Ron Silver Movies
Ron Silver was known for his extraordinary stage presence and high-energy portrayals of a variety of offbeat characters in films and on television. A native New Yorker, Silver studied Chinese at State University of New York at Buffalo and drama at the Herbert Berghof Studio and the Actors Studio. After receiving his bachelor's from S.U.N.Y., Silver earned a master's degree in Chinese history at the College of Chinese Culture in Taiwan and then returned to New York to study at the aforementioned acting studios. 1976 was a big year for Silver who debuted as a comedian in feature films (Tunnelvision), television (The Mac Davis Show), and theater (El Grande de Coca-Cola). He was also a regular cast member between 1976 and 1978 on the sitcom Rhoda, and then appeared in several made-for-television movies before appearing in Semi-Tough (1977). His feature film career picked up in the early '80s, but he did not get his first big break until he starred opposite Anne Bancroft in Sidney Lumet's Garbo Talks (1984). Silver earned critical acclaim in 1989 for starring in Philip Saville's Fellow Traveler as a Hollywood screenwriter forced to flee his family and friends to avoid getting blacklisted during the early '50s. That same year, Silver won a Tony and a Drama Desk Award for starring in David Mamet's Speed-The-Plow and scored a second film coup in Paul Mazursky's adaptation of author Isaac Bashevis Singer's Enemies, A Love Story. In the years to follow,, the busy Silver, who juggled his time between the three entertainment forms, became a respected mid-range star who could be counted on to deliver consistently strong, fine performances. As the '90s progressed, he moved into more lead roles playing everything from psychopaths (Blue Steel [1990]), senators (Time Cop [1994]), sleazy lawyers (in the TV medical drama Chicago Hope [1994- ]), and scientists (The Arrival [1996]). Silver died of esophageal cancer in 2009 at the age of 62. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
The treacherous life of mafia turncoat Henry Hill serves as the focus of this documentary from filmmaker Luke Heppner. His criminal career immortalized in director Martin Scorsese's classic 1990 crime drama Goodfellas, Hill is now an ageing alcoholic who has served frequent stints in jail and who can never quite rest easy for fear that retribution will come when he least expects it. His life has been anything but boring, yet now as Hill continues to live the low-key life in North Platte, Nebraska it's obvious that he's the same wiseguy who was immortalized on the big screen by Ray Liotta nearly twenty years ago. But anyone who expects a solid hour of romanticized mob tales will be terribly disappointed with this documentary, because with this film the director is just as interested in the experience of simply documenting Hill's day-to-day existence as he is with telling his compelling life story. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2005
- Add Broken Promises: The United Nations at 60 to QueueAdd Broken Promises: The United Nations at 60 to top of Queue
As the sixtieth session of the United Nations General Assembly gets underway in with a three day summit focusing on institutional reform, filmmakers use the rare opportunity to address the many failings of the long-running organization and question it's validity in a world that is radically different than it was when the UN was originally founded in 1945. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2005
As three bomb-toting Muslim fundamentalists hold the citizens of a London restaurant hostage, the revelation that one of the terrorists has been researching a little-known Russian explosive known as "Red Mercury" promos authorities to handle the situation with extreme caution in director Roy Battersby's topical thriller. An informer has revealed that a trio of terrorists has been lying in hiding in the English capitol, and when chases breaks out the three bombers storm into a popular Greek restaurant and hold the frightened diners hostage. The perpetrators are Mushtaq (Alex Caan), Asif (Navin Chowdhry), and Shahid (San Shella). As the Gold Commander (Pete Postlethwaite) and counterterrorism expert Sofia Warburton (Juliet Stevenson) do their best to assess the situation from the outside, restaurant owner Penelope (Stockard Channing) and a pair of quick-thinking customers that includes American lawyer Sidney Lowe (Ron Silver) and author Neil Ashton (David Bradley) do their best to keep the heads cool on the inside. Later, when the authorities discover that the three terrorists are well-educated British citizens who were likely recruited by fundamentalists during their studies, Sofia finds that they have also come into possession with an extremely volatile Russian-produced explosive. With time quickly running as tempers begin to flare, the desperate counterterrorism expert contacts her ex-husband Lindsay (Nigel Terry) - a one-time mole whose inside information may prove vital in saving countless lives - in a last ditch attempt to resolve the situation peacefully. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Bradley, Stockard Channing, (more)
- 2003
Romeo and Juliet was updated to contemporary Beverly Hills in this typically stylish Jerry Bruckheimer TV series. This time around, Juliet was Jewel Goldman (Olivia Wilde), the stunning teenage daughter of Larry Goldman (Ron Silver), a successful producer of steamy adult films. As for Romeo, he was Adam Roane (D.J. Cotrona), the hot-hunk son of district attorney Michael Roame (Kevin Anderson), a staunch anti-porn crusader. Yes, the elder Goldman and Roame were longtime enemies. Yes, both men forbade their children from seeing one another. And yes, Jewel and Adam managed to sneak in a few torrid balcony scenes -- though not always on the balcony. Created by Jim Leonard, Skin made its FOX network bow on October 20, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ron Silver, Kevin Anderson, (more)
- 2002
- Add Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story to QueueAdd Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story to top of Queue
Originally presented in two parts by the CBS network, Master Spy is the true story of Robert Hanssen, a disgruntled FBI agent who, for 20 years, systematically sold out his country to the former Soviet Union. The film depicts Hanssen (played by William Hurt) as hyper-intelligent and hyper-sensitive, frustrated by what he perceives to be the mediocrity of his fellow federal agents (at one point in the story, Hanssen's boss advises him to "dumb down" if he hopes to survive in the agency). Hanssen's self-imposed lofty standards and values are somewhat at odds with his rather kinky sexual preferences, and with his habit of spending far more than he earns. In danger of losing everything he owns due to improvident financial transactions, Hanssen proves to be ripe for plucking by the Soviet KGB, which offers him wealth beyond his wildest dreams if he will simply transfer top secret information to the Russians. Throughout his career of duplicity and treachery, Hanssen enjoys the unswerving loyalty of his wife, Bonnie (Mary-Louise Parker), who remains blissfully ignorant of his double-agent activities until the day of his arrest. Scripted by the inimitable Norman Mailer, Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story aired over two consecutive weekends, on November 10 and 17, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Hurt, Mary-Louise Parker, (more)
This 2001 TV docudrama relates the story of tennis' 1973 "Battle of the Sexes" between Wimbledon champions Billie Jean King (Holly Hunter) and Bobby Riggs (Ron Silver), an event considered by many to be an early victory for feminism. Riggs, 20 years past his prime, lives to wager on anything and everything. Seeing the rise of feminism, he decides he can make some money by challenging top female players, 30 years his junior, into exhibition matches. His first choice for an opponent is Billie Jean King, but she turns him down because she is too busy organizing the members of the female tennis tour into a de facto union, and winning tennis tournaments. After Bobby defeats the number one female tennis player in the world, Margaret Court, King realizes she needs to beat him. Following months of hype in which Bobby's bluster is matched at every point by Billie's confidence, the two face off in the Astrodome before a huge live and television audience. When Billie Beat Bobby was written and directed by Jane Anderson who had previously written The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader Murdering Mom, which also featured Holly Hunter in the title role. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Holly Hunter, Ron Silver, (more)
In this comic fantasy for the family, Doris (Kathy Baker), a woman who runs a secondhand store, buys a ring that turns out to have magical powers. Before she knows what's happened, the ring has turned her into one of her favorite television stars, and the talisman allows her to transform a pair of rats into good-looking boys for a couple of teenage girls with whom she's become friendly. But no one knows just how long the spell will remain in effect -- least of all Doris. Ratz also stars Caroline Elliott and Vanessa Lengies. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vanessa Lengies, Caroline Elliott, (more)
The real-life drama of the 1994 O.J. Simpson trial is given quasi-fictional treatment in this two-part CBS miniseries, which aired in November 2000. Much of the miniseries' plot focuses on the battle of egos between defense lawyers Johnnie Cochran (Ving Rhames) and Robert Shapiro (Ron Silver) and how the personalities of these men in part shaped the outcome of the trial. Also included in the cast are Bruno Kirby and Christopher Plummer. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ving Rhames, Ron Silver, (more)
- 2000
A man with an eye for beauty finds himself confronting the face of death in this thriller. Gary Whitford (Ron Silver) is a successful photographer who shoots centerfolds for an upscale men's magazine. Gary's wife died under mysterious circumstances, and he hasn't been able to get her out of his mind. One night, Gary discovers a woman named Elaine near the boathouse at his beachfront home; she's confused and looks badly beaten, and Elaine tells Gary she's been roughed up by her abusive boyfriend. Gary takes her in and gives her a place to stay while she heals. Noticing Elaine's natural beauty, Gary proposes taking some pictures of her, and before long he's transformed Elaine into a glamour girl with an international following. But after Elaine turns up dead, Gary begins to wonder if something is happening to him -- especially after he becomes the prime suspect in her murder. Exposed also stars former Baywatch star Alexandra Paul. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ron Silver, Alexandra Paul, (more)
Based on an actual incident at the University of Virginia Medical Center, this made-for-TV drama stars Melissa Gilbert and Rosanna Arquette as Sarah and Linda, two expectant mothers who give birth on the same day in the same hospital. It is not until 18 months after the two women had contentedly gone home with the babies that a DNA test proves the infants were switched at birth thanks to a hospital snafu. Although Sarah and Linda both elect to keep the babies that they've grown to love, they reach an unusual compromise that has profound (and not entirely positive) effects on their respective families and friends -- leading, inevitably, to a heated courtroom battle. Originally telecast by CBS under the title Two Babies: Switched at Birth on November 24, 1999, the film has since been released to video as Mistaken Identity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melissa Gilbert, Rosanna Arquette, (more)
- 1999
Tom Berenger stars in this made-for-cable TV political thriller as Kevin Jefferson, a restaurant owner and retired CIA agent who's recruited back into action when a former colleague is captured by North Korean authorities, who are bent on using their valuable prisoner in a blackmail scheme involving international politics and nuclear weapons. Using a mix of old-fashioned infiltration methods and the latest cutting-edge technology, Jefferson and his team of operatives attempt to ascertain what the captive spy knows and save his life. Ron Silver, Alice Krige, and Clancy Brown co-star in this film, the first to receive production assistance from the Central Intelligence Agency, including some scenes filmed at the organization's Langley, VA, headquarters. In the Company of Spies is written and produced by screenwriter Robert Towne and directed by actor Tim Matheson. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Berenger, Ron Silver, (more)
- 1998
Craig M. Saavedra made his feature directorial debut with this romantic comedy-drama. After the death of her sister-in-law, Lilah Bloom (Penelope Ann Miller) began taking care of her brother Mitch (Ron Silver) and his three children. When Mitch meets career woman Debra (Caroline Goodall), Lilah confronts the possibility of life alone, but then she finds romance with musician Jack (Craig Sheffer). Conflicts arise when Mitch and Debra separate, Mitch assumes life will continue as before, but now Lilah has a newfound independence. Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penelope Ann Miller, Ron Silver, (more)
- 1995
Walter Isaacson's book Kissinger: A Biography served as the basis for this made-for-television movie about the famed political leader. Beau Bridges stars as President Richard Nixon and Ron Silver portrays Henry Kissinger, Nixon's national security advisor. The adaptation shows how Kissinger worked to try and end the Vietnam crisis while Nixon maneuvered to keep his political image strong until election time. Bridges was nominated for an Emmy for his lead performance. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ron Silver, Beau Bridges, (more)
- 1995
Based on the book of the same name by Gwenda Blair, this made-for-cable drama chronicles the life and premature death of NBC anchorwoman Jessica Savitch. Sela Ward was nominated for an Emmy award for her portrayal of Savitch, the ambitious 1980s TV phenomenon, who rose to fame quickly despite her erratic and often out-of-control personal life. It took an on-air incident to bring down the facade hiding her drug and alcohol abuse -- -- and a mysterious car accident to end her life at age 36. Director Peter Werner and the film's producers were also nominated for Emmy awards that year, and Ward received a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Female Actor. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
Actor Ron Silver made his directorial debut with this made-for-TV, futuristic retelling of Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat, in which the survivors of a sabotaged spaceship must face mounting evidence that the terrorist responsible for their plight is among them. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
A couple returns home from Mexico where they accidentally killed a cop on a highway and proceeded to flee the scene. Before long, however, they are confronted by an intimidating but charismatic man who mysteriously pops up--and who knows all about the incident in Mexico. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rutger Hauer, Rebecca De Mornay, (more)
Pierce Brosnan stars as Danny O'Neill, an FBI explosives expert on the trail of a mad bomber in this made-for-cable thriller. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierce Brosnan, Lisa Eilbacher, (more)
- 1990
Forgotten Prisoners: The Amnesty Files stars Ron Silver as a lawyer for Amnesty International. Despite governmental indifference, Silver insists upon investigating human rights violations in Turkey. Appalled by the shocking conditions in Turkish prisons, the lawyer dedicates himself to seeing that justice is truly done. The film steadfastly avoids sentimentalizing the issue, or shying away from the more repellant elements of the story. Critical reaction towards this made-for-cable film was split: some found it profoundly moving, others dismissed it as pretentious and self-congratulatory. Forgotten Prisoners first aired November 19, 1990, over the TNT Cable Network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Megan Turner (Jamie Lee Curtis) is a rookie cop who witnesses a robbery in progress on her first night on the job. With her more experienced partner using the men's room, Megan decides to take action on her own. She creeps into the supermarket where a man (Tom Sizemore in a small role) is holding the clerk at gunpoint. Megan gets close enough to shoot the gunman, and calls out for him to drop his weapon. He spins the gun toward her, and she unloads her service revolver into his chest. His gun goes flying, and a bystander, Eugene Hunt (Ron Silver), surreptitiously picks it up and takes it home. Megan's superiors, unable to confirm that the man she shot was armed, suspend her. Eugene, a wealthy commodities broker, becomes obsessed with Megan. He sets up an "accidental" meeting between them and begins dating her, romancing her with fancy restaurants and helicopter rides over Manhattan. He also carves her name into the bullets he uses to gun down strangers in the street. A tough homicide detective, Nick Mann (Clancy Brown of The Shawshank Redemption), gets Megan's gun and badge back so she can help him track down the psycho killer. Eventually, Megan realizes that Eugene is the killer, but he uses his money and influence to elude the law, and he starts coming after Megan's friends and family. Megan's determination to bring Eugene to justice quickly becomes a very personal obsession. This intense cop drama, Blue Steel, was director Kathryn Bigelow's major studio follow-up to her well-received indie vampire flick, Near Dark. Bigelow co-wrote both films with Eric Red (The Hitcher). ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamie Lee Curtis, Ron Silver, (more)
- 1989
Filmed in Britain, Fellow Traveller is set during the waning days of Hollywood's Communist "witchhunt". The film begins with the suicide of "unfriendly" movie star Hart Bochner; we then briefly flash back to the friendship between Bochner and his close friend, blacklisted writer Ron Silver. Working pseudonymously in England, Silver seeks out the late Bochner's girl friend Imogen Stubbs, who has not renounced her leftist views. He has an affair with Imogen, and through her regains his commitment to his own political preferences. Incidentally, the TV series for which Silver writes in Fellow Traveller is the popular The Adventures of Robin Hood, which actually did hire blacklistees in the mid-1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ron Silver, Hart Bochner, (more)
- 1988
Made for television, A Father's Revenge stars Brian Dennehy as a high school basketball coach. When terrorists pull off a political kidnapping in West Germany, Dennehy's stewardess wife Joanna Cassidy is among the hostages. Fed up with the apparent foot-dragging of the authorities, Dennehy takes personal action in effecting Joanna's rescue. He hires Ron Silver's band of mercenaries, then heads to Germany to bring back his wife himself. Credibility is stretched to the limit at times, but the three stars are at their peak. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Billionaire Boys Club is the two-part TV adaptation of a book by Sue Horton (unpublished at the time of the film's first telecast). In flashback form, the story recounts the murder of Beverly Hills con artist Ron Levin (Ron Silver). The culprit is yuppie Joe Hunt (Judd Nelson), a sharp young commodities trader who has organized an investment firm with several of his prep school buddies, known as the Billionaire Boys Club. Part one, originally telecast November 8, 1987, traces Hunt's meteoric rise to wealth and power, and the means by which Levin worms his way into Hunt's confidence. In part two, shown the next evening, Hunt has already murdered Levin and carefully disposed of the body. The next step of the scheme is take over where Levin left off by conning an Iranian millionaire out of a huge sum of money. Meanwhile, other members of the Club begin to have qualms over Hunt's finagling. Their whistle-blowing leads to Hunt's arrest and convinction for murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judd Nelson, Ron Silver, (more)
A young boy retreats into a world of silence in this made-for-television drama. Kiefer Sutherland stars as Kevin Richter, an adolescent boy who has suffered from years of physical abuse. In an attempt to deal emotionally with the effects of the abuse, Kevin refuses to speak and instead lives in a world of silence. When child psychologist Jennifer Hubbell (Marsha Mason) becomes aware of his situation, she refuses to write him off as a hopeless case and works tirelessly to help him emerge from his protective shell. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Adapted from the phenomenally popular best-seller by Jeffrey Archer, the three-part, seven-hour CBS miniseries Kane & Abel is the tale of two tycoons -- one a self-made man, one born into wealth -- who both came into the world on the very same day. The illegitimate son of a Polish baron, Abel Rosnovski (Peter Strauss) is forced to fend for himself from childhood. Escaping from Siberia during WWI, Abel emigrates to America, where he builds up a multimillion-dollar hotel business. Meanwhile, Boston brahmin William Lowell Kane (Sam Neill) is carefully groomed to take his place in both society and the financial world, succeeding on both counts in the banking business. Though Abel and Kane might have become friends in any other circumstances, an accidental slight on Kane's part earns him the undying enmity of a vengeful Abel -- and thus is set in motion a tense, feud-driven power struggle that will consume both their lives for the next 25 years. Filmed on-location in Canada, England, and France, Kane & Abel originally aired from November 17 to 19, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Strauss, Sam Neill, (more)
