Laura San Giacomo Movies

Two brothers (Richard Gere, Kevin Anderson) have inherited a large farm (once voted "Farm of the Year") from their father, but cannot keep it afloat. When the farm goes bankrupt, the pair decide to torch the place and take off across the Midwest, fleeing the law to become folk heroes for many rural farmers in the area. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Tom Selleck stars as American cowboy archetype Matthew Quigley in Simon Wincer's outback western Quigley Down Under. Answering an advertisement placed by Australian cattle baron Elliot Marston (Alan Rickman) to come to the rugged and uncivilized Australian countryside and shoot dingoes, Quigley finds himself halfway around the world, only to find that Marston wants to exploit his talents as a sharpshooter in order to wipe out the Aborigine population. Taken aback by this square-jawed genocide, Quigley grabs Marston and hurls him through a window. Marston, who controls the region, sets out to hunt Quigley down. But helping him stay one step ahead of Marston is the addlebrained expatriate American trollop Crazy Cora (Laura San Giacomo) who insists that Quigley is her husband Roy. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Self-involved corporate raider Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) has recently split up with his girlfriend. Seeking directions to the Beverly Hills Hotel, he makes the acquaintance of free-spirited hooker Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts) and decides to put her on a 3,000-dollar retainer as his "date." He Cinderellarizes her by bankrolling a full wardrobe and cosmetic makeover. Of course, the setup will be strictly platonic. A disarming modern-day fairy tale, Pretty Woman was the picture that made Julia Roberts a superstar. As charming as she is in her "giggling" sequences, Roberts' best scene is her triumphant return to a posh Rodeo Drive shop where she'd been previously snubbed. Keeping Pretty Woman afloat throughout is the buoyant direction of Garry Marshall and the always welcome presence of Marshall's stock company of actors, including Hector Elizondo as a stuffy but golden-hearted concierge. Pretty Woman began its life as a much darker story of prostitutes and homicidal drug dealers, but more box-office-savvy heads ultimately prevailed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Marc Rocco's gritty drama Where the Day Takes You stars Dermot Mulroney as King, a street-smart hustler who acts as a father figure to a motley collection of young runaways. Among the people in his sphere are the young self-destructive drug addict Greg (Sean Astin), self-hating gay prostitute Little J (Balthazar Getty), and newcomer Heather (Lara Flynn Boyle). The film is structured as a series of flashbacks triggered by King's conversations with a prison psychologist (Laura San Giacomo). Included in the impressive cast are such soon-to-be-famous names as Will Smith and Ricki Lake, and the already established Kyle MacLachlan, Christian Slater, and Alyssa Milano. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Corporate women launch a bitter courtroom battle when their avaricious employer tells them that they will lose their jobs if they do not get sterilized. The fight takes the women through a disillusioning jungle of government red tape. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Nina (Laura San Giacomo), a young married woman, has an affair with a British photographer in this low-key comedy drama about adultery and romantic role-playing. Nina Takes a Lover, the debut film of writer-director Alan Jacobs, tells its story in flashback, as Nina is interviewed by a journalist who is writing an article on modern marriage -- or, more specifically, modern infidelity. The affair begins after Nina's husband has left for a long business trip, leaving Nina lonely, depressed, and seriously doubting his faithfulness. In this vulnerable state, she meets a stranger in the park. He's from Wales, he's a photographer, and he's quite handsome. Encouraged by the experience of her best friend, who has been unfaithful to her husband for some time now, Nina begins an affair with the photographer. She finds the experience a wonderful, revitalizing thrill and is soon considering leaving her husband to move in with her new lover. However, Nina's feelings become more complicated when she discovers some of her lover's hidden secrets. While on the surface the film is a rather uneventful, performance-driven character study, Nina's story in fact builds toward a surprising revelation, one that casts an entirely new light on the nature of her affair. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Sandra Bernhard, Cameron Dye, and Laura San Giacomo star in this science-fiction thriller about a spaceship carrying a load of explosive material that is thrown out of orbit and suddenly begins heading straight for Earth. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this police actioner, a brand-new lady cop's lack of enthusiasm at getting a job behind a criminal processing desk instead of on the streets proves unfounded. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Television director Peter O'Fallon made his feature film debut with this independent film that pays obvious homage to the style of Quentin Tarantino, with plenty of violence and funny, talkative hit men. Suave gangster Charlie Barrett (Christopher Walken) meets four young men who have taken over his regular booth at a popular bistro. Charmed by the swaggering kids, he agrees to take a ride with them, but they give him a sedative and he awakens in a deserted mansion, taped to a chair with one of his fingers missing. One of his abductors, Avery (Henry Thomas), says that he has a sister who has been kidnapped and they need two million dollars to get her back, as well as a finger to exchange for her severed digit. Charlie phones his lawyer Marty (Cliff De Young), who calls a henchman, Lono (Denis Leary), who investigates the kidnappings and gives Charlie enough information to start playing each of his inexperienced abductors against the others. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

A retired architect returns to work at the behest of unlikely patrons in this low-key drama. Richard and Kate Banks (Jack Conley and Rebecca Staab) are a well-to-do couple who want to buy a home in Southern California. While house-hunting, Kate discovers the charred remains of a house that was never completed -- and she is highly intrigued by what she's found. Kate discovers the property belongs to Mercedes (Shirley Knight), who informs Kate that the unfinished house was one of the last works from Harry Mayfield (Philip Baker Hall), a once-famous architect who left his career behind when his marriage broke up years before. Kate and Richard buy the unfinished house and contact Harry, inviting him to complete his project for their new home, and Harry agrees. Sensing this could be a major event in contemporary architecture, Kate persuades her friend Gaby (Laura San Giacomo), a filmmaker, to make a documentary about Harry and his new project. As Gaby speaks at length with both Harry and his younger assistant Arthur (Henry Rollins), she and Kate discover just how strong-willed (and how difficult) Harry can be, and as Harry struggles to complete a difficult and deeply personal work, Kate finds a new personal strength through his efforts. A House on a Hill marked a return to dramatic filmmaking for director Chuck Workman after directing a pair of acclaimed documentaries about iconoclastic artists, Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol and The Source. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A feisty octogenarian on the verge of his ninetieth birthday invites his three grown children to his upcoming birthday celebration with the explicit understanding that when the festivities end, so does his life, in a dark but light-hearted family comedy directed by Jeff Hare and starring Peter Falk. Morris (Falk) has lived a full life, but now the time has come to end his impressive run. When Morris goes to mortal extremes to reunite his three estranged children, his morbid declaration helps his offspring to realize that, even in old age, the importance of one individual should never be underestimated. David Paymer, Laura San Giacomo, and Judge Reinhold co-star in the one comedy that proves you're never too old to stir up a bit of mischief. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide