Zack Norman Movies
Bald, scowling American character actor Zack Norman made his first film appearance in 1971's Been Down So Long it Looks Like Up to Me. Norman was busiest in the 1980s and 1990s, playing scores of unsavory types. He was villainous art dealer Ira in Romancing the Stone (1984), Sledge Hammer (sic) in The Webbers (1988), and ill-tempered cuckold Harry Munchack in Cadillac Man (1990). As for television, Zack Norman has thus far avoided having his on-screen nastiness watered down for weekly-series purposes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Maverick indie filmmaker Henry Jaglom moves from the sweet poignancy of his 2009 Irene in Time to knowing Hollywood satire with this romantic comedy that finds him teaming with actress Tanna Frederick for the third time. Frederick portrays Maggie Chase, a B-list star who longs to find love and fulfillment and achieve household-name status, but must contend with twin products of her wild behavior: a court-ordered electronic ankle bracelet and temporary house arrest. Fortunately, Maggie has a team of clever spin doctors (Ron Vignone, David Proval, Zack Norman, and Diane Salinger), who manage to turn her drunk-driving activities into attention-grabbing tabloid fodder. She also draws on the support of a movie-star beau, Dov Lambert (Christopher Rydell), equally known for his no-holds-barred behavior. For a time, it looks as though Maggie's grandest dreams will actualize, as her national fame crescendos, but her life grows more complicated when she follows Dov home to meet his kin, and runs headfirst into a series of show-business legends (played by Peter Bogdanovich, Dennis Christopher, Kathryn Crosby, Mary Crosby, Sabrina Jaglom, and Jack Heller). She also meets Dov's brother, failed writer Aaron Lambert (Noah Wyle), who seems tailor-made for Maggie with his ability to penetrate her superficial facades, but must deal with lingering issues in his own life and past. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tanna Frederick, Noah Wyle, (more)
Director Henry Jaglom explores the complex relationship between fathers and daughters, and the effects that it has on the relationships women develop later in life. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tanna Frederick, Andrea Marcovicci, (more)
When an aspiring young starlet from Iowa falls in love with a handsome and promising young actor, she finds her dreams of fame slowly fading in a poignant tale of show-business aspirations from director Henry Jaglom. Upon arriving in Los Angeles to seek her fortune on film and stage, an innocent girl from Iowa (Tanna Frederick) falls for a talented rising star (Justin Kirk). As the pair tenuously attempts to balance their burgeoning romance with the vivid dreams of stardom, the demands of their careers soon begin to take precedence over the simple pleasures in life. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tanna Frederick, Justin Kirk, (more)
The romance, intrigue, and industry politics of the world's biggest film festival -- which is also the world's biggest film marketplace -- provides the backdrop for this typically understated comedy-drama from director Henry Jaglom. Alice Palmer (Greta Scacchi) is a well-known American actress who has written a screenplay that she'd like to direct, and she arrives a the Cannes Film Festival to look for investors. Alice has her eyes on veteran star Millie Marquand (Anouk Aimee) to play the lead, but while Millie loves the script, she's been offered a better-paying supporting role in an upcoming Tom Hanks project. Meanwhile, Millie's former husband Viktor Kovner (Maximilian Schell) is a director fallen on hard times who is trying to scare up financing for his own film. Producer Rick Yorkin (Ron Silver) wouldn't mind leaving Millie in the lurch if it meant landing Alice for his next project. Kaz (Zack Norman) is a less-than-scrupulous producer hoping to put some sort of package deal together. And Blue (Jenny Gabrielle) is a young woman whose shoestring budget independent film has become an unexpected smash hit. Shot in the midst of the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, Festival In Cannes features cameos from such stars as Jeff Goldblum, Holly Hunter, Faye Dunnaway, and William Shatner. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jenny Gabrielle, Greta Scacchi, (more)
- 1995
- R
During a big barroom brawl, petty crook Martin accidentally shoots the son of a crime lord and flees to the relative safety of a remote northern California logging community in this taut drama. In the little town, he takes over an abandoned hunting cabin, changes his name and begins working as a logger. Eventually he meets, Anna, a lovely young widow and her teenage son, Jeff. The disparate twosome fall in love, but Martin tells Anna nothing about his past. She has a good effect on him and he tries to live a decent life. Unfortunately, a crooked sheriff learns the truth and begins trying to blackmail him. He also meets opposition with his crew boss Max, Anna's suspicious brother. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Costas Mandylor, Megan Gallagher, (more)
In this semi-improvised comic drama from maverick filmmaker Henry Jaglom, Gena (Victoria Foyt) is a businesswoman starting to creep into middle age. She thinks she might be pregnant, and she isn't sure how she feels about it: she wants to have children, and her body's clock is starting to tick rather loudly, but she's uncertain if this is the right time to start a family. Just as important, she's not sure who the father is, and she is torn between the two suspects. James (Matt Salinger) is sweet, stable, and a little boring, while Anthony (Eric Roberts) is exciting but arrogant and not terribly dependable. While Gena waits to hear from her doctor about the results of her pregnancy test, she attends a baby shower for one of her co-workers, where the women discuss their feelings about having children -- some want them, some don't, some aren't sure. Meanwhile, the hostess throwing the shower has her own problems; her husband is deep in debt and may have to sell their house to pay his bills. Jaglom co-wrote Babyfever with his wife (and star) Foyt -- appropriately enough, not long after the couple had their second child. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victoria Foyt, Matt Salinger, (more)
- 1994
Jazz great Billy Strayhorn wrote the song which gives this film its title, "Lush Life". This film will be an especial treat to afficianados of jazz in all its forms. The story concerns the efforts of session musician Al Gorky (Jeff Goldblum) to arrange a once-in-a-lifetime jam session for his frequent recording partner, Buddy Chester (Forest Whitaker). The kicker is that Chester is dying of a brain tumor, and while he wants this session, he doesn't want anybody who's being invited to know. For a long time now, Al has been sliding, slacking off in his musical and his personal life. His wife Janis (Kathy Baker) thinks its about time he won free of the lure of the hipster lifestyle of the '60s, and gave up the dope and easy women. Chester has one final gift to give his friend: he won't allow Al to play in the super-session he's asked him to arrange unless he can sharpen up his playing. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeff Goldblum, Forest Whitaker, (more)
- 1994
Incredible as it must seem to some, quite a few families and individuals have agreed to give up all or part of their privacy and permit a film crew to record their every act. Therefore, the premise of this send-up of "reality television" is not so far-fetched as might be supposed. In the story, a ratings-hungry television executive (Robby Benson) persuades the Webber family to become subject to this sort of intrusion, in return for lots of money and the opportunity to live in a really fancy mansion. The star of the resulting show is the family's nubile and sexually active daughter (Jennifer Tilly), who takes casts of each of her dates' better body parts in hopes of one day putting together a model of her ideal man. The highly intellectual father in the family is a psychiatrist (Jeffrey Tambor) with some very strange patients, some of whom have agreed to appear on camera as well. The mom (Rita Taggert) becomes a popular role model, even though she feels neglected by the rest of the family, and especially her husband, and the son (David Arquette) just moons around, in mourning for his recently dead girlfriend. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeffrey Tambor, Rita Taggart, (more)
For sheer abject self-indulgence this side of an Eric Schaeffer movie, one need look no further than the films of Henry Jaglom. Jaglom's vanity productions require an intense Stalin-like loyalty to the filmmaker and his films going in, otherwise a viewer is lost. So when, in Venice/Venice, Henry Jaglom appears as a filmmaker named Dean at the Venice Film Festival, there promoting a film resembling a Henry Jaglom film, a viewer must give himself up to the force or walk out of the theater. Dean is the kind of pretentious Hollywood type who likes to wear his heart and his distribution contract on his sleeve, so when adoring European journalist Jeanne (Nelly Alard) inexplicably smiles at him the right way, filmgoers will come to understand why the film business is so attractive to wimpy film geeks. Jeanne and Dean fall in love and take a walking tour of Venice, but Jeanne pays no attention to the city, since she religiously hangs on every word Dean has to say regarding love, films, and destiny. Since there are more pearls of wisdom to be gloaned from this Bel-Air Gandhi, Jeanne willingly follows Dean back to Venice, California. Realizing that she has already spent too much time basking in the brilliance of Dean's sun, Penny (Melissa Leo), Dean's California girlfriend, obligingly offers to pack up and leave when she sees Dean returning to Southern California with Jeanne in tow. When Henry Jaglom talks, they all listen. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nelly Alard, Henry Jaglom, (more)
Robin Williams stars in this oddball comedy about a fast-talking car salesman who is down on his luck and in over his head until an extreme situation forces him to use his sales skills to save lives. Joey O'Brien (Williams) is the stereotypical car salesman: enterprising, aggressive, and desperate to make enough money to spend on his high-maintenance girlfriends. But suddenly the pressure is really on: he owes money to the mob, his ex-wife is nagging him about not spending enough time with their teenage daughter, and if he doesn't sell at least a dozen cars by the time the big sale is over on Saturday, he's going to lose his job. As Joey attempts to placate several potential buyers, his day is interrupted by Larry (Tim Robbins), the insanely jealous husband of dimwitted showroom receptionist Donna (Annabella Sciorra), who's been having an affair with someone who works at the dealership. With the police surrounding the place, his job (and life) on the line, Joey realizes that it's up to him to use his wits to persuade Larry -- who's not even sure what he wants out of the situation -- not to kill anyone. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Tim Robbins, (more)
- 1989
- R
Two aspiring real estate moguls try to convince the Polynesian chief Zabu (Manu Topou) into going along with their harebrained scheme in this uneven comedy. Ben (Allen Garfield) and his partner Sammy (Zack Norman) offer Zabu lucrative concessions in exchange for bribes that will get the island tribe into the United Nations. Sammy dreams of doing stand-up comedy in Vegas while Ben aspires to get married and become a politician in Beverly Hills. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Allen Garfield, Zack Norman, (more)
- 1986
An TV news satire from director Robert Downey, this film concerns a cable evening news show that gradually turns into chaotic performance art. Head newscaster Terrence Hackley (Zack Norman) has been caught by his wife Joy (Tammy Grimes) with a plaid skirt in his suitcase, so he covers up by wearing it in his interviews. The sagging ratings start to go up and then they zoom sky-high after Joy and the weatherman bounce the station's signal off the moon and it lands in houses around the world. Several zany vignettes send up media moguls and film directors as the news program becomes increasingly bizarre. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Zack Norman, Tammy Grimes, (more)
- 1985
Season Four of The A-Team begins with part one of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode). Despite increasing threats of capture by their old nemesis Col. Decker (Lance LeGault), the A-Team agrees to help Judge Mordente (Dana Elcar), whose daughter Lori (LaGena Hart) is being held hostage so that Mordente will render a "not guilty" verdict upon mob boss Joe Scarlett (Robert Miranda). The plan involves Hannibal (George Peppard) posing as a gangster in order to infiltrate Scarlett's gang, as well as the "borrowing" of a mob limo for an escape vehicle. Ultimately, both the Team and the kidnapped girl wind up in Italy, where things really begin to percolate! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Kathleen Turner plays a writer of adventure stories, Joan Wilder, who has been having trouble selling her works of late because they aren't remotely believable. The basic problem is that the mousy Joan has never had any real adventure in her life. All this changes when she receives a frantic phone call from her sister, whose is being held prisoner by evil art dealers in Colombia. It seems that sis has mailed Joan a map leading to a valuable treasure. Nasty but cowardly Ralph (Danny DeVito), cousin of the principal villain (Zack Norman), has been assigned to claim the map from Joan. But upon arriving in Colombia, Joan and Ralph learn that others of a more homicidal bent are also after the map. Joan is rescued by soldier of fortune Jack Colton (Michael Douglas), who isn't quite clear about his stake in the proceedings. Jack and Joan undergo several perilous adventures in the wilds of Colombia. The treasure turns out to be a valuable jewel, which changes hands (one of them severed!) many times before it is swallowed by an alligator. Joan manages to break free from her pursuers, but Jack is presumed dead. Jack returns at the end of the film in Manhattan to surprise Joan. The sequel to Romancing the Stone was 1985's The Jewel of the Nile. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, (more)
Milos Foreman's cinematic adaptation of E.L. Doctrow's sprawling pop-culture epic Ragtime follows a variety of characters whose lives intertwine during the earliest years of the 20th century. Brad Dourif plays the meek young brother in a wealthy family who ends up helping Coalhouse Walker Jr. (Howard E. Rollins) when the proud black man stands up to the racism that surrounds him with a criminal act that leads to a standoff with a police commissioner (James Cagney - making his return to the big screen after fifteen years away). Secondary characters include a street artist (Mandy Patinkin) who gets his foot in the door of the nascent film business, and a flighty young woman (Elizabeth McGovern) who inspires men who desire her to violence. Randy Newman composed the score, which included a song that earned him his first Oscar nomination. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Brad Dourif, (more)
In this enjoyable comedy, an outlandish heist of mobster money, taken by Simon (Michael Emil) the syndicate's bookkeeper, provides the momentum that starts the action. The brash Simon and his undermotivated cohort Sidney (Zack Norman) are in a wild ride down the East Coast to catch a plane to safety in a Latin American country. Along the way they hook up with Jenny (Patrice Townsend), a flirtatious fox, and Leona (Irene Forrest), a walking inferiority complex. The mix of these four characters provides enough hilarity to keep audiences entertained right through the twist at the end of the story. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Emil, Zack Norman, (more)
Jimmy Angelelli (Harvey Keitel) wants to be a concert pianist. Jimmy's dad, Ben Angelelli (Michael V. Gazzo), wants his son to go into the family business. So far, so banal. But the "family business" depicted in Fingers is organized crime, and therein lies the film's perverse appeal. Fingers represents the directorial debut of screenwriter James Toback, who also wrote the script. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Tisa Farrow, (more)
Henry Jaglom directed this moody meditation on the Vietnam War and one of its disturbed veterans. Dennis Hopper stars a sergeant who travels across the United States with the body of a fallen comrade, on a train to his friend's final burial place. As the train wends its way across the United States, the sergeant becomes more and more paranoid that the passengers on the train are out to get him. Finally, an energetic young woman named Stephanie (Taryn Power) befriends him, briefly giving him the courage to deal with the terrors of the war. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dennis Hopper, Taryn Power, (more)
- 1971
Richard Farina's late-1960s "alienation" novel Been Down So Long it Looks Like Up to Me was given a belated, and somewhat anachronistic, screen treatment in 1971. Though set in 1958, the original novel spoke most loudly to the post-Beat Generation hippies of the next decade. The film spoke to no one, except perhaps a few ageing hipsters who couldn't shake off the past. Barry Primus plays the central character, a sixties activist in the making on an uptight college campus. Amidst the jive-talk and the scrungy clothing, the film contains a few obligatory sex scenes, indicating perhaps that it was this element of beatnik life that most attracted the filmmakers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
