Brian Dennehy

In the early twentieth century, an aging actress and her lover visit the estate of her elderly brother. Aging actress Irina Arkadina (Annette Bening) pays summer visits to her brother Pjotr Sorin (Brian Dennehy) and her son Konstantin Treplyov (Billy Howle) on a country estate. On one occasion, she brings Boris Trigorin (Corey Stoll), a successful novelist, with her. Nina Zarechnaya (Saoirse Ronan), a free and innocent girl on a neighboring estate, falls in love with Boris. Aging actress Irina Arkadina (Annette Bening) visits her family's summer home with her son Konstantin Treplyov (Billy Howle), who pines for the neighborhood girl Nina Zarechnaya (Saoirse Ronan). When famous writer Boris Trigorin (Corey Stoll) drops by, Nina finds herself enamored with him and ignoring Konstantin. Soon, a love triangle unfolds amidst family drama. One summer at a lakeside Russian estate, friends and family gather for a weekend in the countryside. A love triangle soon forms between ageing actress Irina, her lover Boris, and Nina from a neighbouring estate. While everyone is caught up in passionately loving someone who loves somebody else, a tragicomedy unfolds about art, fame, human folly, and the eternal desire to live a purposeful life.

A Catholic boy tries to convert a terminally ill Jewish boy, so he will be able to go to Heaven. Pete, an eight-year-old Catholic boy growing up in the suburbs of Chicago in the mid-1970s, attends Catholic school, where as classes let out for the summer, he's admonished by a nun to follow the path of the Lord, and not that of the Devil. Perhaps taking this message a bit too seriously, Pete decides it's his goal for the summer to help someone get into heaven; having been told that Catholicism is the only sure path to the kingdom of the Lord, Pete decides to convert a Jew to Catholicism in order to improve their standing in the afterlife. Hoping to find a likely candidate, Pete begins visiting a nearby synagogue, where he gets to know Rabbi Jacobson, who responds to Pete's barrage of questions with good humor. Pete also makes friends with the Rabbi's son, Danny, who is about the same age; when he learns that Danny is seriously ill, he decides Danny would be an excellent choice for conversion. When the priest at Pete's church informs Pete that all will be tested before they pass the Pearly Gates, he sets up a mini-decathlon and puts Danny in training as he attempts to reshape his spiritual thinking. Pete's parents aren't sure just what to make of Pete's new summer project, and as they become acquainted with Rabbi Jacobson, they share their perspectives on the unexpected trials of parenting.

Ryan Dunne (Freddie Prinze Jr.) is a local baseball player who dreams of playing in the Major Leagues. He helps his dad with his landscaping business and takes care of Veteran's Field, where his team, the Chatham A's play. Ryan is poor. Over the summer, the town is full of hopeful youngsters who want to play in the local Cape league and show off their talent to the big-league scouts. This includes kids like Billy Brubaker (Matthew Lillard), Mickey Dominguez (Wilmer Valderrama), Miles Dalrymple (Marc Blucas) & others. Ryan, in his dedication to making the pros, has sworn off girls and drinking to avoid distractions. Chatham A is coached by Coach John Schiffner (Brian Dennehy), who is a tough cookie and doesn't appreciate Ryan taking the league lightly (Ryan shows up to training late and often in thongs as a result of his previous late-night debauchery). This changes when Ryan sees Tenley Parrish (Jessica Biel), as he and his father Sean (Fred Ward) are mowing the Parrish family's lawn. Tenley is a rich girl whose family summers at cape cod. Tenley is smoking hot. Tenley is interested in Ryan. Tenley's sister Katie Parrish (Zena Grey) is a huge fan of the Chatham A's and a fan of Ryan. Mickey has a unique problem that her Lusty House Mother (Beverly D'Angelo) has the hots for him. Billy tells Mickey to go for her. Mike Dunne (Jason Gedrick) is Ryan's brother and is a bartender at a local watering hole. Mike is a failed ball player and is always tough on Ryan. Mike fells Ryan is very talented but is wasting his life away. Mike thinks Ryan is acting like a victim ever since their mom died, and that Ryan feels that the world owes him something. The next day, the A's have their first game of the season where rival Van Leemer (Corey Pearson) shines pitching a shut-out, while Ryan is told to walk the stands for donations. That evening Ryan and Tenley have their first kiss. The next night Ryan is pitching in his first game of the season. The game goes well for the A's until the last innings when Ryan gives up a grand slam, allowing the other team to win the game. Billy continues to struggle for the first hit of his season, while Miles is hitting home runs at will. Ryan returns home to find his dad drunk and upset about the loss. Billy wants to quit and leave, but Ryan convinces him to stay by hooking him up with the town slut Dede Mulligan (Brittany Murphy). Later, Ryan visits Tenley, where he confides about his rocky relationship with his father and concerns about failing as a baseball player. The next night, Ryan and Tenley take an evening swim in her pool as it's raining, falling in love with each other, before being chased off by her dad Rand (Bruce Davison). Ryan is distracted by Tenley and feels a lot of pressure from scouts, family, the Parrish family, and friends. He is told that he's getting the start for an upcoming big game. That night, Mike has a tough chat with Ryan and Ryan feels very low. He goes to meet Tenley and finds that her ex-boyfriend has come to meet her, and this is guy whom her father favors as the right match for Tenley. For Ryan this is a devastating blow as he feels he is just a summer fling for Tenley. The next night, Ryan starts out well, but comes apart later. Billy scores his first runs. The loss causes Ryan to be demoted to the bullpen in a relief position. Despite the bad outing, Hugh Alexander (John C. McGinley), a scout for the Philadelphia Phillies in attendance, shows interest in Ryan's talent. Ryan's friends tell him not to pity himself and continue believing in himself. Rand calls Ryan and tells him that if he doesn't leave Tenley alone, he and all his rich friends will pull away their businesses from Ryan's dad. Rand wanted Tenley to take a job with her uncle in SFO, even though she wanted to study architecture. Ryan tells Tenley to take the job in SFO, even thought that would mean that the both of them will never be together. When Sean finds out about Rand's threat, he quits Rand's business and presents him with a final bill. Eric Van Leemer and Dale Robin (Christian Kane) are kicked off the team not only for their bad behavior, but also for accidentally burning down a press box, and since Ryan has the freshest arm and the most rest, he is designated to start the final game. Tenley tells Ryan that she's leaving for San Francisco for a job opportunity the following night, which is the night of the final game. She tells him to let himself be great, before tearfully hugging him goodbye. Mike (finally sheds his hostility for once) also gives Ryan a pep talks before the game. Mike tells Ryan not to throw his fast ball at every instance and bring variations. Inspired by Tenley's words of encouragement, Ryan pitches one of the best performances ever seen in the Cape League, dominating the game with a no-hitter, with his friends, dad and brother, and several major league scouts, including Alexander, in attendance. Late in the game, he notices that Tenley has stopped by on her way to the airport to watch him. He proceeds to strike out the current batter, marking his eleventh strike-out of the game, and looks back to see that Tenley is gone. Ryan rushes to the airport where he catches Tenley before she boards her plane. They both profess their love for each other, and she agrees to forgo her job in San Francisco and stay. Ryan's dad and brother soon arrive with the scout Alexander, to tell him that his team won the game with a combined no-hitter. Alexander offers Ryan a contract with the Phillies that will start him out at their minor league affiliate, which he happily accepts. Later, everyone is gathered to watch Ryan in his Major League debut as a relief pitcher for the Phillies. He delivers his first pitch to Ken Griffey Jr., who launches it into the stands for a home run.

After seven years at college, Thomas R. "Tommy" Callahan III (Chris Farley) barely graduates from Marquette University and returns to his hometown of Sandusky, Ohio. His father, industrialist and widower Thomas R. "Big Tom" Callahan, Jr. (Brian Dennehy), gives him an executive job at the family's auto parts plant, Callahan Auto. In addition to the new job and office, Big Tom reveals that he plans to marry Beverly Barrish-Burns (Bo Derek), a woman he had met at a fat farm, and that her son Paul (Rob Lowe) will become Tommy's new stepbrother. At the wedding, Big Tom suddenly dies of a heart attack. After the funeral, doubting the future of the company without Big Tom, the bank reneges on promises of a loan for a new brake pad division and seeks immediate payment of Callahan Auto's debts. Ray Zalinsky (Dan Aykroyd), owner and operator of rival automotive parts company Zalinsky Auto Parts in Chicago, offers to buy them out while the company's shares are high, but Tommy suggests a deal: he will let the bank hold his inherited shares and house in exchange for helping the sales of brake pads going. The bank agrees, but they also want the company to prove it still has viability by selling 500,000 brake pads. If they fail, the bank will foreclose, but if they succeed, the bank will underwrite Big Tom's brake pad venture. Tommy volunteers to go on a cross-country sales trip with his father's sycophantic assistant, Richard Hayden (David Spade), a childhood acquaintance who has a particularly antagonistic relationship with Tommy. Meanwhile, Beverly and Paul are shown kissing romantically, revealing that they are not mother and son, but rather married con artists with criminal records. Paul thinks Big Tom's death is ideal, since their original plan was to eventually divorce Big Tom and take half of his estate, but Beverly thinks they are in trouble, as Big Tom only left her a controlling interest in Callahan Auto, which may evaporate. She authorizes the quick sale to Zalinsky to make a fast buck. On the road, Tommy's social anxiety and hyperactivity alienate numerous potential buyers. The lack of any progress leads to tension between Tommy and Richard. Additionally, the duo encounters a variety of incidents that lead to the near destruction of Richard's car. When all seems lost, Tommy persuades a surly waitress to serve him chicken wings after the kitchen closes. Richard realizes that Tommy has the ability to read people, just like his father, and suggests this is how he should sell. The two mend their friendship and start to sell effectively to numerous automotive plants, eventually putting them over the half million mark. However, Paul sabotages the company's computers, causing sales posted by sales manager Michelle Brock (Julie Warner) to either be lost or rerouted. With half of the sales now canceled, the bank forecloses. Beverly and Paul approve the sale of Callahan Auto to Zalinsky. Hoping that they can persuade Zalinsky to reconsider, Tommy and Richard travel to Chicago, boarding a plane as flight attendants. In Chicago, they get a brief meeting with Zalinsky, but he informs them he only wants Callahan for the brand name, not the employees, and that after the sale he will dissolve the company, leaving the Sandusky workers destitute. Tommy and Richard are denied entry to the Zalinsky boardroom since Tommy does not have any standing (his shares having been repossessed due to the apparent failure). After briefly wallowing on the curb in self-pity, Michelle arrives with Paul and Beverly's police records. Tommy devises 'a plan': dressed as a suicide bomber by using road flares, he gains the attention of a live television news crew and then, with Michelle and Richard, forces his way into the boardroom. Back in Sandusky, Callahan workers watch the drama on a television. In a final move of pure persuasion, Tommy quotes Zalinsky's own advertising slogan, that he is on the side of the "American working man." As the TV audience watches, Zalinsky signs Tommy's purchase order for 500,000 brake pads. Although Zalinsky says that the purchase order is meaningless since he will soon own Callahan Auto, Michelle reveals the police records, which include Paul's outstanding warrants for fraud. Since Paul is the true husband of Beverly, her marriage to Big Tom was bigamous and therefore illegitimate. Therefore, Beverly's inheritance is voided and Tommy is the next of kin, and thus the rightful heir of Big Tom. Since Tommy refuses to sell the shares, the deal with Zalinsky is off, and since Tommy still holds Zalinsky's purchase order, the company is saved. Paul attempts to escape but is arrested. Zalinsky admits that Tommy outplayed him and honors the large sales order. Later, Tommy assumes the presidency of Callahan Auto Parts, giving a speech to the employees that the door is always open to them. The film ends with Tommy drifting in his dinghy on a lake, telling his father's spirit he will continue his legacy at Callahan and says he must go ashore to have dinner with Michelle's family.

One fought to win. The other fought to survive. Two friends are pitted against each other by a corrupt boxing promoter in a battle that could destroy their friendship and lives.

A special effects man helps his girlfriend's ex, a cop, with a sting operation, where the ex gets killed. Something's off and he investigates with help from an ex-cop PI friend. F/X man Rollie Tyler (Bryan Brown) is now a toy maker. Mike Brandon (Tom Mason), the ex-husband of Rolly's girlfriend Kim(Rachel Ticotin), is a cop. He asks Rollie to help catch a killer. The operation goes well until some unknown man kills both the killer and Mike.Mike's boss, Ray Silak (Philip Bosco) says it was the killer who killed Mike but Rollie knows it wasn't. Silak is involved with Mike's death, so he calls on Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy), the cop from the last movie, who is now a P.I., for help and they discover it's not just Silak they have to worry about. —<rcs0411@yahoo.com> Rollie Tyler (Bryan Brown) and Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy) team up once more to use their special effects and investigation skills (respectively), to find those responsible for the death of a cop (Tom Mason) who knew too much. —Rob Hartill

Rusty Sabich, a prosecutor, is seduced into an extramarital affair by a colleague. When she is found dead all the evidence points to Sabich, who must now fight for his very life.

A group of masked gunmen steal evidence from a police evidence storage unit, killing several officers in the process. Officer Dennis Meechum (Brian Dennehy) is seriously wounded after stabbing one of the robbers. He survives and publishes a book titled Inside Job based on his experience. Years later, Meechum has been promoted to Detective, and is working on his next novel. He now suffers from writer's block, and is a widowed father raising his daughter, Holly (Allison Balson). On a case at the docks, a suspect runs as Meechum gives chase. A man named Cleve (James Woods) joins the chase. The suspect hides in an overhead crane and attempts to shoot Meechum, but Cleve kills the man, then disappears. Cleve arranges a meeting with Meechum, and tries to convince to write a book about his history as a paid assassin for a corporate empire, Kappa International. Cleve intimidates Kappa's founder, David Madlock (Paul Shenar) about Meechum's next book, and promises Meechum to show evidence to back up his claims. They proceed to take trips to New York and Texas where Cleve tries to convince Meechum of his history of hits. While they are in Texas, it is revealed that Cleve was the injured masked gunmen that Meechum had stabbed years earlier. Madlock, through his legal representatives, tries to bribe Meechum but fails. When an enforcer tries to steal a manuscript of Meechum's novel and attempt to kill Holly, Cleve intervenes by killing him. When Cleve attempts to keep Holly safe by sending her to Meechum's agent, Roberta Gillian (Victoria Tennant). Madlock, however, manages to kidnap Holly. Meechum decides to have a meeting with Madlock at the latter's oceanfront estate. Cleve storms into the house, and guns down all of Madlock's bodyguards. Cleve then sacrifices his own life to save Holly from Madlock. Meechum arrests Madlock, before comforting a dying Cleve. At the end of the film, it is revealed that Meechum has published the book titled Retribution: The Fall of David Madlock and Kappa International.

The story opens at a fancy Manhattan restaurant where an elegantly dressed woman is enjoying a night out. As she and her companion enjoy a fine dinner, another man walks up to her with a submachine gun and begins blasting, killing several people. He confronts the woman last and shoots her dead over her pleas. Suddenly a voice yells "CUT!!" The restaurant is actually a movie set and the murdered woman, Ellen Keith (Diane Venora), pops up. The shooting was a illusion created by her boyfriend, Rollie Tyler (Bryan Brown) a visual effects wizard. Tyler, working with his assistant, Andy (Martha Gehman), is approached by a man claiming to be a producer who wants to hire Tyler for his next film. At Rollie's shop in SoHo, the producer, after being scared out of his wits by a giant rubber monster that Rollie has wired to his front door, reveals that he isn't actually in the movie business but is an agent working for the Justice Department named Lipton (Cliff De Young). He wants Rollie to work his expertise in creating the illusion that a mob boss, Nick DeFranco (Jerry Orbach), has been killed publicly. DeFranco is set to testify to a grand jury about the Mafia's inner dealings and Justice wants him to appear murdered until the jury hearing. Rollie is emphatically reluctant at first but when he meets with Lipton's boss, Mason (Mason Adams), he's baited into the job when they mention Rollie's biggest competitor in the business. Rollie decides to take the job. Lipton meets Rollie at his shop and is surprised when he finds Rollie pointing a gun at him. Rollie questions him in a rapid-fire manner and fires a shot with a blank cartridge. Lipton is angered by the exchange but backs off a bit when Rollie shows him how the illusion he'll use works on the monster rigged to his door. It involves a radio transmitter and explosive squibs to simulate bullet hits. Lipton is impressed. Lipton brings DeFranco by to have him rigged for the illusion: Rollie takes a plaster cast of DeFranco's upper chest and head and builds the plates necessary to place the squibs on the mob boss. Mason later meets with Rollie personally and asks him to be the trigger man since he knows the job and can work the equipment better than anyone else. Rollie becomes very reluctant but agrees with the promise that he'll be fully protected. Outside the restaurant where the assassination is planned, Rollie and Lipton get DeFranco ready. Rollie notices Lipton playing with the prop pistol and orders him to put it down. At first DeFranco is hesitant to try the radio box used to trigger the squibs because of his pacemaker but Rollie proves the amperage won't have an effect. DeFranco is sent out to the restaurant and Lipton has Rollie destroy the plaster casting of DeFranco's head. The assassination goes off perfectly and Rollie runs out of the place and jumps in a car with Lipton and a driver. After questioning Rollie about how the stunt went, he pulls a gun on Rollie, saying he's a loose end. Rollie grapples with Lipton and the car careens into a construction site and crashes. Rollie escapes to a pay phone a few blocks away and calls Mason. Mason tells Rollie that Lipton might be a mole they've been looking for. He tells Rollie to stay by the phone and that an NYPD car will pick him up. Rollie gives the phone booth to another person and hides nearby. When the cops show up they riddle the booth with bullets, killing the other caller. Rollie escapes again, going to Ellen's apartment in SoHo. He tries to figure out the turn of events and determines that Mason and Lipton will continue to hunt him. When he and Ellen wake up the next morning, she suggests he call the media. When she steps to the window and opens the curtain, she's immediately shot through the chest. Rollie looks for her killer with a compact mirror and then has to hide when he hears someone approaching the loft door. He surprises the assassin and manages to tie him up briefly. After he checks on Ellen, who's dead, he beats the assassin, demanding to know if he works for Mason. The assassin puts up a good fight but Rollie eventually knocks him cold with a steam iron and beats him to death. Before he leaves her loft, he takes Ellen's body and places it on her bed. The NYPD sends a homicide team to the apartment. One of them, Mickey (Joe Grifasi) calls another detective, Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy) to the scene. After getting some of the details, he reports to police plaza downtown and runs into Lt. Murdoch, who'd just had a meeting with Lipton and Mason about DeFranco's murder. Mason and Lipton had played up the angle that DeFranco had somehow slipped them to get to the restaurant. Though Mason gives Lipton and chewing out, it's a ruse designed to throw Murdoch off the trail. When Leo finds Murdoch, he offers to take the DeFranco murder off his hands -- previously, Leo had been the lead investigator who'd brought DeFranco in. Murdoch refuses to give up the case. Leo checks with a records specialist, Velez (Jossie DeGuzman) and finds out that the dead man in Ellen's apartment, Adams, has virtually no information available as to his current position. Mickey arrives and tells Leo that Ellen and Rollie had been a hot item before her murder and that Rollie had disappeared a couple of days before. Leo charges Mickey with finding Rollie's address and Velez with finding out more about Adams. Rollie places a call to his assistant Andy and tells her to meet him at the boathouse at the Conservatory in Central Park. She arrives, towing a small makeup kit and one of Mason's men. Andy gives the man a boat under the pretext of it being a signal to meet Rollie, but when the man puts the boat in the water, Rollie charges him, pushing him into the pond. Rollie and Andy escape into the park, finding refuge in a hidden chamber under a pedestrian bridge. Rollie explains a little of the situation and disguises them as homeless people. Rollie later calls Mason, using a simple trick with payphones and telling Lipton to meet him at a specific location. When Lipton gets into his car, Rollie throws a garrote around his neck and forces him to drive to a remote location. He takes Andy out of the trunk and puts Lipton in, demanding to know Mason's address. When Lipton refuses, he smashes the rear end of the car into several obstacles until the beaten Lipton agrees to talk. Leo and Mickey enter Rollie's shop without a warrant, scared by the rubber monster. After looking around a bit, Leo finds a connection: the fake bullet hits to the monster match those that killed DeFranco. Before he can clear his name, Rollie needs to get his van out of the impound lot on the West Side. Leo had charged Mickey with watching the van. Rollie and Andy sneak into the lot. Rollie has Andy place several small and harmless explosives around the lot as a distraction. Rollie roars out of the lot and Mickey gives chase, following Rollie through the meatpacking district in Chelsea. Rollie and Andy are able to place a few traps that stop the cops but Mickey persists until Andy throws a mannequin into the street, stopping the chase. Rollie suddenly pulls over, thinking something's wrong with his truck. He fools Andy into stepping out and he takes off, not wanting her to get involved any further. Leo, having found out that DeFranco is staying at Mason's house, wants to go out there and arrest him but his superior officer puts him on suspension for interfering with the case. Leo appears to take it pretty hard but does so to steal the Captain's badge. He goes to Mason's mansion and gets the local police to help him secure the front gate. Meanwhile, Rollie has managed to subdue several of Mason's guards and sneak into the house. He uses sound effects devices and a mirror sheet to fool some of them into killing each other. Rollie also trips a few fuses to cut power to certain rooms. He tricks DeFranco into shooting out several windows in the living room and falls into the room, allegedly shot to death. When DeFranco tries to leave the house, he touches a door rigged by Rollie to shock him. The surge scrambles his pacemaker and he falls to the floor, near death. Mason gets DeFranco to give him the key to a safe deposit box in Geneva that contains all the money he kept or stole from his Mafia days in cash. Rollie finds Mason getting ready to leave the house and hold him at bay with DeFranco's Uzi. Mason tries to talk his way out, giving Rollie the key and promising him a large share of DeFranco's money. Rollie considers it for a moment and lays the Uzi down on a sideboard, hovering over it for a few moments. When Mason grabs the Uzi, Rollie tells him it's unloaded and that he'd smeared Krazy Glue on the grips. Rollie pushes Mason out the front door where he's shot to death by the police when he can't let go of the gun. Leo and the local cops clear the area, finding DeFranco's dead body, as well as that of Rollie. When Rollie's body arrives at the morgue, he slips himself out of the body bag and peels off Latex skin he'd covered his neck and wrists with to fool the paramedics into thinking he had no pulse. He climbs out a window and is stopped immediately by Leo. The story closes with Rollie wearing a mask of DeFranco's face and emptying the safe deposit box in Geneva. He meets Leo outside and the two drive off.

A New York district attorney works and flirts with his adversary and her kooky artist client, who is on trial for a murder she didn't commit. District Attorney Tom Logan is set for higher office, at least until he becomes involved with defence lawyer Laura Kelly and her unpredictable client Chelsea Deardon. It seems the least of Chelsea's crimes is the theft of a very valuable painting, but as the women persuade Logan to investigate further and to cut some official corners, a much more sinister scenario starts to emerge. —Jeremy Perkins {J-26}

After serving time for a murder he didn't commit, all Billy wants to do is to reconnect with his daughter. However, some loose ends, like the whereabouts of the stolen loot, just won't let him go.

On the run from the police and a female roller derby team, scam artist Michael Rangeloff steals a coffin and boards a train, pretending to be a soldier bringing home a dead war buddy. On the run from the police and a female roller derby team, scam artist Michael Rangeloff steals a coffin and boards a train, pretending to be a soldier bringing home a dead war buddy. The train ride turns into far more than Michael bargains for. —<rth@ece.arizona.edu> A stolen fortune hidden in a coffin aboard a coast to coast train is at stake. A con-man, his protege, and a foul mouthed actress try to get their hands on the money, but standing in their way is a thief, a senile railroad conductor who is in contact with Richard Nixon, a confused FBI agent, an Army deserter, and an attack dog. —Anonymous

Moscow, USSR. In the opening scene, three young people are seen ice skating on the frozen pond in Gorky Park. Three days later, Soviet militsiya officer Arkady Renko (William Hurt) investigates the discovery of their bodies a short distance from the skating rink. All have been shot in the chest and mouth; their faces and fingerprints have been completely removed with surgical instruments. Renko is left anxious and paranoid when the KGB refuse to take over the investigation. Renko enlists the help of Professor Andreev (Ian McDiarmid) to reconstruct their faces. During his investigation, Renko crosses paths with William Kirwill (Brian Dennehy), a New York police detective who is in the Soviet Union investigating the disappearance of his brother James. At a weekend getaway at the dacha of Chief Prosecutor Iamskoy (Ian Bannen), Renko also makes the acquaintance of the American sable importer Jack Osborne (Lee Marvin) and his girlfriend Irina Asanova (Joanna Pacua). Renko is eventually able to piece together the victims' identities: James Kirwill, and two young Russians who were friends of Irina. He discovers that the three were busy constructing a chest for Osborne. Renko's suspicion of Osborne mounts over time, during their polite but tense conversations in social settings. When Irina is attacked by a KGB officer who attempts to inject her with a fatal overdose of drugs, Renko saves her. Nursing her back to health in his apartment, they begin an affair. Kirwill finally locates the barn where the three victims were building Osborne's chest. It was designed to smuggle six sables out of the country and to break the Soviet monopoly on their fur, potentially earning Osborne millions of dollars. Irina stubbornly continues to believe that her two friends are alive. Osborne had promised to smuggle them out of Soviet Union in return for their work; he tells Irina that they were successfully freed. Renko confronts her with Prof. Andreev's reconstructed head of one of her friends, forcing her to realize that they have been murdered by Osborne. She confesses the full details of the plot to him and then runs away. Renko and Kirwill go to Andreev's to retrieve the second reconstructed head, but a KGB agent emerges with it in a box. They follow him, and Renko is crushed to find they are back at Iamskoy's dacha. They watch from a distance as Osborne and Iamskoy supervise the destruction of the head by the KGB agent. To Kirwill's horror, it is his brother's head. Renko confronts Iamskoy in a bath house. Iamskoy cordially admits that he kept Renko on the case because Osborne was unwilling to pay a high enough price to smuggle out the sables. Renko's investigation was intended to frighten Osborne into paying more. He offers to cut Renko in on Osborne's kickback. Renko reveals that he has recorded the conversation, and Iamskoy jumps up and wrestles Renko for the gun. In the ensuing struggle, Renko's gun goes off and kills Iamskoy. Osborne flees to Stockholm, Sweden. The KGB allows Renko to travel there to supervise an exchange. He is to receive the sables from Osborne, whereupon everyone will be allowed to walk away. Renko is shown into a bedroom where Irina is waiting for him. She confesses that she fled to Osborne, who has worked her freedom into the deal for the sables. She promises Renko that his freedom can also be part of the deal. Disgusted by her treachery, Renko tells Irina she has blood on her hands. He meets with Kirwill and the two assume that as soon as the exchange is complete, the KGB will kill Irina, Renko and Osborne all at once. The next morning, at a remote farm, Renko and the KGB agents approach Osborne. They come across the corpse of Kirwill; tied to a tree with his intestines hanging out. Renko is devastated; Osborne then loudly announces that he gutted Kirwill after he killed his dogs. Osborne throws six dead sables onto the field and asks the men to lower their weapons. Renko realizes that neither side will let the other live. When Osborne shoots a man, Renko grabs Irina and runs for cover in the woods. Pribluda then kills the other man before Osborne kills Pribluda in a stand off. Osborne tries to shoot Renko in the woods. Renko finds more live sables in their cages. Irina emerges from the woods and Osborne threatens to kill her if Renko does not surrender. When Renko emerges to give up, Irina shoots Osborne. Renko, too, shoots Osborne before Irina fires multiple rounds, killing him. She asks Renko to go away with her, but Renko reveals he agreed to do the hit on Osborne in return for Irina's safety and freedom from Soviet Union, and that she'd be hunted down and killed if Renko did not return to Moscow. As Irina runs off to freedom in Sweden, Renko frees all of the sables, which run off into the woods as we hear Irina's voice repeat Renko's promise that they will meet again one day.

A Vietnam War veteran named John Rambo finds out that an old war buddy died from the effects of Agent Orange and makes his way to Hope, Washington, on foot in the early 1980s. Assuming Rambo is a vagrant, the local sheriff, Will Teasle, takes him to the edge of town and orders him to leave. Rambo is arrested after he turns around and heads back into town. Rambo becomes defiant while being processed at the police station, and Teasle's deputies-led by the cruel chief deputy Art Galt-abuse him, bringing back memories of the torture Rambo suffered in Vietnam. After battling his way out of the sheriff's office, Rambo takes back the knife that was taken from him and runs into the woods. Teasle sets up a search team that includes a helicopter, dogs, and rifles. Galt attempts to use a sniper rifle to kill Rambo from the helicopter while flagrantly disobeying Teasle's orders. The pilot momentarily loses control of the helicopter after Rambo hurls a rock at it. In a gorge below, Galt loses his footing and dies on the rocky rocks. Rambo tries to turn himself in to Teasle, claiming that Galt's death was an accident and that he does not want any more trouble, but he is shot at by the deputies and runs away. Despite learning that Rambo is a Medal of Honor recipient and Green Beret warrior, Teasle keeps looking for him. By employing guerrilla warfare, Rambo defeats every deputy. Rambo corners Teasle, puts a knife to his throat, and threatens him with "a war [Teasle] will not believe" if he does not give up the chase because the deputies are injured and unable to continue. He then withdraws deeper into the forest. Along with Col. Sam Trautman, Rambo's former commanding officer and mentor, the Washington State Patrol and Washington National Guard are sent to help Teasle. Teasle rejects Trautman's advice that Rambo will move on and be able to be arrested anywhere without any problems if he stops. Rambo refuses to surrender when Trautman tries to reach him via radio, accusing Teasle and his deputies of abusing him and saying that they "drew first blood." A National Guard unit encircles Rambo at the entrance to an abandoned mine. Rambo appears to be killed when the guardsmen fire a rocket launcher, destroying the mine entrance, despite Teasle's orders to wait for him. Teasle yells at the guardsman for defying his commands and insists that their commander, Clinton Morgan, unearth Rambo's remains. Rambo, on the other hand, escapes the mine via a ventilation shaft, takes control of a military truck that is loaded with ammunition and an M60 machine gun, and then returns to Hope to exact revenge by causing as much damage as he can. Rambo shoots the sheriff's station, blows up a gas station, destroys a sporting goods store, and cuts off power to most of the town in an attempt to divert the attention of the authorities. Knowing that Teasle is outmatched, Trautman makes another attempt to persuade her to leave Rambo. Perceiving Rambo's outburst as a personal assault, Teasle disobeys Trautman's orders once more and attempts to pursue Rambo on the station's roof. However, Rambo is able to shoot Teasle and cause injuries during a gunfight. Rambo is about to kill Teasle when Trautman shows up and reminds him that he is the last member of his group and threatens to kill him unless he surrenders. Rambo rants about the atrocities of war and his horrific experiences, such as witnessing his friends die in Vietnam, receiving bad treatment upon his return, losing his job, and being forgotten in spite of his sacrifices. Rambo sobs as he describes how a Viet Cong child soldier used a shoeshine box wired with explosives to kill a close friend. Teasle is taken to a waiting ambulance for hospital transport, while Rambo surrenders and is taken into federal custody after being consoled by a visibly distressed Trautman.

A gruff bookie's life is turned upside-down when he gets a 6-year-old kid as collateral for a bet. Sorrowful Jones (Walter Matthau) is a cheap bookie in the 1930s. When a gambler leaves his daughter as a marker for a bet, he gets stuck with her. His life will change a great deal with her arrival and his sudden love for a woman also involved in gambling operations. —Steve Richer <sricher@sympatico.ca> Sorrowful Jones (Walter Matthau) is a cheep bookie in 1930s New York City who grudgingly accepts a six-year-old girl (Sara Stimson) as collateral for a debt. The sprightly youngster soon has a positive effect on her curmudgeonly guardian, adding a little sunshine to his life.The little girl decides to play matchmaker for Sorrowful and lonely widow Amanda Worthington (Dame Julie Andrews) by setting her up with Jones on a date. —Larry B.

During a surprise 42nd birthday party for George Webber, a well-known composer of popular music, he finds himself coping badly with incipient middle age. When he catches a glimpse of a mysterious woman en route to her wedding, he is instantly obsessed by her beauty, and - despite the presence of his lover Samantha Taylor - follows the woman to the church where he crashes into a police cruiser and is stung by a bee. George visits the priest, and learns that the woman is Jenny Miles, daughter of a prominent Beverly Hills dentist. Later that night, Sam and George have an argument about George's failure to give her the attention she needs, his use of the term "broad", and the fact that he and his neighbor (a wealthy porn producer) watch each other perform carnal acts using telescopes. The final straw for Sam occurs when George makes a remark subtly impugning her femininity at which point Sam leaves in a huff. The following day, George and Sam suffer a series of mishaps that prevent them from reconciling, including George spying on his neighbor until hitting himself with his telescope and falling down an embankment, causing him to miss Sam's phone call. In addition, George schedules a dental appointment with Jenny's father, and while in the dentist's chair, subtly leads the dentist into disclosing that his daughter and her husband went to Mexico for their honeymoon. The examination also reveals a mouthful of cavities, requiring the dentist to spend the entire afternoon inserting fillings in George's teeth. The after effects of the novocaine, which are aggravated by his heavy drinking immediately after, leave him completely incoherent and when Sam finally reaches him on the phone she mistakes him for a madman and calls the police. The police storm his house, but recognizing him they leave amicably. He visits his neighbor's house to take part in an orgy just as Sam arrives at his house, and she spots him through his telescope, widening the rift between them. Later, George impulsively follows the newlyweds to their exclusive hotel in Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico. In the bar, George encounters an old acquaintance, Mary Lewis, who suffers from a lack of self-confidence because she blames herself for a series of failed relationships. When they attempt a fling that night, she interprets George's inadequacy in bed as confirmation of her insecurities despite her better-than-average looks and easygoing disposition. One hot day at the beach, George sees Jenny - suntanned and dressed in a one-piece swimsuit and her hair braided in cornrows - which furthers George's obsession. He notices that David, Jenny's husband, has fallen asleep on his surfboard. Pretending to inquire about renting a surfboard, George learns that beyond a certain point are powerful currents that can sweep a swimmer or surfer dangerously far from land. George rents a catamaran, clumsily but successfully rescues David, and becomes a hero. Both Sam and his songwriting partner see him on TV Network News and Sam tries to call him, but George (unaware that it is Sam) refuses the call. David, badly sunburned, stays in the hospital, allowing Jenny and George to spend time alone together, culminating in Jenny seducing him to the sounds of Ravel's Boléro. Although George is initially elated to find all of his fantasies being fulfilled, he is horrified when Jenny takes a call from her husband while in bed with him and casually informs him of George's presence. He is even more confused when David responds with a complete lack of concern (he had called to thank George for saving his life). When Jenny explains their open relationship and mutual honesty, George is appalled; with the thrill of enjoying forbidden pleasures extinguished, he loses interest in Jenny (Jenny, for the opposite reasons, loses interest in him as well) and he heads back to Beverly Hills. At the end of the film, he reconciles with Sam by demonstrating a new maturity and, taking an idea from Jenny, he starts Ravel's Boléro on the phonograph and they make love with the music playing in the background. This is in full view of the neighbor's telescope shortly after the neighbor has walked away in disgust, complaining that he has had enough of providing erotic entertainment to George and getting nothing in return.