Joe's original feature films for cable include starring roles in State of Emergency, A Call to Remember, My Little Assassin, The Water Engine, The Comrades of Summer, Persons Unknown, Boy Meets Girl, and The Rat Pack, for which he was nominated for both another Emmy and a Golden Globe Award.  In later films like Hoods and Jerry and Tom, Joe both starred and served as Executive Producer. 

During his career Joe has portrayed several real people, such as George Raft in Bugsy, Fidel Castro in My Little Assassin, and most notably, as Dean Martin in The Rat Pack. His role as Josh Waitzkin’s father in Searching for Bobby Fischer was based on Fred Waitzkin, who wrote the book upon which the film was based. In fact, Joe’s TV-movie debut was as Joe Esposito, Elvis’ road manager and close friend in the 1979 miniseries Elvis starring Kurt Russell. 

In 2000, Joe completed production on his feature film directorial debut, Lakeboat, written for the screen by David Mamet from his original play. Starring Charles Durning, Peter Falk, Robert Forster, Andy Garcia, Denis Leary and George Wendt, the film opened the L.A. Film Festival to critical acclaim last fall and made its theatrical release in June 2001. 

Joe spent the summer of 2000 in Spain and France filming the feature Off Key with Danny Aiello and George Hamilton. The comedy is about a trio of famed opera singers who unwittingly find themselves reunited at a wedding ten years after their tempestuous breakup.