Beverly Todd Movies

Foreman (Omar Epps) takes on the case of Lupe (Monique Gabriela Cumen), a 28-year-old con artist suffering from "brain freeze". At first contemptueous of Lupe because she has never tried to rise above her inner-city surroundings (as he has), Foreman eventually becomes so emotionally involved with the woman that it clouds his medical judgment--a fact that will have serious ramifications in the weeks to come. Meanwhile, House (Hugh Laurie) picks the brain of one of Wilson's ex-wives (Jane Adams) to figure out why Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) has so much trouble holding on to a woman. This episode was directed by former ER costar Paul McCrane. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Issues of race and gender cause a group of strangers in Los Angeles to physically and emotionally collide in this drama from director and screenwriter Paul Haggis. Graham (Don Cheadle) is a police detective whose brother is a street criminal, and it hurts him to know his mother cares more about his ne'er-do-well brother than him. Graham's partner is Ria (Jennifer Esposito), who is also his girlfriend, though she has begun to bristle at his emotional distance, as well as his occasional insensitivity over the fact he's African-American and she's Hispanic. Rick (Brendan Fraser) is an L.A. district attorney whose wife, Jean (Sandra Bullock), makes little secret of her fear and hatred of people unlike herself. Jean's worst imaginings about people of color are confirmed when her SUV is carjacked by two African-American men -- Anthony (Chris Bridges, aka Ludacris), who dislikes white people as much as Jean hates blacks, and Peter (Larenz Tate), who is more open minded. Cameron (Terrence Howard) is a well-to-do African-American television producer with a beautiful wife, Christine (Thandie Newton). While coming home from a party, Cameron and Christine are pulled over by Officer Ryan (Matt Dillon), who subjects them to a humiliating interrogation (and her to an inappropriate search) while his new partner, Officer Hansen (Ryan Phillippe), looks on. Daniel (Michael Pena) is a hard-working locksmith and dedicated father who discovers that his looks don't lead many of his customers to trust him. And Farhad (Shaun Toub) is a Middle Eastern shopkeeper who is so constantly threatened in the wake of the 9/11 attacks that he decided he needs a gun to defend his family. Crash was the first directorial project for award-winning television and film writer Haggis. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

As the lives of the Fisher clan drift into isolation, the funeral of Keith's great aunt (Ann Weldon) sets the stage for a major showdown between discontented lovers Keith (Mathew St. Patrick) and David (Michael C. Hall). En route to San Diego for the memorial, the couple quarrel over Keith's continuing enthusiasm for extracurricular sex -- and David's emerging distaste for same. But the real conflict comes when Keith decides that it's time to confront his father (James Pickens Jr.) about the physical abuse he once heaped on his kids. The outraged patriarch lashes out, and when David comes to Keith's defense, Keith tells him to butt out of his family business. A disconsolate David heads back to L.A., where Nate (Peter Krause) is growing worried about his wife, Lisa (Lili Taylor), who hasn't checked in since leaving on a road trip. Nate busies himself by consoling Brenda (Rachel Griffiths) over an icky run-in with her insane brother Billy (Jeremy Sisto). Confessing that his latest antics include a stab at physical, instead of the usual emotional, incest, she nonetheless finds herself breaking her own sexual taboos during an impassioned, although abortive, kiss with Nate. Claire (Lauren Ambrose) learns that Russell (Ben Foster), too, has gone beyond the pale when he confesses to a sexual dalliance with bisexual art teacher Olivier (Peter MacDissi). The youngest Fisher dumps her boyfriend as forcefully as possible, although Russell doesn't seem to get the hint. As for the Fisher matriarch, Ruth (Frances Conroy) gets the hint that shy embalmer Arthur (Rainn Wilson) isn't capable of the physical relationship she craves. She, too, dumps her man. Originally broadcast May 4, 2003, on HBO, "Everyone Leaves" marked season three, episode ten of the made-for-cable drama. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Ruth (Frances Conroy) "drafts the blueprint" for her own future happiness in this episode of HBO's Six Feet Under. When coworker Robbie (Joel Brooks) convinces her to accompany him to a meeting of self-help group The Plan, Ruth is as bored as she is annoyed. But when the seminar's dynamic speaker singles her out for interaction, the Fisher matriarch realizes that the foundation of her emotional house could use some work. Meanwhile, newly licensed funeral director Nate (Peter Krause) attends an L.A. Independent Funeral Director's lunch with David (Michael C. Hall) and applies his Seattle-bred lefty fervor to the proceedings. In an attempt to put her considerable intellect to use, Brenda (Rachel Griffiths) enrolls in a college biogenetics class but finds that her free-thinking ways don't mesh well with the toadying of the other students or the careerism of the instructor. And Claire (Lauren Ambrose) suffers through a painful reunion with the increasingly troubled Gabe (Eric Balfour). Angry at her advisor, Gary (David Norona), for ratting Gabe out to the authorities, Claire nevertheless turns to cop Keith (Mathew St. Patrick) for assistance after Gabe brandishes a firearm and nearly kills someone. "The Plan" marked season two, episode three of the made-for-cable drama. Rose Troche, director of acclaimed indie film Go Fish, directs. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Needles figure prominently in this blood-soaked entry in the slasher genre. It begins as psycho scientist Dr. Stein begins implanting things in baboons. Dr. Theresa McCann, a colleague at the hospital where they both work is suspicious as to the nature of the perverse professors experiments. Those suspicions increase when one of the apes suddenly dies. Then Stein steals one of her patients. When that patient is found murdered, with only a lollipop left as a clue, McCann gets blamed and suspended. When McCann spies the abandoned sucker she suddenly realizes it belongs to Dr. Matar, an ex-lover in search of revenge against her because she squealed on him and his illicit experiments in tissue regrowth. Matar goes on a killing spree and now only she and her new lover Hendricks can stop him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

After earning rave notices for powerful supporting turns as a pimp in Street Smart (1987) and an alcohol abuse counselor in Clean and Sober (1988), actor Morgan Freeman began his ascent to stardom with this, his first lead role in a major motion picture. Freeman is real-life high school principal Joe Clark, a tough, harsh educator and administrator who in 1987 is given a nearly impossible task by his old friend, school superintendent Dr. Frank Napier (Robert Guillaume). Clark is asked to reform inner city Eastside High School in Paterson, NJ, a hotbed of delinquent kids and drug dealers. Considered the worst school in New Jersey, the state is threatening to take control of Eastside away from the local school board. If Clark can straighten out Eastside in time to get the school's basic-skills test scores up, he can have the job permanently. Although Clark's tyrannical approach and hard-line policies alienate many members of the staff and the community, his uncompromising campaign gets results and even makes him famous, much to the chagrin of his powerful enemies. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

In this sentimental coming-of-age drama, directed by Richard Mulligan (To Kill a Mockingbird) and written by Mark Medoff (Children of a Lesser God), Whoopi Goldberg plays Clara Mayfield, whom Leona Hart (Kathleen Quinlan) meets up with in Jamaica, where Leona retreats to mourn the death of her baby daughter. Leona comes from a rich Maryland family and she leaves her husband, Bill (Michael Ontkean), and her young son, David (Neil Patrick Harris), back in the States in order to achieve some personal healing. She tells Clara she is in mourning and Clara responds knowingly, "I knew the fact, but not the substance." Hearing this kind of cryptic Charlie Chan-like aphorism, Leona can't resist Clara and hires her as her maid, taking her back with her, like a pet, to Maryland. "Come meet the most wonderful person," she tells her husband, and, to be sure, Clara is out-of-this-world wonderful, and since David's self-absorbed parents are neglecting him for their own private flirtations and obsessions, Clara takes up the slack and becomes, in effect, David's family. Clara dispenses worldly advice and has him spend weekends with her in the inner-city Jamaican community, where David learns how the other half lives. But just as David is letting his guard down and permitting Clara to become his 30-year-old buddy, Clara reveals a chilling past life that includes rape, incest, and suicide. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Management consultant Diane Keaton has no time in her life for anything except her high-profile job. All this changes when she inherits a 14-month-old infant from a pair of recently deceased-and very distant-relatives. Intending to put the child up for adoption, she discovers that she has grown fond of the kid and has begun to thrive on the responsibilities of motherhood. All of this, of course, jeopardizes Keaton's love life and professional standing, but all turns out well when the baby inadvertently leads to a whole new moneymaking agenda for our heroine. Capraesque in concept, Baby Boom avoids phony sentiment and obvious humor, emerging as one of the singular comic delights of the late 1980s. On great bit has Keaton "celebrating" a major business coup by surreptiously performing an under-the-table jig (a bit of business that dates back to the 1924 Reginald Denny comedy Skinner's Dress Suit). Baby Boom was spun off into a TV sitcom in 1989, with Kate Jackson filling Diane Keaton's designer shoes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A rare attempt by a female director to attack the issue of rape from a woman's perspective, this drama is sure to cause varied reactions. A sense of the film's perspective can be garnered from paraphrasing its publicity: "Rapists have two problems and the 'Ladies Club' is about to remove them both." Statistics of the time note that a woman was raped every seven minutes while the conviction rate was an incredibly low 2%. A policewoman who was brutally raped and the sister of a rape victim who was incurably traumatized band together for a surgical attack on the offenders, aided by a physician whose own tragedy inspires her to lend her skill with a scalpel to the cause. The encounters with rapists, court hearings, and sneaking through police files to identify the men who got away bring suspense to this crusade for justice. Comic relief crops up now and again to leaven the seriousness of the topic. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a lady lawyer's campaign to become state attorney general is jeopardized by a scandal involving a gigolo, extortion and even murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Michael Morgan stars as a teen obsessed with losing his virginity, and who gets his wish with Joan Collins, the mother of one of his best friends. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

After a teenager suffering from Tourette's Syndrome dies in a fall, Dr. Arthur Ciotti (Michael Constantine) shows up in the autopsy lab and makes an unusual request of medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman). Ciotti wants to take possession of the dead boy's brain in hopes of finding a cure for Tourette's. It turns out that Ciotti has been campaigning for years to persuade the pharamaceutical company which employs him to finance similar research, but to no avail; there simply isn't enough "profit" in something as rare as Tourette's. As the story progresses, Quincy becomes a staunch crusader on behalf of government-funded research for "orphan" diseases. This episode and its eighth-season followup "ive Me Your Weak" were instrumental in the ultimate passage of the real-life Orphan Drugs Act. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Michael Mann co-wrote the teleplay for The Jericho Mile with Patrick J. Nolan. Peter Strauss stars as "Rain" Murphy, serving a life sentence in Folsom Prison for first-degree murder. To break up the boredom of prison life, Murphy begins running laps around the prison recreation track. Prison officials take notice when Murphy runs a mile in less than four minutes. They lobby to enter Murphy into the Olympics, an act of largesse that not only pulls Murphy out of his misanthropy but also helps to unify his racially divided fellow prisoners. Originally telecast March 18, 1979, The Jericho Mile was filmed on location at Folsom Prison, with several inmates playing small roles--and talking the talk of prisoners, never mind the TV censors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide