Dream Lover
James Spader, Madchen Amick, Larry Miller
After several years of marriage and two kids, an architect suspects his wife of leading a double life. When he investigates and discovers the truth, the consequences are completely unexpected. Clever, satisfying ending.
Scissors
Sharon Stone, Steve Railsback, Ronny Cox, Michelle Phillips
A reclusive woman who restores toy dolls meets her apartment floor neighbors when a man attempts to rape her in the elevator. Then a job that she gets through her agency ends up being more than she bargained for. Unusual.
The Legend of Bagger Vance
Will Smith, Matt Damon, Charlize Theron, Jack Lemmon
A mysterious caddy appears out of the night to coach an ex-golfer after WWI interrupted his career and love life. Well made, but ultimately disappointing.
Daisy Miller
Cybill Shepard, Cloris Leachman, Eileen Brennan,
Barry Brown, James McMurtry, D: Bogdanovich
An American girl in Italy innocently flirts with every man in sight, much to the chagrin of the guy who truly loves her. Typical Henry James stuff. Shepard was probably a bad choice. She fits the role well enough, but her lack of talent shows through, particularly when she must render the flibbertigibbet, rapidly-speaking mindlessness of vapid American youth. She does it well enough, I guess, but there's just something missing. Bogdanovich must have empathized too well with the men in the film when he cast her.
Deep Cover
Lawrence Fishburne, Jeff Goldblum, Clarence Williams III,
Gregory Sierra, Charles Martin Smith
An idealistic undercover cop is caught up in the drugs game after he becomes disillusioned with the political intrigue of his organization. Typical Smith stuff, but Goldblum and Fishburne were excellent, and Williams wasn't so bad either.
A Thief of Time
Adam Beach, Wes Studi, Peter Fonda,
Graham Greene, Tantoo Cardinal
Officer Chee and Detective Leaphorn search for a missing anthropologist who is a suspect in a series of thefts and murders. More of the same in the PBS/Hillerman series. Unfortunately, this film relies a bit too much on the viewer having a familiarity with the main characterizations developed in the first film in the series. Fonda does his usual job of overacting.
Meet Wally Sparks
Rodney Dangerfield, Debi Mazar, Cindy Williams,
Burt Reynolds, David Ogden Stiers
When host Sparks' talk show is threatened, he moves the format on location to become the uninvited guest of a southern governor. Typical stupid plot that highlights Rodney's great one-liners.
Splitsville
David Berry, Jesse Littlejohn, Christopher Lambert
A fifth grader's life is turned upside down when his parents announce their separation. Aided by his school friends, he sets out modify the situation. Good, solid film doesn't short-circuit family values even as it does a good job of presenting the kids' dilemma. And it has a great subplot dealing with the younger kids' confusion about what sex is.
The Opposite Sex and How to Live with Them
Ayre Gross, Courtney Cox, Kevin Pollock, Julie Brown
A guy and a girl in love cannot resolve the difficulties of living together and break up, only to end up miserable without each other. The title plays upon the theme of advice given to the couple by their friends. It's a weak film, but interesting for its secondary characters.
Legally Blonde
Reese Witherspoon
When, as he's leaving to attending Harvard, a college senior's boyfriend breaks up with her because her potential as a suitable mate is too low, she decides to get him back by applying to Harvard also, where she actually ends up getting an education after affirming that she is not the dumb blond that everyone throughout her life has been trying to convince her that she is. Typical plot, but with a whole lots of payoffs.
Somewhere Tomorrow
1983
Sarah Jessica Parker
A girl injures herself when she falls off her horse after witnessing a small plane crash and trying to help the victims. Told as a long flashback while she's unconscious in the hospital, the story is not at all what it seems to be. Great potential here, but the production and the acting are very uneven, with a number of good scenes, but a lot of bad ones.
One from the Heart
Frederick Forrest, Teri Garr, Raul Julia,
Nastassia Kinski, Lainie Kazan, Harry Dean Stanton
Stylistic Coppola semi-musical comedy about a couple in Vegas who question their relationship and begin to "date" other people. The sets are fantastic, but the story is just average.
After Alice
1999
Keifer Sutherland
A cop turns psychic after he hits his head in a fall while on duty. Cliché plot held together by Sutherland's skill as an actor. I found this film interesting despite its ordinariness and its trite gimmicks. It's Keifer's film all the way. He's so good he adds depth to a stereotype.
The Miracle Worker
Nadia Tass, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, David Strathairn
The story of the early childhood of Helen Keller, retold. As good as the Patty Duke/Anne Bancroft original. Eisenberg was perhaps even better than Duke. And that's saying a lot.
Princess of Thieves
Keira Knightley, Malcolm McDowell
Robin Hood's daughter, cloistered in a monastery for her safety, sets out on an adventure when Prince Phillip returns to England to claim his father's throne. Together they rescue Robin from the evil Prince John. Feminist revisionist version of the legend of Robin Hood.
The Astronaut's Wife
Johnny Depp, Charlize Theron, Joe Morton,
Samantha Eggar, Blair Brown
Well done, well-acted, off-beat sci-fi flick that explores the mentality of a women who questions whether it is wise to continue on with her pregnancy after she begins to entertain certain doubts about her husband.
Excessive Force
Thomas Ian Griffith, Lance Henriksen, James Earl Jones
Three cops bust a drug sale and the seller loses three million, which he blames on the cops and so sets about to kill them. When the first two are killed, the third goes on a martial arts spree of vengeance. Another lame action film. (James Earl Jones is wasted in a feeble supporting role.)
Dangerous Game
Harvey Keitel, Madonna, James Russo
A filmmaker weaves motivations from his real life into the characters of the film he is shooting, coaching the actors to align their characters' motivations with his own. The meta-film cuts between the real and filmic plots as it draws correspondences and comparisons. Some good acting, especially by Keitel and Madonna, but some pretty bad acting too (e.g., the filmmaker's wife).
See You in my Dreams
Aidan Quinn, Marcia Gay Harden, Cheech Marin
A rancher, after returning home from the war, settles down with his wife and kid into a quiet country life, only to become disturbed by the self-doubt and jealousy that has been plaguing him, which slowly grows to affect his behavior and his family. Low-key story based on two of Sam Shepard's books. Well done, but kind of ordinary. I felt a lot more of the underlying angst and darkness in the books themselves.
Soul Survivors
Casey Affleck, Wes Bentley, Eliza Dushku
A girl heading off for college battles her basic fears when she believes she is encountering the spirit of her dead boyfriend. Clever ending, but it sure took the long way getting there by playing on the teenage angst of its target audience. Could have been a more effective hour-long tv drama.
Patch Adams
Robin Williams, Daniel London, Monica Potter, Michael Jeter,
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Josef Sommer, Peter Coyote
The (somewhat) true story of a self-admitted mental patient who discovers that he has a talent for relating to people and easing their suffering through humor, which leads him to his true profession, that of a doctor, only to discover that the system doesn't tolerate all of that patient empathy nonsense. An effective, but somewhat stereotypical and thus lightweight film. It could have been more profound. Good acting, though.
Permanent Midnight
Ben Stiller, Elizabeth Hurley, Owen Wilson, Fred Willard,
Janeane Garofalo, Cheryl Ladd, Jerry Stahl
The pathetic story of fulsome scriptwriter Jerry Stahl, who wasted his talents as a Hollywood junkie. Well done, but grim production with Stiller fitting into the role way too well.
Spellbinder
Timothy Daly, Kelly Preston, Stefan Gierasch
A lawyer comes to the aid of a woman who is apparently being abused by her boyfriend in a parking lot. But all is not what it seems to be, as the guy later discovers after he becomes involved with the woman. Typical witchy stuff. Not really worth seeing.
Shark in a Bottle
1998
Danny Nucci, Hiep Thi Le, Ben Gazzara
Interesting low budget film about a loser mailman who is recruited by a nefarious "security" firm that believes him to be a killer. Several minor plot flaws don't seem to interfere with the film's odd appeal.
Slackers meets
La Femme Nikita.
Race the Sun
Halle Berry, James Belushi, Casey Affleck, Eliza Dushku
A new teacher at an underprivileged high school in Hawaii motivates her students to enter a science contest, to the chagrin of her jaded colleagues. Just another formula high school underachievers' movie.
The Soul Collector
Melissa Gilbert, Bruce Greenwood, Ossie Davis
Powers-that-be punish a wayward angel by requiring him to spend a month on Earth as a human. But, of course, he becomes involved. Pathetic and stupid.
Practical Magic
Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Dianne Wiest,
Stockard Channing, Aidan Quinn
Three generations of women face the ridicule of their hometown as they live up to and carry on their heritage of witchcraft. Typical story with an ordinary plot is made quite effective by a good cast and production.
AI: Artificial Intelligence
Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, William Hurt, Frances O'Connor
A prototype android in the form of an eleven-year-old boy is programmed to love, the consequence of which is to make it want to become human. The theme was handled far more effectively in
Renaissance Man. (Robin Williams has a voice credit in this film.) This film is overly long, with drawn out moments of pathos and longing. But it nevertheless has a lot going for it, Jude Law's portrayal of an android who befriends the kid, for example. William Hurt, on the other hand, is wasted talent. Spielberg is at his best, however, in rendering the fairy tale aspect of the film. But as for the intelligence aspects...well, maybe it says something that they had to append the acronym AI in the title with what it means.
Clockwatchers
Toni Collette, Parker Posey, Lisa Kudrow, Jamie Kennedy,
Debra Jo Rupp, Bob Balaban, Paul Dooley
After a recent spate of petty office thefts, management cracks down with chicken-shit rules, regulations, policies, and procedures to compensate for its inability to manage employees. In particular, it zeros in on four temps, one of whom is the narrator. Excellent photographic set-ups and a stylistic script and direction captures the essence of the strange ennui and vapidity of an office where no one really cares about the place or the work they're doing, despite management's claim that they are like a family. If they are, it's a dysfunctional one.
Cats & Dogs
Jeff Goldblum, Elizabeth Perkins
A research scientist, working in a sanitized lab in the basement of his suburban home, neglects his family as he struggles to find a cure for (his) allergic reactions to dogs. Meanwhile, unknown to the entire human population of the world, a conspiracy of cats to re-dominate the world is held in check only by a secret organization run by dogs with agents dispersed around the world in family homes. It's not as stupid as it sounds. In fact, it's quite humorous, and about as Hollywood as you can get as the plot begins to wear thin after the first act and by the end is completely worn out. Good voice-overs by known actors, though.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, John Cleese,
Robbie Coltrane, Richard Harris, John Hurt, Alan Rickman,
Fiona Shaw, Maggie Smith, Julie Walters, Zoe Wanamaker
Harry is orphaned as an infant when a bad wizard kills his parents and marks him with a scar in his attempt to kill him. So he is sent to his aunt's house in the ordinary world to protect him, which turns out not to be the best environment for his upbringing. But when he gets to a certain age, he is invited to attend wizard's school--and the movie is all downhill from there.
Kill Me Again
Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley-Kilmer, Michael Madsen
After ripping off the mob of a lot of loot, a scheming woman jilts her boyfriend/partner-in-crime and convinces a private detective to fake her death. But, of course, they become involved. Not much, despite the moody film noir atmosphere.
Dark Side of the Sun
Brad Pitt, Cheryl Pollack
An American teenager with an unspecified illness that requires that he avoid all light--or else--has him covered head to foot in a black leather suit. Very goth. His father has brought him to Yugoslavia to be treated by a healer after having despaired of conventional medicine. The teen decides that he would rather have three days (the time it takes for the light to affect him fatally) of a normal life than a lifetime of the way he's living. This should have been a better film, but low production values, a bad script, and lousy acting (even Pitt's) ruined it. Clever title, though.
Prime Suspect 2
2004
Helen Mirren, Colin Salmon, Jenny Jules
Another PBS Masterpiece Theater production about Inspector Jane Tennison (Mirren), who is assigned to a murder case in a black area of London. Detectives get two separate and conflicting confessions and must untangle the mystery.
Secrets
Richard Kiley, Veronica Hamel, Julie Harris
Hallmark story about the disaffections of a daughter who learns, via an unfortunate incident involving the housemaid and a guest, that she was adopted. It's hard getting past the characters' pretensions in the first act to get to the essence of the story. The sad thing is that there really are people who are like this. These are not the stereotypes that they at first appear to be. And that Veronica Hamil really knows how to play the role of a bitch. I've always been an advocate of women's rights, but in a case like this, if Hamil's character were real, I'd be happy to make an exception.
A Wrinkle in Time
Alfre Woodard, Kate Nelligan
Disney production about a precocious kid, admired by his older sister who herself struggles with an inferiority complex. The kid hears the voice of an angel-like being, who eventually shows up in person and escorts them off find their scientist father, who went missing as the result of a lab experiment gone wrong and ended up, unbeknownst to the rest of the family, who thought they'd been abandoned, in a galaxy far, far away. Sound a bit far out? Actually, the set-up was quite effective. But the rest of the movie was uneven and sometimes disappointing, although parts of it were unique and interesting. Big Brother for kids. 1984, 20 years later.
Gunshy
1997
William H. Petersen, Diane Lane
A journalist loses his job and his woman, both on the same day. Considering himself a loser, he retires into a bottle in Atlantic City. But fate, aided a bit by an opportunistic scheme, determines otherwise. Finely drawn character motivations and good acting separate this film from the seedy film-noir pack.
Almost Famous
2000
Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson, Jason Lee,
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Anna Paquin, Fairuza Balk,
D: Cameron Crowe
Coming of age on the hard rock scene. All the way through the film you think that this is a story about a young rock reporter who gets a gig with Rolling Stone Magazine to cover a tour of the [semi-fictional] band Stillwater; but it's not. As it turns out, the main character, the one who experiences the character change, is someone else. As you watch the film, see if you can figure out who it is.
Swordfish
John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry,
Don Cheadle, Vinnie Jones, Sam Shepard
A renegade terrorist hunter utilizes government contacts and a ruthless proactive operational technique to pull off a bank job to support his activities. Better than average as crime/government conspiracies go, with an excellent opening sequence. Travolta is the best at whatever he does.
Fatal Affair
1999
C. Thomas Howell
A juror realizes that he has had a brief, secret affair with the victim in a murder trial and as he struggles to decide if he should reveal this to the court and jeopardize his marriage, the case is dismissed on technicalities. But that's only the beginning of his troubles. A contrived plot and uninteresting characters make this a rather ordinary movie.
Prime Suspect
2004
Helen Mirren, John Bowe, Tom Bell
When the head of a murder investigation team has a heart attack, inspector Jane Tennyson is assigned to lead the case and must deal not only with the difficult suspect, but with gender prejudice as well. First film of the series, which is indicative of Britain's growing fascination with American crime drama.
Love at Large
Tom Berenger, Elizabeth Perkins, Anne Archer,
Annette O'Toole, Kate Capshaw, Ann Magnuson,
Ted Levine, Barry Miller, Kevin J. O'Connor, Neil Young
A typical private eye, who is having problems with his girlfriend, is followed by another private eye as he follows a guy he believes to be cheating on his wife. Better than average sleuth flick that is just enough tongue-in-cheek not to take itself so seriously, and yet Levine's
Silence of the Lamb's connoting performance gives it a slight edginess it wouldn't otherwise have. A wild role by Neil Young. I didn't recognize him until after the film was over and I thought back on it.
Walking Across Egypt
1999
Ellen Burstyn, Jonathan Taylor Thomas,
Judge Reinhold, Edward Herrmann
An older woman with grown kids lives alone, attending church, singing hymns in her parlor at night, cooking meals for anyone who happens by, and generally preparing for and awaiting her eventual death. But when she gets the Christian idea from a sermon that she should be helping people, she befriends a kid in a local reformatory. Good acting saves the basic Hallmark plot.
Stranded
Liam Cunningham, Brana Bajic, Jesse Spencer, Ridad Lardpanna
An excellent production of Swiss Family Robinson. I never liked film versions of this story, because the book always seemed so much better. Now, here's a film version that compares favorably with the book.
Breathing Lessons
James Garner, Joanne Woodward, Paul Winfield, Tim Guinee
An older couple set off on a day journey to Pennsylvania to attend a funeral, but the wife has a secondary agenda--to reunite her estranged daughter-in-law and granddaughter with her son. Ordinary Hallmark stuff, except that the ending makes it realistic rather than the usual sentimental crap.
The Lost Child
2000
Mercedes Reuhl
"Rebecca," during the earliest part of her life, is transferred from foster home to foster home until she finally ends up with a Jewish family that loves her. But during the girl's teen years, her mother dies and her father remarries. The new wife resents the girl's presence, so she decides that she must fend for herself. Years later, after she has married and has kids, she discovers her true identity, and her reaction upsets her family's stability. A lot of trite situations, but interesting for its depiction of an alternative lifestyle.
Plainsong
Aidan Quinn, Rachel Griffiths, Geoffrey Lewis, Megan Follows
When a woman moves out of her house and then all the way to Denver (probably because of depression; it's never explained) to live with her sister, her husband and her two boys must get by without her. Veteran actors and a good story rescue this Hallmark sentiment from its conventional and stilted plot and family values motif. Excellent character chemistry, but too much is left unexplained and undeveloped.
Robinson Crusoe
Pierce Brosnan, Samuel L. Jackson
Interesting version of the classic tale with Brosnan playing a typical island master, but Jackson bringing new life to Friday.
Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness
2004
Helen Mirren, Liam Cunningham, Frank Finlay
PBS Masterpiece theater production of a story about a senior police detective battling age-ism and the system in order to assemble enough evidence to bring to justice a murderer who also happens to be a Bosnia war criminal.
Space Cowboys
Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones,
Donald Sutherland, James Garner
Four retired test pilots who never got to go into space during the heyday of America's space program get a second chance when an old Russian space vehicle threatens to crash back to Earth. They should have entitled this movie "Has-Beens in Space." Despite the great cast and being directed by Eastwood, it's a dog.
Final Combination
Michael Madsen, Lisa Bonet
A serial killer targets young women by discovering them in difficult situations and coming to their "rescue." But a freelance "newswoman" who is trailing him helps the cops catch him--sort of. Tries real hard to establish a seedy film noir mood, but ends up being just more conventional fluff.
The Perfect Wife
Perry King, Shannon Sturges, Lesley-Anne Down
When a doctor at the scene of an accident chooses to save the woman drunk driver instead of the sober bicyclist/artist, the victim's sister seeks revenge by marrying the doctor. I'm not giving away the plot here. The movie gives it away in the first ten minutes. Transparent. A must miss.
Pilgrim
Ray Lihota, Gloria Reuben, Armin Mueller-Stahl
A man wakes up in a Mexican desert, bruised and with a bump on his head, and suffering from amnesia. After determining from information in his wallet that he is a realtor from Boston, he spends the rest of the movie trying to figure out who he is, why he is in Mexico, and why there is a dead body in the bathroom of his motel room. Good acting and mood, but the plot is ordinary.
Angels Don't Sleep Here
2000
Robert Patrick, Roy Scheider, Kelly Rutherford
A guy returns to his hometown, ostensibly to continue the search for his twin brother who went missing when they were teens and is presumed dead. The strange moody atmosphere and unique photography and soundtrack almost make up for a complete lack of character chemistry and a typical plot.
Along Came a Spider
Morgan Freeman, Monica Potter, Michael Moriarty,
Penelope Ann Miller, Jay O. Sanders
A detective is devastated by his failure to save his undercover partner while surveilling a sexual predator. But he's pulled out of his funk by a kidnapper who targets him to work on his case. Well done crime drama with some unexpected plot twists. But it's been done before, even by Freeman several times.
What Lies Beneath
Harrison Ford, Michelle Pfeiffer, James Remar
Psycho-ish film about the wife of a well-established doctor who, when she demonstrates that a car accident she was in a year earlier may still be affecting her psychologically, struggles to help her with her problems as he tries to manage his heavy workload. But all is not what it seems (of course).
Top of the World
Peter Weller, Tia Carrere, Dennis Hopper,
Joe Pantoliano, David Alan Grier, Peter Coyote
A con, just released from prison, accompanies his wife to Vegas where she plans a quick divorce. But others' plans interfere with it and they end up caught up in them. Not much, despite Hopper. A waste of good talent.
U.S. Seals II
Michael Worth, Damian Chapa
A wayward ex-Seal steals nuclear bombs and kidnaps a scientist to arm them so that he can threaten the world and extort millions of dollars from the government. The Dirty Dozen meets Enter the Dragon. Well, not exactly. Miss this one, for sure.
Sketch Artist II: Hands That See
Jeff Fahey, Courtney Cox
A police sketch artist draws a portrait of a serial rapist from a description provided by a blind victim and spends the rest of the film trying to locate and convict him amid complications that are overly dramatized. Not much. I only watched it in the first place because Fahey and Cox are on my favorite actors list.
A Huey P. Newton Story
Roger Guenveur Smith, D: Spike Lee
Based on Smith's one-man stage performance, this semi-documentary outlines Huey's life via monologue while film clips play in the background. Excellent both for its creativity and for the characterization that Smith brings to life.
The Haunting
Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones,
Owen Wilson, Lili Taylor, Bruce Dern
A psychologist contracts with four insomniacs to spend a week in "Hill House" so that he may secretly study, not their sleep problems, as he told them, but their fearful reactions. Despite the excellent setup in the first act, the film quickly deteriorated into a typical horror flick remake. Not one of Taylor's best acting jobs, despite the early promise.
Across the Moon
1994
Elizabeth Pena, Christina Applegate, James Remar,
Michael McKean, Burgess Meredith
The girls head out into the desert to be near their imprisoned boyfriends. But desert life, and life in general, turns out to be more than they expected. Typical roles for Pena, Applegate, Remar, and Meridith, but McKean's character was quite interesting and unusual. Overall, despite the mundane plot, I think the movie worked. The unusual non-resolution ending was refreshing.
Proof of Life
Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe, David Caruso, David Morse,
Pamela Reed, Michael Kitchen, Margo Martindale
A terror/kidnapping negotiator personally takes on a case in South America after his company backs out because of insurance problems, and he becomes involved with the wife of an engineer kidnapped by guerrillas. Typical but well-done plot device.
The Deli
1997
Mike Starr, Ice-T, David Johansen, Heather Matarazzo,
Debi Mazar, Jerry Stiller, Michael Badalucco
A deli owner risks his store to pay debts incurred by his obsessive gambling. That's it. No real plot at all, and a bad resolution. But the characters were interesting and the acting was good.
American Heart
Jeff Bridges, Edward Furlong
A thief, recently paroled from prison, is met by his son, who is unhappy living with his aunt on a farm and has come to live in Seattle with his Dad, who is quite incompetent at parenthood, but decides that he owes his son the benefit of his experience. Great acting and interesting characters brighten this otherwise dark, gritty film.
NTSB: The Crash of Flight 323
Mandy Potenkin, Ted McGinley
Investigators try to determine the crash of a jetliner amid corporate politics and grieving families. Lame tearjerker crap maybe serving to provide Potenkin McGinley with a source of income. Don't bother.
The Lost Patrol
1989
William Knight, David Parry, Stephen Quadros
After his first encounter with them during a WWII battle, a world-renowned photojournalist makes it his lifelong work to investigate Civil War vampires that travel through time fighting in wars. Good idea. Bad execution. But the low budget and cheap sets combine to give the flick a strange mood and tone apropos of the genre.
Dreamkeeper
Eddie Spears, August Schellenberg
A lost, rebellious teenager living on the reservation begrudgingly accompanies his grandfather to a pow-wow and along the way listens to his Lakota legends, which change his life and give it meaning. A bit hokey and with low production values, but interesting nonetheless.
Sounder
Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, Kevin Hooks, Taj Mahal
Classic masterpiece about a sharecropper family that struggles to survive after the father is arrested for petty theft and sent to a prison camp for a year. Nothing much happens, really, except for the eldest son's trip to see his father in the distant camp, which occasions his exposure to real education. But the film has a lot of down-home wisdom and family values in the oddest of places.
Johnny Reno
Dana Andrews, Jane Russell, Lon Chaney, John Agar
Russell is a dance hall girl who's getting a bit long in the tooth. Chaney is a bought and ineffective local sheriff. And Andrews is a U.S Marshall who captures a wanted man on his way to town, only to discover that things in the town are not what they seem to be. Are they ever? Add a tribe of Indians and you have a classic (read boring) Western.
Walter and Henry
John Laroquette, James Coburn, Kate Nelligan, Dorian Harewood
A street musician, who performs accompanied by his home-schooled son, has a nervous breakdown, prompting the son to seek out the family that the father abandoned years earlier. Excellent premise and first two acts. But the "happily ever after" ending tapered off into oblivion.
No One Could Protect Her
Joanna Kerns, Dan Lauria
A serial rapist keeps returning to the home of a victim who can identify him. Typical tv movie stuff. The title gives the plot away.
Contaminated Man
William Hurt, Peter Weller, Natasha McElhone
A chemist quits his job and moves to Hungary after he accidentally contaminates his wife and daughter with a new substance he's working on. Lots of clever plot devices as HazMat agent Hurt chases a contaminated security guard, trying to catch him before he causes horrific casualties before he dies. The film is a bit heavy on exposition at times, but it's interesting for its acting and characterization, especially Weller's title role as the fired security guard. (Well, shared title, considering the plot's intricacies; 'Contaminated' could refer to others, as well as to mankind in general--as evidenced the lack of a 'The' prefix.) Immensely satisfying ending.
Capoblanco
Charles Bronson, Camilla Sparv,
Jason Robards, Fernando Rey, Gilbert Roland
An American fugitive living in a Peruvian town helps a French woman search for Nazi treasure. Typical Bronson stuff. Moody, exotic atmosphere, but not much else.
Two if by Sea
Dennis Leary, Sandra Bullock, Michael Badalucco, Yaphet Kotto
A thief and his girlfriend combine a heist and a vacation as they wait for the buyer of stolen goods to show up. Ordinary, but quite satisfying plot twist.
Lush Life
Jeff Goldblum, Forest Whitaker,
Kathy Baker, Lois Chiles, Don Cheadle
A professional NYC musician (Goldblum) and his buddy, Buddy (Whitaker), play the clubs and live the life until personal tragedy strikes. So they do the only logical thing that Buddy can think of. They throw a posh party on Central Park South. Not much of a plot, but a great story, great acting, great music, and a hip lifestyle/art film sensibility.
Alice
Mia Farrow, Joe Mantegna, William Hurt, Alec Baldwin,
Blythe Danner, Judy Davis, Keye Luke, Bernadette Peters,
Cybill Shepherd, Gwen Verdon, Julie Kavner, Bob Balaban
Woody Allen film about a big city wife who is lost and searching for meaning amid her well-off but vapid lifestyle. Magical machinations in Manhattan.
Nailed
Harvey Keitel, Brad Rowe, Rachel Blanchard, Mary Kay Place
A wannabe screenwriter who left his affluent home and a certain life in his father's business to live in lalaland in a garage gets a woman pregnant and faces his father's wrath and the disapproval of family and friends when he announces his intention to marry the girl and have the baby. The low budget shows through and the story is ordinary, but a definite sense of professionalism prevails.
Dr. Doolittle
1998
Eddie Murphy, Richard Schiff, Oliver Platt, Peter Boyle,
Jeffry Tambor, Reni Santoni, Voices: Norm MacDonald,
Gilbert Godfrey, Albert Brooks, Chris Rock, Kevin Pollack,
Lisa Kudrow, Michael Rapaport, Issac Hayes, Andy Dick,
Joey Lauren Adams, Arnold Swartzenegger, Jeffrey Jones
Simply put, a doctor, after a hit on the head in a car accident, remembers his lost childhood ability to talk to animals. Good premise, bad execution. The first act was okay, but the humor got old as the plot deteriorated. It was fun trying to recognize the voices of the animals, though.
Route 9
Peter Coyote, Kyle MacLachlan,
Wade Andrew Williams, Amy Locane
Two deputy sheriffs find a million and a half in drug money at the scene of a failed drug transaction, and they decide to keep it. But what they have to do to keep from getting caught leads them deeper and deeper into tragedy. Just another movie.
The Green Mile
Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, Michael Jeter, Barry Pepper, James Cromwell, Patricia Clarkson, Graham Greene, Harry Dean Stanton, Doug Hutchison,
Gary Sinese, Jeffrey DeMunn, Sam Rockwell
A Stephen King story about a death row inmate who has special psychic powers, and how the guards put that power to use before the guy is executed. A bit far-fetched, but interesting, well-acted, and with excellent characterization--although it is still yet another film that jerks you around by the emotions. But at least this one has some substance to it, production-wise, that is. And a refreshing and unusual role for Bonnie Hunt.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Rachelle Lefavre, Paul Lemelin, Brent Carver
You know the story. A fairly well-done standard.
The King and Queen of Moonlight Bay
Tim Matheson, Sean Young, Kristen Bell, Bug Hall, Ed Azner
A daughter passes on a trip to Europe with her mother to visit her estranged father over the summer before she enters college. But they have problems to work out between them. The theme's been done before, many times, and this is not one of the more exceptional versions. Not much chemistry between the principles, which is what saves other similarly lame films. God character work by Azner, though.
Audrey's Rain
Jean Smart, Carol Kane
A woman forgoes a life with a man she loves in order to fulfill a promise to her mother to take care of her mentally ill sister. A lame plot and a bad script overshadow excellent performances by Smart, and especially by Kane, who is always a pleasure to watch.
Custody of the Heart
Lorraine Bracco
A role-reversal plot where an insecure, business-failed househusband sues for divorce from his successful businesswoman breadwinner wife. All of the arguments that housewives typically use in divorce proceedings are turned on their heads and shown for what they really are, ploys revealing psychological problems and projections and lawyers' manipulative tactics. The film works well on this level, but on the level of family and social dynamics it tends to be a bit soap-opera-ish and riddled with cheap pathos.
Final Countdown
Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, Katharine Ross,
James Farentino, Charles Durning
As the result some kind of a weird storm-related electrical disturbance at sea, a modern nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is transported back to 1941, just before the attack at Pearl Harbor. The captain finds himself faced with the dilemma of whether or not to use his superior firepower to defend his nation, since an intervention could change the future. Typical sci-fi plot with all of the usual cliches and overacting. But the subplot of rescuing a senator and his secretary who were strafed by Japanese Zeros while out on their yacht provides some interesting psychology.
Me and Mrs. Jones
2003
Robson Green, Caroline Goodall, Keeley Hawes
PBS Masterpiece theater production about a loser gossip columnist who is offered his break into mainstream journalism by his ex-wife boss. So he calls in a favor from a friend working as a fundraiser inside Downing Street and penetrates the inner sanctum, literally, in order to gain confidential information that could bring down the administration. Great story, despite the obvious flaw that it could never happen in real life. But then, what "true love" story can, really. This is fiction at its finest.
Missing Children: a Mother's Story
1982
Mare Winningham, Richard A. Dysart, Polly Holiday,
Kate Capshaw, Peter Solaris, Scatman Crothers
Conspiring with a local court judge, a sanctimonious biddy runs an adoption agency that is disguised as a childcare organization for indigent mothers. When the mothers return to get their kids back, they discover they've been adopted. That just about sums up the plot. Stereotypical, but good story.
Santa Fe
1996
Gary Cole, Lolita Davidovich, Tina Majorino,
Sheila Kelley, Jere Burns, Pamela Reed,
Jeffrey Jones, Richard Schiff
Good characterization in the lead roles, and good acting highlight this small ironic (or is that sarcastic) film about an ex-college teaching assistant/ex-police officer in Santa Fe who is addicted to chasing after new age gurus trying to find self-improvement and that illusive mystery of life.
Michael Collins
Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn, Stephen Rea,
Alan Rickman, Julia Roberts, Charles Dance
An IRA intelligence chief rises to the top of the provisional government after the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland, creating a schism among the patriots that leads to civil war. Excellent acting and production values.
Stagecoach
Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Anthony Newley,
Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Jon Schneider,
Elizabeth Ashley, Tony Franciosa, Mary Crosby
Despite warnings from the army that Geronimo is in the area, a stagecoach sets out from the town of Tonto, heading to Lordsburg via Dry Forks and Apache Wells with an assortment of incompatible travelers. Lame remake of the original John Wayne classic.
No Contest II: Access Denied
Shannon Tweed, Lance Henriksen, Bruce Payne
Another
Die Hard plot derivative where an actress, the sister of an employee of a prestigious art gallery, is trapped behind the scenes while vicious thieves steal WWII surplus nerve gas. Far more plot and action than necessary. No real story at all.
A Place for Annie
Sissy Spacek, Mary-Louise Parker, Joan Plowright
A nurse tries to adopt an AIDS baby that she's fostering, only to be confronted by the mother, who has cleaned herself up and wants the baby back. Somewhat overly sentimental, but with good performances, especially by Parker.
Hugo Pool
Alyssa Milano, Patrick Dempsey, Robert Downey Jr.,
Cathy Moriarty, Malcolm McDowell, Richard Lewis, Sean Penn
A quirky film about a paraplegic (Dempsey) who accompanies a pool cleaner (Milano) and her mother (Moriarty) on their daily rounds and together they encounter a collection of LA characters. Some interesting performances by MacDowell, Downey, Lewis, and especially Penn.
The Kissing Place
Meredith Baxter Birney, David Ogden Stiers,
Nathaniel Moreau, Victoria Snow, Michael Kirby
Tommy's family is disturbed, by the death of his older brother years earlier, and by his dreams, which seem to indicate that his mother renamed him with his dead brother's name. So he begins an investigation into his past to try to discover the meaning of his New York City dreams, where his mother insists he has never been. Significantly overacted by the teachers and with a bit of an unbelievable plot, still overall it's a quite effective movie with a clever title.
Candyman
Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd, Xander Berkeley,
Kasi Lemmons, Vanessa Williams
Well done horror film about a grad student who, while doing an investigation for a thesis on urban legends, gets caught up in a real life legend about the Candyman. Look in the mirror and say "Candyman" five times and he'll come and get you. Try it. Apparently, it works. Why? Because the Candyman is inside each one of us, and by saying his name while looking at your own image, you're telling yourself that you believe.
Spy
Bruce Greenwood, Catherine Hicks
A guy, disenchanted with his organization's murderous ways, quits the government and takes a new identity. But he knows too much and he is hunted down. Some interesting and unexpected plot twists.
Get on the Bus
Andre Braugher, Bernie Mac, Ossie Davis,
Charles S. Dutton, Richard Belzer, D: Spike Lee
A busload of guys gets to know each other on the way to the Million Man March. I stayed up until three in the morning to watch this on tv. I've wanted to see it for a long time. I'm a big Spike Lee fan. But I was a bit disappointed. It's a good enough film, but not in comparison with Spike's previous stuff .
Notting Hill
Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant
An ordinary guy, a charming underachiever, becomes involved with a superstar when she visits his travel bookshop in London. Cute romantic comedy loaded throughout with clever payoffs. Easily as good as
Four Weddings and a Funeral, although the critics didn't seem to think so.
TripFall
Eric Roberts, John Ritter, Rachel Hunter
A family on vacation is kidnapped and held while the father is forced to wire-transfer money from his account back home. Ritter is perfectly cast, and Roberts plays his familiar bad guy role with a particular southern vengeance.