Barclay Hope Movies
A young girl learns some important lessons about life, love, friendship, and death from her ailing grandfather in this affectionate family drama starring Tom Bosley and Jordy Benattar. 12-year-old Casey Baker (Benattar) may be generations removed from her loving grandfather Charlie (Bosley), but they have so much in common that they're the very best of friends. They've been together since Casey was four years old and her mother died in a car accident. In the aftermath of that tragedy, Casey's father Jeff withdrew into his work, leaving his precocious daughter in the care of the aging widower. Then, one day, as Jeff is en route to Beijing on a business trip, Charlie suffers a massive heart attack and Casey's life changes forever. Later on at the hospital, the distressed girl does her best to convince Dr. Robert Graham not to subject Charlie to emergency surgery. When the doctors insist in consulting with an adult on the matter, Casey lies and tells them that she has consulted with her father on the matter, and that by no means is Charlie to be operated on. The decision ultimately turns out to save Charlie's life, as his body would have been too week to sustain the trauma of such an operation. As Jeff returns and Charlie recuperates, Dr. Graham's girlfriend Dr. Fran Gilford forms a close bond with the Bakers. A few weeks later, Charlie is healthy enough to take a brief vacation with his granddaughter, during which he takes the time to help Casey overcome her fear of public speaking, and eases her fears with a frank yet thoughtful discussion on death and the grieving process. Meanwhile, back home, Jeff summons the courage to ask Fran out on a date. Fran has grown tired of Dr. Graham's tactless bedside manner, and happily accepts. Jeff is doing his best to get back into the swing of fatherhood, and knowing that Charlie and Casey love to pass the time playing chess, he begins brushing up on his game so they can play together when Charlie is gone. Eventually, the inevitable happens and Charlie passes away, but not before having a heart-to-heart with Casey in which he insists that she limit her grieving time to just one month, and then move on with her life. Though at first it isn't easy, Casey does just that, eventually deciding to enter into a career as a cardiologist under the mentorship of her old friend Dr. Graham. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Bosley, Jordy Benattar, (more)
- 2006
This five-hour ABC miniseries depicts the events leading up to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, through the scope of a handful of intelligence and counter-terrorism officials in the U.S. government. Harvey Keitel plays John O'Neill, the counter-terrorism chief of the FBI whose belief that Osama bin Laden was planning assaults on U.S. soil fell on deaf ears and failed to gain the traction necessary to stop the events. In a tragic twist, O'Neill later went to work at the World Trade Center and was killed on that fateful day. Also starring Donnie Wahlberg and Stephen Root, The Path to 9/11 garnered controversy for its questionable depiction of the Clinton administration's failings related to the threat. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Michael Benyaer, (more)
- 2005
With "best friends" like Claudia (Claudette Mink), suburban housewife-mother Beth (Megan Gallagher) certainly doesn't need any enemies. Unbeknownst to Beth, the psychotic Claudia has always envied her lifestyle, and indeed is desirous of "becoming" Beth. Using secrets and intimate details known only to the two women, Claudia systematically ruins Beth's life and steals away her husband and children--while trusting Beth has no idea who among her circle of friends has been undermining her! But the worst is yet to come, as Claudia demonstrate that she will stop at nothing to achieve her goal. . .not even murder. A typical entry in the Lifetime Channel's Monday-evening TV movie package, Best Friends premiered on November 13, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Megan Gallagher, Barclay Hope, (more)
16-year-old Lindsay Dearborn (Brooke Nevin) is "Too Cool for Christmas," and wants no part of the family celebration being planned by her two male homosexual parents (Adam Harrington and Barclay Hope) and her kid sister Alexa (Jodelle Ferland. Nope, Lindsay is gonna spend the holidays skiing with her best buds, and that's the way it is. Her disdain for the Yuletide season comes to surface at the mall, where she disses a department store Santa Claus (played by George Hamilton) for his tacky beard and out-of-date clothing. Surprisingly, Santa agrees with Lindsay and asks her to help him undergo a complete "fashion makeover" so that he can win back the affections of Mrs. Claus (played by Donna Mills) Out of sympathy for the old guy, Lindsay does what he asks, then is informed that he's the genuine, bonafide, not-a-phony Santa Claus--and further, that he needs her help to deliver all his presents on Christmas Eve. Agreeing on the condition that she'll be back in town in time to go skiing, Lindsay embarks upon the thrill ride of her life--and in the course of the long winter's night, she learns a few lessons about the true meaning of Christmas. An alternate version of the film, which exchanges the homosexual couple for a straight one, was named A Very Cool Christmas and appeared on the Lifetime channel in December 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brooke Nevin, George Hamilton, (more)
One of the most popular television series of the late '70s science fiction boom gets a new look for the new millennium in remake, created as a made-for-cable miniseries. Four decades after the Cylon Wars, the Cylon robots (some of whom have since assumed human form) have launched a vicious nuclear attack, leaving only a few Colonial forces to lead the survivors to safety. Led by starship commander Adama (Edward James Olmos) and politician and possible presidential successor Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), the crew of the Battlestar Galactica searches the galaxy for the mythic 13th Colony of Kobol (otherwise known as Earth), their destination and only hope for survival. Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries also stars Jamie Bamber, James Callis, and Grace Park. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward James Olmos
- 2003
Jonathan Kent (John Schneider) is found in possession of a gun and a bottle of tequila. Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) has previously witnessed Jonathan in a bitter argument with billionaire Lionel Luthor (John Glover). And Lionel's assistant Dominic (Jason Connery) offers even more damaging testimony. Putting these pieces together, the authorities arrest Jonathan on suspicion of shooting Lionel in the Luthor mansion. It is up to Jonathan's adoped son, Clark (Tom Welling), to track down the actual assailant -- and is he in for a surprise! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A group of soldiers in the deep South take vengeance against one of their own when word circulates that he's become involved with a transgendered nightclub performer in this drama based on a true story. Barry Winchell (Troy Garity) was a young man with an educational disability who volunteered for the United States Army and found himself stationed in Tennessee, where he soon struck up a friendship with Justin Fisher (Shawn Hatosy), a high-strung fellow GI with a drug problem. One night with nothing to do, Winchell and Fisher tagged along with a group of soldiers who ended up taking in a drag show at a bar in Nashville. One of the performers on the bill that night was Calpernia Addams (Lee Pace), a transsexual and former combat medic in the Navy who was a veteran of the Gulf War before taking the first steps towards sexual reassignment. While Winchell, who was straight, was aware that Addams was at least partially still male, he found himself attracted to her for her intelligence and sensitivity, while she found herself similarly drawn to him. As Winchell and Addams' mutual attraction grew into a romance, the unstable Fisher found himself increasingly confused and angry with Winchell, and he struck back by spreading rumors that one of the men in their company was gay, with fingers soon pointing towards Winchell. Despite the Army's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, the company's drill sergeant (Barclay Hope) took it upon himself to find and remove the gay soldier in his ranks, while the increasingly vicious Fisher aligned himself with Calvin Glover (Philip Eddolls), a young and narrow minded recruit eager to strike out with violence against those different from himself. Directed by veteran filmmaker Frank Pierson, Soldier's Girl premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Troy Garity, Lee Pace, (more)
- 2002
- Add Mary Higgins Clark's You Belong to Me to QueueAdd Mary Higgins Clark's You Belong to Me to top of Queue
The second of six made-for-TV films based on the works of suspense novelist Mary Higgins Clark, You Belong to Me stars Lesley-Anne Down as Dr. Susan Chancellor, a call-in radio psychologist. When several wealthy women are murdered after checking in at a variety of "lonely hearts" luxury hotels, Susan launches an investigation, with the help of fellow "radio shrink" Dr. Richards (Daniel Morgenroth) and millionaire Aidan Masters (Barclay Hope). The key to the mystery may well be a ménage à trois involving two women and one man, but by the time Susan gets to the truth, her own life is in jeopardy. Filmed in Toronto, Mary Higgins Clark's You Belong to Me made its PAX network debut on February 24, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2001
The second of two made-for-TV biopics on the same topic (the first was Side by Side: The True Story of the Osmond Family), Inside the Osmonds was co-produced by Jimmy Osmond and Dick Clark, and as such can be regarded as reasonably accurate, if a tad on the hokey side. Matt Dorff's teleplay recounts the rise in popularity of the singing Osmond clan, from their humble beginnings in Utah onward. The act is strictly stag -- that is, it consisted largely of the Osmond Brothers -- until siblings Donny and Marie break out and matriculate to superstardom. Perhaps inevitably, the Osmond juggernaut begins to collapse under its own weight, due to dissension, jealousy, and the questionable financial escapade of the singers' father, George (played by Bruce McGill). The story ends in a tune-filled concert re-creation, featuring the real-life Osmonds (or as many as could be assembled herein). Standouts in the cast are Thomas Dekker and Patrick Levis as the younger and older Donny Osmond, Janaya Stephens as Marie, and Veronica Cartwright as the siblings' mother, Olive; there are also adequate Hollywood casting-service approximations of musician/politician Mike Curb and the Osmonds' longtime TV director Jack Regas. The abruptness of the continuity suggests that the film was originally much longer than its present two hours. Largely filmed in Toronto, Inside the Osmonds made its ABC network debut on February 5, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce McGill, Veronica Cartwright, (more)
As the result of a freak accident, Jay Berman (Barclay Hope) lies comatose in a hospital bed. Despite the admonitions of friends, family members and medical experts, Jay's steadfast wife, Lainey (Rebecca De Mornay), and the couple's young daughters refuse to accept the negative prognosis that Jay will never snap out of his coma, tenaciously holding on to the faint hope that he will somehow revive before the Christmas holidays. During her long vigil in the hospital, Lainey befriends Ted Merrick (Henry Czerny), whose own wife is in an irreversible coma, and whose response to the tragedy provides a startling contrast to Lainey's unswerving faith. Meanwhile, Lainey's loyal best friend, Alice (Melanie Mayron), experiences marital strife of a different variety as she tries to keep the Berman family's spirits up. Adapted from a novel by former nurse Elizabeth Berg, the made-for-cable Range of Motion was shown over the Lifetime network on December 4, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2001
Delta Burke takes on a dramatic role for the Lifetime original movie Dangerous Child, based on a story by Karen Stillman. Sally Cambridge (Burke) is a single mother with two sons, Leo (Marc Donato) and Jack (Ryan Merriman). Sixteen-year-old Jack has a lot of emotional problems, which he releases in uncontrollable angry fits toward his mom. She tries to get help for him, but no one believes her until Jack is involved in a tragedy. Due to the circumstances, Sally is mistaken for a child abuser and Jack's violent outbursts are finally recognized. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Delta Burke, Marc Donato, (more)
- 1987
- R
When his family is brutally murdered and his girlfriend raped by a renegade gang, a young trucker specially equips an eighteen-wheeler for a mission of vengeance and sets out in search of those responsible for the atrocities. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Michael Paul, Lawrence Z. Dane, (more)
