John MacKenzie Movies

In this crime drama adapted from a true story, Sinead Hamilton (Joan Allen) is a public relations agent turned journalist who is appalled at the corruption and drug trafficking in her native Dublin; determined to do something about it and make the city a safer place in which to bring up her son, Hamilton begins a series of investigative pieces exposing the major players in the city's dope trade, as well as possible links between drug dealing and the Irish Republican Army. Hamilton's stories win wide acclaim and lead to a public outcry to see that justice is served; they also make Hamilton a number of very dangerous enemies among the underworld, as well as the more corrupt segments of the law enforcement community. When the Sky Falls is based on the true-life story of Irish investigative reporter Veronica Guerin; Guerin worked on the early drafts of the script before she was murdered by members of the drug cartel she helped to expose, leading the producers to change the names of the characters and alter the story's outcome. The supporting cast includes Patrick Bergin as a police investigator, Pete Postlethwaite as a criminal insider who gives information to Hamilton, and Liam Cunningham as another notorious crime boss. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

More chilling than fiction, this taut drama chronicles the CIA's search to prove that one of its agents has succumbed to greed and is exchanging highly classified government secrets for money. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The frightening underworld of neo-Nazism is the subject of this made-for-television drama. Oliver Platt stars as Yaron Svoray, an American journalist who goes to Germany to do a story on neo-Nazis. He gets mistakenly branded a sympathizer of the cause but uses his new status as a way to uncover secret information about the members and their leaders. The movie was based on the non-fiction book co-authored by Svoray called In Hitler's Shadow. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

If you've seen the theatrical feature Dead Calm or the made-for-TV Adrift, you should have a pretty good idea of what the USA Network TV movie Voyage has in store for you. "Nothing outside but the sea...Nothing inside but the terror" promised the print ads. Eric Roberts, Connie Nielsen, Rutger Hauer and Karen Allen play four passengers on a sailboat in the middle of the Mediterranean. One of the couples owns the boat; the other couple is a pair of psychopaths. Examine the cast and take a guess as to who plays who. Voyage debuted June 2, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Four cops make the painful discovery that not everyone on the force is upholding the law in this crime drama. Frank Daly (Brian Dennehy), Wayne Gross (Joe Pantoliano), Ricky Rodriguez (Jeff Fahey), and Howard Jones (Bill Patxon) are four undercover cops with the Los Angeles Police Department who work as a team to solve the cases that their colleagues consider too tough to handle. Under Daly's supervision, the four are trying to get the goods on a drug dealing operation working out of a meat packing plant. However, a raid on the plant uncovers little practical evidence, and Daly, a moody and hard-drinking loose cannon, is sharply criticized by his superiors for planning the bust without the input from the department heads or the FBI. Convinced that there's more to the case than they've been able to find so far, the four men begin looking into the matter on their own time. The deeper they dig, the more shocking the evidence becomes, as they learn that the police, the FBI, and even the Federal Government are involved in the smuggling operation, and the parties involved are perfectly willing to use violence and murder to keep troublemakers out of their way. After Jones is murdered while collecting evidence on a businessman in on the operation, the other three quit the police force, determined to see justice done even if they have to overstep the boundaries of the law to do it. Last of the Finest was also released under the titles Blue Heat and Street Legal. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Produced for the HBO Cable service, Act of Vengeance reenacts the 1969 murder of United Mine Workers leader Jock Yablonski. Yablonski (Charles Bronson) virtually writes his own death warrant when, after a "safe" mine collapses and 80 miners are killed, he rebels against the incumbent UMW boss Tony Boyle (Wilford Brimley) to campaign for presidency of the union. Boyle gets the word out that one less Yablonski in the world would be preferable. Yablonski is depicted as being fully aware of the danger he faces in challenging Boyle--and is supported in his decision by his courageous wife (Ellen Burstyn). Based on the book by Trevor Armbrister, Act of Vengeance premiered on April 20, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This densely-packed film is based on a book by Tom Hart about the struggles of a young Yorkshire boy trying to come to grips with squabbling parents, a doctor who wants to institutionalize him because of his epilepsy, and a mother who refuses to accept that he is different in any way -- and that is only the half of it. The boy, Tim (Andrew Hawley), also acts as a go-between for his friend Carns (Liam Neeson) who is having an affair with a married woman (Miranda Richardson). Eventually, things start to sort themselves out, and Tim sees life getting more interesting when he and his friend Win (Kate Foster) slowly get a relationship going. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

John Mackenzie directed this schematic adaptation of Graham Greene's best-selling thriller The Honorary Consul. Richard Gere stars as Dr. Eduardo Plarr, a brilliant doctor who has chosen to practice in the provinces rather than the teeming city of Buenos Aires because his father remains a political prisoner in Paraguay. As the story begins, Plarr is awaiting word from his father after years of silence. One day Leon (Joaquim de Almeida), an old childhood friend, contacts him. Leon was a priest who had left the church and is now working for the Paraguayan underground. Leon blackmails Plarr into obtaining information on an upcoming visit to the province by the United States Ambassador. Leon's plan is to kidnap the ambassador and hold him for ransom in order to obtain the release of Paraguayan political prisoners -- including Plarr's father. The source for the information is an alcoholic has-been, Charley Fortnum (Michael Caine), the province's honorary British counsel, whose wife Clara (Elpidia Carrillo) also happens to be Plarr's mistress. When the kidnapping goes wrong, Plarr is forced to re-examine his relationship with Clara and with Charley, whose betrayal by Plarr has put Charley's life in jeopardy. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Writer Giles Cooper's Unman, Wittering and Zigo was first presented as a BBC TV drama in the 1960s, which later was telecast in the US on NET Playhouse. David Hemmings plays the new teacher in a macabre classroom where the boys seem demonically recalcitrant. Just after calling roll (Unman, Wittering and Zigo are the last names on the tally), Hemmings is advised by his class that he'd better leave them alone to do as they wish. Hemmings' predecessor had not heeded this warning, and ended up dying a rather nasty death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two excellent actors shine in powerful roles in this drama by Ronald Neame that pits one Scottish army colonel against another. Alec Guinness is Lt. Col. Jock Sinclair, a man who temporarily takes over command of a regiment until his replacement, Col. Basil Barrow (John Mills) arrives. Sinclair comes from the lower echelons of the social order but was at least able to work himself up the echelons in the military hierarchy. He is fairly well-liked though still a little rough around the edges for some. When Barrow takes over, the two men clash almost at once. Barrow is from the upper crust, went to all the "right" schools, and believes in discipline and then a little more discipline, as well as efficient and proper bureaucratic processes. The differences between the two men threaten to rupture the unity of the regiment, especially after Sinclair assaults a soldier he finds in the company of his daughter. Barrow opts to report his behavior, leading to a climactic series of events. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide