Matthew Weisman Movies
This Chris Soth screenplay is directed by Dean Semler, the Oscar-winning Dances With Wolves cinematographer who also did cinematography for Waterworld and Last Action Hero. The film's action hero is Howie Long (Broken Arrow), Fox Sports commentator and former NFL star. Wyoming firefighter Jesse Graves (Long) leads a team of smoke-jumpers who parachute into forest fires. Inside a penitentiary, killer Earl Shaye (William Forsythe) devises an escape plan in order to recover a hidden $37 million. He murders a fellow inmate and takes his place in a group of convicts headed out to fight a forest fire. They make an escape, pose as visiting Canadian firefighters, and are ready to look for the loot when retired firefighter Wynt (Scott Glenn) discovers the escape. Shaye's group rescues trapped ornithologist Jennifer (Suzy Amis, Titanic's Lizzy Calvert). Jesse parachutes in, but time is running out, since the original fire and the backfire will soon combine to create a firestorm. Filmed on location in British Columbia with fire-enhancement special effects by Chris Corbould. Not to be confused with Firestorm: 2024 A.D. (1996) or Firestorm: 72 Hours in Oakland (1993). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Howie Long, Scott Glenn, (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)
Emile Ardolino directed this treacly sequel to Three Men and a Baby. The middle-aged trio of doting fathers -- Peter the architect (Tom Selleck), Michael the cartoonist (Steve Guttenberg) and Jack the actor (Ted Danson) -- have returned, sublimating their swinging bachelor instincts in order to raise 5-year-old Mary (Robin Weisman). The child of Jack and Sylvia (Nancy Travis), Mary was abandoned by Sylvia in the foyer of the boys' apartment house in the first film. In five years, Mary has grown from a diaper-filling infant to a cute kid who insists that the guys sing rap songs to her before she goes to bed. Sylvia now also lives with the bachelors as she pursues a promising Broadway career. Peter, Michael, and Jack dote on the moppet and parenthood has rarely seemed more idyllic. But Sylvia once again disrupts their placid existence. Accepting the marriage proposal of British director and surly cad Edward (Christopher Cazenove), she announces that she and Mary are going to move to England, leaving the boys high and dry. When it turns out that Edward is secretly planning to ship Mary away to a boarding school after the marriage, the three guys race frantically to disrupt Sylvia's wedding. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, (more)
Director of the first Police Academy movie, Hugh Wilson is also responsible for the action comedy-caper Burglar. Bernice Rhodenbarr (Whoopi Goldberg) is a retired cat burglar who works at a bookstore. Bad cop Ray Kirschman (G.W. Bailey) blackmails her, so she agrees to do a job for Dr. Cynthia Sheldrake (Lesley Ann Warren) in order to get the money. While she is doing the robbery, she accidentally stumbles onto the scene of a murder. Since she is the prime suspect, Bernice is forced into many chase scenes as she plays detective to find out who the real murderer is in order to clear her name. She is aided by her only two friends: the hapless dog groomer Carl Hefler (Bob Goldthwait) and the drunken floozy Frankie (Elizabeth Ruscio). Along the way, she almost gets killed by numerous tough guys while being closely followed by two stupid cops (Anne DeSalvo and John Goodman). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Whoopi Goldberg, Bobcat Goldthwait, (more)
- 1987
- PG
Jason Bateman stars in this sequel to Teen Wolf as the original's cousin, Todd. Though not a boxer, he receives a college boxing scholarship, and upon discovering that he is afflicted with the same werewolf genetics, transforms from unremarkable to unbelievable. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Bateman, Kim Darby, (more)
- 1985
- PG
After sitting on the shelf for some time, Teen Wolf was released on the heels of the hugely successful Back to the Future in an attempt to cash in on the huge popularity of star Michael J. Fox. Teen Wolf chronicles the plight of Fox as a small-town nerd who can't seem to score a basket on the court or a point with his dream girl. Things change, however, once he discovers his family's hereditary secret, lycanthrope. As he begins to look hairier and hairier, his team begins to win basketball games and his dream girl begins to show interest in his unusual talent. His story does not progress without complications, however. His best friend, an opportunistic weasel, begins to exploit him beyond his limits of toleration, and his dream girl is captive to the requisite bully boyfriend, who, of course, captains the arch-rival basketball team. And then, to top it all off, Fox's other best friend is in love with him. Unbelievably, this film was a box-office success and eventually inspired an even worse sequel, Teen Wolf Too, several years later -- a film which Fox wisely declined. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael J. Fox, James Hampton, (more)
Shortly after The Terminator wrote his name in bold neon lights across box-office grosses, this action thriller took advantage of the hitherto (almost) unexploited comic side of star Arnold Schwarzenegger and paired him with Rae Dawn Chong. Colonel Matrix (Schwarzenegger) is retired and living peaceably with his 10-year-old daughter when she is kidnapped by the henchmen of an exiled Latin American dictator. The dictator's plan is to reinstate himself in power by eliminating the president of his country, using Matrix to kill him (or he will kill the kidnapped daughter). Matrix escapes from the plane that is supposed to be carrying him to his mission and then proceeds to go from one violent confrontation to the next as he hunts down the dictator and moves to rescue his daughter. Helping him is Cindy (Chong), who has her own reasons for wanting the dictator dead. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, (more)
