Grant Nickalls Movies

The life story of French-Canadian pop diva Céline Dion is familiar enough to render itself almost iconic. The child of an economically strained family in Québec (with 13 brothers and sisters), Dion began to evince vocal artistry at age five, singing in the piano bar owned by her parents. At the age of 12, Dion both authored and sang her own original tune, "Ce N'était qu'un Rêve", which she recorded in a studio with assist from her parents; they promptly shipped the demo tape off to Euro music producer René Angelil, who - as soon as he heard it - reportedly mortgaged his house to finance Dion's first two albums, then aggressively helped Dion remake her physical image to turn her into an international pop star á la Michael Jackson. When followed by a win in the 1988 Eurovision song contest and a series of blockbuster recordings (including the title track to Disney's Beauty and the Beast), the efforts indeed paid off by rocketing her to the status of one of the most popular - and obscenely lucrative - music acts in the history of the recording industry. In the mean time, she also fell in love with, then married, Angelil. As directed by Jeff Woolnough, the Canadian telemovie Céline presents a dramatization of the chanteuse's rise to glory; it was created without the participation, authorization or endorsement of Dion. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Beauty and Power tells the sordid tale of Judith Exner (Natasha Henstridge), who claimed to have dated Frank Sinatra (John Ralston) and to have been the mistress of Jack Kennedy (Kevin Anderson, who played also Bobby Kennedy in Hoffa). The story is told in flashback, from Exner's point of view. In voice-overs, Exner breaks her life down into three critical mistakes -- the three major romantic relationships in her life. The first, she explains, was marrying Billy Campbell (Grant Nickalls), who was more concerned with his acting career than with their marriage, and who cheated on her frequently. Her friendship with an L.A.-based mobster leads to an affair with Sinatra, which she breaks off after he tries to involve her in a ménage a trios. She remains friends with Sinatra, and then meets Kennedy while he's just beginning his primary campaign for the presidency, and she soon falls in love with him. At around the same time, she meets Chicago gangster Sam Giancana (Peter Friedman), who falls in love with her and is jealous of her romance with Kennedy. Eventually she becomes a liaison between the presidential candidate and the mob, carrying briefcases of Kennedy money to Giancana for his help with the election. Kennedy professes his love for her and tells her that his marriage is just for show, and that he'll get a divorce if he doesn't win the presidency. Of course, things don't work out the way Exner might have hoped. The FBI begins harassing her, and she grows frustrated with her arrangement with the president. Beauty and Power debuted on Showtime in July 2002. It was directed by Susan Seidelman (Desperately Seeking Susan). ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Based on George Dell's 1934 novel The Earth Abideth, the two-part CBS TV movie Seasons of Love covers thirty years (1866-1896) in the lives of Kansas farming couple Thomas and Kate Linthorne (Peter Strauss, Rachel Ward). A dynamic, forceful person who manages to carve a home and livelihood out of virgin territory, Thomas emerges as one of the leaders of his tiny community, despite the resentment and opposition of rival farmer Gorm Schrader (John Finn). At home, the sometimes rocky relationship between the Linthornes is put to the test by the arrival in town of Lucille (Chandra West), the young wife of one of Thomas' best friends. Later on, a series of devastating setbacks--some directly related to an bitter quarrel between Thomas and his son Hocking (Justin Chambers), not to mention the profligate ways of his other son Grover (Nick Stahl)--threatens to destroy everything that Thomas has built. Eschewing the usual Hollywood Happy Ending, the film remains doggedly faithful to its source--that is to say, forgiveness is not a part of the characters' makeup, and there are some wounds too deep and painful to heal. Filmed on location in Ontario, Seasons of Love originally aired March 7 and 9, 1999, on CBS. The film has since been shown on cable TV under the title Love on the Land. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi