Archive for the ‘Crime Drama’ Category
Monday, January 11th, 2010
|
Richard Brooks wrote and directed this stark black-and-white (with brilliantly evocative cinematography by Conrad Hall) study of two drifters who murder a family, based on Truman Capote’s non-fiction novel In Cold Blood.
The film takes place in Holcomb, Kansas, where four members of the Herbert Clutter family are roused from their sleep and brutally murdered.
The killers, Perry Smith (Robert Blake) and Dick Hickock (Scott Wilson), are two ex-cons who plan to rob the Clutters of $10,000 kept in a safe in their home.
But Dick and Perry find no safe and no $10,000 and end up leaving the murder scene with only $43.
The police, led by Alvin Dewey (John Forsythe) of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, try to track down the killers.
Meanwhile, Dick and Perry take off to Mexico, where Perry has fantasies of prospecting for gold.
But when his dreams of prospecting come to naught, Dick insists that they return to the United States.
Confident that they have left no clues, they cash bad checks, and the police track them down in Las Vegas.
During questioning, their alibis are broken when they are separated and tell conflicting stories. |
| Also Known As: |
In Cold Blood |
| Genres: |
Crime, Crime Drama, Docudrama, |
| Running Time: |
133:00 |
| Actor List: |
Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe, Paul Stewart, Gerald O’Loughlin, Jeff Corey, John Gallaudet, James Flavin, Charles McGraw, James Lantz, John McLiam, Ruth Storey, Vaughan Taylor, Duke Hobbie, Sheldon Allman, Ted Eccles, Raymond Hatton, Mary Linda Rapelye, Ronda Fultz, Al Christy, Stan Levitt, Brenda Currin, Will Geer, |
Posted in Crime, Crime Drama, Docudrama | No Comments »
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
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Producer/star Warren Beatty had to convince Warner Bros.
to finance this film, which went on to become the studio’s second-highest grosser.
It also caused major controversy by redefining violence in cinema and casting its criminal protagonists as sympathetic anti-heroes.
Based loosely on the true exploits of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker during the 30s, the film begins as Clyde (Beatty) tries to steal the car of Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway)’s mother.
Bonnie is excited by Clyde’s outlaw demeanor, and he further stimulates her by robbing a store in her presence.
Clyde steals a car, with Bonnie in tow, and their legendary crime spree begins.
The two move from town to town, pulling off small heists, until they join up with Clyde’s brother Buck (Gene Hackman), his shrill wife Blanche (Estelle Parsons), and a slow-witted gas station attendant named C.
W.
Moss (Michael J.
Pollard).
The new gang robs a bank and Clyde is soon painted in the press as a Depression-era Robin Hood when he allows one bank customer to hold onto his money.
Soon the police are on the gang’s trail and they are constantly on the run, even kidnapping a Texas Ranger (Denver Pyle) and setting him adrift on a raft, handcuffed, after he spits in Bonnie’s face when she kisses him.
That same ranger leads a later raid on the gang that leaves Buck dying, Blanche captured, and both Clyde and Bonnie injured.
The ever-loyal C.
W.
takes them to his father’s house.
C.
W.
’s father disaproves his son’s affiliation with gangsters and enters a plea bargain with the Texas Rangers.
A trap is set that ends in one of the bloodiest death scenes in cinematic history.
The film made stars out of Beatty and Dunaway, and it also featured the screen debut of Gene Wilder as a mortician briefly captured by the gang.
Its portrayal of Bonnie and Clyde as rebels who empathized with the poor working folks of the 1930s struck a chord with the counterculture of the 1960s and helped generate a new, young audience for American movies that carried over into Hollywood’s renewal of the 1970s.
Its combination of sex and violence with dynamic stars, social relevance, a traditional Hollywood genre, and an appeal to hip young audiences set the pace for many American movies to come. |
| Also Known As: |
Bonnie and Clyde |
| Genres: |
Crime, Gangster Film, Crime Drama, Road Movie, |
| Running Time: |
111:00 |
| Actor List: |
Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons, Gene Wilder, Denver Pyle, Dub Taylor, Evans Evans, Martha Adcock, Mabel Cavitt, Sadie French, Roy Heard, Clyde Howdy, J.J. Lemmon, Jr., Russ Marker, Ken Mayer, Ann Palmer, Joe Spratt, James Stivers, |
Posted in Crime, Crime Drama, Gangster Film, Road Movie | No Comments »
Friday, August 28th, 2009
|
Barry Levinson directed this crime drama based on a controversial bestseller.
Jason Patrick stars as Lorenzo, a New York reporter more commonly called “Shakes,” a nickname courtesy of his three childhood pals from Hell’s Kitchen — Michael (Brad Pitt), John (Ron Eldard), and Tommy (Billy Crudup).
As kids, all four were sent to reform school after accidentally killing someone during a cruel prank.
There, the boys were raped and beaten by several guards, including Sean Nokes (Kevin Bacon), a fact that they’ve kept secret into adulthood.
Michael is now a rising star in the district attorney’s office, while John and Tommy are founders of the Irish gang the Westies.
When Nokes walks into John and Tommy’s hangout, they kill him in cold blood and go on trial, defended by a drug-addicted lawyer (Dustin Hoffman).
Michael and Shakes conspire with childhood friend Carol (Minnie Driver) and local priest Father Bobby (Robert DeNiro) to free their friends and get even with the surviving guards.
Based on a true story chronicled by Lorenzo Carcaterra in his novel of the same name, Sleepers stirred controversy when the veracity of the book was challenged by reporters who could find no documentation of the events described. |
| Also Known As: |
Sleepers |
| Genres: |
Drama, Crime, Crime Drama, Courtroom Drama, Buddy Film, Reunion Films, |
| Running Time: |
152:00 |
| Actor List: |
Kevin Bacon, Robert De Niro, Billy Crudup, Dustin Hoffman, Bruno Kirby, Jason Patric, Vittorio Gassman, Brad Pitt, Minnie Driver, Ron Eldard, Brad Renfro, Wendell Pierce, Aida Turturro, Terry Kinney, Peter Appel, William Butler, Eugene Byrd, Jeffrey Donovan, Peter Gerety, Saverio Guerra, Ben Hammer, Frank Medrano, Dash Mihok, Michael P. Moran, Joe Perrino, James Pickens, Jr., Larry Romano, Tom Signorelli, John Slattery, Henry Stram, Jonathan Tucker, Joe Urla, Geoffrey Widgor, |
Posted in Buddy Film, Courtroom Drama, Crime, Crime Drama, Drama, Reunion Films | No Comments »
Thursday, August 13th, 2009
|
Set against the backdrop of the bloody battle waged between New York City cops and the Russian mafia in the 1980s, director James Gray’s period drama tells the tale of an emerging club manager whose family ties to law enforcement make him a target for the city’s most dangerous criminals.
Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) manages one of Gotham’s hottest clubs - but being in the club scene often means turning a blind eye to blatant criminal activities.
Realizing that his career - and perhaps his life - could come to a sudden end if anyone discovers that his father Burt (Robert Duvall) is the deputy chief of police and his brother Joseph (Mark Walberg) is a rising star on the force, Bobby struggles to keep that sensitive information from everyone except his devoted girlfriend Amada (Eva Mendes).
Russian kingpin Vadim is a ruthless criminal who is willing to permanently silence anyone who dares cross him - regardless of whether they are a stranger on the street or a lifelong member of the family.
When the Russian mafia declares all-out war against the NYPD, conflicted Bobby is forced to choose between his life of luxury, or the family that he has worked so fervently to separate himself from. |
| Also Known As: |
We Own the Night |
| Genres: |
Drama, Crime Drama, Period Film, |
| Running Time: |
117:00 |
| Actor List: |
Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Robert Duvall, Antoni Corone, Moni Moshonov, Alex Veadov, Tony Musante, |
Posted in Crime Drama, Drama, Period Film | No Comments »
Sunday, August 9th, 2009
|
Investigative reporter Steve Everett (Clint Eastwood) has just relocated to the west coast after getting fired from the New York Times.
Thanks to his old friend, Alan Mann (James Woods), the editor-in-chief of The Oakland Tribune, Everett still has a job, but that’s hardly the end of his problems.
An alcoholic and a womanizer, he’s been sober for two months and his marriage to Barbara (Diane Venora) is in as bad a shape as his car.
Everett has also earned the hatred of city editor Bob Findley (Denis Leary), and not without reason — Everett has been sleeping with his wife.
One day, when another reporter dies in an automobile accident, Findley asks Everett to take over her assignment — the final interview of condemned murderer Frank Beachum (Isaiah Washington).
Everett researches the case before the interview, and finds Beachum was convicted of a robbery and homicide in an Oakland convenience store.
But the reporter finds several discrepancies in the story, and a visit to death row only confirms Everett’s suspicions that Beachum was not the killer.
The reporter begins a hurried search for information that will stay the execution.
Plagued by his inner demons, the reporter has 12 hours left to save the life of a man he knows is innocent. |
| Also Known As: |
True Crime |
| Genres: |
Drama, Crime Drama, Detective Film, |
| Running Time: |
127:00 |
| Actor List: |
Clint Eastwood, Isaiah Washington, Denis Leary, Lisa Gay Hamilton, James Woods, Bernard Hill, Diane Venora, Michael McKean, Michael Jeter, Mary McCormack, Hattie Winston, Penny Bae Bridges, Francesca Fisher-Eastwood, John Finn, Laila Robins, Sydney Poitier, Erik King, Graham Beckel, Frances Fisher, Marissa Ribisi, Christine Ebersole, Anthony Zerbe, Lucy Liu, |
Posted in Crime Drama, Detective Film, Drama | No Comments »
Friday, July 17th, 2009
|
Director Ridley Scott spins this yarn concerning a Harlem drug kingpin (Denzel Washington) who smuggles heroin into the country by hiding it in the bodies of U.
S.
soldiers killed during battle in Vietnam.
There was a time when no one noticed reserved driver Frank Lucas (Washington), but when the criminal kingpin he was charged with transporting through the city streets suddenly dies, Lucas seizes the opportunity to build his own criminal empire.
In the following months, Lucas solidifies his status as Harlem’s most innovative drug dealer by delivering a product that is purer than the competitors’ and cheaper, as well.
When innovative businessman Lukas attempts to go semi-legit by becoming one of the Manhattan borough’s biggest civil supporters, however, street-savvy outcast cop Ritchie Roberts (Russell Crowe) begins to sense a sizable shift in the hierarchy of the drug underworld.
But Roberts is one of the few honest detectives operating within a corrupt system, and as he sets out to investigate the case, crooked detective Trupo (Josh Brolin) does everything in his power to compromise the integrity of his idealistic counterpart.
Upon clearing all of the usual Mafia-connected suspects, Roberts begins to believe that a previously unknown black power player has come out of the woodwork to dominate the local drug trade.
While Roberts and Lucas may be operating on opposite sides of the law, the one thing that both men have in common is a strict code of ethics that separates them from their opportunistic colleagues.
Now, as a confrontation between the two men becomes inevitable and the fate of each becomes inexorably tied to the other, it gradually becomes apparent that only one of them will emerge from the conflict victorious. |
| Also Known As: |
American Gangster |
| Genres: |
Crime, Crime Drama, Gangster Film, |
| Running Time: |
157:00 |
| Actor List: |
Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Josh Brolin, Ted Levine, Armand Assante, Clarence Williams III, John Ortiz, John Hawkes, RZA, Lymari Nadal, Yul Vzquez, Ruby Dee, Idris Elba, Carla Gugino, Joe Morton, Common, Jon Polito, Kevin Corrigan, Roger Guenveur Smith, Malcolm Goodwin, Ric Young, Roger Bart, Tip “T.I.” Harris, KaDee Strickland, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Norman Reedus, Albert Jones, J. Kyle Manzay, Warner Miller, |
Posted in Crime, Crime Drama, Gangster Film | No Comments »
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
|
Clint Eastwood, hot off of his Academy Award win for Unforgiven, directed this small character study, appearing in the guise of a cops-and-robbers action picture.
The film takes place during the fall of 1963.
Eight-year old Phillip Perry (T.
J.
Lowther), the son of a devout Jehovah’s Witness mother, is staying home while all the other children are out trick-or-treating.
But then prison escapee Butch Haynes (Kevin Costner) appears in his kitchen.
Needing a hostage to aid him in his escape from jail, he grabs Phillip.
Phillip curiously looks up to Butch and willingly accompanies him.
Butch gets rid of his fellow escapee after he tries to molest the child, and Butch and Phillip take to the Texas highway, on the run from the cops.
The cop in pursuit in this instance is Police Chief Red Garnett (Clint Eastwood), riding in his sleek Populux Airglide trailer — his “mobile command headquarters.
” On the road with Garnett is Sally Gerber (Laura Dern), a pushy pre-feminist criminologist, along with a creepy federal agent who is an expert sharpshooter.
Butch is not particularly anxious to make it to the Texas borderline, and neither is Garnett in any particular hurry to catch Butch.
As Butch and Phillip form a father-son attachment, the paths of Butch and Garnett gradually come together, in time for a final confrontation, after which Garnett confesses, “I don’t know nothing.
I don’t know a damn thing.
“ |
| Also Known As: |
A Perfect World |
| Genres: |
Crime, Drama, Crime Drama, Americana, |
| Running Time: |
137:00 |
| Actor List: |
Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Laura Dern, T.J. Lowther, Keith Szarabajka, Leo Burmeister, Paul Hewitt, Bradley Whitford, Ray McKinnon, Jennifer Griffin, Wayne de Hart, Linda Hart, Mary Alice, Margaret Bowman, Rodger Boyce, Connie Cooper, Darryl Cox, Cameron Finley, Lucy Lee Flippin, Gabriel Folse, Tony Frank, James W. Gavin, Ed Geldart, Gil Glasgow, Vernon Grote, Nik Hagler, George Haynes, Craig Hosking, Phyllis Huffman, John Hussey, John M. Jackson, James Jeter, Dennis Letts, Marietta Marich, Bruce McGill, Gary Moody, George Orrison, Marco Perella, Elizabeth Ruscio, Brandon Smith, Mark Voges, Woody Watson, Kevin Jamal Woods, |
Posted in Americana, Crime, Crime Drama, Drama | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
|
Ordinary Decent Criminal is a classic gangster movie in modern-day Ireland.
It follows the extraordinary adventures of a Robin Hood character, Michael Lynch, a thief, bigamist, liar, and criminal genius who robs from the rich to give to the poor.
Michael is suave, sardonic, and sexy.
When his leather-clad figure weaves its way through the Dublin traffic on a powerful motorbike, people stare in awe.
He loves his two wives (who happen to be sisters), his wild kids, his gang, and, most of all, his way of life.
He has two fundamental beliefs: be loyal to your own and the hell with the establishment.
As his ego gets bigger and bigger, he enjoys his notoriety more than the cash it brings.
Determined to break him, the police increases its harassment of the whole gang, as Michael makes a mistake that could threaten his good name with the public and his reliability as a bread-winner.
But he recovers his equilibrium in time to dream up a final grand scheme to survive the trap set for him.
The story is reminiscent of John Boorman’s The General about a similar real-life character, Martin Cahill, also a Robin Hood married to two sisters.
The impressive cast includes Kevin Spacey, Linda Fiorentino, and Peter Mullan, the tragic hero of My Name is Joe. |
| Also Known As: |
Ordinary Decent Criminal |
| Genres: |
Crime, Crime Drama, Film a Clef, |
| Running Time: |
90:00 |
| Actor List: |
Kevin Spacey, Linda Fiorentino, Peter Mullan, Stephen Dillane, Helen Baxendale, David Hayman, Tim Loane, Patrick Malahide, Gerard McSorley, Colin Farrell, |
Posted in Crime, Crime Drama, Film a Clef | No Comments »
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
|
Adapted from the nonfiction book by Natalie Robins and Steven M.
L.
Aronson, Tom Kalin’s Savage Grace recounts the true crime tale of the death of Barbara Baekeland.
Stephen Dillane stars as Brooks Baekeland, the son of the man who invented Bakelite, one of the early forms of plastic.
As the family fortune begins to decrease after years of wealth, Brooks marries Barbara (Julianne Moore), who desires to mingle in the highest social circles.
They have a child, Antony, who is homosexual.
Antony grows up to kill Barbara, in part because Barbara takes a personal interest in “curing” her son of his orientation.
This was Kalin’s first film since 1991’s Swoon, a film about the infamous Leopold and Loeb murders. |
| Also Known As: |
Savage Grace |
| Genres: |
Crime, Crime Drama, Family Drama, Docudrama, Period Film, |
| Running Time: |
94:00 |
| Actor List: |
Julianne Moore, Stephen Dillane, Eddie Redmayne, Hugh Dancy, Elena Anaya, Unax Ugalde, Beln Rueda, Barney Clark, Anne Reid, |
Posted in Crime, Crime Drama, Docudrama, Family Drama, Period Film | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
|
An amoral teenager develops an unexpected paternal side in this powerful drama from South Africa.
Tsotsi (Presley Chweneyagae) is the street name used by a young Johannesburg delinquent who has taken to a life of crime in order to support himself.
Tsotsi comes from a blighted upbringing — his mother died slowly from AIDS-related illnesses, and his father was torturously abusive — and he has developed a talent for violence borne of necessity as well as taking strange pleasure in hurting other people.
One evening, Tsotsi shoots a woman while stealing her car, and only later discovers that her infant son is in the back seat.
Uncertain of what to do with the baby, Tsotsi takes the boy home and tries to care for it — going so far as to force Miriam (Terry Pheto), a single mother living nearby, to nurse the baby.
With time, Tsotsi learns the basics of child care, and the presence of the baby awakens a sense of humanity in him that life on the street had stripped away.
Tsotsi was adapted from a novel by the award-winning South African writer Athol Fugard. |
| Also Known As: |
Tsotsi |
| Genres: |
Drama, Psychological Drama, Crime Drama, |
| Running Time: |
91:00 |
| Actor List: |
Presley Chweneyagae, Terry Pheto, Kenneth Nkosi, Mothusi Magano, Zenzo Ngqobe, Annemarie Zola, Rapulana Seiphemo, Nambitha Mpumlwana, Nonthuthu Sibisi, Nthuthuko Sibisi, Jerry Mofokeng, Ian Roberts, Percy Matsemela, Ben Moshe, Thembi Nyandeni, Israel Makoe, Sindi Shambule, |
Posted in Crime Drama, Drama, Psychological Drama | No Comments »
