John Sacret Young Movies
- 2004
The life of wealthy Ellen McCarthy (Marlo Thomas) is thrown into disarray when her husband Grove (William Devane) disappears at sea during a voyage on the family yacht. Evidence indicates that Grove has drowned, and the police have reason to suspect that Ellen was responsible. As the investigation proceeds, it appears as though Ellen and her husband having been living lie (unbeknownst to Ellen, of course), and that everyone around the couple have been covering up their own horrible secrets, possibly tied in with corporate intrigue. And what exactly is the story concerning Ellen's son Josh (Louis Corbett). First telecast by the Lifetime channel on March 15, 2004, the made-for-cable Deceit was based on a novel by Clare Francis, which had previously been adapted for British television in 2000 with Francesca Annis in the lead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
It is just possible that the made-for-TV biopic Muhammad Ali: King of the World was hastily pieced together to capitalize on the popular theatrical documentary When We Were Kings and the publicity attending the upcoming Will Smith movie vehicle Ali. Actually, the title of the TV film was something of a misnomer, since the story covers the formative days of Ali's career and fame, when he was still fighting under his given name Cassius Clay. Played by Terrence DaShon Howard, the young Clay slugs his way from poverty-stricken obscurity to the 1960 Olympics, garners both positive and negative publicity with his incessant self-worship and improvised rhymes, and proves that he is more than just talk when he defeats Sonny Liston (Steve Harris) in 1964. It is in fact at this point that the film draws to a close, with a few hints of what is to come manifested in an early meeting between the impressionable Clay and Islamic activist Malcolm X (Gary Dourdan). Based on the bestselling 1998 biography by David Renwick, Muhammad Ali: King of the World debuted January 10, 2000, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terrence Howard, Gary Dourdan, (more)
- 2000
One of two sci-fi/fantasy series that premiered October 27, 2000, on UPN (see separate entry for Freedom), Level 9 was co-created by executive producer John Sacret Young and mystery novelist Michael Connelly. The series is based on the not-entirely-incredible premise that the next generation's security leaks, federal crimes, and international crises will be the handiwork of rogue computer hackers. What is needed, then, is a highly skilled team of "technological enforcers" to take on the new breed of cyber-crooks. The members of the top-secret government agency Level 9 include Annie Price (Kate Hodge), Jerry Hooten (Romany Malco), Jargon (Esteban Powell), Roland Travis (Fabrizio Filippo), Joss Nakano (Susie Park), Sosh (Kim Murphy), and Wiley (Max Martini). Appearing in the pilot episode is Tim Guinee as Detective John Burrows, whose plot function is promptly taken over by the "maverick" Wiley. Burdened with surprisingly unlikable characters, Level 9 has to rely upon its story values and top-level special effects. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fab Filippo, Kate Hodge, (more)
- 1999
In this racially charged drama, Sally (Dana Delaney) is a white woman who is making out with Edward (Vondie Curtis-Hall), her black husband in a parked car when a group of policemen surround the car and murder Edward. The officers then plant phony evidence at the scene of the crime that would point the blame away from them; Sally knows this is a sham and is determined to find out the truth and bring the cops to justice. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dana Delany, Vondie Curtis-Hall, (more)
- 1998
Reuniting several China Beach talents, this three-hour, fact-based TV miniseries dramatizes the apparent government cover-up of the after-effects of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Exposure to toxic agents by some 100,000 men and women led to skin rashes, respiratory infections, and cancer, but the Department of Defense claimed the Gulf War Syndrome was psychosomatic. When Vietnam veteran and retired U.S. Secret Service agent Jim Tuite (Ted Danson) begins work with Sen. Donald Riegle (Brian Dennehy), he sees vets denied proper medical benefits and concludes billions in payouts would result if the government admitted that toxic chemicals were sprayed about during the war. Healthy Chris Small (Matt Keeslar) comes back from the Gulf War in only a few months with digestive and respiratory problems, while his wife Teri (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and baby daughter both experience rashes from contact with Chris. In the post-war operations, Waco farmer Jared Gallimore (Steven Weber) stumbles across uranium dust and has brain tumors by the time he goes home to his sister Jerrillyn Folz (Marg Helgenberger). Interview footage with real soldiers and officers is intercut into the drama, filmed in Toronto and the California Mojave Desert. Premiered May 31, 1998 on Showtime. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Danson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, (more)
- 1989
- PG13
In El Salvador in the late '70s, the wealthy few rule the impoverished many. To maintain the status quo against peasant insurgents and labor organizations, the military regime brutalizes the populace, in particular, rebels who espouse Marxism. Assassinations, executions, and disappearances become commonplace. When the Vatican elevates conservative Oscar Arnulfo Romero (Raul Julia) to archbishop, the military rulers believe he will quiet the masses and the activist priests who support them. "Blessed are the peacemakers," he will preach. At first, that is precisely what he does. But when soldiers thwart voters, shoot indiscriminately into crowds, torture dissidents, and kill a dedicated priest and friend of Romero, the archbishop condemns the regime in radio messages, rebukes quisling bishops, and leads a peasant march into a church occupied by soldiers. He also insults and defies the El Salvadoran president (Harold Cannon), an iron-fisted general, who, ironically, has the same last name as the archbishop Romero, but is not related. The country by this time is in the throes of civil war. In 1980, when military death squads continue their reign of terror even though the government institutes so-called reforms, Romero continues to speak out, gaining international attention. The film then builds to its climax, a scene recreating the events of Monday, March 25, 1980, when Romero is saying mass for his recently deceased mother. Attendees include four men who have no intention of reciting mea culpas or receiving the Holy Eucharist. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raul Julia, Richard Jordan, (more)
Director Lynne Littman has created an effective, understated portrayal of the cost of a nuclear war in human terms, in a film as far removed from the fake hyperbole of action and disaster movies as the natural world is from cartoons. Set in the small California town of Hamlin, the Wetherly family and their everyday concerns open the story. The trivia that fills their secure, ordinary existence disappears when a TV show is interrupted with the announcement that nuclear bombs have exploded in the major cities on the East Coast, and then the entire scene is erased in an increasingly white, blank movie screen -- meant to show that nuclear blasts have been detonated in California as well. Over 1000 people die in the first month from radiation sickness, but the mother in the Wetherly family (Jane Alexander) displays great inner strength as she cares for orphaned children the family has taken under its wing and goes on sustaining those that remain in her own family. At one point, she quietly conveys to her daughter the happiness of intimacy between two adults, knowing her daughter will not live to experience adult love. As these individuals and the children cope with day-to-day existence, there is never any intrusion of overt horrors, the focus remains on the individuals and the way in which they adjust to the inevitable. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Alexander, William Devane, (more)
- 1981
A 1962 novel by Edward Abbey was the source for this 1981 TV movie. Buddy Ebsen plays a stubborn oldster who refuses to leave his mountain property when it is targeted for a government missile base. Not even a promised $100,000 compensation will induce Ebsen to leave. Young land developer Ron Howard is sent to vacate Ebsen, but soon Howard joins the older man in defying the military. Soon it boils down to a battle of wills between Ebsen and the equally bullheaded army officer Michael Conrad. Fire on the Mountain may have your typical "all-TV" cast, but it's a good one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ron Howard, Buddy Ebsen, (more)
- 1980
The 2-part TV movie Rumor of War was based on the 1977 memoirs of Vietnam veteran Philip Caputo. Brad Davis stars as Caputo, who during the mid-1960s was a Marine lieutenant. In battle after battle, Caputo performs his duties admirably, even when questioning the wisdom of America's Vietnam involvement. As both the war and the body count escalate, Caputo suffers a nervous breakdown. A Rumor of War bears an inevitable resemblance to the much-earlier antiwar epic All Quiet on the Western Front, right down to the presence of a father-figure combat sergeant (Brian Dennehy). Its few cliches aside, the film is a powerful indictment of the brutalization and depersonalization of America's Vietnam forces. A Rumor of War premiered on September 24 and 25, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
This heart-warming made-for-television drama chronicles a widowed father's struggle to keep his family intact. He has three sons, and one of them is mentally retarded. The boy has a gift for sports and his father enrolls him in the Special Olympics. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1977
An ex-priest helps exorcise the demons that have taken over the residents of an exclusive girls' school in this made-for-TV supernatural thriller. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
