Jason Horst Movies
A single mother and her difficult son find family life isn't necessarily all it's cracked up to be in this drama adapted from writer and professor Tobias Wolff's 1989 memoir of the same name. Nomadic, flaky Caroline (Ellen Barkin) just wants to settle down in one place, find a decent guy, and provide a better home for her handful of a son, Toby (Leonardo DiCaprio). When she moves to Seattle and meets the respectful, respectable Dwight Hansen (Robert DeNiro), she thinks she's got it made. Toby, however, feels differently after spending a few months with Dwight and his children and away from Caroline. The boy's stepfather-to-be seems to want to mold Toby into a better person, but to do so he emotionally, verbally, and physically abuses the kid. The marriage proceeds, and soon Caroline, too, recognizes Dwight's need to dominate everyone around him. She sticks with it, though, convinced it's the best thing for her son, and several years of dysfunction ensue. During this time, Tobias befriends another misfit, the possibly homosexual young Jonah (Arthur Gayle), while continuing to chafe under the yoke of his repressive stepfather. This Boy's Life provided the first lead role for future superstar DiCaprio. The film was written by Robert Getchell, who also penned such mother/son fare as Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and The Client. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Ellen Barkin, (more)
In this horror film, a number of scary and creepy stories are related as three young boys swap gruesome stories during a backyard camp out. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Jason (Alan Thicke) and Maggie (Joanna Kerns) are in for quite a few surprises--and shocks--when they attend Parents Night at Dewey High. For starters, they learn that their son Ben (Jeremy Miller) has been dating a girl named Rhonda (Andrea Barber) for several weeks. But this news is a lot easier to take than the revelation that Ben, hoping to impress his pals, has been spreading mendacious rumors that Rhonda is "easy". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Mike ($Kirk Cameron) talks Ben (Jeremy Miller) into taking over his paper route, with the proviso that Ben turn over 50 percent of the profits. Before long, Ben has palmed the job off on his pal Gary (Jason Horst), charging HIM 50 percent of the profits (that is, 50 per cent of Ben's 50 percent). And so it goes, with each successive paper boy accepting an even smaller financial cut, until the route is taken over by Stinky Sullivan (Jamie Abbott)...whereupon the wheel begins turning backward to Mike! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
The kids' grandparents Ed (Gordon Jump) and Kate (Betty McGuire) decide to give Mike (Kirk Cameron), Carol (Tracey Gold) and Ben (Jeremy Miller) $5000 each. The money was supposed to be part of the kids' inheritance, but Ed and Kate are anxious to find out how their grandchildren will handle so large a sum. Typically, Ben goes on a wild spending spree--but less typically, Mike and Carol display a hitherto unsuspected streak of generosity. This episode marks the second appearance of Mike's down-and-out friend Fred (Carmen Filpi). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this drama, a troubled 17-year old is involuntarily committed to a sleazy behavioral treatment center. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Erika Eleniak is the "broken angel" in this made-for-TV domestic drama. The troubled daughter of William Shatner and Susan Blakely, Erika drops out of sight after a shooting incident at her high school prom. Deducing that his daughter has become involved in drug dealing, Shatner goes on a nightmarish odyssey through the gang-controlled streets of LA. Every so often, Roxann Biggs, playing a social worker, delivers the Author's Message in spell-it-all-out terms. More praiseworthy for its intentions than its execution, Broken Angel first aired March 14, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
"Daddy" is Dermot Mulroney--a high-school-age kid who has no clue of what he's in for. Mulroney has gotten his girlfriend Patricia Arquette pregnant, less out of callousness than naivete. Arquette drops out of school, thinking she can drop back in anytime, while Mulroney puts his music lessons on hold for the "duration," also treating the situation as temporary. The film is remarkable in conveying the principles' utter lack of preparedness for their upcoming parental responsibilities. Some critics felt that the film should have been required viewing for teens who think themselves wise beyond their years simply because they've discovered sex. Made for TV, Daddy was first telecast April 5, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Yet another crisis hits the courtroom when New York City is rocked by a freak earthquake. Among those suffering is prosecutor Dan Fielding (John Larroquette), who ends up trapped in an elevator with abrasive court matron Roz Russell (Marsha Warfield)--and a pair of very large, very hungry sumo wrestlers. Meanwhile, Harry (Harry Anderson) has his hands full with a couple of precociously obnoxious adolescents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
