Betty White Movies

A dejected English teacher and a former West Coast Swing dancer attempt to overcome the obstacles in their lives and win the world title in this romantic dance drama starring Amy Smart, Tom Malloy, and Billy Zane. English teacher Jessica has grown bored with her life. She's married to a workaholic who provides all the creature comforts one could want in life, but isn't able to be there for her emotionally. Meanwhile, Jake is doing his best to recover from his rocky relationship with former partner Corinne, who can't seem to decide whether she wants to stay or go. When Jake and Jessica meet, the sparks fly thanks to their mutual love of dance. Now, with the world title on the line, these two dancers will do their best to stay focused on the goal and come out winners despite their personal hardships. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Acclaimed anime master Hayao Miyazaki returns for his ninth animated feature with Ponyo, which deals with a friendship between a five-year-old boy and a goldfish princess who yearns to be human. The daughter of the king of the ocean, Ponyo is no ordinary goldfish -- she has all the magic of the sea at her disposal. But when five-year-old Sosuke befriends the spunky little fish near the seaside home he shares with his mother and father, a special connection sparks between the two children, and Ponyo becomes determined to become human. Transforming into a little girl, Ponyo shows up at Sosuke's doorstep, delighted to make herself at home with her new land-dwelling family. But having a magical fish princess walking around on dry land begins setting the mystical balance of the world off kilter, and even though the innocent love Ponyo feels for her dear friend is strong, it will take some help from the greatest powers in the ocean to make things right again. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

This heartwarming made-for-cable "road" picture begins in Chicago, where widowed grandmother Annie Eason (Betty White, convincingly portraying a 69-year-old while herself in her eighties!) wants to grant the final request of her husband Elliott: To release his ashes from the top of "Annie's Point"--3000 miles away. Embittered over having to manage his late father's business, Annie's son Richard (Richard Thomas) flatly refuses to take her to Annie's Point, so she goes instead with her free-spirited granddaughter Ella (Amy Davidson). Their odyssey turns into a frantic and sometimes funny chase after Annie goes on a gambling spree in Las Vegas, prompting Richard to hotly pursue his mother with the intention of having her institutionalized. Annie's Point made its Hallmark channel bow on January 22, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A man looking for a woman just like himself ends up with someone quite different in this farcical comedy. Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) is a lawyer who is having trouble getting his life back on track after his wife, Kate (Jean Smart), divorces him; he's also adjusting to his new status as a single father. Looking for companionship, Peter tries an internet dating site and virtually meets "lawyer-girl," an attractive and single fellow attorney. Peter makes a date with her, but the woman who arrives at his door turns out to be Charlene Morton (Queen Latifah), who not only isn't a lawyer, she turns out to be an escaped convict. Charlene is also a brash and brassy African-American, while Peter is perhaps the most tightly wound white guy in L.A. Charlene explains to Peter that she's strung him along because she's innocent of the crime for which she was convicted, and she needs a top-notch attorney to help prove her case. Peter isn't the least bit interested at first, but Charlene isn't the sort of woman to take "no" for an answer, and in time she wears him down and agrees to help. As Charlene moves into Peter's home, she helps him to loosen up and unleash his inner groove, which quite surprises Kate, and her down-to-earth advice comes in handy for Peter's son and daughter. But Charlene may end up going too far when Peter is asked to entertain Mrs. Arness (Joan Plowright), a wealthy woman looking for a new law firm. Bringing Down the House also features Eugene Levy as Howie, one of Peter's friends who takes a keen interest in Charlene, and Betty White as one of Peter's neighbors. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Beverly Joubert and Derek Joubert, a husband-and-wife team who've won widespread acclaim (and a certain amount of controversy) for their beautiful but unflinchingly realistic wildlife documentaries (including Eternal Enemies and Wildlife Warriors), wrote and directed this feature-length drama that uses footage of animals in the wild to tell a story about elephants in their native environment. After the death of its mother, a baby elephant named Whispers (voice of Debi Derryberry) grabs the tail of Groove (voice of Angela Bassett), a pachyderm exiled from her tribe. Groove is hardly the nurturing type, but the child won't let go, and soon she bonds with the youngster as they make their way through the dangers of the jungle in search of the Great River, a fabled paradise for their kind. Anne Archer, Joanna Lumley, and Alice Ghostley are among the actors who provide the "voices" of the animals; the entire film was shot at the Chobe National Park in Botswana, South Africa, a nature preserve where the Jouberts live and work. Whispers: An Elephant's Tale was financed and released by Walt Disney Pictures. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Mark Twain's classic novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is re-created here as an animated adventure movie. Featuring a country music soundtrack with songs by Hank Williams Jr., Waylon Jennings and Lee Ann Womack, the video is also accented with famous voices, like those of Don Knotts and Betty White. The characters have all been resurrected as animals; Tom and Becky are cats, Huck is a fox, and Injun Joe (more sensitively corrected to be "Injurin' Joe" in this production) is a bear. The animation is excellent, though the plot itself is a looser interpretation of Twain's story. Children aged five to 12 should enjoy the story and lively animation while getting a basic introduction to a classic piece of literature. ~ Sarah Block, All Movie Guide

Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer star in this romantic comedy as Ben and Katie Jordan, a couple who have been married for fifteen years. They have two great kids, a nice home, and a comfortable life, but somewhere down the line, the spark went out of their marriage, and they find that they don't really love each other anymore. With their relationship at a crossroads, Ben and Katie, two different people who have never felt more different, have to decide if they want to try to salvage their marriage, or if it's time to move on. The Story of Us was directed by Rob Reiner, and features Julie Hagerty, Tim Matheson, Paul Reiser, Tom Poston, Rita Wilson, and Jayne Meadows. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Rita Rudner was both co-writer and co-star of this multi-plotted romantic comedy, set in a bed and breakfast in the middle of Southern California's wine country. In the course of the film's 90 minutes, a number of curiously matched couples will find true romance -- and sometimes even true happiness. Standout performances amongst the star-studded cast include Rita Rudner's turn as a pregnant food critic, Jack Lemmon as a desperate concert promoter, and Dudley Moore as a lonely vintner. Made for cable television, A Weekend in the Country debuted June 12, 1996, on the USA network; a mildly R-rated version was later prepared for home video release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With series star Bea Arthur announcing that she did not wish to continue playing fiftysomething teacher Dorothy Zbornak any longer, it was decided that the seventh season of the NBC sitcom Golden Girls would be the last. Perhaps for this reason, the series' ratings plummeted from tenth to 30th place -- though even with a diminished viewership, the series remained one of NBC's most popular and profitable offerings. In the course of this final season, Dorothy's roommate Rose (Rue McClanahan) concludes that her relationship with former Mob accountant Miles Webber (Harold Gould) is not going anywhere, though this hardly means that Miles is completely out of her life. One piquant season-seven episode, "Old Boyfriends, reunites Betty White and Rue McClanahan (as Rose and Dorothy's roomie Blanche) with the actresses' former Mama's Family co-star, Ken Berry. The two-part "The Monkey Show" is built around Dorothy's sister Gloria, played in an earlier season by Polly Holliday and herein enacted by Dena Dietrich; this episode also features Dinah Manoff, playing her Carol Weston character from the Golden Girls spin-off series Empty Nest. In another Golden Girls/Empty Nest crossover, David Leisure (as Charlie Dietz) appears in "Questions and Answers," the centerpiece of which is a takeoff of the game show Jeopardy, featuring that series' host Alex Trebek and producer Merv Griffin. And the two-parter "Home Again, Rose" marks the one and only appearance of Blanche's daughter Janet, played by Jessica Lundy. In the hour-long season finale, Dorothy marries Blanche's uncle Lucas (Leslie Nielsen), thereby launching a set of circumstances that would ultimately lead Rose, Blanche, and Sophia into another Golden Girls spin-off series, The Golden Palace, in the fall of 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

America's four favorite senior citizens, Dorothy (Bea Arthur), Rose (Betty White), Blanche (Rue McClanahan), and Sophia (Estelle Getty), are still residing in the same cozy Miami household as The Golden Girls launches its sixth season. This year's opener is "Blanche Delivers," as Blanche nervously prepares for the birth of her daughter Rebecca's baby -- and wonders if the fact that the kid was conceived by artificial insemination will be the source of public embarrassment. In the next episode, "Once, in St. Olaf," Don Ameche guest stars as a kindly priest -- who turns out to be Rose's long-lost father! "Wham, Bam, Thank You, Mammy" spotlights Ruby Dee as Blanche's childhood nanny. The two-part "There Goes the Bride" finds Dorothy considering remarriage to her no-good former hubby, Stan (Herb Edelman), thereby allowing Debbie Reynolds to contribute a hilarious performance as the girls' temporary roommate Judy. And in "Mrs. George Devereaux," George Grizzard appears as Blanche's husband, George -- much to her astonishment, since George is supposed to be dead! Harold Gould continues to make sporadic appearances as Rose's mild-mannered boyfriend Miles Webber, whose "secret life" as a Mob accountant catches up to him big-time in the episodes "Miles to Go" and "Witness," the latter episode also featuring Kristy McNichol in a crossover appearance from the Golden Girls spin-off series Empty Nest. And near the end of the season, the two-part "Never Yell Fire in a Crowded Room" revolves around a deathbed confession that gets Dorothy's octogenarian mother, Sophia, thrown in jail on an arson rap! While ratings for The Golden Girls faltered a bit during season six, the series still finished at a respectable tenth place. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide