Jake Busey Movies
Part of a burgeoning "second generation" of Hollywood actors, Jake Busey, the long-limbed son of Gary Busey, established himself as a reliable character actor in the 1990s. Though he made his film debut at age five in Straight Time (1978), Busey had no plans to become an actor until he took a drama class "on a whim" while attending Santa Barbara College. Busey spent three years auditioning before he finally broke through in the early '90s. Despite the slow start, Busey worked steadily throughout the decade, alternating between small roles in high profile studio movies, including I'll Do Anything (1994) and Twister (1996), and more substantial parts in smaller films, such as S.F.W. (1994) and Tail Lights Fade (1999). Busey starred a member of the gung ho young battalion in Paul Verhoeven's ironic, effects-laden science fiction adventure Starship Troopers (1997), but he was back to supporting duties in big movies when he and the more diminutive second generationer Scott Caan were paired as government assassins in Enemy of the State (1998). Happy to do more than dodge special effects, Busey played Luke Wilson's bully older brother in the romantic comedy Home Fries (1998) and co-starred with Jamie Foxx in the crime comedy Held Up (2000). Busey's foray into series TV as the laid-back Dennis on UPN's Shasta McNasty (1999) proved short-lived. Returning to movies after his unfortunate foray into series TV, Busey appeared in the weak Jamie Foxx comedy Held Up (2000). Busey then co-starred as a resolute bachelor moved to compete with Jerry O’Connell for Shannon Elizabeth’s love in the tasteless comedy Tomcats (2001). Tomcats, however, mercifully failed at the box office. Busey’s next comedy, the office farce The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest (2002), suffered a similar fate. Busey finally added a success to his resume, though, with the creepy murder by numbers thriller Identity (2003). Featuring Busey as a snarling convict trapped in a motel with other Agatha Christie-esque little Indians John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Ray Liotta and Clea DuVall, Identity reveled in movie-literate scares and deftly survived the pre-summer blockbuster late spring box office lull. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- 2007
An Iraq War veteran finds his ability to discern reality from fantasy quickly slipping as he attempts to uncover a clandestine military operation designed to create the ultimate suicide bomber. Jason (Jake Busey) was just a young father when he lost his son in a tragic automobile explosion. These days, Jason is a soldier serving his country in Iraq. Every explosion reminds Jason of the day his entire world went up in flames, and when an army scientist approaches him with the prospect of taking part in a highly classified military experiment, the troubled soldier briefly toys with the idea. The military has created a virus that can literally transform any soldier into a biological bomb. Jason is the perfect test subject, but has he already been infected with the virus without his knowledge or consent? Now, with each move Jason makes to uncover the truth about this powerful virus, the explosions in his head become increasingly vivid. Will Jason live long enough to find out it's all in his mind, or will he one day spontaneously erupt just like the rest of his fellow test subjects. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jake Busey, David Haydn-Jones, (more)
- 2006
A crew of documentary filmmakers exploring an abandoned prison which was shut down in the wake of a deadly riot discovers that sometimes the horrors of the past have a way of bleeding into the present. It was years ago when the inmates at Isla del Roca penitentiary rose up against the guards in a brutal display of violent rebellion, and now the condemned building sets as a silent reminder of archaic brutality. Upon learning of Ilsa del Roca's dark history, a group of ambitious documentary filmmakers determine that the penitentiary would make an ideal subject for the film that could serve as their calling card to greatness. Their plans for the film are quickly sidetracked, however, when the crew discovers that a band of desperate fugitives have taken up residence in the vast complex. While the criminals who currently call the prison home may be dangerous, the victims of the notorious riots who still haunt the cold concrete corridors of Ilsa del Roca are not only terrifying, but downright deadly. Jake Busey, Stacey Keach, and Danny Trejo star in a gore-drenched shocker from Slayer director Kevin VanHook. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
A group of malicious drug runners are attempting to take over the Black Pelican roadhouse, and it's up to the owner's nephew to beat down the bad guys and keep the club in the family in director Scott Ziehl's sequel to the 1989 Patrick Swayze cult classic. When undercover DEA agent Shane (Johnathon Schaech) learns that his uncle Nate has been brutally assaulted by thugs in a violent attempt to muscle away ownership of the battered bar owner's lucrative watering hole, he hastily comes to his uncle's rescue while attempting to locate the powerful drug lord who authorized the attack. Now, as an endless barrage of drug runners descends upon the Black Pelican with every intention of using brute force to claim the place as their own, it's up to Shane to take on the toughest fighters in the underworld save his uncle's bar the only way that he knows how. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnathon Schaech, Jake Busey, (more)
A waitress looking to make good on a series of bad life choices finds her noble quest for redemption stifled when a deeply disturbed ex-boyfriend comes looking to win her back in a dark psychological drama from director Alan White. Hope (Heather Graham) has traveled quite a few darkened roadways in her relatively brief existence, but now the time has come to leave her past behind and realize her dreams of becoming an entertainer. Soon after moving to the big city, Hope makes the acquaintance of Will (Jeremy Sisto). When the pair subsequently gets involved with drugs Hope realizes that in order to truly get her life together she must jettison her enabler once and for all, she cuts off all ties to Will. Unfortunately for Hope, Will is determined to take deadly measures to ensure that he and his true love always remain together - whether in the comforting light of life, or the cold embrace of death. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Heather Graham, Jeremy Sisto, (more)
Relegated to a forlorn afterlife of unsmiling lost souls and melancholy drifters as a result of committing suicide in the mortal realm, a heartbroken young man sets out to find the girl who inspired his final act of self-destruction after learning that she too has taken her own life in director Goran Dukic's adaptation of Etgar Keret's darkly comic novella Kneller's Happy Campers. A likeable young man despite his depressive disposition, Zia (Patrick Fugit) puts blade to wrist only to find that the pain of life doesn't end with the coming of death. Now trapped in a bleak metaphysical landscape populated entirely by suicide victims blearily searching for the joys that eluded them in the physical realm, Zia soon learns that the love is one of the latest arrivals in the dreary land of the dead. As Zia sets out to locate his ill-fated former companion and experience the joys that eluded the couple in life, he is joined in his quest by a lovelorn Russian rocker named Eugene (Shea Wigham) and an accidental tourist named Mikal (Shannyn Sossamon), who's looking for a way out of the sorrowful stir. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Fugit, Shannyn Sossamon, (more)
In this modern retelling of H.G. Wells' classic sci-fi horror, civilization is laid to ruin when a super race of aliens invades Earth. In a blink of an eye, massive "walkers" cover the planet, annihilating all in their path. As cities crumble and human flesh is ripped from the bone, one man struggles to find the one weapon that will turn the tide for mankind.
When Special Forces soldier Johnny Wing Foot returned from the Vietnam War, he thought he had seen the last of meaningless bloodshed. His dream of a peaceful, post-war life in the desert soon shattered by warring factions and a crooked sheriff's department, Johnny is forced to take up arms once again as a heated dispute erupts into all out war. Johnny isn't going to be able to rescue the preserve on his own though, and in order to get the job done he's going to need the help of his six trusted companions. Though Johnny may have sworn never to kill again, he's not above taking a stand for what's right when it seems like everyone around him has lost their perspective. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Produced for cable's ESPN network, Codebreakers dramatizes a real-life cheating scandal that rocked the foundations of West Point in 1951. Cadet Brian Nolan (Zachery Ty Bryan) is the roommate of varsity football players George Holbrook (Jeff Roop) and Bob Blaik (Corey Sevier), the latter being the son of West Point's colorful football coach Earl "Red" Blaik (Scott Glenn) -- the man who, according to legend, coined the phrase "winning isn't everything, it's the only thing" (significantly, Blaik's assistant coach was Vince Lombardi). Through casual conversation, young Nolan discovers to his horror that several of Blaik's players have taken the coach's philosophy literally, to the extent of cheating on exams to keep up their required GPAs. Their assumption -- not borne out by fact, as it turns out -- is that the coach will never find out, and if he does, he won't care. The ensuing scandal plays right into the hands of West Point's hard-nosed Commandant Paul D Harkins (Jude Ciccolelle), who, long resentful of the prominence of football at the academy, has eagerly awaited the opportunity to topple Coach Blaik from his throne. Ultimately, 83 cadets, including Bob Blaik, are implicated in the scandal -- and the penalty for breaking the Point's sacred Honor Code is a terrible one indeed. The most intriguing aspect of the film is the portrayal of whistleblower Brian Nolan, who though he has technically done the Right Thing is not a particularly likable person; indeed, certain viewers may well be swayed to the side of the disgraced football players as they make Nolan's life Hell on earth for telling what he knows. Filmed in Toronto, Codebreakers was first telecast on December 9, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Glenn, Zachery Ty Bryan, (more)
- 2004
Paige (Rose McGowan) is transported back to 1969, at the height of the "flower power" era. Here she finds that the younger version of Penny "Grams" Halliwell (Jennifer Rhodes) is an oh-wow hippie (Kara Zediker) who hopes to use the power of love to expunge the world of evil -- and hang the consequences! Meanwhile, back in the present, Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) and Piper (Holly Marie Combs), their powers diminished by Paige's absence, must face the challenge of a magic-devouring slime beast. And Whitelighter Chris (Drew Fuller) continues exhibiting reluctance and resentment while carrying out his assignment to protect baby Wyatt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Krause, Dorian Gregory, (more)
Based on John Grisham's novel Skipping Christmas, Christmas With the Kranks revolves around Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Luther Krank's (Tim Allen) decision to put their normally fanatical enthusiasm for the holidays aside for a tropical cruise. With their daughter in Peru with the Peace Corps, the Kranks believe it just isn't worth it; thus, no presents, Christmas trees, or decorations of any kind will adorn their house to the great consternation of their neighbor Vic (Dan Aykroyd). Just as it looks like Christmas will be successfully skipped, Blair (Julie Gonzalo) throws a major kink into her plans when she suddenly has a change of heart and announces she'll be coming home for Christmas after all. The film ran into troubles early on in production when Ben Affleck's similar sounding bomb Surviving Christmas won the race to the theaters, forcing the filmmakers to depart from the book title in favor of the catchy Kranks one. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, (more)
The megalomaniacal rise and fall of filmmaker Troy Duffy is chronicled by one-time friends and colleagues in director Mark Smith's documentary. The film takes its title from the "overnight success" that befell Duffy in 1996, when the then-bartender was signed by Miramax president Harvey Weinstein to direct his killers-on-a-mission-from-God script The Boondock Saints. Smith's cameras follow Duffy from pre-production -- when he battled with executives over casting and financing decisions -- on through to the lackluster release of the film. What's more, Duffy expected his relative cinematic success to translate over to his burgeoning rock band as well -- and the tension created by the presupposed deal caused him to alienate just about everyone involved with both projects. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- 2003
- Add The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting to QueueAdd The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting to top of Queue
It's been over 15 years since Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell) was terrorized by psychotic hitchhiker John Ryder (the always-evil Rutger Hauer) in Eric Red's low-budget gem The Hitcher. After blowing away the psychopath, Jim turned to the law and eventually settled down with Maggie (Kari Wuhrer), a pilot from the local airfield. When his violent visions of the past end up jeopardizing his job, the couple travel back to the same Texas strip as before to face his demons. Little do they know what lies ahead -- yep, another crazy psychotic hitchhiker (Jake Busey)! Can Jim relive the same nightmare twice, or will Maggie have to step up to the plate to defeat the grinning menace? From Corman-bred director Louis Morneau (Bats) comes this long-awaited sequel to one of the biggest cult films of '80s cable and video history. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- C. Thomas Howell, Kari Wuhrer, (more)
Peter Masterson's Lost Junction stars Billy Burke as Jimmy McGee, a hitchhiker who becomes involved with Missy Lofton (Neve Campbell) after she offers him a ride. He discovers that her husband's dead body is also along for the ride in the trunk. Jimmy has fallen for Missy and helps her get rid of any trace of the body. Her unstable boyfriend (Charles Powell) and Jimmy's handicapped friend (Jake Busey) round out the cast. Lost Junction was screened at the Santa Monica Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Neve Campbell, Billy Burke, (more)
Ten strangers are brought together during a weather emergency, only to discover a far greater danger awaits them in this suspense-drama. A sudden rainstorm in a remote desert town strands a disparate variety of people at a rundown motel. A convict sentenced to death, Malcolm Rivers (Pruitt Taylor Vince), is stuck in transit with his lawyer (Alfred Molina). Ginny and Lou (Clea DuVall and William Lee Scott) are a not-especially-happy pair of young marrieds on their honeymoon. Ed (John Cusack) is a bright and resourceful chauffeur working for actress Caroline Suzanne (Rebecca De Mornay). George York (John C. McGinley) is a concerned husband trying to find help for his wife (Leila Kenzle, who was struck by Caroline's limo. Paris (Amanda Peet) is a prostitute who wants to move on to a better life. And Rhodes (Ray Liotta) is a police detective who has in his custody Robert Maine (Jake Busey), a dangerous and deranged criminal. As the rain pours down and motel manager Larry (John Hawkes) tries to care for his customers, one by one the unexpected guests begin losing their lives at the hands of a murderer. As the body count mounts, the stranded travelers struggle to find out who the killer is; however, they also learn each of them has a secret, and that their arrival at the motel has not been a matter of mere chance. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cusack, Ray Liotta, (more)
- 2002
- PG13
- Add The First $20 Million is Always the Hardest to QueueAdd The First $20 Million is Always the Hardest to top of Queue
Hotshot marketing executive Andy Caspar (Adam Garcia) gives up his steady job to join a high-tech research and development center where he's teamed with three misfits, including socially-unacceptable Darrell (Jake Busey), to create a far-fetched and highly unlikely product -- a 99-dollar desktop computer. The company wants them to fail, but they succeed against all odds and come up with a PC that doesn't use a monitor or keyboard (it's holographic, and all of the memory is stored on an Internet server). A greedy competitor, Francis (Enrico Colantoni), sabotages their project and steals their idea as his own. Meanwhile, Andy's relationship with lovely neighbor Alisa (Rosario Dawson) hits the skids. Can Andy get the PC -- and the girl -- back? ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Garcia, Rosario Dawson, (more)
Based on a novel by Bruce Craven, this road picture follows a dope fiend named Rick (Jake Busey), who believes his goal in life is to track down Ginger (Jennifer Tilly), a famous porn star who is currently staying in her Beverly Hills hideaway. Rick is obsessed with Ginger, watches her movies obsessively, and deals drugs on the side, all to the chagrin of his lover, Tamara (Natasha Lyonne). He decides to seek out Ginger via the road, and along the way picks up Jules (Crispin Glover), a neurotic, virginal type. On the way to meet Ginger, he finds an unwelcome surprise in the form of Ginger's very jealous husband (Eric Roberts). Fast Sofa also features Bijou Phillips and Adam Goldberg in small supporting roles. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jake Busey, Crispin Glover, (more)
This romantic comedy in the vein of There's Something About Mary and American Pie concerns the story of Michael Delaney (Jerry O'Connell), a struggling cartoonist who makes a bet with seven buddies over who will be the last to marry. Several years later, the pot has boiled down to two: Michael, who is battling gambling debts in Las Vegas, and diehard bachelor Kyle Bremmer (Jake Busey), who is a self-proclaimed ladies' man. Michael tries to get Kyle to wed within 30 days in order to rescue himself from financial turmoil. When Natalie (Shannon Elizabeth) enters the picture as Kyle's new intended bride (as set up by Michael), she and Michael end up falling for one another, setting up a competition for her affections by the two men. Tomcats is the feature directorial debut for screenwriter Gregory Poirier. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry O'Connell, Shannon Elizabeth, (more)
In this fish-out-of-water comedy, Jamie Foxx plays a man named Michael Dawson, though he's confused for both Puff Daddy and Mike Tyson by the citizenry of the podunk southwest town that serves as the setting for Held Up. Road-tripping Michael and Rae (Nia Long) stop in for gas in Michael's new vintage roadster, but she grabs a ride to the airport with a truck full of cowboys after learning he blew more than 10,000 dollars earmarked for buying a home on the automobile. Moments later, Michael loses the car as well when a youth cons him out of the keys. Just when his day couldn't get any worse, Michael lands in the middle of a botched hold-up by amateurs trying to knock over the convenience store. All variety of local law enforcement, from the sheriff (Barry Corbin) to truckloads of unofficial shotgun-toting "deputies," quickly descends on the scene. Michael tries to sweet-talk the frightened gunman (Eduardo Yanez), befriend his fellow hostages (Sarah Paulson and John Cullum), and plan how to reach the airport before Rae's flight leaves, all while not getting shot by the hair triggers inside and outside the store. The film was produced and originally publicized under the title "Inconvenienced." ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamie Foxx, Nia Long, (more)
Fast cars, quarreling lovers, two-faced drug dealers, and a house full of marijuana collide head-on in this comic road movie. Cole (Breckin Meyer) and Bruce (Jake Busey) run an auto repair shop for vintage cars; the shop is steadily losing money, thanks to Bruce's refusal to work on cars he believes are beneath his dignity and his habit of supplementing his pay by dipping into the cash register. Cole also has problems at home, where his long-time girlfriend Angie (Tanya Allen), is giving him grief about his immaturity. Angie gets word that her brother Ben (Jaimz Woolvett), who grows marijuana in Vancouver, has been busted and needs someone to clear out his grow house before the cops can get to it. However, Angie is in a race with Ben's double-crossing girlfriend Eve (Elizabeth Berkley), who hopes to sell Ben's marijuana behind his back. Angie needs to make tracks to Vancouver, and Cole offers to help her, but Angie is not happy when Bruce and his crazy girlfriend Wendy (Denise Richards) invite themselves along and turn the trip into a road race. Tail Lights Fade features a stellar alternative rock soundtrack, including songs by The Minutemen, The Lyres, The Demolition Doll Rods, The Misfits, Buffalo Tom, and The Modern Lovers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denise Richards, Breckin Meyer, (more)
The action producing-directing team of Jerry Bruckheimer and Tony Scott is back with another thrill-a-minute ride called Enemy of the State. Taking its "innocent man accidentally caught up in political corruption" story from such films as Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation, Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Sydney Pollack's Three Days of the Condor, they turn up the high-tech volume in an attempt to create the ultimate action film. Robert Clayton Dean, played by Will Smith, is a devoted father, husband, and attorney shopping for a sexy gift for his wife. What he doesn't know is that he was given a videotape from a friend (Jason Lee) regarding the recent murder of a U.S. senator led by corrupt National Security Agency official Thomas Reynolds (Jon Voight). Now Reynolds is after Dean to cover his tracks or, as the audience soon finds out, frame Dean for Rachel's murder. Since Dean isn't up on his high-tech gadgetry, he needs the aid of ex-intelligence operative Brill (Gene Hackman). Between the explosions and chases is the subtext of George Orwell's 1984 mantra "beware of big brother," as Dean realizes that in the modern world, there is no such thing as total privacy. ~ Arthur Borman, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Smith, Gene Hackman, (more)
In this thriller, a young man finds himself accused of abducting his own girlfriend and holding her for ransom. Meanwhile, his lover is in grave danger from her murderous captor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Muldoon, Russell Means, (more)
Dean Parisot, who won a live-action short Oscar, made his feature directorial debut with this black comedy from a producer team that included Barry Levinson and Lawrence Kasdan. A philandering stepdad is the victim of vengeful Mrs. Lever (Catherine O'Hara), who sends her sons out to scare him to death. Cobra helicopter pilots Dorian (Luke Wilson) and Angus (Jake Busey) accomplish this by strafing the forest at night as the stepdad runs in terror. No one knows that pregnant Burger-Matic cashier Sally (Drew Barrymore) was the stepdad's mistress. However, since Burger-Matic and Cobra headsets share the same radio frequency, the notion surfaces that maybe Burger-Matic workers overheard something; Angus suggests that Dorian take a job at the fast-food joint in order to determine just who knows what. Once on the job, however, the situation gets twisted after Dorian falls hard for Sally. The chain-smoking Mrs. Jackson (Shelley Duvall), Sally's trailer-trash mother, turns up, as does her redneck father, Red (Lanny Flaherty). In an inside film reference, Angus mentions the classic "Lamb to the Slaughter" episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Drew Barrymore, Luke Wilson, (more)
The search for life outside our solar system becomes a personal and spiritual quest for a young researcher. Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) is a scientist who lost her faith in God after her parents died when she was a child. However, Ellie has learned to develop a different sort of faith in the seemingly unknowable: working with a group that monitors radio waves from space, Ellie hopes that some day she will receive a coherent message from another world that will prove that there is a world beyond our own. Ellie's hard work is rewarded when her team picks up a signal that does not appear to be of earthly origin. Ellie decodes the message, which turns out to be plans for a space craft, which she takes as an invitation for a meeting with the aliens. Ellie and her fellow researchers soon run into interference from a White House scientific advisor, David Drumlin (Tom Skerritt), who cuts off their funding and tries to take credit for their achievements. However, Ellie receives moral support from Palmer Joss (Matthew McConaughey), a spiritual teacher who advises President Clinton and tries to persuade her to accept the existence of a higher power, and financial backing from S.R. Hadden (John Hurt), a multi-millionaire willing to fund her attempts to contact the source of the message. Contact was based on a novel by Carl Sagan, who advised director Robert Zemeckis during the film's production until his death in 1996. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, (more)
