Lonny Chapman Movies

A burglar looking to make time with a beautiful woman after five years in prison falls into a dangerous trap in this action drama. Rudy (Ben Affleck) is serving time in prison for auto theft, where he becomes friendly with his cellmate Nick (James Frain). Nick has been enjoying a spicy courtship by mail with a woman named Ashley (Charlize Theron), who has sent him several enticing photos, even though he has been unable to send her any of himself. Rudy and Nick are to be released the same day, but Nick is killed in an altercation with only three days left to serve. Rudy is let out on schedule, and discovers Ashley, unaware that Nick is dead, is waiting for him. Swayed by her beauty, Rudy claims to be Nick, which turn out to be fun until Rudy meets Ashley's brother Gabriel (Gary Sinise). Gabriel runs with a group of outlaws planning on using Nick's knowledge of an Indian gambling casino in Michigan where he once worked in order to stage a massive robbery on Christmas Eve. Rudy soon realizes if keeps on being Nick, he gets to stay with Ashley, but he'll also have to go along with Gabriel's robbery, which could easily land him back in prison -- or get him killed. Clarence Williams III, Danny Trejo and Donal Logue play Gabriel's henchmen; Dennis Farina, Isaac Hayes, and Ashton Kutcher also highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Like The Vanishing (1988 and 1993), Nightwatch is an English-language version of a foreign-made film with the original director hired to remake his own movie. Ole Bornedal was the writer-director of the suspenseful 1994 thriller, Nattevagten, which had no U.S. release immediately on the heels of its success in Denmark. For the second time around, Bornedal directed, but Steven Soderbergh wrote a new script based on Bornedal's original film. Both were produced by Michael Obel. Nattevagten was Bornedal's directorial debut, and reviews praised the film for the claustrophobic atmospherics and suspense generated from the very first establishing scene. For the 1998 English-language remake, the artistic elements of the original gave way to name actors, slicker production values, and the more conventional grindhouse genre approach, opening with a brutal prostitute murder in a pre-credit sequence. University student Martin (Ewan McGregor) ignores warnings to take a city-morgue night watchman job for extra cash. Odd happenings at the morgue are linked to a serial killer, and Inspector Thomas Cray (Nick Nolte) investigates. Soon Martin's girlfriend Katherine (Patricia Arquette) learns that Martin has become a key suspect. However, some might suspect Martin's edgy friend James (Josh Brolin). Brad Dourif fills the role of a doctor, and young Alix Koromzay portrays vulnerable teen hooker Joyce. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

In this ironic drama, a hard working, devoted doctor finds herself accused of murder after the man who raped her dies under her care. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The A-Team brings its five-season run to a rousing conclusion as Face (Dirk Benedict) and Frank (Eddie Velez) pay a visit to a surprisingly "sane" Murdock (Dwight Schultz), now working as a waiter in an Italian restaurant. Unfortunately, the three A-Teamers are held hostage, along with the restaurant's owner and his daughter, by mobsters who intend to murder Attorney General Liebster (Chuck Walling). Sneaking out a message written in anchovies on a pizza delivery, Murdock manages to alert Hannibal (George Peppard) and B.A. (Mr. T) to his plight. The climax is a riotous free-for-all, with guns blazing and fists flying--resulting in a near-fatality for one of the Team members! (If the opening of this episode looks familiar, that's because it was lifted virtually in toto from the first-season A-Team entry "Holiday in the Hills".) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Wealthy metallurgist Harry Mitchell (Roy Scheider) lives to regret his extramarital affair with pretty young Cini (Kelly Preston). A trio of vicious blackmailers (John Glover, Robert Trebor, Clarence Williams III) show Mitchell a videotape of his most recent roll in the sack with Cini. They demand a huge amount of hush money, but Mitchell calls their bluff, going so far as to tell his politicially ambitious wife Barbara (Ann-Margret) about the affair. But the extortionists haven't even gotten started yet. Tying Mitchell to a chair, they force him to watch a tape of Cini being horribly murdered-with the evidence arranged so that Mitchell will be accused of the crime. But Mitchell remains firm in his refusal to pay up, whereupon he mounts a "fight fire with fire" plan all his own. 52 Pick Up was based on a novel by Elmore Leonard, which was previously filmed in 1984 as The Ambassador. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ann-Margret is beyond praise in her TV movie debut as the real-life Lucile Frey. A poor, minimally educated rural Iowa mother, Lucile learns on the occasion of the birth of her tenth child in 1952 that she is dying of cancer. Reasoning that her husband (Frederic Forest) is not responsible enough to take care of her children on his own, Lucile takes upon herself the task of finding suitable foster parents for her soon-to-be motherless brood. Not as depressing as it might have been, Who Will Love My Children? closes with the implication that Lucile's children were able to retain their family ties even after being separated for 29 years. The real-life Frey children were showcased the same evening that Who Will Love My Children premiered (February 15, 1983) on an installment of the ABC TV series That's Incredible. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Police officer Brian Taggart (Jack Kehoe) is targetted by the Internal Affairs division after an attempt to capture a gang of bank robbers goes awry, resulting in the needless death of a hostage. Charged with use of excessive force, Taggart begs Quincy (Jack Klugman) to defend him before the Police Hearing Board. Though none too keen on "cleansing" a loose-cannon cop against whom the evidence is apparently insurmountable, Quincy agrees to do what he can--if he can. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The owner of the Institute of Equestrian Therapy, a horse farm catering to handicapped youngsters, is brutally murdered--and the only witness is a mute youngster named Gabe (Ronnie Scribner). Quincy (Jack Klugman) is brought on the scene by way of his boss Dr. Astin (John S. Ragin), whose physically challenged foster son Andy (Brian Andrews) is also a patron of the Institute. Slowly but surely, Quincy determines that the murder was committed by a relative who is determined to take charge of the Institute and close it down...but the only way to prove this is to break through the wall of silence surrounding young Gabe. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Amy Medford (Jenny Agutter) is a dutiful housewife of the early 1900s. But when her husband objects to a wife with a career, Amy leaves her husband and comfortable lifestyle. She goes on to devote her life to teaching sight-and-hearing-impaired students at a tradition-bound special school. This film betrays its Disney-studio origins with an audience-rousing action climax, in which Amy's students take on a team of "normal" kids at a football game. Amy was produced by onetime Hollywood leading man Jerome Courtland. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Norma Rae finds Sally Field cast in the title role, a minimum-wage worker in a cotton mill. The factory has taken too much of a toll on the health of Norma Rae's family for her to ignore her Dickensian working conditions. After hearing a speech by New York union organizer Reuben (Ron Leibman), Norma Rae decides to join the effort to unionize her shop. This causes dissension at home when Norma Rae's husband, Sonny (Beau Bridges), assumes that her activism is a result of a romance between herself and Reuben. Despite the pressure brought to bear by management, Norma Rae successfully orchestrates a shutdown of the mill, resulting in victory for the union and capitulation to its demands. Based on a true story, Norma Rae is the film for which Sally Field won her first Oscar; an additional Oscar went to David Shire and Norman Gimbel for the film's theme song, "It Goes Like It Goes." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This made-for-TV thriller is yet another tale of swarming killer bees. A sub-par sequel to The Savage Bees, this time around, a scientist and his cohorts set out to protect some innocent school kids from the attacking insects. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi

Ken Wahl and Judge Reinhold are returning from service in the Army in the Panama Canal Zone. Reinhold kept a few Army-issue items, including a camera. He takes an aerial photo to check out the camera, unknowingly photographing a secret base to be used in the Bay of Pigs operation. Authorities find the negatives when they land and suspect the two to be spies, and the chase is on. ~ Rovi