Deborah Lacey Movies
- 2006
The merciless Tritter (David Morse) turns up the heat on the clinic staff in order to nail House (Hugh Laurie) on drug charges, going so far as to persuade the DNA to revoke Wilson's prescribing privileges. Despite the cut-off of his Vicodin supply, House summons up enough strength to investigate the case of 18-year-old restaurant worker Jack Walters (Patrick Fugit), who has suffered an apparent heart attack while working overtime to support his younger siblings. Though supremely confident that he has correctly diagnosed Jack's condition, House puckishly turns the situation into a game, sealing his findings in an envelope and challenging his coworkers to figure out the case all by themselves (What in the world can the man be up to this time?) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Sally Field makes the first of several appearances in the Emmy-winning role of Maggie Wyczenski, the bipolar mother of ER nurse Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney). Off her medication, a hyper Maggie tries to pay a visit to Abby -- who refuses to see her. Meanwhile, Kovac (Goran Visnjic) looks into a suspected case of child abuse. In a rush to begin her vacation, Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) makes a serious mistake during an operation. And Benton (Eriq La Salle), grieving over his murdered nephew, takes out his rage on Malucci (Erik Palladino) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Denzel Washington stars in this adaptation of the novel by African-American crime author Walter Mosley, the first of his stories to reach the screen. Ezekiel Rawlins (Washington), known to his friends as "Easy," has just lost his job at an aircraft plant in post-WW II Los Angeles, a time when good-paying jobs for black men are hard to come by. He's wondering how to make his mortgage payment when he's approached by De Witt Albright (Tom Sizemore), who describes his job as "doing favors for friends." It seems that a woman named Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals) has gone missing; Daphne is the former girlfriend of wealthy mayoral candidate Todd Carter (Terry Kinney) and a known habitué of the black jazz clubs and night spots on L.A.'s Central Avenue. Albright offers Easy $100 to help him find Daphne, and while he doesn't have any detective experience, the price is right, so Easy agrees. After a passionate affair with a friend of Daphne's, Coretta James (Lisa Nicole Carson), leads to that woman's murder, Easy enlists the help of his friend Mouse (Don Cheadle), who seems to know just a bit too well how to use a gun, which gives Easy all too clear a look at the lower depths of L.A.'s upper crust. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore, (more)
- 1995
In a fit of nostalgia, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) and Niles (David Hyde Pierce) purchase their favorite restaurant, a landmark establishment that has fallen on hard times. The brothers eagerly look forward to the opening of the newly christened "Les Frères Heureux," which translates as "The Happy Brothers." But "happy" is not the word that immediately springs to mind on opening night -- especially after Frasier and Niles have managed to either injure or scare off virtually the entire staff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) heads to the resort community of Aspen, Colorado, where dwells her old friend Laney Boswell (Leigh Taylor-Young). In time-honored Murder, She Wrote tradition, Laney's husband Grant turns up murdered, and a mountain of evidence points to the poor woman as the culprit. Also in Aspen is Chicago PI Charlie Garrett (Wayne Rogers), who curiously turns down Jessica's offer to help solve the case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Robert Townsend's superhero action comedy underwent much tinkering during post-production, employing four editors to whip the film into shape. Townsend wrote, directed, and produced this urban fable and also stars as Jefferson Reed, a meek substitute teacher in an inner-city neighborhood dominated by a gang of leather-jacketed, peroxided blonde goons who call themselves the Golden Lords. The residents of the neighborhood feel they can do nothing about the gang. But then a meteor hits Jefferson, who finds that he can fly, has super-strength, and can retain all the information in a book in thirty seconds. As a result, Jefferson, who normally is afraid of heights and runs from danger, becomes a reluctant superhero. The word about the "Meteor Man" gets back to the Golden Lords, who intend to rid the neighborhood of this milquetoast crime-fighter. The Meteor Man contains a cornucopia of cameos appearances, including Bill Cosby, Luther Vandross, Sinbad, Big Daddy Kane and Nancy Wilson. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Townsend, Marla Gibbs, (more)
- 1992
- R
Anthony Perkins, in one of his last roles, is the sole highlight of this mundane, German-made psychological thriller, based on a novel by Ruth Rendell. Perkins plays Arthur, an obsessive-compulsive English bachelor with a history of far more destructive habits -- the worst of which include his reign of terror as the "Kenbourne Killer," who is responsible for the strangulation murders of several prostitutes. Like a certain legendary Perkins character of yore, Arthur has some Oedipal issues that need working out and fixates his mother fixation on the department-store mannequin he keeps in the secluded boarding house where he spends his "retirement." When this decidedly one-sided relationship is disrupted by the sudden loss of the dummy, poor Arthur goes 'round the bend again... but the blame for the new string of murders falls on one of his neighbors instead. Bogged down by pedestrian direction and a romantic subplot that serves little purpose, this attempt at a detailed portrayal of madness is kept aloft (barely) on the basis of Perkins' brooding, restrained performance. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
Loosely based on the life and times of several R&B artists (The Dells, The Temptations, Frankie Lymon, Sam Cooke and others) The Five Heartbeats traces the rise and fall of a popular African-American 1950s singing aggregation. The story is told from the point of view of one of the "Heartbeats," played by Robert Townsend (who also co-produced, directed and co-wrote the script with Keenan Ivory Waynans). The film is an amalgam of anecdotes drawn from real-life experiences: the long struggle upward, the first rush of success, the dishonest record-company executives, the hard-nosed but nurturing managers, the sex, the drugs, the isolation and the precipitous downward slide. The film begins and ends in the 1990s, as the middle-aged "Duck" (Townsend) ruminates on the past and makes the best of the present. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Townsend, Michael Wright, (more)
- 1989
Filmed on location in Ghana, African Timber concerns dirty work in the lumber industry. Heiner Lauterbach plays the new manager of a West German lumber company. The manager's predecessor has died under mysterious circumstances. The apparent reason for the man's death, which the new manager does not ascertain until he's in too deep, is that the dead man was about to blow the whistle on an illegal mahogany-smuggling operation masterminded by the company's corrupt owners. This is the sort of pessimistic film wherein no good deed goes unpunished. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Heiner Lauterbach, Deborah Lacey, (more)
- 1985
High-school basketball star Brian Baldwin (Glenn Michael Jones) has been assured a hefty scholarship to the college of his choice. Unfortunately, Brian is disqualified because of a heart condition -- and his chances for acceptance in any other college (or any adult job, for that matter) are slim to none because the boy is completely illiterate. Probationary angel Jonathan Smith (Michael Landon) arrives on the scene to help Brian learn to read before the boy's future can be ruined -- and despite the intrusion of a criminal gang who threaten to destroy an adult literacy program. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1984
The "Bells" are an all-female singing group who once attended St. Mary's Orphanage with Face (Dirk Benedict; in fact, the lead singer is Face's sister. When the girls are threatened with violence by their former record label unless they sign a binding contract, the A-Team steps in to help out. Joseph Wiseman, the sinister "Dr. No" in the James Bond film of the same name, appears as the evil billionaire who is calling the shots at the record company; and in another development, can it be true that Murdock (Dwight Schultz) has chosen B.A. (Mr. T) as his personal hero??? This episode was originally scheduled to air on October 12, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this comedy, a group of randy young interns turn City Hospital upside down with their romantic liaisons and their blunders. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael McKean, Sean Young, (more)
