Andi Chapman Movies
- 1999
Produced for the TNT cable network, this is the last in a short series of TV movies starring Burt Reynolds as retired police detective Logan McQueen. Something of a bargain-basement Die Hard, the plot is set in motion when a disturbed, vengeance-seeking Vietnam veteran named Arlin Flynn (Keith Carradine) takes over the landmark California hotel where congressman Robert Sinclair (David Rasche) is delivering a speech, then kidnaps Sinclair's family. The situation becomes personal for maverick former cop McQueen when his ex-partner Charlie Duffy (Charles Durning) is also kidnapped while trying to negotiate with Flynn. Despite the many deadly booby traps set in and around the besieged hotel by the crazed but clever villain, McQueen endeavors to defuse the crisis and rescue the hostages himself. Directed by longtime Burt Reynolds crony Hal Needham, Hostage Hotel first aired November 14, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Reynolds, Charles Durning, (more)
- 1996
Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) is receptive when a woman provides new information on a gruesome eight-year-old murder. As Sipowicz and Bobby Simone (Jimmy Smits) prepare to exhume the victim's remains, they are surprised by the indifference expressed by those closest to the dead man. But Simone has a bigger and more personal problem to deal with when he tries to find out the facts behind the shooting death of Diane Russell's (Kim Delaney) abusive father. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Filmed for television, Once You Meet a Stranger is a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, using the same Patricia Highsmith novel as its source but transforming the protagonists into females. A chance meeting brings together former child star Sheila Gaines (Jacqueline Bisset) and the deceptively charming social butterfly Margo Anthony (Theresa Russell). As the ladies converse, two major facts come to light: Sheila is saddled with an ex-husband who refuses to give him a divorce, while Margo despises her wealthy mother and wishes her dead. In what seems to be a playful hypothesis, Margo suggests that she and Sheila "trade murders"; she will kill Sheila's former husband, Sheila will do in Margo's mom, and the authorities won't be any the wiser. Figuring that Margo is a harmless eccentric at best and a nutcase at worse, Sheila laughs off the notion of such an "arrangement"--but she isn't laughing when her troublesome ex-hubby turns up dead! If you've seen Strangers on a Train, you know how this one turns out, so best to find another way to spend 95 minutes. Once You Meet a Stranger originally aired September 25, 1996 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Carol (Julianna Marguiles) goes on a fascinating and frightening ride-along with paramedics Shep (Ron Eldard) and Raul (Carlos Gomez). Back at the ER, Weaver (Laura Innes) continues to rub everyone (except the equally contentious Benton [Eriq La Salle]) the wrong way; Ross (George Clooney) treats Byron (Jameson Baltes), a nine-year-old fledgling pyromaniac; and Carter (Noah Wyle) goes to ridiculous lengths to impress Harper Tracy (Christine Elise). And on the domestic front, Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) has her hands full caring for her sister Chloe's baby daughter, Suzy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
When Benton (Eriq La Salle) breaks his hand in a parking-lot fracas, Carter (Noah Wyle) must replace him in surgery. Greene (Anthony Edwards) is forced to mediate in the ongoing battle of wills between Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) and Weaver (Laura Innes), and also tends to the needs of an elderly, abandoned woman (Celia Kushner). And outside the walls of the ER, paramedic Shep (Ron Eldard) again puts his life on the line. This ER episode originally aired on the same evening that the heavily promoted ABC series Murder One debuted, leading observers to wonder which series would pull the biggest audience (guess who won). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A young girl secretly adopts a runaway monkey only to have to deal with the simian's mischief-making tendencies in this family comedy. Young Eva (Thora Birch)'s dreams of having a pet are frustrated by the objections of her mother (Mimi Rogers) and allergic stepfather (Christopher McDonald). When she finds a stray capuchin monkey, she cannot resist it, and she keeps the animal -- which she names Dodger -- hidden in her room. Eva doesn't know that Dodger has just escaped from an evil organ grinder named Azro (Harvey Keitel, playing a regrettable Gypsy stereotype), who had trained the monkey to become an accomplished pickpocket. Old habits prove hard to break, and Dodger begins stealing everything in sight, landing Eva in plenty of trouble. Her problems are only compounded by the actions of the unscrupulous Azro, who wants to find Dodger and use him as part of an important robbery. The standard misunderstandings and slapstick comedy ensue, with the spunky Eva struggling to protect her new pet and herself. While probably too predictable to appeal to many adults, Monkey Trouble's skillful animal antics and resourceful young heroine may prove entertaining to youngsters. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Finster, Thora Birch, (more)
This 1993 remake of the 1950 film Born Yesterday (based on the 1946 Garson Kanin stage play) was retooled as a star vehicle for then-marrieds Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson. Roughneck self-made millionaire Harry Brock (John Goodman) wants to become a powerful Washington lobbyist. Brock's efforts to hobnob with DC uppercrust are compromised by his brash, embarrassingly vulgar mistress Billie Dawn (Melanie Griffith). He'd like to unload the ex-chorus girl, but he thinks he's in love: besides, she knows too much about his crooked dealings to be running around loose. Thus, Brock hires bookish Paul Verrall (Don Johnson) to educate Billie. Verrall does his job amazingly well, awakening Billie to her responsibilities as a loyal, honest American: along the way, the two fall in love. Featured in the cast are Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee and his star reporter (and wife) Sally Quinn, cast as DC power brokers. Also appearing in a small role is 1960s starlet Celeste Yarnell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melanie Griffith, John Goodman, (more)
Based on stories by Raymond Carver, Short Cuts follows 22 Los Angeles residents whose lives intersect over the course of a few days. Ann and Howard Finnegan (Andie MacDowell and Bruce Davison) are preparing for their son Casey's birthday party when the boy is injured in an auto accident and falls into a coma. Meanwhile, Andy (Lyle Lovett), a baker, seethes with anger over the birthday cake that wasn't claimed, and Howard's father, Paul (Jack Lemmon), decides that a visit with his ailing grandson is a good time to discuss his infidelities. Lois (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a new mother who watches over her baby when not making money doing phone sex, which bothers her husband, Jerry (Chris Penn), though he knows they need the money. Pilot "Stormy" Weathers (Peter Gallagher) takes a very literal approach to dividing up community property with his ex-wife (Frances McDormand). Doreen (Lily Tomlin) is trying on to hold her marriage with Earl (Tom Waits), who is a good man on the rare occasions that he's sober. Zoe (Lori Singer), a classical musician, is trying to find some way to connect with her mother, Tess (Annie Ross), a jazz singer. Dr. Ralph Wyman (Matthew Modine) and his wife, Marian (Julianne Moore) put their bickering on hold while they have dinner with another couple, Stuart and Claire Kane (Fred Ward and Anne Archer). Stuart and his pals Gordon and Vern (Buck Henry and Huey Lewis) earlier went on a fishing trip where they discovered the body of a drowned woman but decided not to report it until the end of the weekend. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andie MacDowell, Bruce Davison, (more)
- 1991
Danielle Steel's Palomino opens with a female photographer named Samantha Taylor visiting the California ranch of her good friend in order to get herself together after Samantha's marriage dissolves. While there Samantha falls for Tate Jordan, one of the ranch hands, but he feels he is unworthy because her ex-husband is a famous television personality. He breaks off their relationship. Samantha works through her grief by photographing cowboys. Soon she suffers a terrible accident that leaves her paralyzed. She goes through a painful rehabilitation. Her friend passes away, leaving Samantha the ranch in the will. Samantha returns to the ranch and begins to put her life back together yet again when Tate returns and the pair confronts the lingering pain from their brief time together. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1991
This police story chronicles the true story of two partners who started out as best friends and later became the bitterest of enemies when one of them becomes corrupted. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1990
It's a tough uphill climb for officer Joanne Molenski (Darlanne Fluegel) as she assists Hunter (Fred Dryer) during his investigation of a series of murders. In each instance, the female victim was brutally raped--a fact that triggers unhappy memories for Molenski. Despite the wear and tear on her emotions, she insists upon sticking with the investigation; and in the end, it is Molenski who provides the insight which helps Hunter crack the case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Looking like death warmed over, Jack Lemmon plays the aging father of Ted Danson. Always proud of being able to fend for himself, Lemmon despises being reliant upon others, but his enfeebled state does not allow him his old independence. For his part, Danson resents having to care for his dad as he would for an infant. Things take an upward turn when a "Doctor Feelgood" (Zakes Mokae) enters the scene, pumping Lemmon full of self-confidence. But then Lemmon is stricken with cancer, an affliction that he can't jolly himself out of. As the reality of his imminent death strikes everyone around him, Lemmon retreats into fantasy, recalling the past happy events of his life as though they're happening here and now. The rest of the family humors their dying dad, and in so doing draws closer together than they've been in years. TV sitcom maestro Gary David Goldberg co-produced and directed Dad, and also adapted the screenplay from the novel by William Wharton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Ted Danson, (more)
Thanks to a mix-up at birth, two sets of twins are separated and grow up in radically different social circles. The four baby girls grow up to be Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin-and Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin. One of the Midlers is a ruthless New York CEO, while one of the Tomlins is her air-headed "save the whales" business partner. Thousands of miles away in a Southern industrial town, a blue-collar Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin work for a company that the white-collar Midler plans to devour in a hostile takeover. The "poor" Midler and Tomlin head to New York to argue against the takeover, inevitably getting mixed up with the "rich" Midler and Tomlin. Three of the four twins team up to save the small-town company, while CEO Midler remains as nastily greedy as ever. Clear enough? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Midler, Lily Tomlin, (more)
