IMDb > Noriega: God's Favorite (2000) (TV)

Noriega: God's Favorite (2000) (TV) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.3/10   278 votes
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Director:
Roger Spottiswoode
Writer (WGA):
Lawrence Wright (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Noriega: God's Favorite on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
6 June 2001 (Italy) more
Genre:
Drama more
Plot:
The story of Panamanian general Manuel Antonio 'Tony' Noriega, whose meteoric career, from utter poverty... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
1 win & 5 nominations more
User Comments:
Bites off a lot -- and then spends most of its time lightly choking! more (10 total)

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Bob Hoskins ... Manuel Noriega
Jeffrey DeMunn ... Nuncio
Rosa Blasi ... Vicky Amador

Luis Avalos ... President Nicky Barletta

Denise Blasor ... Felicidad Noriega

Nestor Carbonell ... Major Giroldi
Tony Plana ... Colonel Diaz-Herrera

Sabi Dorr ... Irwin
John Verea ... Father Jorge
Richard Masur ... Mark
David Marshall Grant ... Drug Dealer
Michael Sorich ... Fidel Castro
Jorge Luis Abreu ... Witch Doctor

Edward Edwards ... Oliver North
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Susan Africa ... Adela Giroldi
Ina Alegre ... Prostitute

Ivan Allen ... Newscaster
Ed Aquino ... Giroldi's Man
Ed Bouffard ... Newscaster
Janice Brillotes ... Yacht Woman

Jennifer Cain ... Swiss Receptionist
Edith Castillejo ... Party Guest
Jackie Castillejos ... Party Guest
Rick Constantineau ... Chuck
Bruce Cornwell ... Harvard Professor
Rez Cortez ... Bodyguard
Renzo Cruz ... Plotter
Richard Cunanan ... CIA Agent

Ivo Cutzarida ... Hugo Spadafora
Maggie Dela Riva ... Party Guest
Zoey Del Corro ... Waitress
Michael De Mesa ... Drug Lord
Janice De Padua ... Secretary
Diego Domicoli ... Giroldi's Kid
Teresa Elliott ... Newscaster
Michelle Estevez ... Noriega's Daughter
Jaime Fabregas ... Officer
Miguel Faustmann ... Lieutenant Contreras
Jaime Garchitorena ... Aide
Charley J. Garrett
Rosemarie Gil ... Señor Sarita
J. Boyce Harman Jr. ... Tony's Doctor (as J. Boyce Harman)
Ala Hegazy ... Mountain Man
Subas Herrero ... Gabriel Arias
Dick Israel ... Bodyguard
Barbara Johnson ... Ginny
Chris Johnson ... State Department Official
Robert Kraut ... Priest
Micha Lil ... CIA Agent
Samantha Lopez

Barbara Luna ... Mama
Alicia Mansfield ... Nun

Tonyo Meléndez ... Pepe Velasquez
Melanie Menoza ... Yacht Woman
Randelier Orlino ... Mountain Man
Joanna Orros ... Secretary
James Gregory Paolleli ... Newscaster (as James Paolleli)
Eric Payne
Leo Rabago ... Mountain Man
Ed Requestas ... Disc Jockey
Leo Rialp ... Raul Castro
Romeo Rivera ... Officer
Alexandra Rocha ... Giroldi's Kid
Ed Rocha ... Enrique
Frank Roman ... Cesar Rodriguez
Rhett Romero ... Giroldi's Man
Camille Roxas ... Carmen
Princess Ann Schuck ... Giroldi's Kid
Andrew Schuten ... Drug Dealer
Charmille Shartle ... Noriega's Daughter

Samantha Smith ... Yogi
Bart Suretsky ... Kiki Pretelet
Ashley Talbert ... Nurse

Tom Todoroff ... The Swiss Doctor / Nestor
Noel Trinidad ... Rebel Officer
Chandro Uttamchandani ... Giroldi's Man
Veronica Veron ... Chaquita
José Vicente Vibar ... American General
Stefanie Walmsley ... Radcliffe Student
Larry Wright ... District Attorney
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
120 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Sound Mix:
Dolby
Certification:
Finland:K-16 | UK:15 | Spain:18
Filming Locations:
Manila, Metro Manila, Luzon, Philippines
Company:
Industry Entertainment more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Near the end of the movie, the Nuncio warns Noriega that if he isn't careful, he'll end up like Mussolini, strung up by his heels. Bob Hoskins, who played Noriega, had already met that fate in the 1985 movie biography of Mussolini, whom he played. more
Quotes:
Manuel Noriega: You want some friendly advice? I suggest you kill yourself.
Major Giroldi: That is against my religion.
Manuel Noriega: [smiles unpleasantly] Then give me your weapon, and place yourself in God's hands...
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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
1 out of 3 people found the following comment useful.
Bites off a lot -- and then spends most of its time lightly choking!, 24 October 2005
6/10
Author: Peter Hayes from United Kingdom

When a TV movie premiers on BBC2 (a minority UK channel) after midnight you take it is a read that this is not going to be very good -- and I wasn't proved far wrong. While title lead Bob Hoskins does his admirable best with a tough part for him to play physically the rest is just a tick list of all the events that formed his later life.

Having read up on the subject it is all there, present and correct: Drugs, corruption, the Contra affair and Ollie North, black magic, marriage problems. Not to mention the US invasion of his country of Panama and his hiding out in a church embassy.

However I wouldn't have liked to re-tell the story from what I saw here!

Naturally we are viewing the Third World from a First World perspective (well I am anyway) and that isn't easy. Noriega learnt the rules from others and while a cruel and despotic man, he wasn't a fool. Why -- he questions -- does the USA love drugs so much "does the gringo have no soul?"

(The people who produce/traffic drugs often laugh at the people that consume them -- for them they view the product for what it is, a lucrative poison.)

You'd be hard pushed to get this is all in if you spent a 100 million dollars and spread it over a mini series. This is a 120 minute film and while I don't know the budget from what I see on the screen it is obviously on the low side.

Dictators (let us take the "corrupt" as read) are always filmed in ultra close-up showing their rage and frustration, ready to do anything at anytime (this is why they feature in so many films!), but General Noriega is also shown as a bit of a hen-pecked clown. The boy from the wrong side of the tracks who, with a chip on both shoulders, climbed to the top while -- strangely -- partly controlled by the catholic church and a love of cheap sexual thrills.

(The movie seems to be suggesting some kind of bisexuality that I hadn't heard about before.)

A man who had a love-hate relationship with America and America responding by having a love-hate relationship with him.

While this movie seems to have it all: Power, drugs, corruption, explosions, rise-and fall, it actually has very little. I viewed the whole matter with cold detachment wondering if the Noriega was living in Panama or some kind of private Disneyland.

All-in-all a bit of a failure -- but an extra star of being a brave failure.

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