STARZ! Pictures(R) presents the never-before-seen "THE WHITE RIVER KID" on STARZ!(R) Friday, February 2, 2001 (with subsequent plays throughout the month). The quirky dramatic comedy stars Academy Award(R) nominee Bob Hoskins ("Nixon," "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"), Antonio Banderas ("The Mask of Zorro," "Assassins") and Ellen Barkin ("The Fan," "The Big Easy").

The film also features acclaimed actors Wes Bentley ("The Claim," "American Beauty"), Swoozie Kurtz ("Liar, Liar," "Reality Bites"), Beau Bridges ("Jerry Maguire," "The Fabulous Baker Boys"), Kim Dickens ("Hollow Man," "Mercury Rising"), Chad Lindberg ("October Sky," "Mercury Rising") and multiple Grammy Award-winning country singer Randy Travis ("The Rainmaker," "Fire Down Below") who performs several original songs.

"THE WHITE RIVER KID" follows the comic exploits of a small time con man, Brother Edgar (Hoskins), who hides behind a self-bestowed cassock, and his money-grubbing Mexican illegal alien sidekick, Morales Pittman (Banderas). The two travel about Arkansas selling low quality "socks for God" -- allegedly made by blind children residing at the Little Brothers of St. Mortimer's mission -- and bumping into a variety of simple souls, including the mythic killer "The White River Kid" (Bentley). Brother Edgar and Morales' shenanigans come to a halt when "The Kid" and his fiancee, Apple Lisa Weed (Dickens), take the duo hostage and force them on a wild trip across the state. Along the way, several important events occur: they cross paths with a blind prostitute, Eva Nell La Fangroy (Barkin) and a country singing local sheriff, Becker (Travis); "The Kid" disavows his life as a murderer; and they meet up with Apple Lisa's eccentric hillbilly family (Bridges and Kurtz).

To avoid the police, Brother Edgar and his entourage take up residence at the Weed house. During their stay, "The Kid" and Apple Lisa get married and Morales joins forces with Apple Lisa's dim-witted brother, Reggie (Lindberg). The two men extort money from the "local bumpkins," to the annoyance of Mr. Pines, the reigning provider of "protection." Things come to a madcap head as Brother Edgar finds himself falling in love with the blind Eva Nell, Morales becomes fiercely jealous of Brother Edgar and "The Kid's" poignant "father/son" relationship, and Reggie and Morales attempt to rob Mr. Pines of his protection money.

The ensemble production was directed by Arne Glimcher ("The Mambo Kings," "Just Cause") and adapted for the screen by David Leland ("Running Wild," "Mona Lisa") from the critically acclaimed book "The Little Brothers of Saint Mortimer" by Arkansas native John Fergus Ryan. The film was produced by Glimcher, Elie Samaha ("Boondock Saints," "The Confession") and Robert Greenhut ("The Preacher's Wife," "Arthur"), with Ashok Amritraj ("Get Carter," "Battlefield Earth"), Andrew Stevens ("3,000 Miles to Graceland," "Get Carter") and Banderas acting as executive producers. "THE WHITE RIVER KID" was filmed entirely on location in-and-around Hot Springs, Arkansas.

For further information, please contact Marc McCarthy of STARZ! Pictures, 303-267-5851, marc.mccarthy@starzencore.com; or Richard Hoffman of Warren Cowan & Associates, 310-275-0777, rhhoffman@warrencowan.com, for STARZ! Pictures.