Chuck Picerni, Jr. Movies
A New York City subway dispatcher draws on his extensive knowledge of the subway system in order to outsmart a dangerous criminal mastermind who's hijacked a subway train in this remake of the 1974 thriller inspired by John Godey's best-selling book. Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) is drifting through his daily routine when he receives word that a heavily armed gang of four has hijacked a subway train and is holding all of the passengers hostage. Led by cunning master thief Ryder (John Travolta), the gunmen will begin executing everyone aboard should the authorities fail in delivering ten million dollars in the space of just one hour. With the tension in the tunnels rising, Walter races to save the hostages before the shootings start. But through it all, there's one part of Ryder's plan that Walter can't quite comprehend: even if the thieves do succeed in getting their money, how could they possibly get out of the tunnels undetected? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denzel Washington, John Travolta, (more)
OutKast duo André "Andre 3000" Benjamin and Antwan Andre "Big Boi" Patton star as two Prohibition-era performers determined to fend off the vicious gangsters currently attempting to gain a stake in the pair's lucrative club in this musical drama directed by longtime collaborator Bryan Barber and featuring choreography by three-time Tony award winner Hinton Battle. In the 1930s, Idlewild was the hottest speakeasy in the South thanks to the impressive showmanship of flamboyant manager/lead performer Rooster (Patton) and the notable talents of introverted pianist Percival (Benjamin). Everything changes, however, when a powerful gangster and his ruthless henchmen move in on the scene with every intention of landing a healthy portion of the club's considerable profits. Ving Rhames, Terrence Howard, Faizon Love, Patti LaBelle, Macy Gray, Ben Vereen, and Cicely Tyson co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- André Benjamin, Antwan Andre Patton, (more)
Adrenaline loving director Tony Scott teams with iconic action producer Jerry Bruckheimer for this high flung sci-fi action thriller concerning a New Orleans based maverick ATF agent named Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) who is brought in on a top secret government program to catch the terrorist (Jim Caviezel) responsible for a ferry bombing that kills hundreds. Able to do what most law enforcement officers only dream of, Carlin is now able to look back in time at the perpetrator's movements, and at the life of the innocent woman whose death would set the events into motion. Carlin's instincts tell him that something is amiss, however, and while the government agent who tapped him for the job (Val Kilmer) and the team of ultra-cool scientists who run the project (Adam Goldberg, Erika Alexander) tell him one story about the quantum physics behind this marvel of technology, the hotshot agent suspects that there is a greater power at their fingertips--one that might not just solve the crime at hand, but prevent it. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denzel Washington, Paula Patton, (more)
The (mostly) true story of a Hollywood princess turned bounty hunter is told in this witty action-drama from director Tony Scott. Domino Harvey (Keira Knightley) was the daughter of famed actor Laurence Harvey (played by Jesse Pate) who passed on when Domino was only eight years old. Domino's mother, former fashion model Paulene Stone (played by Jacqueline Bisset and renamed (%Sophie Wynn) in the film), strove to give her daughter a comfortable life, but Domino was naturally rebellious, and after a contentious stint in boarding school, a brief career as a runway model, and a fling with the fashion business, Domino was looking for something more exciting. She found it when he met Ed Mosbey (Mickey Rourke), an ex-con who had gone on to a successful career as a "bail recovery agent" -- in short, a bounty hunter. Ed also taught others how to join his profession, and Domino took his course and joined his team, along with Choco (Edgar Ramirez), a headstrong bail agent who took an immediate fancy to Domino. Domino, Ed, and Choco became a successful team -- successful enough that television producer Mark Heiss (Christopher Walken) asked them to become the subject of a television reality series. However, it was after the cameras were turned on Domino that her life got truly crazy. Bail bondsman Claremont Williams III (Delroy Lindo) had hired Domino and her friends for a risky case, and soon Domino, Ed, and Choco were chasing missing men and money while landing in hot water with both the FBI and the Mafia. Domino was loosely based on Domino Harvey's real life story; sadly her personal life was as reckless as her career, and Domino died as a result of drug abuse on June 27, 2005, after this film was completed. The film also features Lucy Liu, Mena Suvari, Macy Gray, and Dabney Coleman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keira Knightley, Mickey Rourke, (more)
Directed by Paul Abascal, Paparazzi chronicles the aftermath of four paparazzi photographers whose search for the all-important "perfect shot" ends in a tragic car accident. Movie star Bo Laramie (Cole Hauser) is understandably furious when, thanks to the notorious celebrity-chasers, his wife, Abby (Robin Tunney), is seriously injured, and his eight-year-old son is paralyzed. After the accident, Bo dedicates his life to putting a stop to a paparazzo's deadly overzealousness. Chris Rock, Matthew McConaughey, Mel Gibson, and Vince Vaughn are reported to be featured in cameo appearances. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cole Hauser, Robin Tunney, (more)
Further cementing 2003 as the year of Ron Shelton cop movies, the director continued his vacation from the sports genre with Hollywood Homicide, a police comedy that comes right on the heels of Shelton's Dark Blue, a decidedly grittier cop thriller. The film stars Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett as LAPD homicide detectives Joe Gavilan and K.C. Calden, two cops with bigger dreams. Gavilan moonlights as a real estate agent, while Calden teaches yoga and yearns for a career on the big screen. When an entire hip-hop group is murdered on-stage, Gavilan and Calden are called in to handle the case. As their investigation progresses, they begin to suspect that the rappers were offed for attempting to get out of their recording contract with label head Sartain (Isaiah Washington). Along with Bruce Greenwood and Keith David, the supporting cast boasts a plethora of real-life musicians, including Dr. Dre, Gladys Knight, Dwight Yoakam, Master P, and Ronald DeVoe of New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harrison Ford, Josh Hartnett, (more)
Robert DeNiro continues to lampoon his tough-guy persona with this spoof of buddy cop movies that teams him with comic co-star Eddie Murphy. DeNiro is L.A.P.D. detective Mitch Preston, a gruff, no-nonsense 28-year veteran whose bust of a drug gang is botched one night by Trey Sellars (Murphy), a bumbling patrolman who's really a frustrated actor at heart. When Mitch's aggravation is captured by a television news crew, he fires his gun in their direction and becomes an instant media celebrity, while earning himself a temporary suspension at work. After his fame draws the attention of network TV producer Chase Renzi (Rene Russo), Mitch is soon informed that the only way he can get back to work is to allow a production crew to trail him on the job for a new cop reality series called "Showtime". In order to make the taciturn lawman more palatable to the viewing public, he's paired with the camera-friendly, fast-talking Trey. The new partners drive each other crazy, but their mismatched sensibilities make for great TV, while their newfound fame has its advantages in getting them back on the trail of those escaped drug dealers, who possess a powerful new weapon. Showtime co-stars Frankie Faison and William Shatner, who sends up his own TV cop role in T.J. Hooker. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Eddie Murphy, (more)
Tyler Briggs (Michael Vartan) returns home for his mother's funeral only to encounter the redneck side of the family -- his estranged father Gus (Marshall Bell), his two drug-addled, burned-out half-brothers, and their shady friend Teddy (Denis Leary). Sniffing money, Gus wants to reestablish contact with his son, whom he abandoned with his mother 20 years previous, but Tyler wants nothing to do with him or the useless brothers. Tyler settles into a small coastal California town, where he meets the lovely Sandy (Kari Wuhrer) and her brother Jack (Norman Reedus). But Gus and the gang turn up, and Sandy becomes the victim of an attempted rape by Tyler's dimwitted scuzzbucket brothers. That doesn't sit well with Jack and his friends, and soon it's the townies against the career criminals, who happen to be better armed. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Vartan, Denis Leary, (more)
This long-delayed science fiction thriller from director Gary Fleder was actually filmed prior to his box-office hit Don't Say a Word (2001), which preceded it in theaters by several months. Based on a 1953 short story by Philip K. Dick, the film shares that schizophrenic author's long-running obsessions with concealed identity and humanity's potential inferiority to alternative life forms. Gary Sinise stars as Spencer John Olham, a respected government scientist in the year 2079 trying to devise a secret weapon that will help his fellow humans win a decade-long war with invading aliens that are cloning human subjects and using the replicas as walking time bombs. Suddenly, Olham is accused of being an alien spy and a nationwide manhunt to capture him ensues. With even his doctor wife (Madeleine Stowe) unsure that she can trust him, Olham must uncover the truth on his own, even as he's relentlessly pursued by Hathaway (Vincent D'Onofrio), a federal agent charged with destroying the clones. Imposter has a complicated history, originally produced in early 2000 as a 30-minute short to be included in an anthology entitled "The Light Years Trilogy," a project that never got off the ground. So impressed was Dimension Films with the completed piece, however, that the footage was incorporated into a new feature version. That film was then shuffled around the release schedule for more than a year as effects were completed, reshoots were ordered, and the film was recut for a PG-13 rating instead of its original R. The R-rated "director's cut" was later released on DVD. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Sinise, Madeleine Stowe, (more)
In this action thriller, a master car thief has his skills pushed to the limit. Randall "Memphis" Raines (Nicolas Cage) can steal practically any car that crosses his path. While he has done well in his life of crime, he knows that there's a short future in theft, and he wants to get out of the business. But his retirement plans are interrupted when his younger brother Kip (Giovanni Ribisi) gets in trouble with a dangerous crime boss. To get his brother out of harm's way, Randall agrees to a profitable but risky scheme to steal 50 luxury cars in one night, with the help of several other car thieves, including Sara "Sway" Wayland (Angelina Jolie). A rival group of thieves is trying to pull the same stunt at the same time, and detectives Castlebeck (Delroy Lindo) and Drycoff (Timothy Olyphant) are trying to shut down both operations. Also starring Robert Duvall as Otto Halliwell, and Scott Caan as Tumbler, Gone in Sixty Seconds is a remake of the 1974 low-budget action hit of the same name, best remembered for a 40-minute chase scene in which 90 cars were destroyed. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie, (more)
1999 proved a banner year for screen portrayals of Satan's love life: first his relationship with Saddam Hussein went under the microscope in South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, and a few months later his search for a girl to settle down with became the basis of this thriller. With the millennium approaching, a series of disturbing signs suggests that Satan (here played by Gabriel Byrne) has returned to Earth and is walking the streets of New York City. It seems that Satan needs to find a woman who will bear his child, as the time for the arrival of the anti-Christ draws near. A woman named Christine (Robin Tunney) believes that she has seen the Devil and felt his presence, and it's up to Jericho Cane (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a former policeman turned elite bodyguard, to keep her safe from The Dark Lord. End of Days was both directed and photographed by Peter Hyams; Kevin Pollak, Renee Olstead, and Udo Kier are among the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gabriel Byrne, (more)
Teenage burnouts and post-modern slasher films are both raked over the satiric coals in the blood-soaked comedy Idle Hands. Anton (Devon Sawa) is a cheerful but exceedingly non-ambitious 17-year-old stoner who lives to stay buzzed, watch TV, and moon over Molly (Jessica Alba), the beautiful girl who lives next door. However, it turns out that the old cliché about idle hands being the devil's playground has a kernel of truth after all; there's a demonic beast living in his house that has already decapitated Anton's mom and dad (though it takes him a while to notice), and now the Dark Lord Himself has taken possession of Anton's right hand. Before he's entirely aware of what's happening, Anton's demon hand has killed his two best friends, Mick (Seth Green) and Pnub (Elden Henson), though both come back as zombies to keep Anton company. Can Randy (Jack Noseworthy), local metalhead and expert on all things Satanic, figure out what the Evil One has planned next for Anton's digits? Will traveling demon slayer Debi (Vivica A. Fox) vanquish the possessed in time? And most important, will Anton get to go to the big dance with Molly before his hand starts causing trouble again? Director Rodman Flender certainly knows the genres he parodies here; he cut his teeth in horror working for exploitation legend Roger Corman and directed the film Bloody Mutilators as well as episodes of the TV series Tales From The Crypt, while more recently he immersed himself in teenage culture directing episodes of the TV series Party of Five and Dawson's Creek. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Devon Sawa, Seth Green, (more)
- 1998
Lorenzo Lamas stars in this action-thriller as Jake Kilkanin, a former police officer who makes his way into the operations of a notorious Mexican drug kingpin. However, Jake learns he's gotten in further than he planned when he discovers an occult secret that is the key to the outlaw's strength and success. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorenzo Lamas, Marco Rodriguez, (more)
Dedicated to Tomoyuki Tanaka (1910-1997), who produced the 1954 original and sequels, the Devlin/Emmerich interpretation displays a redesign of Godzilla, now a large lizard mutated after fallout from French nuclear tests. A blinding flash of white light fills the Eastern sky. Thousands of miles away, the Pacific Ocean churns, engulfing a freighter. On another part of the globe, giant footsteps plow a path through miles of Panamanian forests, Tahitian villages, and Jamaican beaches. In the Ukraine, biologist Dr. Niko Tatopoulos (Matthew Broderick), with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is examining the impact of radiation on Chernobyl earthworms. Colonel Hicks (Kevin Dunn) and a military team escort Niko to check out giant claw marks on the beached freighter; they're joined by paleontologists Elsie Chapman (Vicki Lewis) and Mendel Craven (Malcolm Danare). Blood and giant-size footprints indicate "some sort of enormous reptile." French secret agent Philippe Roache talks to the freighter's only survivor, who keeps repeating, "Gojira...Gojira." Tatopoulos et al arrive in Manhattan's Fulton Fish Market where Godzilla surfaces, moving on to the NYC financial district where Mayor Ebert (Michael Lerner) is speaking. Ambitious Audrey Timmonds (Maria Pitillo), who works for TV news anchor Charles Caiman (Harry Shearer), is Niko's former girlfriend, and she uses this to her professional advantage. As the wave of destruction continues, Niko and Roache track the creature through the evacuated city and discover Godzilla's eggs about to hatch in Madison Square Garden. They are followed by Audrey and TV cameraman Victor "Animal" Palotti (Hank Azaria), and soon the hatching Godzilla offspring prowl the Garden corridors, leading to a final showdown. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, (more)
This thriller is adapted from the 1995 novel by James Patterson about a serial killer prowling a Southern university. Washington, D.C., forensic psychologist Dr. Alex Cross (Morgan Freeman) is also a best-selling author. After his niece Naomi (Gina Ravera) is reported missing, he heads his Porsche for Durham, North Carolina, where eight young women have been reported missing. Bodies are found by local policemen (Cary Elwes and Alex McArthur), along with the killer's signature, "Casanova." Casanova is a "collector" of strong-willed women who are forced to submit to his demands. Soon, local doctor Kate McTiernan (Ashley Judd) is abducted from her home and taken to a dungeon -- where other women are imprisoned in underground chambers. After McTiernan succeeds in escaping, she joins Cross and other detectives in the search for Casanova -- a trail that leads to Los Angeles, where similar crimes are being committed by someone known as "The Gentleman Caller." Are these two criminals in competition with each other or are they working together? ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, (more)
Disaster visits jaded L.A. in the form of an underground volcano, not the big earthquake all the citizens expect. Shot on the largest set ever constructed in the U.S., in nearby Torrance, California, Volcano is a big-budget, special-effects-laden disaster movie with a standard plot. Tommy Lee Jones plays Mike Roark, a by-the-book emergency management director who is spending the weekend with his daughter, Kelly (Gaby Hoffmann), when the previously-unknown volcano blows. Sassy, brainy scientist Dr. Amy Barnes (Ann Heche) is the first to warn of the threat, which begins by sucking one of her co-workers into a steaming fissure. As the lava starts to spurt in red-hot fireballs, Kelly is injured, and Mike sends her to the hospital in order to attend to his duties, rescue citizens, and run the city's emergency response. Eventually, Roark and Barnes team up to battle the eruption while sparks of romantic attraction fly. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Heche, (more)
A low-level criminal and a struggling newsman become unlikely partners in this comedy. Franklin Hatchett (Chris Tucker) is a fast-talking hustler who runs a small time ticket-scalping business. A TV news story by reporter James Russell (Charlie Sheen) brings Franklin's business to the attention of the police, and he finds himself under arrest. While being transported by police bus from one lock-up to another, Franklin is handcuffed to Raymond Villard (Gerard Ismael), a high-level jewel thief from Europe. Villard's henchmen stage a raid in which they explode the vehicle, killing most of the passengers (including two cops), but freeing their partner. Franklin is able to escape but learns that he's now wanted as a cop killer. Hoping to clear his name, Franklin approaches Russell with a deal -- if he'll hide him from the police and help him prove that he had nothing to do with the deadly explosion, he'll give the reporter an exclusive story, which could help Russell boost his sagging career. Money Talks also features Heather Locklear as Russell's fiancée Grace, and Paul Sorvino as Grace's father, who is quite impressed by Franklin's story that he's related to Vic Damone. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Tucker, Charlie Sheen, (more)
Just how much trouble can two guys get into while trying to catch some fish? Joe Waters (Joe Pesci) and Gus Green (Danny Glover) are two guys from New Jersey who've known each other since childhood; they've always been friends, and they've always been inept to the point of posing a threat to life and limb (early on in the proceedings, we get to watch them blow up a factory by accident). Joe and Gus are avid fishermen, and as luck would have it, they win a trip to the Everglades to do some serious angling. They hitch their boat trailer to Joe's 1968 Plymouth and hit the road to Florida, but they run afoul of a con man named Dekker Massey (Nick Brimble), who quickly relieves Joe of his automobile. Not about to let the loss of their wheels stop them, Joe and Gus try to hitch a ride, and they get picked up by a pair of beautiful women, Rita (Rosanna Arquette) and Angie (Lynn Whitfield), who are also headed South. It seems that Dekker conned Rita's mom out of much of her valuables, and they're looking for him in hopes of getting them back; Joe and Gus get roped into helping them out, which leads to a number of misadventures involving guns, treasure maps, boat chases, and hurricanes. Sadly, the production of this comedy had tragic consequences when a stunt performer was killed and two others were seriously injured while filming a jump on a boat ramp. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Pesci, Danny Glover, (more)
- 1997
- PG13
- Add The Lost World: Jurassic Park to QueueAdd The Lost World: Jurassic Park to top of Queue
Just when you'd think that scientists would realize dinosaurs and humans don't mix, along comes The Lost World: Jurassic Park to prove you wrong. In this sequel, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) summons chaos theorist and onetime colleague Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to his home with some startling information -- while nearly everything at his Jurassic Park had been destroyed, engineers were also operating a second site, where other dinosaurs, resurrected through DNA cloning technology, had been kept in hiding. Hammond has learned the dinosaurs on the second island are alive and well and even breeding; Hammond wants Malcolm to observe and document the reptiles before Hammond's financiers can get to them. Malcolm declares he had enough of the dinosaurs the first time out, but decides to make the trip when he finds out that his girlfriend, paleontologist Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore), is already there. However, Ian and Sarah aren't the only visitors expected on the island; a camera crew led by ecological activist Nick Van Owen (Vince Vaughn) is on the way, as is Roland Tembo (Pete Postlethwaite), a world-class wild game hunter who is supposed to round up the dinosaurs and who hopes to bag a prehistoric trophy for himself in the process. This sequel to Jurassic Park boasted even more impressive special effects than the first film, though the acting and screenplay aren't always at the same level. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, (more)
Actor-comedian-talk show host Keenen Ivory Wayans stars in his own action thriller screenplay about a war hero who becomes the fall guy in a frame-up. During the Persian Gulf War, U.S. Marine Sgt. James Dunn (Wayans) refuses to shoot a young shepherd, struggles with a superior officer, and winds up with a murder conviction. Sentenced to death in a military prison, Dunn is rescued from a prisoner-transport bus and selected for a special covert "Black Sheep" unit commanded by Lt. Col. Grant Casey (Jon Voight). Casey offers Dunn freedom if he will aid their battle against corrupt industrialist Donald Bickhart (Robert Culp). During the dedication of a Los Angeles medical research building, the First Lady is assassinated, and Dunn discovers that he has been set up as the trigger-man. Caught in a conspiracy, Dunn relies on his own survival skills and expert military training to elude those in pursuit, including corrupt Army superiors plus police and government agents. To clear his name and expose the real killers, Dunn kidnaps Dr. Victoria Constantini (Jill Hennessy), an eyewitness who made a videotape of the assassination. Now he has the evidence he needs and an uncooperative hostage, but after a $10 million bounty is announced, his situation gets even more desperate as he finds himself chased through the streets of Los Angeles by an immense money-hungry crowd hoping to collect the reward. The freeway filming of this chase featured an unprecedented stunt -- 16 stunt people simultaneously hit by 20 cars. Another stunt required a leap from a 45-story building. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keenen Ivory Wayans, Jon Voight, (more)
- 1997
When something disables a space station, a CIA operative teams up with astronauts to try and save it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Carradine, Jeff Speakman, (more)
Two men with nothing in common become unlikely companions in this comedy. Advertising executive Nick Beame (Tim Robbins) is not having a good day when he comes home from work to discover that his wife Ann (Kelly Preston) is having an affair with another man -- who, adding insult to injury, happens to be his boss, Phillip Barrow (Michael McKean). Deeply depressed, Nick hops into his SUV and starts driving aimlessly. He ends up in a rough neighborhood where a carjacker, T. Paul (Martin Lawrence), pulls a gun and jumps in the passenger seat. Nick grumbles "Boy, did you pick the wrong guy on the wrong day," and, thinking he has no reason to live, heads out to the desert over T. Paul's objections. Nick learns that T. Paul is actually a family man who has turned to crime because he can't get a job. Nick offers to help T. Paul, though crime is not one of his strong suits, and things get even more complicated when a pair of crooks, Rig (John C. McGinley) and Charlie (Giancarlo Esposito), start following them. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Lawrence, Tim Robbins, (more)
A story about a career television journalist who eclipses her mentor, this drama's plot resembles that of A Star Is Born, and it shares the same screenwriters as those who penned the 1976 version of that film, John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion. It's based loosely on the real-life story of newscaster Jessica Savitch. Sally Atwater (Michelle Pfieffer) gets a job at a Miami TV station based on a demo tape from her hometown of Reno, Nevada. The station's news director is Warren Justice (Robert Redford), a former high-profile Washington newsman whose career has suffered from his insistence on integrity. He makes Sally his gofer and criticizes her clothes and appearance while she begs him for a chance to go on-air. She becomes the station's weathercaster and Warren gives her the stage name of Tally. With Warren's constant advice, she breaks into news reporting and her star rises quickly as the two become romantically involved. She takes a better job in Philadelphia, with Warren's blessing, and there she soon eclipses the anchorwoman Marcia McGrath (Stockard Channing). From there, Tally's career continues to flourish, while her relationship with Warren takes some strange twists and turns. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Redford, Michelle Pfeiffer, (more)
A variety of crooks, losers, and working stiffs living in the shadow of Hollywood find their various personal crises overlapping in this intricately woven melodrama. Lee Woods (James Spader) is a cold-blooded hit man and Dosmo Pizzo (Danny Aiello) a soft-at-heart gangster; they've been sent to murder Roy Foxx (Peter Horton), the former husband of also-ran Olympic skier Becky Foxx (Teri Hatcher). Lee's girlfriend Helga (Charlize Theron) is unhappy about his habit of killing people, and she attracts the attention of Alvin (Jeff Daniels) and Wes (Eric Stoltz), two cops who've been put on vice detail but don't have the heart to bust the prostitute they've been trailing. Alvin dreams of becoming a homicide detective, so when he discovers that he might be on the trail of a murder, it's like Santa Claus showed up in mid-July to hand him a present. Dosmo manages to escape the crime scene, only to foil a murder attempt by Lee, forcing him to hide out in the home of Hopper, a pretentious English art dealer (Greg Cruttwell), whom Dosmo holds hostage along with Hopper's long-suffering assistant, Susan (Glenne Headly). In the midst of all this, a down-on-his-luck television director (Paul Mazursky) contemplates suicide (the main stumbling block is finding someone to take care of his dog) while also being pestered by an actor with equally bad luck (Austin Pendleton) and meeting a compassionate nurse (Marsha Mason) on a visit to a cemetery. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Aiello, Greg Cruttwell, (more)
Robert De Niro is Gil Renard, baseball fan from hell. Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes) is the player he is nuts about. No sooner does the talented Rayburn sign a huge contract with the San Francisco Giants, than everything in his life goes horribly wrong. Not only does his field play deteriorate along with his batting average, but someone murders his chief team rival. It's not revealing too much to say that Gil killed him, in the mistaken belief that he was doing Bobby a favor. When superfan Gil insinuates himself into Bobby's everyday life, the situation grows much worse, because this fixated nut-case has some very strange ideas about family solidarity. Amusing highlights come from John Leguizamo as a ballplayer's agent, and Ellen Barkin as a radio sports announcer. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Wesley Snipes, (more)
