| Kounterfeit | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | John Mallory Asher |
| Written by | David Chase, Katherine Fugate and Jay Irwin |
| Starring | Hilary Swank Bruce Payne Corbin Bernsen |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Kounterfeit is a 1996 American direct-to-video crime/thriller film starring Bruce Payne and Hilary Swank. Kounterfeit was directed by John Mallory Asher and written by David Chase, Katherine Fugate and Jay Irwin.
A counterfeiter of money is attacked by two masked men and threatened to reveal where a certain amount of counterfeit money is. The counterfeiter pleads ignorance and is subsequently killed. Tommy 'Hopscotch' Hopkins, who has the money, learns of the death of the counterfeiter and begins to fear for his own safety. Consequently, he asks his friend, the street smart and "seasoned former criminal" [1] Frankie (who owns a strip club), to assist him in an exchange of the fake money for real money which he has organised with some acquaintances. Frankie reluctantly agrees to assist his friend. During the exchange, an undercover police officer, Danny, is killed in a shootout. The shootout is witnessed by Danny's sister Colleen, who was hiding in the house. Distraught, she mistakenly believes that Frankie killed her brother. Colleen becomes frustrated with her ex-boyfriend, Vic, whose investigation into Danny's murder proceeds slowly, and decides to undertake her own investigation.
Bruce Payne and Elizabeth Gracen both played Immortals in the popular Highlander franchise.
The TV Guide website has given the film a rating of 2.5 out of 4. [2] A reviewer for the TV Guide stated that 'Frankie's slablike features and seedy-cool demeanor initially makes him just one outsized thug among many, but Payne gradually warms up the protagonist and balances nicely against Hawkes's scenery-chewing Joe Pesci act'. [2] Matt Spector stated that the film 'is enjoyable with enough action scenes and twists and turns to keep the audience interested'. [3] A different reviewer stated that 'the ungainly script is low on both ideas and excitement'. [4] Mick Martin and Marsha Porter described the film as a 'mildly diverting tale of two low life hoods'. [5] Dragan Antulov stated that 'the plot recycles many obligatory elements of low budget crime movies (vengeance as the prime motive for one of the protagonist, good guys who don't turn out so good at the end) and combines them with Tarantinoesque portrayal of small time criminals as protagonists'. [6] VPRO Cinema awarded the film 3 out of 5 stars. [7] A reviewer for Film Review stated that 'Payne oozes charisma in a film which delivers plenty of cheap thrills but few surprises'. [8] Edmond Grant stated that the film's 'involved skullduggery holds few surprises in the end'. [9] Joe Corey stated that the film 'seems like a cheap Miami Vice knock-off minus the golden talents of Philip Michael Thomas'. [10] Nonetheless, Corey praised the acting of Hilary Swank, stating that she 'is the reason this film deserves to be seen' as 'she does her best to give life to a character that barely reads on the page' and 'seems very calm dealing with a script that over twists itself with the subterfuge'. [10]
Hilary Ann Swank is an American actress and film producer. Swank first became known in 1992 for her role on the television series Camp Wilder and made her film debut with a minor role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992). She then had her breakthrough for starring as Julie Pierce in The Next Karate Kid (1994), the fourth installment of The Karate Kid franchise, and as Carly Reynolds on the eighth season of Beverly Hills, 90210 (1997–1998).
Boys Don't Cry is a 1999 American biographical film directed by Kimberly Peirce, and co-written by Peirce and Andy Bienen. The film is a dramatization of the real-life story of Brandon Teena, an American trans man who attempts to find himself and love in Nebraska but falls victim to a brutal hate crime perpetrated by two male acquaintances. The film co-stars Chloë Sevigny as Brandon's girlfriend, Lana Tisdel.
Hopscotch is a 1980 American comedy spy film, produced by Edie Landau and Ely A. Landau, directed by Ronald Neame, that stars Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Sam Waterston, Ned Beatty, and Herbert Lom. The screenplay was written by Bryan Forbes and Brian Garfield, based on Garfield's 1975 novel of the same name.
Million Dollar Baby is a 2004 American sports drama film directed, co-produced, scored by and starring Clint Eastwood from a screenplay written by Paul Haggis, based on stories from the 2000 collection Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner by F.X. Toole, the pen name of fight manager and cutman Jerry Boyd. It also stars Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman. The film follows Margaret "Maggie" Fitzgerald (Swank), an underdog amateur boxer who is helped by an underappreciated boxing trainer (Eastwood) to achieve her dream of becoming a professional.
The 28th Daytime Emmy Awards were held in 2001 to commemorate excellence in daytime programming from the previous year (2000). As the World Turns tied with General Hospital for the most Daytime Emmys won in a single year, with a total of eight.
Bruce Martyn Payne is an English actor, producer, screenwriter, film director and theatre director. Payne is best known for portraying villains, such as Charles Rane in Passenger 57, Jacob Kell in Highlander: Endgame, and Damodar in Dungeons & Dragons and Dungeons & Dragons 2: Wrath of the Dragon God.
Profit is an American drama television series that originally aired in 1996 on the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series was created by David Greenwalt and John McNamara, and starred Adrian Pasdar as the eponymous lead character Jim Profit. In February 2008 repeat episodes began airing on Chiller, and in October 2010 on CBS Action.
Pyrates is a 1991 comedy film, starring Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick about a couple who experience pyrokinesis after having sex. Directed and written by Noah Stern, the film was released on VHS on December 18, 1991.
Paranoia: 1.0 is a 2004 cyberpunk dystopian horror mystery written and directed by Jeff Renfroe and Marteinn Thorsson. The film is a Kafkaesque nightmare in which a young computer programmer is an unwitting guinea pig in a corporate experiment to test a new advertising scheme. The film stars Jeremy Sisto and Deborah Unger and features Lance Henriksen, Eugene Byrd, Bruce Payne and Udo Kier.
Full Eclipse is a 1993 science fiction crime film directed by Anthony Hickox. Starring Mario Van Peebles and Bruce Payne, the story is set in Los Angeles where the police department has assembled a unique squad of officers who possess the ability to turn into werewolves. The tagline of the film was: There's a new police force on the streets... and they only come out at night.
Sweepers is a 1998 American-South African action film directed by Keoni Waxman and starring Dolph Lundgren, Claire Stansfield and Bruce Payne.
The Eleventh Hour is an American medical drama about psychiatry starring Wendell Corey, Jack Ging and Ralph Bellamy, which aired on NBC from October 3, 1962, to September 9, 1964.
Asylum of the Damned, Columbia Tristar (2004), also known as Hellborn, CDA Entertainment, is a 2003 horror film written by Matt McCombs, directed by Philip J Jones and starring Matt Stasi and Bruce Payne.
One Tough Bastard, also known as One Man's Justice, is a 1995 American action thriller film directed by Kurt Wimmer in his feature film debut, and starring Brian Bosworth, Bruce Payne and M.C. Hammer. It premiered in the United States on HBO.
The Cisco Kid is a 1994 American Western comedy TV movie, based on the character of the same name created by O. Henry. The property had previously been adapted as the successful 1950s comedy Western television series, and several movies and serials from the 1930s to the 1950s.
No Contest II is a 1996 action film starring Shannon Tweed, Bruce Payne and Lance Henriksen. It is a sequel to No Contest.
"Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. Harrison wrote the song as a tribute to Frank Crisp, a nineteenth-century lawyer and the original owner of Friar Park – the Victorian Gothic residence in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, that Harrison purchased in early 1970. Commentators have likened the song to a cinematic journey through the grand house and the grounds of the estate.
Victor "Young" Perez, also known as Surviving Auschwitz in the United Kingdom, is a 2013 French biographical sports drama film depicting the life of the boxer and Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner Victor Perez. The film was directed by Jacques Ouaniche, written by Jacques Ouaniche and Yoni Darmon, and stars Brahim Asloum as Perez, with Isabella Orsini and Bruce Payne in supporting roles.
The Antwerp Dolls is a 2015 British action/crime/thriller film written and directed by Jake Reid and starring Jason Wing, Bruce Payne and Sean Cronin.
Denise Yvonne Dowse was an American actress and director. She was best known for her roles as Mrs. Yvonne Teasley in the television series Beverly Hills, 90210 (1991–2000), Judge Rebecca Damsen in The Guardian (2001–2004), and Dr. Rhonda Pine in Insecure.
