Masterminds (film)
Encyclopedia
Masterminds is a 1997
1997 in film
-Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*...

 comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...

 starring Patrick Stewart
Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career in theatre and television for around half a century...

.

Plot synopsis

Oswald "Ozzie" Paxton (played by Vincent Kartheiser
Vincent Kartheiser
Vincent Paul Kartheiser is an American actor known for playing Connor in Angel and Pete Campbell in Mad Men.-Early life:Kartheiser was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Janet Marie and James Ralph Kartheiser...

) initiates a highly illegal hack, and begins pirating a soon-to-be-released game, "Scream II". His download is interrupted when his younger stepsister enters his room without permission. The resulting squabble between them results in their respective parents intervening. In the process, Ozzie's father (a software expert himself) discovers the illicit download.

Forced to take his sister to school as punishment, Ozzie has run-ins with Principal Maloney, his former nemesis (she expelled him some time before, after he destroyed one of the classrooms) and security officer Rafe Bentley (Patrick Stewart
Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career in theatre and television for around half a century...

). Having accomplished his assigned task, Ozzie stays behind to pull one last prank, but before he can get out of the school, Bentley's crew of "security guards" produce a variety of firearms and tranquilizer dart guns, which they use to subdue several staff members, then lock down the school. Ozzie's friend Richard (Jon Abrahams
Jon Abrahams
Jon Avery Abrahams is an American film and television actor.-Life and career:Abrahams attended Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn....

), also known as K-Dog, overhears the gunfire on Ozzie's walkie-talkie and rushes to the school.

It turns out that the hostages are all children of wealthy families, and Bentley has planned stages of a ransom scheme involving their parents' corporations, especially the one employing Ozzie's father, which dismissed him for embezzlement. Ozzie, re-entering the school via a long-disused-and-boarded-up room, attempts to alert his sister to the danger. She does not believe him, and he is subsequently chased by one of the gunmen. Using a bunsen burner
Bunsen burner
A Bunsen burner, named after Robert Bunsen, is a common piece of laboratory equipment that produces a single open gas flame, which is used for heating, sterilization, and combustion.- Operation:...

 and a vial of acid he is able to subdue his pursuer. He subsequently begins fighting back, first by setting the boiler to overheat the office, and then by activating the fire sprinklers. Both these tactics wreak havoc with Bentley's computerized security system.

Meanwhile, the police make several attempts to breach the school's perimeter, only to run into automatic gunfire, rocket launchers, and mines. Bentley is careful to not kill any of the police, but warns them that he will not continue to do so if the attacks continue. As a concession, he releases most of the children, but keeps the ten richest (and Ozzie's stepsister, having by this time found out about her relationship to him) and demands a very large ransom for their return, to be paid by the corporation that Ozzie's father works for. He also demands that the man who fired him deliver the ransom.

Ozzie locates ten of the eleven children and rescues them, with Maloney's assistance, but his sister has been taken by Bentley. He then places an improvised time bomb at the bottom of the school's indoor pool. He attempts to stop the ransom payment, but finds out too late that the man designated to deliver it was actually Bentley's confederate. Bentley ties Ozzie to a chair and leaves with his men, keeping Ozzie's sister as an insurance policy. They intend to escape through the sewer pipes using ATV's.

While Ozzie is struggling to free himself, the bomb explodes, flooding the school's lower levels and neutralizing nearly everyone there; only Maloney, K-Dog (who entered via a sewer main), Bentley and Ozzie's sister are left standing. Ozzie and K-Dog seize an abandoned ATV and pursue Bentley. They rescue Ozzie's sister, but Bentley escapes with the ransom. However, Ozzie is able to blow the whistle on the man who delivered the money. Through his cell-phone, the police trace him to the CEO of a rival corporation, who masterminded the plot so that the money used for the bidding would be given to terrorists so he could win a bidding war against the corporation employing Ozzie's father.

Soon afterward, Bentley sees a light at the end of the tunnel, only to discover that the light leads only one place: a sewage reclamation plant. The money begins to sink as police cars come to arrest him.

Cast

  • Patrick Stewart
    Patrick Stewart
    Sir Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career in theatre and television for around half a century...

     as Bentley
  • Vincent Kartheiser
    Vincent Kartheiser
    Vincent Paul Kartheiser is an American actor known for playing Connor in Angel and Pete Campbell in Mad Men.-Early life:Kartheiser was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Janet Marie and James Ralph Kartheiser...

     as Oswald "Ozzie" Paxton
  • Brenda Fricker
    Brenda Fricker
    Brenda Fricker is an Irish actress of theatre, film and television. She had appeared in more than 30 films and television roles...

     as Principal Maloney
  • Bradley Whitford
    Bradley Whitford
    Bradley Whitford is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles as Deputy White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman on the NBC television drama The West Wing, as Danny Tripp on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, as Dan Stark in the Fox police buddy-comedy The Good Guys, as...

     as Miles (credited as Brad Whitford)
  • Matt Craven
    Matt Craven
    -Life and career:Craven was born Matthew John Crnkovich in Port Colborne, Ontario, the son of Joanne Leslie, a hairdresser, and Nick Crnkovich. He has an older sister, Deborah...

     as Jake
  • Annabelle Gurwitch
    Annabelle Gurwitch
    Annabelle Gurwitch is an American comedic actress. She is best known as the original hostess of TBS's Dinner and a Movie. She is also a noted author and columnist and was most recently the host of Wa$ted! on Planet Green....

     as Helen
  • Jon Abrahams
    Jon Abrahams
    Jon Avery Abrahams is an American film and television actor.-Life and career:Abrahams attended Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn....

    as K-Dog
  • Katie Stuart
    Katie Stuart
    Katherine Anne "Katie" Stuart is a Canadian actress who has appeared in over 15 movies, ranging from the obscure to the more well-known . She has guest-starred on numerous television shows as well as appearing in the television movie A Wrinkle in Time.Stuart was born in Vancouver, British...

     as Melissa
  • Michael MacRae as Deroy
  • Callum Keith Rennie
    Callum Keith Rennie
    Callum Keith Rennie is a British-born Canadian television and film actor. He started his career in Canadian film and television projects, where his portrayal of Stanley Raymond Kowalski in the TV series Due South was his first international success...

     as Ollie
  • Earl Pastko
    Earl Pastko
    Earl Pastko an American - Canadian actor. Born December 10, 1965 in Chicago, Illinois. He stands approximately 5"9" and he's a founding member of the Remains Theater Company. He moved to Canada in 1984. He's best known for roles in as Colonel Alexi Zukhov, Highway 61 and The Sweet Hereafter...

     as Captain Jankel
  • Jason Schombing as Marvin
  • Michael David Simms as Colonel Duke
  • David Paul Grove as Ferret
  • Akiko Morison as Janet
  • Teryl Rothery
    Teryl Rothery
    Teryl Rothery is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Dr. Janet Fraiser on Stargate SG-1.-Life and career:Rothery was born in Vancouver, British Columbia...

     as Ms. Saunders
  • Vanessa Morley
    Vanessa Morley
    Vanessa Morley is a Canadian actress and is the younger sister of another actress, Natasha Morley.-TV and movie roles:* The X-Files: I Want To Believe as random FBI Agent * The Engagement Ring as Young Alicia...

     as Gabby
  • Douglas Arthurs as Happy Boy #1
  • Philip Granger as Happy Boy #3 (as Phillip Granger)
  • Andrew Kavadas
    Andrew Kavadas
    Andrew Kavadas is a Canadian voice actor who works for Ocean Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He has played several roles in anime, most notably Patrick Zala in Gundam Seed...

     as Happy Boy #4
  • Lauro Chartrand as Happy Boy #5
  • Charles Andre
    Charles André
    Charles André was a French architect, the first in a long line of French architects in the André family. Beginning in 1901, he was a member of the École de Nancy....

     as Happy Boy #6
  • Alan Van Sprang
    Alan van Sprang
    Alan van Sprang is Canadian actor best known for playing Sir Francis Bryan in the series The Tudors and for appearing in the Living Dead films of George A. Romero. He has many other television and film credits.-Filmography:...

     as Happy Boy #7
  • Robert Smith as Happy Boy #13 (as Rob Smith)
  • Nino Caratozzolo as Happy Boy #18
  • Bruce Pinard as Happy Boy Guard
  • April Telek
    April Telek
    -Early life and career:Telek was born and raised on the North Shore of Vancouver, British Columbia. In Japan she pursued her modeling career and won a Shiseido Cosmetics contract for Asia from 1989-1990. In April 1994 she won the title of Miss Canada and represented Canada in several International...

     as Sexy Girl
  • Steve Makaj as SWAT Captain
  • Jay Brazeau
    Jay Brazeau
    Jay Brazeau is a notable Canadian actor and voice actor. He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.-Career:His credits include voicing Richard Condie's Oscar-nominated animated short La Salla. He also appeared in two of the first season episodes of Highlander: The Series in 1992...

     as Eliot
  • Douglas Newell as Science Teacher
  • Frank Cassini as Cop
  • Pamela Martin
    Pamela Martin
    Pamela Martin is an American-born television reporter on Canadian TV. She formerly co-anchored the weekday 6pm newscasts on CTV British Columbia alongside Bill Good....

     as Reporter
  • Marrett Green as Reporter
  • Andrew Wheeler
    Andrew Wheeler
    Andrew Wheeler is a member of the Southland Sharks basketball team in the New Zealand National Basketball League. Wheeler is a local from Invercargill and signed with the club in 2009...

     as Bank Officer
  • Michael Benyaer
    Michael Benyaer
    Michael Benyaer is a Canadian actor and cartoon and video game voice actor.Benyaer was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He enjoyed playing Hadji in The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, stating, "[he] is one of the few roles for an ethnic actor that is not a bad guy...

     as Taxi Driver

Uncredited

  • Jim Byrnes
    Jim Byrnes (actor)
    James Thomas Kevin "Jim" Byrnes is a blues musician, guitarist, and actor.-Life and career:Byrnes was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a homemaker mother and a municipal accountant father. He has lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, since the mid-1970s...

     as Larry Millard
  • Tony Parsons
    Tony Parsons (Canadian journalist)
    Tony Parsons is a longtime Canadian broadcaster whose career has spanned more than 50 years, and he has anchored the second most-watched local evening TV newscast in North America, the News Hour on CHAN-TV in Vancouver, British Columbia...

     as News Anchor
  • Domenico Sansalone as Zachary Gates
  • Kimberly Unger as Flight Attendant

Filming

On site locations included Hatley Castle
Hatley Park National Historic Site
Hatley Park National Historic Site is located in Colwood, British Columbia in Greater Victoria. It is the site of Hatley Castle, a Classified Federal Heritage Building. Since 1995, the mansion and estate have been used for the public Royal Roads University...

 in Colwood, British Columbia
Colwood, British Columbia
Colwood is a city located on Vancouver Island to the southwest of Victoria, capital of British Columbia. Colwood was incorporated in 1985 and has a population of approximately 15,000 people. Colwood lies within the boundaries of the Victoria Census Metropolitan area or Capital Regional District,...

, as well as locations in Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

 and Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

. While on site fiming took place in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, studio filming took place in Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios is a film studio in Shepperton, Surrey, England with a history dating back to 1931 since when many notable films have been made there...

 in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Performance

In a release from Studio Briefing
Studio Briefing
Studio Briefing is an entertainment industry newsletter edited and published by Lew Irwin. Studio Briefing began "as a fax-only subscription service in 1992, [and] went online the following year". It had previously been syndicated through the Newshare corp. It is currently available through the...

, Masterminds was listed as a box office flop for the Labor Day box office weekend, grossing only $1.8 million.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK