the Hamptons to meet with Claire's dad, he ends up staying with his Uncle Terry (Edward Burns), a chronic womanizer determined to show Johnny a good time whether he likes it or not. Loyal Johnny isn't interested in any of the gals Terry throws his way, but when he meets Brooke (Kerry Bishe), a beautiful woman who is giving tennis lessons to Terry's (married) girlfriend, for the first time in years he finds himself infatuated with someone else. Johnny is thrown for a loop when Brooke tells him the last thing he should do is give up his job for Claire. Written and directed by Edward Burns (who cast himself as Uncle Terry), Nice Guy Johnny received its world premiere at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Matt Bush, Kerry Bishe, (more)
Jennifer Westfeldt wrote, directed, and stars in the romantic comedy Friends With Kids. She plays Julie, a Manhattanite whose biological clock is about to run out, so she convinces her longtime platonic best friend, Jason (Adam Scott) to father a child with her. They seem to have a much easier time juggling the responsibilities of new parenthood without the complication of being in a relationship with each other, which is in contrast to the two couples they are closest to. As their friends' marriages implode, Julie and Jason's happy equilibrium topples over as well when he falls for a hot young artist (Megan Fox) and she begins dating a successful businessman (Edward Burns). Friends with Kids played at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Adam Scott, Jennifer Westfeldt, (more)
- 2011
- NR
A recently married couple find that it's friends and family who make a relationship difficult in this comedy-drama from writer, director, and actor Edward Burns. Buzzy (Burns) and Katie (Caitlin Fitzgerald) are a couple who have been married for just a few months, though Buzzy already jokes that they get along so well because they don't spend much time together. The two get a preview of what may be in store for them when they spend some time with Katie's sister Marsha (Marsha Dietlein Bennett) and Buzzy's close friend Max (Max Baker). Marsha and Max are married, and as they swap bitter insults and petty accusations, it becomes clear just how uncomfortable a marriage can become after a few years. With the memories of this uncomfortable evening hanging in the air, Buzzy and Katie are confronted by another familial annoyance: his sister Linda (Kerry Bishe), who has dropped in unannounced from California for the first time in years. Linda crashes on the couch and helps herself to Katie's wardrobe for a few days, which fuels the growing tension between the couple, and things come to a breaking point when Linda brings home a drunken hookup without warning. Edward Burns' sixth film to receive its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, Newlyweds was shot on a shoestring budget on New York locations specifically for presentation in the festival's 2011 program. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Edward Burns, Kerry Bishe, (more)
- 2011
Created and produced by cable's History Channel, and intended as an unofficial companion piece to the earlier WWII in HD, this documentary saga deals with the thousands of Vietnam War draftees who came home from the United States seemingly in one piece. On a note of sad irony, the subjects at hand emerged "victorious" from an empty and meaningless conflict that never should have involved their home country in the first place. Using the same structural model as the WWII program and a comparable narrative approach, the saga draws from such elements as government archival footage, news clips, haunting period photographs and disturbing reflections - all used to re-evoke the era. As a word of warning, the documentary contains extremely graphic content, making it unsuitable for young viewers. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael C. Hall
- 2012
- NR
A group of grown Irish-American siblings grapple with their estranged father's request to join them for Christmas dinner 20 years after he walked out on their family in this holiday drama from writer/director Edward Burns (The Brothers McMullen). It's been two decades since Big Jim Fitzgerald (Ed Lauter) left his wife Josie (Anita Gillette) and their seven children. Ever since that day, Josie swore Jim would never set foot in her house again. Things start to get complicated, however, when eldest sibling Gerry (Burns) returns home with word that his absentee father seeks a chance to reconcile with his family during their upcoming Christmas celebrations. For the younger children it would mean a chance to meet the father they've never really known, but for the older siblings and their embittered mother, the scars left by abandonment have never quite healed. When Josie learns of Jim's request despite her children's best efforts to keep it a secret, she erupts due to years of pent up anger and resentment. Meanwhile, as grieving widower Gerry finds his friendship with the nurse (Connie Britton) hired to care for his late wife's mother growing into something much more intimate, the rest of his siblings contend with their own personal crises. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
An NYPD hostage negotiator (Elizabeth Banks) attempts to talk cop-turned-fugitive Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) down from a high ledge, but she learns that he may have a hidden motive for threatening to take his own life. A priceless diamond has been stolen, and the thieves responsible are using Nick as their scapegoat. An escaped convict with nowhere to run, Nick realizes that no one will believe he is innocent, and he decides to take extreme measures in order to expose the men who set him up. Stepping out on a ledge 25 stories above the bustling concrete streets of New York City, the notorious fugitive quickly becomes a media sensation as the entire world watches, awaiting his next move. Meanwhile, Nick's loyal brother races to help clear his sibling's name and ensure that the guilty pay for their crimes before the situation ends in tragedy. Jamie Bell, Anthony Mackie, and Ed Harris co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, (more)
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