The Ving Rhames Fan Club Page
Welcome to the only site that I'm aware of conceived as a tribute to America's greatest actor, Ving Rhames! I will be reworking this page (slowly) over the next few months.
Latest Ving appearances
Ving is going to appear in the FX original movie "Sins of the Father", which begins airing January 6th.
Ving has recently has had prominent roles in two pictures, "Baby Boy" and "Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within".
Mr. Rhames has also popped up in some Radio Shack ads, teamed up with actress Vanessa Williams.and (actor?) Howie Long.
Ving recently portrayed attorney Johnnie Cochran in "American Tragedy", the CBS miniseries based upon the OJ Simpson trial. The program itself was nothing great, but Ving's performance as Cochran was very good, just over-the-top enough.
Ving was (in a manner of speaking) part of a 'fastest finger' question on a recent episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Contestents were asked to place four celebraties (including Ving) in order of ascending age.
Background
Mr. Rhames has appeared in many major films, including "Dave", "Stop or My Mom Will Shoot", "Kiss of Death", "Striptease", "Mission: Impossible 1 and 2", "Rosewood", "Con Air", "Out of Sight", "Don King: Only in America" , "Bringing Out the Dead", and "Entrapment", among others.
And, of course, probably his most memorable role has been that of super-cool crime lord Marsellus Wallace in Quentin Tarantino's masterpiece "Pulp Fiction".
Brief reviews/summaries of a few Ving films
Kiss of Death: After this was on FX about 8 times one week, I rewatched it. It's not a bad film at all. Ving, Nicholas Cage (in one of his more psychotic roles), Helen Hunt, David Caruso, and Samuel L. Jackson all appear and are much bigger names now than they were when this was filmed.
Striptease: This movie is reasonably painful to sit through, but Ving does a good job with the material (such as it is). Plus, the line "is Free Willy back yet?" is probably the highlight of the film.
Mission Impossible 1 and 2: If I fall asleep during a movie, that means it's bad. I fell asleep twice during this one (Mission Impossible 1, that is). Ving couldn't make up for the presence of Tom (Snooze) Cruise.
Rosewood: Historically-based account of the race-inspired massacre of a Florida town in the early 1900's. This one is very highly recommended.
Con Air: Fairly routine summer-action film, but Ving gets to play a radical Black Panther-type. Overly bombastic, but moderately entertaining.
Don King: Only in America: Semi-biographical account of Don King, with Ving playing the lead role. Very entertaining. This was a made-for-HBO movie.
Out of Sight: Very entertaining Tarantino-esque crime drama/comedy. Ving is paired up with George Clooney as Buddy, a criminal with a conscience. Features a couple of very notable surprise uncredited guest stars. Highly recommended.
Entrapment: I somehow missed his one. When I see it, I'll post a review.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within: The role here is pretty stock, but since the movie features elements of Ving, animation, and Final Fantasy, I was compelled to see it. At least from a technical standpoint, this is a very good movie.
and then, of course...
Pulp Fiction: The granddaddy of them all. Tarantino's masterpiece casts Ving as super-cool mobster Marsellus Wallace. What can I say about this movie that hasn't been said?
More info:
One can contact Mr. Rhames at the following address:
Ving Rhames
c/o The William Morris Agency
151 El Camino Dr.
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Ving links!
Note: The following links are pages from the Internet Movie Database. These are not my own creation.