Denalda Williams Movies
After living his life with clockwork precision, a man throws any and all caution to the wind in this freewheeling comedy-drama. Frank Allen (Ryan Reynolds) is a successful motivational speaker and author whose book "The Five-Minute Efficiency Trainer" advises readers that strict organization and avoiding impulsive behavior is the key to success. Frank is married to Susan (Emily Mortimer), who has been his sweetheart since college, but while he's happy, she's beginning to have second thoughts -- she chose to be with Frank rather than his best friend Buddy (Stuart Townsend) because of his sweet and gentle nature, but his new habit of carefully budgeting every moment of the day has squeezed most of the fun out of their lives. After a quarrel with Susan leaves Frank in a troubled state of mind, he's enthusiastically propositioned by a sexy woman at a self-help seminar (Sarah Chalke), and has to take a pregnant woman (Jocelyne Loewen) to the hospital when he nearly runs her over on the street. Susan learns about Frank's day and comes to the mistaken conclusion that he's been unfaithful to her with both women. Susan leaves him and Frank decides that his hyper-organized life is to blame for the collapse of his marriage. Suddenly, Frank figures its time to give his id full reign -- he buys a motorcycle, starts fist fights in bars, sleeps with strange women, takes up streaking, and does nearly everything the old Frank would warn him against. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryan Reynolds, Emily Mortimer, (more)
- 1995
Made for television, Not Our Son is the tragically true story of the "Seattle Specter", who at one time was designated the worst serial arsonist in US history. Over an astonishingly short period, the "Specter" was responsible for over 100 fires--one of them resulting in the deaths of several senior-home residents. What no one knew, until it was nearly too late, was that the elusive firebug was a profoundly troubled teenager named Paul Kenneth Keller (played, in a masterpiece of contra-casting, by Neil Patrick Harris). Ultimately, it was up to Paul's family to determine his fate--a decision that forced them to choose between love and duty, and to suffer the pangs of ceaseless guilt in the process. Inspired by an article in The Reader's Digest, Not Our Son first aired March 3, 1995 (it has originally been slated for January 31 that same year). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Another of the many TV-movies produced for NBC's off-and-on "Moment of Truth" series, The Other Mother was based on the autobiographical novel by Carol Schaefer, herein played by Frances Fisher. The astonishing resilient Carol manages to endure a messy divorce, handling the raise of two children all by herself, and survive a nasty bout with cancer. Having weathered all these crises, Carol feels it is time to tackle an unresolved issue from her past. Thus, she embarks upon a journey (both spiritual and physical) to locate the child that she gave up for adoption 18 years ago--and faces obstacles that may, in her own words, "threaten everything I valued in life." Although the core of the drama is the rights of birth parents vs. the rights of privacy of adoptive parents, the film manages to engender sympathy and understanding for both sides of the argument. The Other Mother: A Moment of Truth Movie was first shown on April 17, 1995. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frances Fisher, Deborah May, (more)
A man who may be on the verge of death quickly takes a thorough look at his life in this drama. Vincent Eastman (Richard Gere) is speeding along a mountain road in Canada when, while swerving to avoid a stalled van, he discovers that he's about to run headfirst into a trailer truck. As he's about to suffer a potentially fatal accident, Vincent finds himself flashing back on the events of his life -- most notably his relationships with his wife Sally (Sharon Stone), his mistress Olivia (Lolita Davidovich), and his daughter Meaghan (Jenny Morrison). While Vincent genuinely cares for Sally, he finds her cold and unemotional, but while the free-spirited Olivia has a passion for life that Sally lacks, Vincent can't bring himself to leave his wife for her. All parties involved feel that Vincent is hurting Meaghan with his inability to commit himself one way or the other, and his friend Neal (Martin Landau), a partner in his architectural firm, warns him that it is wrong for a man to live under two roofs at once. Intersection was an American adaptation of the 1970 French drama Les Choses de la Vie. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, (more)
Hilarity ensues in this Canadian comedy when a young Japanese man goes deep into the Canadian west in search of adventure, and finds instead a cultural clash. No Ogawa, a fast-food worker in Tokyo dreams of seeing real cowboys. His pen-pal Kate lives in rural western Canada. She is an artist and a lesbian only half-way out of the closet. She struggles against the narrow views of her community and is filled with self-doubt. No Ogawa could not have picked a worse time to suddenly appear at her door clutching a pair of spurs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hiromoto Ida, Christianne Hirt, (more)
In Stakeout, cop Richard Dreyfuss fell in love with Madeline Stowe, the woman he and his partner Emilio Estevez were watching during a police stakeout. Stowe's back in Another Stakeout, but her part is fleeting and unbilled. On the other hand, we get plenty of Dreyfuss and Estevez, still both as cantankerous and obnoxious as ever. This time, our two heroes are in search of a Mafia witness who has disappeared after an attempt on her life. While holed up in a judge's mansion, staking out the apartment where the woman may or may not return, the pair are subject to the comic aggravation of DA's assistant Rosie O'Donnell, who's brought her "darling" little rotweiler along for company. Another Stakeout works a little harder for its laughs than its predecessor; the best scenes go to Ms. O'Donnell and to nonplussed supporting players Dennis Farina and Marcia Strassman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dreyfuss, Emilio Estevez, (more)
- 1992
In this Disney adventure, the third in a series, Chip, the android boy, must save his father from the cruel business magnate who has abducted him. To do so, he reconfigures his father's robotic look-a-like and then prepares to face the spooky Spartacus, his robotic nemesis. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Thicke, Jay Underwood, (more)
A boy saves and befriends a mangy ex-circus dog and adopts him as a pet--without his father's knowledge. As the family moves across the country, the dog attempts to follow, getting into close calls and lots of adventures along the way. Will Bingo end up in the arms of his favorite boy? This spoof/adventure/comedy contains some violence and profanity. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cindy Williams, David Rasche, (more)
- 1991
Set in a popular coffee house located in an Italian neighborhood, this romantic comedy comments upon the lives of several young Italian-Americans looking for their place in the outside world. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1991
The mother of the title is played by Meredith Baxter. Her daughter (Carrie Hamilton) is raped by an unknown assailant who leaves no tangible clues behind. Obsessed with bringing the rapist out in the open, Ms. Baxter sets herself up as a potential assault victim. Farfetched though it sounds, A Mother's Justice was based on an actual case that occurred in Portland, Oregon. This TV movie had the rotten luck to be scheduled opposite Monday Night Football and a CBS M*A*S*H retrospective when it was first telecast on November 25, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this romantic comedy, two people brought together by marriage are brought even closer by their mates. Maria Hardy (Isabella Rossellini) and Larry Konzinski (Ted Danson) first meet at a wedding, where Maria's mother and Larry's uncle are tying the knot. However, the new cousins also have something else in common: Maria's husband Tom (William L. Petersen) is having an affair with Larry's wife, Tish (Sean Young). Maria and Larry get to talking at the wedding reception after their spouses go missing for a while, and they develop a rapport. A friendship grows between them, and they start seeing each other on a regular basis. When Maria confronts Tom about his infidelity, he responds by asking her if she's sleeping with Larry. As Maria and Larry become aware of what's happening between their not-so-better halves, they decide to get revenge by pretending to have an affair as well. However, the longer they pretend to be in love, the more they realize that they aren't pretending after all. Cousins was based on the popular French film Cousin Cousine. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Danson, Isabella Rossellini, (more)
Discharged from Vietnam, John Lithgow and his army buddies have trouble fitting into a hostile home-front society. Rather than endure dirty looks and taunts of "baby killer," Lithgow and his friends wander aimlessly all through the Pacific Northwest. Several years pass, during which time Lithgow's estranged son Ralph Maccio grows to manhood. Finally emerging from his self-imposed exile, Lithgow begins searching for the son he's never known. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lithgow, Ralph Macchio, (more)
Based on a real-life 1983 incident, The Accused tells the story of Sarah Tobias (Jodie Foster), a working-class party girl who likes to live it up with her friends and flirt hard with the guys. After a fight with her boyfriend, she heads to a local bar to cool down -- and after a few drinks, plus some dancing and flirting, she finds herself thrown on top of a pinball machine and gang-raped by a bunch of locals, while others watch and cheer the proceedings. District attorney Kathryn Murphy (Kelly McGillis) takes Sarah's case but quickly negotiates a plea bargain in which the attackers' charges are reduced to reckless endangerment. Her reason: defense attorneys could use Sarah's not-so-pretty past to paint her as "asking for it," getting their clients off completely. But a stunned Sarah accuses Murphy of selling her out, and when the lawyer sees how the incident continues to destroy Sarah's life, she decides she must seek true justice. This time, she goes after the crowd of onlookers for "criminal solicitation" -- those who were egging the rapists on. Foster won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kelly McGillis, Jodie Foster, (more)
Though John Badham's Stakeout doesn't flinch in the violence department, the film concentrates primarily on characterization. Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez play a pair of Seattle detectives, assigned to capture escaped hood Aidan Quinn. The twosome spends much of the film on stakeout in a lonely, deserted house; the object of their scrutiny is Madeline Stowe, Quinn's former girlfriend. Pretending to be a telephone repairman, Dreyfuss plants a bug in Stowe's apartment--thereby inaugurating a romance that compromises the detective's objectivity. In the climax, Quinn gets the upper hand--at least until the fists start flying. Perfect as it stood, Stakeout didn't need to be elaborated upon with a sequel, but Another Stakeout was produced all the same. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dreyfuss, Emilio Estevez, (more)
