Dennis Farina Filmography

The Grand

Actors: Woody Harrelson, Cheryl Hines, David Cross, Dennis Farina, Richard Kind

Synopsis: Incident at Loch Ness director Zak Penn takes the helm for this mockumentary that finds film and television star Woody Harrelson entering the Grand Championship of Poker in hopes of saving his late grandfather's popular hotel-casino from a scheming real estate developer. As the wrecking ball Read More

Bottle Shock

Actors: Alan Rickman, Chris Pine, Bill Pullman, Rachael Taylor, Freddy Rodriguez, Dennis Farina

Synopsis: Brought together by a curious twist of fate on a dusty California road, a wandering vintner and a struggling winemaker find both their lives, and their careers, forever transformed at a blind Paris wine tasting that introduced the world to the extraordinary wines of Napa Valley. The year is 1976 Read More

You Kill Me

Actors: Ben Kingsley, Téa Leoni, Luke Wilson, Philip Baker Hall, Dennis Farina

Synopsis: John Dahl's mob comedy You Kill Me stars Ben Kingsley as Frank Falenczyk, an alcoholic mob hitman who is ordered into AA by his boss (Philip Baker Hall). In order to clean up, he goes to San Francisco and successfully starts tw12-stepping with the help of his sponsor (Luke Wilson). Eventually Read More

National Lampoon's Bag Boy

Actors: Dennis Farina, Paul Campbell, Marika Dominczyk, Larry Miller, Robert Hoffman, Brooke Shields

Synopsis: A meager grocery clerk embarks on an epic mission to win the international competitive bagging championships and bag the heart of his dream girl in the first National Lampoon comedy produced in house in nearly twenty years. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide Read More

Purple Violets

Actors: Selma Blair, Patrick Wilson, Debra Messing, Edward Burns, Dennis Farina

Synopsis: An unhappy woman finds new love with her old boyfriend in this romantic comedy-drama from writer and director Edward Burns. Patti ($Selma Blair}) is a woman in her early thirties living in New York City. For years, Patti chased after her dream of becoming a successful novelist, but recently she's Read More

Empire Falls

Actors: Nesbitt Blaisdell, Michael Brockman, Dennis Farina, William Fichtner, Adam Le Fevre, Carey Lowell, Stephen Mendillo, Larry Pine, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Emily Wachtel, Robin Wright Penn, Matt Blumm, Miles Chandler, Kortney Adams, David Altshuler, Doree A. Austin, Bradley J. Van Dussen, Troy Faucher, Bryant R. Garrett, Stephen E. Hodgdon, James K. Small, Birdie Katz, Wilma Keem, Tina Konstantoulaki, June Marie Krumholz, Gail R. Pelotte, Scott Riccio, David Montgomery, Dan Pleva, Delia Robertson, Timothy J. Ryan, Linda Saulter, Adam L. Sirois, Tony Takacs, Kaile R. Jr. Warren, Claire Winters, Matthew Dixon, Harold Withee, Ed Harris, Danielle Panabaker, Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman, Helen Hunt, Aidan Quinn

Synopsis: This two-part HBO miniseries is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Richard Russo. Having long since sacrificed youthful ideals and values to remain in his New England hometown for the sake of his family, middle-aged Miles Roby (Ed Harris) finds his "secure" little world disintegrating Read More

Justice League Unlimited: The Cat and the Canary

Actors: Morena Baccarin, Kin Shriner, Dennis Farina, Virginia Madsen

Synopsis: In the first episode of Justice League Unlimited's fourth season, the Black Canary enlists the aid of The Green Arrow in her efforts to save her mentor, Wildcat, from a potentially grisly fate. For reasons known only to himself, Wildcat has agreed to participate in a "meta brawl" in a Read More

Paparazzi

Actors: Cole Hauser, Robin Tunney, Dennis Farina, Daniel Baldwin, Tom Hollander

Synopsis: Directed by Paul Abascal, Paparazzi chronicles the aftermath of four paparazzi photographers whose search for the all-important "perfect shot" ends in a tragic car accident. Movie star Bo Laramie (Cole Hauser) is understandably furious when, thanks to the notorious celebrity-chasers, his wife Read More

This Old Cub

Actors: Joe Mantegna

Synopsis: On a baseball team not often cited for its great players, Ron Santo was a hero and a legend. As a third baseman for the Chicago Cubs, Santo played 14 seasons (1960 through 1974), made the All-Star team nine times, earned five Gold Gloves, and in 1965 became the team's youngest ever captain. While Read More

Stealing Harvard

Actors: Dennis Farina, Richard Jenkins, John C. McGinley, Megan Mullally, Chris Penn, Jason Lee, Leslie Mann, Tom Green

Synopsis: Two buddies find themselves doing some very wrong things for perfectly right reasons in this broad comedy. John (Jason Lee) is a nice guy who is responsible and hardworking; his best friend Duff (Tom Green), however, is his polar opposite, a layabout who is constantly getting in some sort of Read More

Big Trouble

Actors: Tim Allen, Rene Russo, Stanley Tucci, Tom Sizemore, Johnny Knoxville

Synopsis: Barry Sonnenfeld directs this kissing cousin of his own 1995 hit Get Shorty, a comic caper adapted by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone from the novel by newspaper humorist Dave Barry. When two New Jersey hitmen (Dennis Farina and Jack Kehler) show up in Miami to whack crooked businessman Arthur Read More

In-Laws [TV Series]

Actors: Jean Smart, Dennis Farina, Elon Gold, Bonnie Somerville

Synopsis: This NBC sitcom was rather blatantly inspired by the movie comedy hit Meet the Parents. According to network publicity, however, In-Laws was primarily based on the standup routines of comedian Elon Gold, who starred in the series as newlywed Max Landis. Quitting his job to enroll in culinary Read More

Sidewalks of New York

Actors: Edward Burns, Rosario Dawson, Dennis Farina, Heather Graham, David Krumholtz

Synopsis: A documentary film crew follows the lives of six New Yorkers as their lives unexpectedly intersect -- or at least that's what writer, director, and actor Edward Burns would like you to believe in this comedy-drama that looks at the rocky road of relationships in the Big Apple. After sharing the Read More

The Bad Seed

Actors: Luke Wilson, Norman Reedus, Dennis Farina, Vincent Kartheiser, Mili Avital

Synopsis: In rainy Tacoma, WA, Preston Tylk (Luke Wilson) learns that his beautiful wife Emily (Mili Avital) has been unfaithful with a man named Jonathan (Norman Reedus). Preston goes for a walk to consider his future, and when he returns, he discovers Emily's body - she's been strangled to death. After Read More

Snatch

Actors: Mike Reid, Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina, Vinnie Jones, Brad Pitt, Jason Flemyng

Synopsis: Guy Ritchie's sophomore follow-up to his 1998 sleeper hit Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch revisits the previous film's territory of London's crime-ridden underbelly, and does so with the same brand of humor and stylish direction that made Ritchie's first effort a surprise success. Read More

Reindeer Games

Actors: Ben Affleck, Gary Sinise, Charlize Theron, Dennis Farina, James Frain

Synopsis: A burglar looking to make time with a beautiful woman after five years in prison falls into a dangerous trap in this action drama. Rudy (Ben Affleck) is serving time in prison for auto theft, where he becomes friendly with his cellmate Nick (James Frain). Nick has been enjoying a spicy courtship Read More

Preston Tylk

Actors: Luke Wilson, Norman Reedus, Dennis Farina, Mili Avital, Vincent Kartheiser

Synopsis: Preston Tylk (Luke Wilson) is an ordinary guy living in Seattle. When he discovers that his wife, Emily (Mili Avital), whom he adores, is having an affair, he is devastated. Storming out of the house, he returns later to find her brutally murdered. With Emily's lover as the prime suspect, Preston Read More

The Mod Squad

Actors: Claire Danes, Giovanni Ribisi, Omar Epps, Dennis Farina, Josh Brolin

Synopsis: Police Capt. Adam Greer (Dennis Farina) needs some new cops who can go where other cops can't. Greer finds three young people on their way to jail: Lincoln Hayes (Omar Epps), the black one, is up for arson; Pete Cochrane (Giovanni Ribisi), the white one, is up for robbery; and Julie Barnes (Claire Danes Read More

Saving Private Ryan

Actors: Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Jeremy Davies, Vin Diesel

Synopsis: Steven Spielberg directed this powerful, realistic re-creation of WWII's D-day invasion and the immediate aftermath. The story opens with a prologue in which a veteran brings his family to the American cemetery at Normandy, and a flashback then joins Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks) and GIs in a Read More

Out of Sight

Actors: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Dennis Farina

Synopsis: Steven Soderbergh directed this crime caper adapted from the novel by Elmore Leonard. When ex-con Jack Foley (George Clooney) robs a bank, his car goes dead, and Foley lands in a Florida prison. His escape from prison doesn't go as planned, since it's witnessed by deputy federal marshal Karen Read More

Buddy Faro

Crew: Executive Producer

Actors: Dennis Farina, Frank Whale, Allison Smith, Charlie Robinson, Felicity Waterman

Synopsis: In this TV drama-comedy, Julie Barber (Allison Smith) hires detective wannabe Bob Jones (Frank Whaley) to track down the legendary private eye Buddy Faro (Dennis Farina), who was once such a name that he was portrayed by an actor (George Hamilton) in a TV series. Now nearly forgotten, Faro has Read More

That Old Feeling

Actors: Bette Midler, Dennis Farina, Paula Marshall, Gail O'Grady, David Rasche

Synopsis: In this Carl Reiner-directed romantic comedy, Bette Midler stars as a movie star named Lilly, who has had a fairly successful career which is now on the downturn. Years after a terrible divorce, she meets up again with her ex-husband Dan (Dennis Farina) at the wedding of their daughter Molly (Paula Marshall Read More

Bella Mafia - Parts I & II

Actors: Vanessa Redgrave, Dennis Farina, Nastassja Kinski, Jennifer Tilly, Illeana Douglas

Synopsis: Lynda La Plante (Prime Suspect) scripted this TV miniseries about the family life surrounding a Mafia don. Sicilian magnate Don Luciano (Dennis Farina) and his wife Graziella (Vanessa Redgrave) live comfortably at Villa Rosa in Palermo, Italy. Their son Michael (Michael Hayden) has an affair with Read More

Eddie

Actors: Whoopi Goldberg, Frank Langella, Dennis Farina, Richard Jenkins, Lisa Ann Walter

Synopsis: In this comedy, a basketball fan figures she could be a better coach than the guy getting paid millions to do the job -- and then gets the chance to prove it. Edwina "Eddie" Franklin (Whoopi Goldberg) is a limousine dispatcher and sometime driver who is a passionate New York Knicks fan; she Read More

Get Shorty

Actors: John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Danny DeVito, Dennis Farina, Delroy Lindo, James Gandolfini

Synopsis: A gangster is looking to get away from crooked deals and double-crossing people but ends up in the movie business anyway in this comic crime story. Chili Palmer (John Travolta) is a Miami-based loan collector for the mob trying to collect a gambling debt. His assignment takes him to Hollywood to Read More

Out of Annie's Past

Actors: Catherine Stewart, Scott Valentine, Dennis Farina, Carsten Norgaard, Ray Oriel

Synopsis: In this thriller, a woman must fight to preserve her new life after a bounty hunter shows up and threatens to reveal that she has changed her identity so that no one will know that she was once accused of murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Bonanza: Under Attack

Actors: Ben Johnson, Michael Landon, Jr., Brian Leckner, Leonard Nimoy, Dennis Farina

Synopsis: The television movie Bonanza: Under Attack involves characters made popular in the long-running television western Bonanza. The story involves the dastardly Frank James hiding on the Cartwright family's Ponderosa in order to escape bloodthirsty rogue Pinkerton detectives who want to do more than Read More

One Woman's Courage

Synopsis: When a jury frees a killer, the woman who testified against him fears for her life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Little Big League

Actors: Luke Edwards, Timothy Busfield, John Ashton, Ashley Crow, Kevin Dunn

Synopsis: A 12-year old boy inherits the Minnesota Twins in this baseball comedy that is aimed toward younger viewers. Young Billy, a normal twelve-year old, is nuts about baseball and knows almost everything there is to know about the game. He should, his grandfather owns the perennial losers, the Read More

Romeo Is Bleeding

Actors: Gary Oldman, Lena Olin, Annabella Sciorra, Juliette Lewis, Roy Scheider

Synopsis: New York cop Jack Grimaldi (Gary Oldman) has a nice home, a stunning wife Natalie (Annabella Sciorra), and a sweet, if stupid mistress, Sheri (Juliette Lewis). Jack also earns extra money by betraying mob witnesses to Mafia-boss Don Falcone (Roy Scheider). Assigned to guard the viciously sexy Read More

Striking Distance

Actors: Bruce Willis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dennis Farina, Tom Sizemore, Brion James, Robert Pastorelli, Timothy Busfield

Synopsis: A maverick Pittsburgh policeman loses his job after he shares his suspicion that one of his colleagues is a serial killer. This thriller centers on his hunt to prove his point, a search that becomes more desperate when the killer begins killing the cop's female associates. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Read More

Disappearance of Nora

Another Stakeout

Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, Emilio Estevez, Rosie O'Donnell, Dennis Farina, Marcia Strassman

Synopsis: In Stakeout, cop Richard Dreyfuss fell in love with Madeline Stowe, the woman he and his partner Emilio Estevez were watching during a police stakeout. Stowe's back in Another Stakeout, but her part is fleeting and unbilled. On the other hand, we get plenty of Dreyfuss and Estevez, still both as Read More

Cruel Doubt

Actors: Blythe Danner, Ed Asner, Matt McGrath, Gwyneth Paltrow, Adam Baldwin

Synopsis: The two-part TV movie Cruel Doubt was based on a true story, as elucidated in book form by Joe McGinniss. In part one, aired May 17, 1992, Wealthy North Carolinian Blythe Danner discovers that her own son Matt McGrath was involved in a robbery-assault in their home, in which her husband was Read More

Mac

Actors: John Turturro, Michael Badalucco, Carl Caportoto, Katherine Borowitz, Ellen Barkin, John Amos

Synopsis: Actor John Turturro spent a dozen years getting his script for Mac before the cameras; he'd originally planned to merely act in the film, but the stringent budget required that he direct as well. Turturro plays Mac, one of three grown brothers in an Italian/American family living in 1950s New Read More

The American Gangster

Actors: Dennis Farina

Synopsis: This documentary look at the origins of American crime and gangsters features actual film footage and photographs of a number of famous criminals, including Pretty Boy Floyd, John Dillinger, Al Capone, Bugsy Siegel, and others. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

We're Talkin' Serious Money

Actors: Dennis Farina, Leo Rossi, Fran Drescher, Denis Arndt, Robert Costanzo

Synopsis: When Sal (Dennis Farina) and his friend Charlie (Leo Rossi) are cheated out of $10,000 of borrowed money in an implausible money-making scheme, the two must flee to Los Angeles to avoid the wrath of the gangster debt collectors. Once there, they become embroiled in an underhanded scheme that Read More

Street Crimes

Synopsis: In this police drama, a cop opens up a youth center and endeavors to teach kids the fine art of boxing to help get them off the street. Things work out well until a powerful local drug dealer tries to ruin things. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel, Part 1

Actors: Julie Carmen, Dennis Farina, John Glover

Synopsis: Meticulously researched and elaborately produced, the two-part TV movie Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel is based on a true story. In addition, to quote the original print ads, "This is the one we won!" Incorruptible agents of the DEA declare war against Colombia's Medelin drug lords. To undermine Read More

Serious Money

Synopsis: The official title of this ragged comedy-melodrama is We're Talkin' Serious Money. Dennis Farina and Leo Rossi play a couple of Manhattan con men who make the mistake of shaking down a powerful mobster. Once they've realized their error, the unheroic heroes skeedaddle to California. The mob boss Read More

Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel, Part 2

Synopsis: The expensively assembled two-part TV movie Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel is the true story of a successful "bust" engineered by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Part One detailed an undercover attack on the Colombian drug lords' refineries (see separate entry for further details). In part Read More

Men of Respect

Actors: John Turturro, Katherine Borowitz, Dennis Farina, Peter Boyle, Rod Steiger

Synopsis: Shakespeare's Macbeth is transplanted to a '90s New York gangland in this 1991 film. A hit man (John Turturro) is convinced to murder his boss (Rod Steiger) after his future as the head of the organization is ensured by three fortune-tellers. With the help of his domineering wife (Kathie Read More

Blind Faith

Actors: Joanna Kerns, Robert Urich

Synopsis: Originally telecast in two parts, Blind Faith was adapted from a fact-based book by investigative author Joe McGinniss. The scene is Toms River, New Jersey; the year is 1984. Insurance salesman Rob Marshall (Robert Urich) informs the authorities that his wife Maria (Joanna Kerns) has been murdered Read More

People Like Us

Actors: Dennis Farina, Ben Gazzara, Eva Marie Saint

Synopsis: Based on a novel by Dominick Dunne (who virtually disowned the project the minute it hit the small screen), People Like Us is a 2-part, 4-hour TV movie. Ben Gazzara plays a writer whose daughter has been murdered (much like Dunne himself). Upset that the killer's sentence is all too short, Gazzara Read More

The Case of the Hillside Stranglers

Actors: Richard Crenna

Synopsis: Fact-based, made-for-television account of the hunt for a pair of serial killers who slaughtered ten women in the hillsides of Los Angeles between October 1977 and February 1978. (Alternate title: The Case Of The Hillside Stranglers) ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide Read More

Midnight Run

Actors: Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Yaphet Kotto, John Ashton, Dennis Farina

Synopsis: Director Martin Brest, of Going in Style and Beverly Hills Cop fame, was in charge of Midnight Run. Robert De Niro stars as Jack Walsh, a hard-bitten bounty hunter offered $100,000 to bring in embezzler Jonathan Mardukas (Charles Grodin). Handcuffed to the wimpy Mardukas, Walsh assumes that the Read More

Open Admissions

Synopsis: In this drama, based on Shirley Lauro's play, a burned-out college speech professor finds himself inspired by an eager, sincere student who desires to leave his ghetto past. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Crime Story: Season 02

Actors: Dennis Farina, Anthony John Denison, John Santucci, Stephen Lang, Bill Smitrovich

Synopsis: Astonishingly, gangster Ray Luca (Anthony John Denison) and his doltish henchman Paulie (John Santucci) have managed to survive the atom bomb explosion that ended season one of the serialized cop drama Crime Story. This allows the duo to resume their criminal activities, ever keeping one step Read More

Six Against the Rock

Actors: Richard Dysart, Dennis Farina, Howard Hesseman, David Morse, Jan-Michael Vincent, David Carradine, Charles Haid

Synopsis: The "six" are played by David Carradine, Howard Hesseman, David Morse, Charles Haid, Jan-Michael Vincent and Richard Dysart. The "rock" is, of course, escape-proof Alcatraz Island. This TV movie dramatizes an actual 1946 breakout attempt--which was meticulously preplanned for eight years. And what Read More

Through Naked Eyes

Synopsis: When people begin to be murdered around them, two disparate voyeurs in apartment high-rises begin to suspect they are the objects of interest for yet another peeping tom. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide Read More

Manhunter

Actors: William L. Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Dennis Farina

Synopsis: Red Dragon, the Thomas Harris novel that introduced serial killer Hannibal Lecter to the world, was adapted for the screen by Michael Mann as Manhunter. Ace criminal profiler Will Graham (William Petersen) is very good at his job because he has the ability to make himself think like the killers he Read More

Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling

Actors: Dennis Farina, Wings Hauser, Richard Pryor, Debbie Allen, Art Evans, Fay Hauser, Barbara Williams

Synopsis: Popular African-American comedian Jo Jo Dancer is severely burned while free-basing cocaine. Producer/director/writer Richard Pryor insists that the movie is not autobiographical. While hovering between life and death, Dancer flashes back to his childhood, when he grew up in a brothel. Read More

Crime Story: The Complete Saga

Crime Story: Season 01

Actors: Dennis Farina, Anthony John Denison, John Santucci, Stephen Lang, Bill Smitrovich

Synopsis: Season one of the serialized cop drama Crime Story begins in the Chicago of 1963, with Lt. Mike Torello (Dennis Farina) of the city's MCU (Major Crime Unit) deeply committed to bringing his longtime nemesis, youthful gangster Ray Luca (Anthony John Denison) to justice. The effort exacts a heavy Read More

Crime Story: The Chicago Years

Crime Story [TV Series]

Actors: Dennis Farina, Anthony John Denison, John Santucci, Stephen Lang, Bill Smitrovich

Synopsis: Crime Story was a valiant attempt by Miami Vice producer Michael Mann to present a compelling police drama series in a serialized fashion. Introduced as a two-hour TV movie on September 18, 1986, the weekly, hour-long series was initially set in Chicago in 1963. Dennis Farina, a former cop in real Read More

Hunter: The Snow Queen, Part 1

Synopsis: In the first episode of a two-part story, a reluctant Hunter (Fred Dryer) is teamed with sleazy Manhattan detective Jackie Molinas (Dennis Franz), who has allowed cocaine dealer Sally LaPone to