Steve Tyrell Movies

Mainstream Hollywood filmmaker Hugh Wilson teams up with screenwriter/author John Grisham for the independently produced sports drama Mickey. Harry Connick Jr. stars as a widowed father in trouble with the law who runs away to Las Vegas with his 12-year-old, baseball-loving son (Shawn Salinas). They change their names in order to avoid a federal tax investigation. When the talented son starts playing Little League, the locals can't help but notice him. Soon his talents attract unwanted national attention. The film also stars Michelle Johnson and Mike Starr. Though made in 2001, the release date was pushed back several years due to an unrelated, real-life Little League scandal. Mickey was briefly released in 2003 in the Little League headquarters town of Williamsport, PA. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Like many other made-for-TV biopics inspired by popular television series of yore, Come on Get Happy: The Partridge Family Story offers the spectacle of actors playing other actors playing different characters--and as such, those "characters" come off as more interesting than the "real" actors. Focusing exclusively on the five years (1970-1974) that The Partridge Family was in production, the story is told from the viewpoint of Danny Bonaduce (played by a pre-Desperate Housewives) Shawn Pyfrom), and accordingly is colored by the sentiments so often expressed by the real, irrepressibly outspoken Bonaduce. Upon landing the coveted role of Danny Partridge, young Bonaduce must contend with the jealousy of his abusive father Joseph (William Russ); all the while, Danny is a sidelines observer of the effect that overnight stardom has on his coworker David Cassidy (Keith Partridge), who (it says here) despises all the idolatry and yearns for a normal life. Rather touchingly, the film recounts the surrogate son-surrogate father relationship between Danny and actor Dave Madden (Michael Chieffo), who was genuinely fond of his younger costars despite the kid-hating irascibility of his "Reuben Kincaid" character. The film's highlight, which would be impossible to belief if it wasn't corroborated by witnesses, is the episode wherein Cassidy impulsively "kidnaps" Danny, whereupon both boys head off on a short journey of self-discovery; less easy to swallow is the scene which contrives a feud between the "Partridge" cast and the actors on the rival series The Brady Bunch (who are, interestingly enough, identified only by their character names and not their real names). Come on Get Happy: The Partridge Family Story made its ABC network bow on November 13, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After giving George of the Jungle human form, Brendan Fraser returns to cartoon-land with another live-action update of an animated TV classic. Set in the peaceful village of Semi-Happy Valley high in the Canadian Rockies, our story focuses on Dudley Do-Right (Fraser), a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who never lets his lack of intelligence get in the way of his dedication and determination to get his man. Dudley's superior, Inspector Fenwick (Robert Prosky), displays a bemused tolerance towards Dudley's enthusiastic ineptitude, and Dudley is beguiled by the Inspector's daughter, Nell (Sarah Jessica Parker), who has made a home in Seattle after traveling the world, but is now paying her father an extended visit. Before Dudley can make much of a (positive) impression on Nell, the evil Snidely Whiplash (Alfred Molina) enters the picture. Determined to take Semi-Happy Valley for everything it's worth, Snidely sends Dudley in search of vampires hiding in the woods, and, while he's away, plants gold nuggets in a nearby stream. When a prospector (Eric Idle) happens upon them, word gets out that Semi-Happy Valley is gold country. Quickly opening a string of businesses to cater to the flood of would-be gold miners, Snidely becomes the town's richest citizen, and Semi-Happy Valley is even renamed Whiplash City. Snidely's fame and wealth gain Nell's attention, while Dudley's search for vampires causes the Inspector to fire him. However, in time, Dudley realizes that something is afoot, and he is determined to expose Snidely Whiplash and bring him to justice. Director Hugh Wilson wrote and directed the first film in the Police Academy series; Dudley Do-Right was his second directorial credit of 1999 with Brendan Fraser, after they worked together on Blast From the Past. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

"Rainbow Warrior" was the name of a real-life Greenpeace vessel, which embarked upon a worldwide pro-ecological mission in the early 1980s. While docked in New Zealand in 1985, the Rainbow Warior was destroyed by a bomb, and a crew member was killed. In this dramatization, Sam Neill and Jon Voight play two polar opposites-a hardbitten cop and a eco-activist, respectively--who team up to track down the bomber. Wisely, the script avoids making "save the whales"-type speeches, concentrating on the matters at hand in a no-frills fashion. Rainbow Warrior was released directly to video. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Pink Lightning is a 1991 Fox Network TV movie set in the California of 1962. Five typically blinkered 60s ladies come of age in a male-dominated society. As sarcastically pointed out by TV critics in 1991, the five girls are conveniently compartmentalized into stereotypes: Nice Girl, Beautiful Girl, Bright Girl, Hot-to-Trot Girl and Married Girl; the marriage of the last one is the centerpiece of the film. The girls are portrayed (in no particular order) by Sarah Buxton, Martha Byrne, Jennifer Blanc, Jennifer Guthrie and Rainbow Harvest. Pink Lightning concludes with a pointed put-down of male superiority, which is supposed to make the silly proceedings leading up to the event (including a Thelma and Louise style drive down a deserted highway) seem profound. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Steve Martin stars in this remake of the 1950 Vincente Minnelli classic as shoe executive George Banks, whose happily married existence hits a bump when he greets his daughter Annie (Kimberly Williams), home from a semester studying in Europe. She tells her father that she is engaged to be married. When the shocked George asks to whom, she says his name is Bryan (George Newbern) and that he is an "independent communications consultant." George is even more shocked when he finds out what the wedding will cost (when George goes through the card file for invited wedding guests and is told someone is deceased, George chirps, "He died? That's great!"). As George is ignored during the mad preparations for the wedding, he wistfully looks back to all the good times he has had with Annie and sadly looks forward to the time when he loses his little girl. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Based on Elizabeth Jane Howard's novel, Getting It Right this charming comedy follows the story of Gavin Lamb (Jesse Birdsall), a 31 year-old virgin who is terrified with women and still lives with his parents. Nevertheless, he becomes the subject of desire for a variety of women, including a single mother (Jane Horrocks), a wealthy pregnant girl (Helen Bonham Carter) and a middle-aged socialite (Lynn Redgrave). Gavin eventually finds love with one of the three women in this engaging, low-key romantic comedy. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Essentially a long commercial for a popular line of stuffed toys, this tuneful animated feature chronicles the adventures of a pack of adorable pooches who sneak about saving other canines from the dogcatcher. The bulk of this outing has the critters questing for an elusive magical bone reputedly capable of imbuing its owner with fantastic powers. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The lonely wife of a struggling tobacco farmer succumbs to temptation and sleeps with a transient harvester in this drama set in Depression-ravaged North Carolina. The drifter offers her more excitement than the bored young mother has felt in years and it is no surprise that she and he begin plotting to murder her hard-working husband. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Helen Barton (Faye Dunaway) and her insurance salesman husband Morely (Daniel J. Travanti) set sail with Lexa (Kim Cattrall) and her husband Jeff (John Laughlin) in this modern-day pirate adventure. Jeff's late father and Morely are searching for the treasure the two buried on a remote island 35 miles from Cuba in 1959. Lexa and Morely are engaged in a secret love affair, while Helen suffers from glaucoma-related blindness. Ned Beatty plays the old salt Ellis. There are more crosses and double-crosses than depicted on the Jolly Roger, complete with excessive sex and violence, with an interesting premise ruined by stilted dialogue and uneven continuity. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Seedy newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) is assigned the Las Vegas police beat by his boss Tony Vincenzo (Simon Oakland). A series of murders has been plaguing the Glitter Capital; the victims, all beautiful showgirls, have had the blood drained from their bodies. Kolchak can't understand why the authorities are so uncooperative as he probes the case. Nor can he believe the evidence he's gleaned on his own: There can't possibly be a Dracula-like vampire stalking Las Vegas, or can there? Adapted by Richard Matheson from a novel by Jeff Rice, The Night Stalker debuted January 11, 1972 - -and on that fateful evening, this thriller became the highest-rated TV movie up to its time, as well as an instant cult classic. The film spawned a popular sequel, The Night Strangler (1972), and a 1974 TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi