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Directed by Martin Scorsese. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Alan Alda, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Ian Holm, Kate Beckinsale, Jude Law. Drama/Biographical. Synopsis: A dramatized story of the real life billionaire Howard Hughes, focusing on his youth spent in aviation and movie making.

Its pretty hard not to have a good flick when its directed by Martin Scorsese (Gangs of New York) and since this film is about, arguably, one of the more fascinating figures of the 20th century, you've got all of the ingredients of a good movie when you throw in a top notch cast.

The Aviator is the story of  billionaire Howard Hughes and focuses on his young professional life and especially the contributions he made to the field of aviation when that industry is in its infancy. Some of you of a certain age will probably remember hearing of Hughes as a total recluse who lived in solitude in one of the Las Vegas casinos he had bought, effectively ending Mob ownership of that town and beginning the transformation to the corporate mecca that it is today.

But, The Aviator's Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio The Departed) is young, fresh off of inheriting millions from his late father and out to conquer the industries of aviation and film making. We see Hughes' genius and vision in making the first multi million dollar movie as well as his love of aviation, being a pilot who sets speed records in addition to financing and eventually buying T.W.A. airlines.

Hughes was allegedly a playboy, despite being married twice for long periods of time. Cate Blanchett (The Gift) does a wonderful job as Katherine Hepburn, with whom Hughes had a long term affair prior to her involvement with Spencer Tracy. Kate Beckinsale (Van Helsing Fragments) takes a turn as the seductive Ava Gardner, who had her affair with Hughes prior to hooking up with Frank Sinatra.

The rest of the cast is very solid, too, with Alan Alda (Mash) stepping up to the plate-he was Oscar nominated- as the corrupt Senator who goes head to head with Hughes on behalf of his benefactor and Hughes rival, played by Alec Baldwin (Minis First Time/ Glengarry, Glen Ross).

But, the prize in this exceptional cast might just have to go to John C. Reilly (Boogie Nights  The Perfect Storm) who portrays Noah, Hughes' real life right hand man who was there through Hughes ascent and the beginning of his descent into madness. Along those lines, the film does touch on, but not dwell on, Hughes mental degeneration and places his obsession with cleanliness and fear of germs on an obsessive compulsive disorder, something that was not readily identified and treated in those days.

In fact, the excellent special features disc of the DVD does a good job of telling us a lot about this and Hughes himself, including a discussion panel that included DiCaprio, Scorsese, and Hughes' surviving widow.

This is a very good flick, but you probably already knew that.  

 

Directed by Robby Henson. Billy Bob Thornton, Sela Ward, William Devane, Patricia Arquette, Julie Hagerty, Marcus Lyle Brown, Hill Harper, Thomas Hayden Church. Drama. Synopsis:A disillusioned sheriff of a small Louisiana county becomes involved in the invesstigation of the murder of a transgendered woman at the same time that his personal and political life take a downturn.

A wonderful smaller budget film with a great and deep cast that is well directed with an interesting story. Funny how that recipe seems to work more often than not, isn't it? In the film, we are quickly introduced to Sheriff Darl Hardwick (Thornton) the consummate good ole boy who just wants to do some good, get along as well as he can with his high powered attorney ex-wife (Ward) and daughter, and, of course, get re-elected. Maybe not necessarily in that order.

The intrigue starts very early as Darl and his two deputies Jackson (Marcus Lyle Brown) and CB (Ray McKinnon) investigate a seemingly victimless accident as a truck carrying a large quantity of shoes veered off the interstate. Darl, skeptical of the driver's claim that a woman had caused him to crash the truck, instead seems more interested in dispatching the shoes, for free, to some citizens-likely voters-at the accident scene. After Darl has played Santa Claus for a while, he is as surprised as anyone when, lo and behold, there is the corpse of a woman lying unnoticed by the side of the road. 

As if this turn isn't interesting enough, the plot, as they say, thickens even more when two things are determined: 1) the young woman died of a gunshot, not being hit by a truck and 2) the woman appears to be a hermaphrodite, not a common thing in small town Louisiana.

Things quickly go from bad to worse for Darl, as his handling of the free shoe affair quickly displeases the County Judge and power-broker (William Devane Bad News Bears In Breaking Training), and his sloppy handling of what now seems to be a murder investigation is just another sticky subject between he and ex-wife and County D.A. (Sela Ward The Fugitive).

The film progresses in an excellent fashion, with the key turn being the sudden appearance of a young woman from New Orleans (Patricia Arquette) who suddenly turns up in town looking for her friend, a dancer who she hasn't heard from in a while. Darl, ever on the lookout, takes a shine to this young lady, and is bemused when she claims to be the dead woman's "wife". 

Henson does a wonderful job of telling us several stories inside of one big story at one time, so that we follow all layers and one strain of the movie does not detract from another. From the burgeoning romance Darl has Patricia Arquette's character, to his relationship with his father and long estranged brother (Thomas Haden Church), to the deepening intrigue of the murder investigation that, suddenly, no one except Darl wants to investigate, the result of which results in Darl facing a reelection campaign against one of his own deputies and new favorite of the power brokers.

The film cannot be done justice in a short review, which just might spoil it anyway, but the descent of Darl, a character we both like and are critical of, is interesting to watch as it unfolds in the midst of a new romantic possibility and a murder case that stretches up to the highest levels of Louisiana politics.

Thornton is wonderful, as he always is for those of us who just like him, and the other main actors bring the characters to life in a way that everyone can empathize with and, if any of you have ever worked or been around law enforcement, particularly in the Deep South, like moi , you will find yourself saying, "I know/knew a judge/lawyer/politician/deputy just like that!" Also, I'll bet you'll find yourself hating Devane's character, but loving him in the role, which is something only the real good ones can pull off.

Arquette is fabulous as well, she has long been my fave of the talented Arquette family. Two characters who have relatively small roles but make a huge mark on this film are Sister Felecia (Julie Hagerty Airplane) and Gizmo (Hill Harper). They both deserve special mention.

Ultimately, however, its Thornton who has to carry this film and he does, as he always will when cast correctly.

This film is a triple. The only thing that keeps it from being a home run on DVD is the lack of special features which, with a cast and story like this, would have been a ton of fun and interesting to watch. 

Directed by Gabrielle Savage. Starring Danny Glover, Linda Hamilton, Ron Perlman, Zoe Weizenbaum, David Strathairn. Drama. Synopsis: A man who has spent years living in a small remote community of Vietnam veterans in the Pacific Northwest has his life changed dramatically and is forced to confront some of his own personal demons when a friend of his from Vietnam finds him and leaves his daughter with him to raise under false pretenses.

I've always loved movies (got that from my mom) and the older I get the more I realize that one of the things I love most about being a movie buff is finding a flick that didn't have a lot of hype or a huge budget-not that I have anything against studios making money, I am an entrepreneur at heart (got that from my dad)-but put together a good cast with a high quality script and good directing and, voila, we have a great story and, by definition, a great movie.

Actually, saying this is a good caste is a little bit of an insult. All the main characters here are either great actors or act great, however you want to look at it, even if there are no "box office" stars (with the possible exception of Danny Glover).

Jake (Danny Glover) is a hard bitten veteran almost living off the land and in solitude when he gets a surprise visit from an old Vietnam buddy, Henry (David Strathairn  We Are Marshall) who has surprise with him, his daughter Lenny (Zoe Weizenbaum). Lenny is lovable, talkative, and most surprising of all, half Vietnamese. Henry just wants Jake to watch Lenny for a little while, he has to go on a trip to a clinic as he is suffering from cancer induced by Agent Orange.

Well, we find out soon that this arrangement was meant to be permanent, though Jake does not realize it, and the fact that Henry is definitely going to die, until it is too late and Lenny is effectively his child now.

The interaction and the scenes between them are priceless. Anyone who has ever been a parent or a child will relate to something here. Lenny begins to chip away at Jake's tough, gruff exterior, which isn't just directed towards her, but everybody, most of all the store owner in town, Kate (Linda Hamilton) who has been trading barbs with Jake for years.

Jake is forced to confront his personal demons from Vietnam and its aftermath, but he is not the only such vet in town. The most compelling and intriguing of them in the film is Red (Ron Perlman) a disfigured vet who does not speak, boobie traps his property, and is initially very hostile to Lenny.

This is a wonderful movie, folks. Its funny, tragic, touching, and a wonderful ode to our Vietnam veterans. I will tell that the tragedy comes in the death of one of the main characters, but you know me well enough to know I will not tell you who and spoil it for those who have not seen this film. And, my little review does not even begin to do this movie justice, its a great first movie for the first time director, and she is going to be hard pressed to top this one when she directs her next film.

The Vietnam/post Vietnam movie genre has spawned so many good movies, and a few great ones, from Apocalypse Now to The Deer Hunter to Platoon   and so many others. This film deserves mention with all of those, its that good.  And might even be a little better. You don't have to take my word for it.

But, I hope you do.    

 

This one is really, really funny. Not the slapstick or over the top humor, but the tongue in cheek kind of humor where you will find yourself chuckling thoughout the movie, only stopping to laugh out loud.

The plot is fairly intricate for a comedy, but when you have an ensemble cast this talented, it flows very nicely and is easy to follow. The story focuses on a group of middle and near middle age folks living in the D.C. area, who are-to some degree-dissatisfied with their current lot.

We first meet an arrogant CIA analyst (John Malkovich The Libertine) who hits the bottle too much and is in a marriage to a doctor (Tilda Swinton) that is short on love and long on irritation.Things immediately go downhill when he quits instead of taking a demotion, then somehow loses a computer disc containing information he was going to use to write a memoir.   

Into that breach come two employees (Frances McDormand Fargo, Brad Pitt Seven)  at an upper scale fitness center who happen upon the disc and decide, by golly, they are going to cash this ticket since McDormand's character has a serious hankering to pay for some cosmetic surgery.

And, of course, no comedy would be complete without the cad and, in this flick, its played by George Clooney (From Dusk 'Til Dawn) who loves the ladies, in addition to his wife, and two of his gal pals are, you guessed it, Tilda Swinton and Frances McDormand.

Suffice it to say, when the blackmail plan goes awry and cheating hubbys and wives are exposed, the plot thickens and its hilarious. What makes Burn After Reading work so well, as you would think, is the acting. Clooney, Malkovich, McDormand, and Swinton are all fantastic, all very funny in their understated way, though you will probably expect what you see from McDormand, an actor more associated with comedic roles than the others. Pitt deserves special mention, however. He is side splitting playing a less-than-astute geek, I challenge you to not laugh at any scene he's in when you see the flick. 

I also liked the fact that the film was not afraid to portray these characters, including two of the bigger hearthrobs of the past decade or so, as vulnerable, not so tough, not so smart, and therefore, easy to laugh at and with. I also need to say how refreshing it was to see 40 something leading men paired with 40 something leading ladies, something you don't see as often as you'd think as big Hollywood films look for the hot 23 year old to pair opposite 70 something Sean Connery 60 something Michael Douglas. 

So, those of you who might go into this one thinking your primary reward might be some Clooney/Pitt beefcake, you'll be disappointed, though Pitt does look like someone who works in a fitness center. Just understand that this movie is not about eye candy.

The heavyweight big name stars are not the only ones who deliver, either. Richard Jenkins (Stepbrothers) is good as the manager of the fitness center who just can't seem to get McDormand's attention and J.K. Simmons (Spiderman) is hilarious as the mysterious CIA big wig who simply reacts to the circus of events that unfold with the missing disc.

This film is hard to briefly describe, but trust me, if you like any of these excellent actors and you don't need over the top slapstick or bodily function humor to make you laugh, I can pretty much guarantee you'll like Burn After Reading.    

Directed by John Sayles. Starring: John Cusack, Charlie Sheen, Michael Rooker, Clifton James, Michael Lerner, Christopher Lloyd, Kevin Tighe, David Strathairn, D.B. Sweeney, Gordon Clapp, John Mahoney, Richard Edson, Don Harvey, James Read, Studs Terkel, Nancy Travis. Drama/Sports/Historical. Synopsis: The story of the eight players for the Chicago White Sox who were alleged to have taken money from gamblers to throw the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, still the biggest betting scandal in professional sports history in the U.S. Based on the book by Eliot Asinof. 

The best sports movie I've ever seen. And, that is saying something with Raging Bull (which is on my list of 10 best movies I've ever seen), A League Of Their Own, Hoosiers, The Longest Yard, Bang The Drum Slowly, Brian's Song among the contenders who would be on anyone's top list, not to mention the ones who would also get consideration on my list such as Rocky, Victory, A Shot At Glory, The Junction Boys, Glory Road, All The Right Moves and a few more.

Why do I feel so strongly about this flick? Well, several reasons. For the most part, it is historically accurate. It appeals well to baseball buffs and I think it plays well for those who are not as into the game, or maybe not the history of the game.It is extremely well directed and well acted. And, of course, like all truly great movies, it speaks on several levels, not just its topical theme, baseball, and its very effective in protraying the personal tragedy of some o the characters as well as their motivation.

The movie follows a well known historical occurrence, at least to baseball history buffs, of the betting scandal involving 8 members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox baseball team. The first thing to realize is that the '19 version of the White Sox likely would have gone down in history as one of the best teams ever if not for the scandal. The eight men were banned from baseball for life by the first Commissioner of baseball-an office created in large part due to the scandal-Kennesaw Landis.   To put it proper perspective, two members of the team are in the Hall of Fame (Ray Schalk, Eddie Collins), and probably as many as four more would have been if not for the scandal (Joe Jackson and Eddie Cicotte would have been locks for the Hall of Fame; George Weaver and Oscar Felsch would have likely gotten in, Claude Williams, Swede Risberg and Chick Gandil would have gotten consideration).

The other thing to realize is, though pro athletes have always made more-sometimes significantly more- than the average working man, it was not always the 'set for life' type of money they get today and back in those days only the absolute best players (e.g. Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker) were getting top dollar.

It was common for ball players to work other jobs in the offseason. The owner of the White Sox at that time, Charles Comiskey, was notoriously frugal and most of the White Sox-with the exception of Eddie Collins-were playing for well below market value.

Against that backdrop, the film opens with the Sox having just clinched the pennant and being told in the clubhouse by Comiskey's secretary that the champagne ready for them will serve as the bonus promised them by Comiskey if they won the pennant. The champagne is flat. (This is a powerful, concise scene in setting the mood and motivations of the players, but in point of fact, its incorrect as the 'champagne' episode occurred in 1917, when the Sox actually went on to win the Series, and not 1919. Baseball historians and buffs will be irritated, but its technically accurate and better serves the film, in my opinion ) 

We soon see Comiskey (Clifton James Bad News Bears In Breaking Training) telling pitcher Eddie Cicotte (David Strathairn Missing In America) that he will not get his contractual bonus for winning 30 games because he only won 29 . When Cicotte protests that Comiskey ordered manager Kit Gleason (John Mahoney Say Anything) to bench him for 5 starts after he'd won 29 games, which was done unfairly to keep him from winning 30 games. Comiskey's response? "29 is not 30, Eddie."

Wow. What a tightwad. Remember, this was pre-union, pre-free agency, pre- all of that good stuff. So, when gamblers start sniffing around to find out, just for the sake of conversation, what it might take to get the players from the heavily favored Sox to throw the Series against the Cincinnati Reds, there is a surprisingly receptive audience among the players, led by Arnold 'Chick' Gandil (Michael Rooker Slither Mississippi Burning) . The gamblers, including legendary gambler Arnold Rothstein (Michael Lerner Harlem Nights), Sport Sullivan (Kevin Tighe Road House) , Bill Burns (Christopher Lloyd Back To The Future) , and Billy Maharg (Richard Edson Do The Right Thing) are very pursuasive and soon have seven other members of the team agreeing, or at least not objecting to, getting 10 grand to throw the first game. The details of the fix are not clear and more than one gambler is making promises apart from the other. In addition to Gandil, Weaver (John Cusack Room 1408) , Jackson ( D.B. Sweeney Miracle at St. Anna) , 'Swede' Risberg (Don Harvery Casualties of War ), 'Happy' Felsch (Charlie Sheen Wall Street), 'Lefty' Williams (James Read),  andFred MacMullin (Gordon Clapp).

The plot moves quickly and the unorganized nature of the plot is made clear by director Sayles. (who also acts in the film as sportswriter Ring Lardner along with a fabulous performance by Studs Terkel as a fellow sports writer)  The actors do excellent jobs in bringing their characters to life and they become, at some level, empathetic. One thing movie buffs who are also sports fans always have an issue with is the realism of the athletic performances. Well, unless you see a movie where real athletes are trying to act (e.g. Any Given Sunday) , you're not going to get much better, particularly with Cusack, Sweeney, Sheen, and Strathairn, who all either had obviously played baseball at some point or did a fabulous job in preparation for their roles.

But, there are good performances all over the place, with Mahoney and Cusack working well together in their scenes in a much different setting than they both did in Say Anything. Christopher Lloyd and Lerner also standout among the gambling influence.

As far period pieces go, you hope to not see or hear any anachronisms, which kind of make you remember you're not looking at something that happened more than 8 decades ago. There are none here that I can find, the closest being the creative license taken with the champagne scene I mentioned as well as the trial scenes at the end, which in reality did not take place until 1921, as seven of the eight accused had played for the Sox throughout most of the 1920 season until the dam broke and they were suspended from baseball.

The film does a wonderufl job of showing the differences and divisions among the players, particularly colege educated Eddie Collins (Bill Irwin The Manchurian Candidate) and the eight players invloved, called "The Black Sox". It also delves into who got the money they were promised, who got less, and who got nothing. Some will criticize some of the depictions, as there is still some debate as to whether Jackson was in on the actual fix, though he did accept money according to most of the contemporary documents.

Likewise, it is undisputed that Weaver took no money but the allegation that he knew of the fix is still in some dispute  and, believe it or not those of you who are either not baseball fans or not familiar with the story, there is still debate and, as you read this, still active efforts to get the men reinstated, particularly in the cases of Jackson and Weaver. Jackson's reinstatement, without a doubt, would mean his immediate inclusion into the Baseball Hall Of Fame.

Incredible, all of these men have been deceased for at least 53 years (Weaver was the first to pass away in 1956) and the last surviving Black Sox player passed away in 1971 (either Gandil or Risberg, I cannot recall which at this time), yet there was a motion in Congress on this topic as recently as 2008.

As one last aside, I saw an interview with D.B. Sweeney several years back, and he was talking about the filming of this movie in 1988, and though all of the White Sox players from the team and everyone directly connected from the 'Chicago side' of the story was deceased by that time, there was one surviving member of the Cincinnati Reds, Hall of Famer Edd Roush, who came out to the stadium where the filming was going on of the baseball scenes. Sweeney said Roush-who was 94-was alert, outgoing, and friendly but did not see too well. When he shook hands with Sweeney, Roush looked at him and asked, "Young man, are you a White Sox or a Red?" Sweeney said he told him, "I'm a White Sox." Sweeney said Roush frowned, shook his finger at Sweeney and said, "You guys, we beat you fair and square!" And then he laughed.

I don't know, I just thought the story was neat.

I feel like this entry is more like a baseball fan than a movie review. So, here is the movie rview:

Its excellent, see it if you have not, see it again if you already have.   

Directed by D.J. Caruso. Starring Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey, Rene Russo, Armand Assante, Jeremy Piven, Jamie King. Synopsis: A small time football handicapper, and injured former college football QB, gets  recruited to New York City by the owner of a highly touted sports tout service to be its new Golden Boy. While there, he is faced with fickle nature of his success in his profession and the riches it brings him. Drama.

This movie literally called out to me. Consider this: I'm a huge sports fan, a huge Al Pacino fan, like MCounaughey and Russo, and love to bet (legally) on sports. There was absolutely zero chance that I was not going to see this flick. Of course, when you look so forward to seeing any particular movie, no matter what the reason, the potential for the disappointment factor rockets up quite a bit.

Two for the Money is no disappointment, folks. The topic of sports gambling is, in my opinion, just the backdrop of this film as its really about naked ambition, the price of huge success, and dealing with personal demons. The movie is inspired by a true story, and don't get me wrong, there is enough there to satisfy those that want to see a sports movie, the gambling element and the dialogue are righteous, you will really believe these guys are in the business if you have ever dabbled in sports betting off shore or in Vegas, but saying this movie is about sports or sports betting is, to me, like saying General Hospital was about the medical profession. Not really.

Brandon Lang (McConaughey Failure To Launch, Amistad) is a college QB who lives for sports and his football career until he suffers a major knee injury that shatters his professional football dreams, not that he gives up easily, keeping himself in shape and begging anyone and everyone for a tryout. (There is a wonderful line in these opening minutes as McConaughey narrates that goes something like this "And, it didn't take long, but one day six years had passed..." Some of us know exactly how true that can be) Anyway, in addition to keeping shape, Brandon needs money to help his struggling family and has a collection of Las Vegas style jobs, working for 900 numbers and such, when it becomes apparent that he has a real talent for making sports picks.

One day, out of the blue, he gets an inviting offer from Walter Abrams (Pacino The Devil's Advocate, Cruising) who runs a highly successful sports touting service for gamblers and wants to give Brandon a shot. You know what comes next, the wide eyed, yet confident, young guy going to the Big Apple for the first time, awed by the plush Manhattan surroundings and the opportunity, not to mention smitten-a little bit-with the big man's wife (Russo Get Shorty, Ransom).

Abrams transforms Brandon into a smooth talking, telegenic, gem of a sports touter called John Anthony, and, initially, Brandon, more than earns his keep. But, as those of us who gamble on anything will know, losses are inevitable in the long run, and the clients are paying Brandon and Walter for the false hope of a sure thing. The clients are serious, big money players who don't pay for losing advice, such as the superrich client in San Juan (Armand Assante Q & A) who bet a million a game and expect to win.

The heart of the story is the relationship between Abrams and Brandon, moving between friends, to mentor-protege, to competitors, to nemesis and back again. Pacino, of course, is wonderful, stealing the screen with his manic portrayal of Abrams, a man who has made a mint and seems determined to lose it all, the former gambling addict who has stopped but now runs a tout service, a man who obviously has an eye for young ladies, but is maniacally faithful and devoted to his wife and daughter. Its hard for any actor to not disappear on screen next to Pacino, but McConaughey does well here, again realizing that his character is supposed to be a little intimidated by Abrams.

Russo is, as we know, good enough to carry the story herself, but does not have to here, but does well as the epitome of middle age beauty and class, even though she is playing a recovering drug addict.

Also, there are two real good supporting performances, one from Jeremy Piven as the displaced favorite of Walter when Brandon arrives, another by Assante as the filthy rich bettor. Jaime King (Sin City) makes an appearance as Brandon's main object of desire ( I did not say "affection") and succeeds, but she had little to do in the way of advancing the story or showing her considerable acting talent. She was there for eye candy and it worked.

Overall, Two for the Money, is an entertaining movie that does not break any new ground, but good movies do not have to, in my book. Pacino, alone, is worth this movie, and the story is good as well, though I would have liked a little more originality in the ending. There are some very good and interesting special features for those who pick this up on DVD.

A good flick that makes it to my favorites.

For what that is worth.                     

Directed by Arne Glimcher Starring: Sean Connery, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Capshaw, Blair Underwood, Ed Harris, Kevin McCarthy, Daniel Travanti, Ruby Dee, Christpher Murray, Lynne Thigpen, Ned Beatty, Scarlett Johansson. Synopsis: A well respected Harvard law professor is asked by a condemned killer on death row in Florida to take up his case based on his innocence and conviction steeped in racial prejudice.

This is a good one. Really good, to paraphrase William Shatner. The story is compelling, pulling in so many different issues and dealing well with all of them: our legal system, the death penalty, the issues of class and race in punishment or criminals, and our good old fascination with psychopathic killers. Most of us, especially those of us with some experience in the criminal justice system, will find something here of interest, and it is all dealt with realistically. Not only that, but the film continually takes you somewhere that you didn't expect it to...I just love it when that happens.

Paul Armstrong (Sean Connery Family Business) is a well known law professor who is respected for his anti-death penalty views, but it has been years since he has been in the court room. He leads a comfortable life in Massachusetts with his former prosecutor wife (Kate Capshaw A Girl Thing). He's contacted out of the blue by the grandmother (Ruby Dee) of an Ivy League educated man on death row in Florida named Bobby Earle (Blair Underwood Malibu's Most Wanted)  It seems that Bobby Earle has been sent to death row largely as a result of racial prejudice, his being a forced confession in the murder of a young white girl named Joanie Shriver.

Reluctantly and largely at the urging of his wife, Paul decides to take the case and is soon in Florida representing Bobby Earle and finding strong indication that the true murderer or Joanie Shriver is actually a resident of death row along with Bobby Earle, infamous serial killer Blair Sullivan (Ed Harris An Eye For An Eye).

Paul is not seen as the welcoming hero in Bobby Earle's hometown as he investigates the case, and the town's African American Chief of Police, Taney Brown (Laurence Fishburne Deep Cover) is among the least hospitable, which is the first indication that things might not be what they seem at first glance.

You all know that I will never be the spoiler, but I think any of you who have seen this excellent flick would agree with me when I tell you that there are several twists in this tale and, frankly, I doubt most of you will see them comng. I know I sure didn't. But, anyone can make a movie with a twist.

Whether or not the twist works is another story, it depends on the quality of the story and, of course, the acting. Here, the story is incredible and the acting is top shelf across the board. When you have actors the quality of Ned Beatty, Kevin McCarthy, and Lynne Thigpen doing one scene in your flick, you most likely have top tier actors as your major characters. Connery is excellent, but you knew that so I won't waste your time with that. This was the flick that convinced me that Fishburne was truly an extremely talented actor and Ed Harris is simply unbelievably good in his role as a psyhcopathic, Scripture quoting serial killer.

And, if that is not enough, Blair Underwood literally transforms on film before our eyes, if that is not great acting, what is? Those of you looking at this flick for the first time even though its an oldie, keep an eye peeled for a very young Scarlett Johansson as Connery's daughter.

I'd challenge you to watch Just Cause and not admit it is a powerful film. In fact, I double dare you.

One of my faves, of course.