Claire Beckman Movies
A middle-aged man finds himself dealing with the divorce of his elderly parents as well as many years of emotional baggage in this poignant comedy drama. Ben (Paul Reiser) is a writer who is enjoying a quiet evening at home with his wife, Rachel (Elizabeth Perkins), when they receive an unexpected visitor, Ben's father, Sam (Peter Falk). As it happens, Sam has some surprising news -- his wife, Muriel (Olympia Dukakis), has left him, leaving behind a note saying she wants some time alone. While Ben gets in touch with his sisters, who immediately set out to track down Muriel, he is left to deal with Sam while he tries to figure out what has gone wrong. Eager to spend some time with his dad to talk things out, Ben invites Sam along for a trip upstate to look at some property he's interested in buying, and as the two men hit the road, they get a chance to get to know one another in a way Sam, a busy salesman, was unable to do when Ben was a boy. The Thing About My Folks was a pet project for Paul Reiser, who wrote the screenplay as well as playing the lead; he'd had the script in the works for 20 years, and always intended for Peter Falk to play the role of Sam. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Paul Reiser, (more)
- 1999
Why would a purse-snatcher shoot and kill his latest victim? While investigating the case, detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) find themselves squabbling over issues that have special significance to them both. On a more serious note, Briscoe realizes that Green is developing a truly bad habit -- while the D.A.'s office haggles with the attorney of the accused over the admissibility of a whispered confession. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1998
A teacher who worked in a school where a mentally challenged student was gang-raped is shot. The killing is revealed to be part of a vendetta, possibly tied in with the sexual assault. When time comes for prosecution, the attorney for the three rapists tries to secure a lesser sentence by arguing his clients did not know their victim was handicapped. Jennifer Bill makes her final appearance as Cathy, the troubled daughter of detective Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1996
In this taut, low-budget drama, a heated office argument is abruptly curtailed by a terrible disaster that leaves the four contentious participants trapped in a nuclear fallout shelter. It all begins within a large Manhattan bank when Rachel, an ambitious young executive, terminates long-time employee Dan for approving a bum loan. She then informs him that the man who recommended the loan, Will, is taking over his job. Joseph, Dan's personal assistant swears that it is all a surprise to him. The situation is about to explode when a fire alarm sounds and the building begins shaking horribly. In a panic the four flee to the basement where they end up in fallout shelter. Terrified and confused, with only a single water bottle to sustain them, the foursome try desperately to survive while figuring out if the rest of the world is intact outside their prison walls. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1996
In an echo of a racist incident in Connecticut in 1995, an anti-Semitic "code message" in a high school yearbook may be the key to the murder of an art teacher. Comparatively speaking, tracking down the likely killers is the easy part. The problems for the D.A.'s office begin when McCoy (Sam Waterston) goes head to head with bigoted attorney Roy Paine (Chris Cooper), infamous in legal circles as "the Klan Lawyer." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
