Benjamin King Movies
- 2007
Reportedly based on an actual Long Island business concern called "Leonard's", the Fox dramedy The Wedding Bells was the saga of a family-owned wedding planning business, the Wedding Palace (one of the original titles for this series--along with "The Wedding Album", "The Wedding Planners" and "The Wedding Store"!) Having inherited the establishment from their divorced parents, the three Bell sisters struggled to keep their heads above water, financially and otherwise, with mixed results. KaDee Strickland headed the cast as Annie Bell, the most sensible of the sisters, whose former lover David Conlon (Michael Landes) was The Wedding Palace's chief photographer. Teri Polo played Jane Bell, who was none-too-happily married to Russell Hawkins, the company's chief operating officer. And Sarah Jones was Sarah Bell, the youngest of the siblings and an unpentant party animal who tended to salivate over handsome bridegrooms and Best Men. Also seen was Chris Williams as Ralph Snow, a versatile and eternally frustrated wedding singer. Produced by David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal, Boston Legal), The Wedding Bells premiered March 6, 2007. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- KaDee Strickland, Teri Polo, (more)
- 2003
NBC wasted precious little time in offering up a TV-movie adaptation of one of the first truly uplifting stories of the Iraq War. Saving Jessica Lynch stars Laura Regan as the title character, a 19-year-old army private with the 507th Ordinance Maintence Company. On March 23, 2003, Jessica is captured by Iraqi insurgents after the rest of her platoon is wiped out in a roadside bombing not far from Al Nasiryah. Curiously, Jessica doesn't get all that much screen time: The primary focus is on the rescue efforts mounted by a group of Army Rangers and Navy SEALS, with special emphasis bestowed upon Mohammed Al-Raheif (Nicholas Guilak), the courageous Iraqi man who shielded the captured woman from harm while she lay wounded in an enemy hospital (it should surprise no one that the script is based on Al-Raheif's own book, Because Each Life Is Precious. An inordinate amount of poetic license is taken with the events surrounding Jessica's rescue, with a plethora of ridiculous coincidences and serial-like thrills and chills thrown in to pep up the story. To her credit, the real Jessica Lynch herself neither authorized nor promoted the film, which first aired November 9, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Laura Regan, Nicholas Guilak, (more)
Clark Johnson's big-screen adaptation of the 1970s television series S.W.A.T. stars Colin Farrell as Jim Street, a young special weapons and tactics team member who, in the film's opening sequence, is demoted after his hothead partner Jeremy Renner shoots a hostage while trying to kill her captor. In need of good press, the higher-ups call in SWAT expert Hondo Harrelson (Samuel L. Jackson) to put together an elite team that can bring some luster back to the badge. He chooses Street, veteran T.J. (Josh Charles), and tough single mother Chris Sanchez (Michelle Rodriguez). The new team survives a series of tests before hitting the streets. Their first big assignment involves transporting an international criminal (Olivier Martinez) to federal authorities. The criminal had offered a hundred million dollars to anyone who can bust him out. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, (more)
Paul Levine directs the straight-to-video crime thriller Spider's Web. Clay Harding (Stephen Baldwin) engages in a steamy affair with Lauren Bishop (Kari Wuhrer), an executive who works at his father's company. They come up with a scheme to steal his father's money, leading to many softcore sex scenes and betrayal for all parties involved. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- 2000
Based on the novel Fatal Exposure, this cautionary made-for-TV thriller stars John Corbett as dedicated scientist and ecologist Evan Thorne. When he tries to warn the authorities that the earth's ozone layer has eroded to such an extent as to endanger all mankind, Thorne is laughed off as a nut case and his career and credibility are destroyed -- largely thanks to the skulduggery of his rival Dr. Schiffren (Tom Irwin), a scientist who has sold his soul to the industrial community. But when whales begin dying at an alarming rate, airplanes crash, corpses catch fire, wildlife goes insane, and deadly insects threaten to engulf Los Angeles, it would seem that Thorne wasn't just whistling Dixie. Even so, it takes the combined efforts of Thorne, his politician ex-wife, Jennifer (Josie Bissett), formerly cynical reporter John Morgan (Bradley Whitford), and gorgeous female scientist Elizabeth Sorel (Jo Anderson) to bring the authorities to their senses and expedite rescue-and-evacuation proceedings. By film's end, the future of humanity rests in Evan's ability to construct a bomb that will restore the balance of nature. A standard disaster flick disguised as a profound pro-environmental screed, The Sky's on Fire was reportedly produced for cable TV in 1998, but did not formally premiere until it was telecast by ABC on July 15, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Corbett, Josie Bissett, (more)
- 1997
Frances Sternhagen makes her first appearance as Carter's enormously wealthy grandmother, Millicent, whom Carol (Julianna Margulies) approaches for a contribution toward her new free clinic. Meanwhile, Carter (Noah Wyle) tries to hide his silver-spoon upbringing from class-envious Del Amico (Maria Bello). Back at the ER, budget cuts imposed by the management group Syngergix force Weaver (Laura Innes) to lay off several staffers -- including Jeanie (Gloria Reuben). Benton (Eriq La Salle) and Corday (Alex Kingston) have a tense argument over procedure. And Ross (George Clooney) gets some very bad news. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
