Ken Camroux Movies

Two generations of a damaged family are brought together in this emotional drama. Einar Gilkyson (Robert Redford) was a once successful rancher whose spread went to seed after he developed a serious drinking problem. Now on the wagon, Einar looks after what's left of his spread with his friend Mitch (Morgan Freeman), a one-time cowhand who never fully recovered after being mauled by a bear. Einar once had a son named Griffin, but he died in a car wreck while Griffin's wife, Jean (Jennifer Lopez), was driving; Einar never forgave her for the death, and he had never met the granddaughter she was carrying until she arrived at his doorstep 11 years later. Jean has become involved with a violent man named Gary (Damian Lewis), and seeks refuge on Einar's ranch for the safety of her daughter, Griff (Becca Gardner). Einar reluctantly takes in Jean and Griff, giving them a place to stay as Jean looks for work and tries to put her life back together. But old trouble makes its way back to town in two ways -- Gary tracks down Jean and wants to make her pay for leaving him, while the bear who attacked Mitch comes down from the mountains looking for new prey. An Unfinished Life was adapted from the novel of the same name by Mark Spragg. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

While vacationing in the Azores, attractive young book editor Alison Shaeffer (Jayne Brook) discovers to her dismay that her "absentee" mother Gloria (Dyan Cannon) is a longtime CIA agent. Alison doesn't quite swallow this revelation until both she and Gloria are kidnapped by the villainous Vasquez (David Palffy). The abduction has something to do with a vial of deadly anthrax hidden in an ancient statue. Rescued (repeatedly) by a rabbi who isn't a rabbi (Kevin Kilner), and aided and abetted by Alison's peppery Grandma (Gloria Struart), the Shaeffer ladies do their best to stay one step ahead of the bad guys and strike a blow for democracy -- and in the process, mother and daughter get to know each other a whole lot better than ever before. Made for cable My Mother the Spy debuted May 8, 2000, over the Lifetime network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When popular San Francisco Condors basketball star Joe Campbell (Holt McCallany) is accused of rape, nobody--not the public, not his teammates--can bring themselves to believe that the sweet, babyfaced "White Knight" is guilty of the crime. Still, the case against Joe seems pretty solid, thanks to the emotional testimony of alleged victim Jennifer Darling (Jessica Tuck). Enter attorney Abe Ringel (Ken Olin), who has lost several high-profile cases of late and who needs a strong win to get back on top. Sincerely believing in Joe Campbell's innocence--or at least telling himself that he does--Ringel manages to get his client off by thoroughly discrediting and defaming the unfortunate Jennifer. Normally, that would be the end of the story...but in the months following Joe's acquittal, Abe begins picking up disturbing evidence indicating that his client was guilty as hell--and worse, that he is a dangerous serial rapist who uses the internet to stalk his previous victims. In an act of judicial attrition, Abe publicly turns against his former client. And this is when things really get ugly, as Joe orchestrates a vicious plan of vengeance--beginning with the seduction of Abe's own teenaged daughter Emma (Gina Phillips). Based on a novel by famed defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, the made-for-TV The Advocate's Devil debuted October 5, 1997 on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adam Sandler's second popular starring vehicle after Billy Madison is a goofy lowbrow paean to golf, hockey, and the comic hysterics of its childlike star. In Happy Gilmore, Sandler plays the title character, a raw, determined, but ultimately untalented hockey player who keeps trying out for the pros. When Happy discovers his grandmother (Frances Bay) will lose her home if she doesn't fork over 270,000 dollars to the IRS, he tries to figure out how he can possibly scrounge up the cash. An idea strikes during a game of one-upmanship with a couple furniture movers stripping his grandmother's home: On his first-ever swing, he drives a golf ball farther than the movers have ever seen. Before long, he has transplanted the foul-mouthed, aggressive persona of the hockey rink to the links, winning an amateur tourney that earns him a spot on the pro tour. Throttling everyone from a helpless caddy to game show host Bob Barker during the course of his 90-day quest to amass prize money, Happy also wins the sport a legion of new fans with his in-your-face style. Guiding him on his quest is a whimsical retired pro who lost his hand to an alligator (Carl Weathers) and an attractive public relations woman charmed by Happy's antics (Julie Bowen). Opposing him, however, is sneering hotshot Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald), who will do anything to win his championship jacket and see Happy fail. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

A provocative drama about sex, love, and trust, Bliss concerns Joseph (Craig Sheffer) and Maria (Sheryl Lee), a young married couple whose relationship is in serious trouble. While they love each other, Maria has difficulty opening up to Joseph, and, after six months of marriage, he makes the unhappy discovery that she's been unable to have an orgasm with him (though she's been willing to let him think otherwise). At work, Joseph and his co-workers notice a steady stream of beautiful women visiting an apartment across the street; the scuttlebutt around the office is that some sort of shady sex therapist works out of the building. One day, Joseph is shocked to see Maria visiting the apartment, and he bursts in and demands to know what's happening. The apartment does indeed house an unlicensed sex therapist, who goes by the name of Balthazar (Terence Stamp), and, before long, Joseph realizes that Balthazar's teaching are about the mind as much as the body, and that he's less concerned with orgasm than with "bliss," which he considers an emotional and spiritual as well as physical state. Before long, Joseph has convinced Balthazar to teach him what he knows about tantric healing and sex, in the hope that he can help heal Maria's emotional scars, as well as help himself become a better man. Bliss was the debut feature for writer/director Lance Young. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A single mother and her difficult son find family life isn't necessarily all it's cracked up to be in this drama adapted from writer and professor Tobias Wolff's 1989 memoir of the same name. Nomadic, flaky Caroline (Ellen Barkin) just wants to settle down in one place, find a decent guy, and provide a better home for her handful of a son, Toby (Leonardo DiCaprio). When she moves to Seattle and meets the respectful, respectable Dwight Hansen (Robert DeNiro), she thinks she's got it made. Toby, however, feels differently after spending a few months with Dwight and his children and away from Caroline. The boy's stepfather-to-be seems to want to mold Toby into a better person, but to do so he emotionally, verbally, and physically abuses the kid. The marriage proceeds, and soon Caroline, too, recognizes Dwight's need to dominate everyone around him. She sticks with it, though, convinced it's the best thing for her son, and several years of dysfunction ensue. During this time, Tobias befriends another misfit, the possibly homosexual young Jonah (Arthur Gayle), while continuing to chafe under the yoke of his repressive stepfather. This Boy's Life provided the first lead role for future superstar DiCaprio. The film was written by Robert Getchell, who also penned such mother/son fare as Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and The Client. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

"The Zone" is a crime-infested ghetto neighborhood so dangerous that the police have long since given up trying to enforce the area. When one of Dawson's fellow Watchers is killed by Canaan (Santino Buda), the brutal gang lord in charge of The Zone, Dawson (Jim Byrnes) becomes convinced that Canaan is an Immortal. Though this proves not to be the case, Duncan (Adrian Paul) takes it upon himself to rid the Zone of Canaan once and for all. Sandra P. Grant co-stars as Duncan's reluctant ally, the street-smart Asia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The tragic wreck of the super-tanker Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound, Alaska on March 24, 1989 was one of the most devastating ecological disasters in recent history. Immediately after the ship ran aground and began pumping over 11 million gallons of suffocating oil from its ruptured hold, experts were sent out to assess the damage and clean up the mess. This gripping docudrama tells their story. Much centers on the conflict between local officials, the fishing industry, and the Exxon official sent out to oversee the clean-up and take the rap. With unflinching moral outrage, the filmmakers point out that much of the aftermath could have been minimized had the officials in charge been better prepared and not spent so much time involved in useless red-tape and petty bureaucratic bickering. Most of the film was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, but it also utilizes archival filmclips of the actual disaster and clean up efforts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Partially filmed in Hawaii and Tahiti, And the Sea Will Tell was a two-part TV movie based on a real murder case. A wealthy couple (James Brolin and Deidre Hall) are killed on their yacht off the coast of a secluded South American island called Palmyra. The suspects are a hippyish pair (Hart Bochner and Rachel Ward) whom the rich folks had befriended. It's fairly clear that the hippies were involved in the crime: The question is, did the man do it while the girl looked on helplessly, or was she a willing accomplice? Richard Crenna plays real-life defense attorney Vincent Bugliosi, upon whose book And the Sea Will Tell was based. The first part of this teledrama premiered on February 24, 1991; part two, in which the girl's testimony consumes most of the screen time, was shown on February 26. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Chris Walas, the makeup and animatronics director on David Cronenberg's remake of The Fly, takes a stab at directorial duties in this sequel. Before Seth Brundle morphed into scrap metal in the original The Fly, he managed to leave behind the seed of his legacy, and at the start of The Fly 2 his son, Martin (Eric Stoltz), has suffered an accelerated growth, thanks to his fly genes. Although played by Stoltz, Martin is supposed to be only five human years old, and unaware of his imminent transformation into a fly. All his life, Martin has been confined to a laboratory at Bartok Industries, where evil CEO Bartok (Lee Richardson) plans to breed a new race of super flies. Martin spends his days working in the lab experimenting with teleportation. But then Martin meets Beth (Daphne Zuniga), an attractive researcher. Martin is attracted to her, but not only do his hormones kick in, so do his fly genes. Soon, Martin begins to transform into a bug just like his father. Desperate to stop his transformation, he wreaks revenge upon Bartok while trying the find a mate with which to swap his unwanted fly genes before it's too late. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

One can only hope that the real-life marriage of actors Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry is more harmonious than the one depicted in the made-for-TV Assault and Matrimony. Tucker plays a meek New England accountant and Eikenberry portrays his nitpicking wife-who becomes even nitpickier when the couple purchases a historic home. When he's driven to distraction by Eikenberry's nagging, Tucker hatches a murder scheme. At the same time, she comes up with a plot to bump off her husband. Adapted from James Anderson's novel by John Binder, this frenetic farce first aired September 28, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This by-the-numbers comedy stars Wayne Rogers and Karen Valentine as Alex and Annabelle Grier. Alex is a well-paid ad executive who is laid off during an economic downswing. In order to continue living in the manner to which she he is accustomed, Alex's wife Annabelle decides to look for work. Unfortunately, her practical experience is nil, so Alex labors behind the scenes, training his wife to become a top-drawer copywriter. Inevitably, when Annabelle finally does land a job, it turns out to be a major blow to Alex's ego. Initially titled Paper Castles, this made-for-TV movie was first shown December 18, 1984. TV Guide/Marrill ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Bob Clark would graduate from the Canadian Breaking Point to such films as Porky's and A Christmas Story, proving beyond a doubt that it is possible to overcome a bad start. Bo Svenson stars as a mild-mannered teacher--glasses and all. He witnesses a mob murder, whereupon he is put into a witness protection program by cop (Robert Culp). When mobsters show up to rub out Svenson, the authorities are helpless, so suddenly "Mr. Peepers" becomes "Rambo". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide