Brian Finn Movies
Louisa May Alcott's classic novel about a family of women in Civil War-era New England is again brought to the screen in this adaptation. The focus is on the March sisters, four young girls raised by their mother (Susan Sarandon) after their father leaves for battle as part of the Union Army. At the center is Jo March (Winona Ryder), an idiosyncratic would-be writer said to be based on Alcott herself, but the film also focuses on the stories of her sisters -- the more conventional Meg (Trini Alvarado), the innocent Beth (Claire Danes), and the precocious Amy (Kirsten Dunst and Samantha Mathis, who represent Amy at different ages.) The film spans years, following the girls' struggles with life's challenges and illustrating how their family connection remains strong in the face of tragedies large and small. Australian director Gillian Armstrong emphasizes the story's feminist elements, particularly in Jo's journey to independence. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Winona Ryder, Gabriel Byrne, (more)
- 1985
- PG
The serious problems in romancing young women are held up against the realities of a normal teen existence in this standard sex comedy without sex (as in graphic or nude). After meeting three new young women in one week, Danny (Kevin Anderson) ends up trying to handle all of them at once, and quite by accident. He invites Esme (Peri Kaczmarek) home while his mother is away on vacation, but Terry (Shaun Allen) and Marcy (Jessica Vitkus) come barging in, needing a place to stay. Danny only loves one of them, but his mother and everyone else has trouble believing that when they see the Arabian tent in his bedroom. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shaun Allen, Kevin Anderson, (more)
- 1984
There was once a time within living memory when people eagerly awaited a TV-movie starring Mister T. The Toughest Man in the World casts the former Laurence Turand as nightclub bouncer "Bruise" Brubaker. Marshmallow-soft on the inside, Bruise befriends a group of underprivileged kids at a youth center. The film bears a marked resemblance to Mister T's Saturday-morning cartoon series; whether it is better or worse is left to the viewer. I pity the fool who missed The Toughest Man in the World when it was first telecast on November 7, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
