Michael Riley Movies

Bruce Boxleitner plays a second-rate Rambo in the action film Diplomatic Immunity. Boxleitner is grizzled and tight-lipped Vietnam veteran and U.S. Marine instructor Cole Hickel. When his daughter Ellen (Sharon L. Case) begins to date Paraguayan nationalist Klaus Hermann (Tom Breznahan), Cole looks askance at the couple. His suspicions prove correct when Ellen is murdered by Klaus, who uses her body as a subject for his sado-masochistic paintings. The police arrest Klaus but, because of his aristocratic descent, the government refuses to bring him to trial. Cole takes the law into his own hands and, with arms-dealer pal Cowboy (Billy Drago), Cole heads back into Paraguay as a one-man army to exact vengeance upon Klaus and any other Paraguayan who stands in his way. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

John Wayne Gacy was a respected member of his suburban Illinois community -- he was an active member of several service organizations, ran his own business, and entertained children as Pogo the Clown in his spare time. But Gacy had a terrible secret, and before he was finally brought in by the police, he had raped and killed over 30 young men and buried them beneath his house. To Catch a Killer is a made-for-TV movie that examines Gacy's life and crimes, and Joe Kozenczak (Michael Riley), the cop who finally brought John Wayne Gacy (Brian Dennehy) to justice. The supporting cast includes Margot Kidder and Meg Foster. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this gentle comedy, Alex (Michael Riley) seems to be blundering through his life like a misguided housefly. After an absence, he returns to Montreal to discover that his best friend Arto is leaving for a long stay in Cairo. He briefly consoles and then becomes the bedmate of Arto's former girlfriend, and then becomes friendly in an intimate way with a neighbor-woman, a single mom with two kids. None of his prospects, romantic or otherwise, inspire him much. It's just as well that the other inhabitants of his apartment building are so friendly and supportive, from the rather odd landlord to the elderly gay couple. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

And God Spoke is an occasionally gut-funny spoof of low-budget moviemaking. Producer Steve Rappaport and director Michael Riley have been given carte blanche to make a multimillion-dollar epic based on the Old Testament. One day into production, they blow their budget and are forced to cut corners with a scythe. Rappaport and Riley must now scout about for cheap locations in the LA area, and make do with whatever stars they can afford. The funniest sequences involve Soupy Sales, who has been cast as Moses, crepe beard and all. Lou Ferrigno, Eve Plumb, and film critic Michael Medved (co-author of The 50 Worst Movies of All Time) also have significant cameos in this likeable effort. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An American woman discovers that Paris truly is the city of love -- though not in the manner she expected -- in this romantic comedy. Kate (Meg Ryan) is desperately afraid of flying, so when her fiancée Charlie (Timothy Hutton) flies to Paris on business, she must stay behind. Kate has been having second thoughts about her impending marriage, but that changes when Charlie calls her to say that the engagement is off -- he's met a beautiful French woman named Juliette (Susan Anbeh), and he's fallen in love. Determined to win Charlie back, Kate confronts her fears and hops on board the next flight to Paris, where she finds herself seated next to Luc Teyssier (Kevin Kline), a French thief who stashes some valuable jewelry in her baggage hoping to avoid capture. While Luc simply wants to get his jewels back, he pretends to be willing to help Kate find Charlie and win him back in order to keep her luggage out of harm's way, but to his surprise (as well as Kate's), the two become infatuated as they make their way through the City of Lights. Leading lady Meg Ryan also served as co-producer for this film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A man who has embraced treachery as a way to get ahead finds that it can also be his downfall in this suspense drama. Roy Timmons (Michael Riley) is an executive at a large toy company who is bright, talented, and hard-working. But he lacks the killer instinct to get ahead in business, and he is often bested by the company's aggressive VP Marshall Stern (Henry Silva) and Stern's right hand (and lover) Ruth DiMarco (Alex Morrison). Tired of being walked on and fearful of losing his job, Roy makes the acquaintance of Jamie Hicks (Billy Dee Williams), a bartender who is a student of Machiavelli's "The Prince" and has some ideas on how to get ahead in the business world. With the help of his accountant friend Ted (Duane Taniguchi), Roy is able to juggle a few figures that make it look as if the company is in crisis thanks to Stern's malfeasance, and forces through some paperwork that will result in a transfer for Ruth. Roy's schemes help him climb the corporate ladder with impressive speed, but his new power comes with a price -- he has to fire his pal Ted, Ruth is eager to get the goods on him and bring him down, Roy's wife thinks that he's neglecting her, and he develops a taste for drugs, fueling a newfound paranoia that eventually erupts in violence. The Prince was the first feature for director Pinchas Perry. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Featuring a real granny knot of a complex plot, this violently hip, hyper-stylish crime thriller follows the exploits of Louis and Dody, two petty unemployed gangsters who get into deep trouble after they steal a job from a crime lord's cousin, whom they have already killed and stashed in the trunk of their car. They start out in Montreal but end up in Toronto to do the assignment. Louis pretends to be the dead man, while another cohort hires the two to kill a one-armed, nutzoid crime lord. En route to their hit, Louis and Dody pick up an old friend to assist them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Francis Damberger directed this Canadian period drama adapted from Betty Lambert's play, Jennie's Story. In a remote Alberta community during the Depression, farmer's wife Jennie McGrane (Christianne Hirt) believes the reason she can't have a child is because she's being punished by God. In truth, she had an affair with a priest (Michael Riley), so the church and her family conspired to give her an operation rendering her infertile. Shown at the 1998 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide