Marvin Karon Movies
Longtime film editor Jon Poll (Meet the Fockers and Austin Powers in Goldmember) makes his directorial debut with this coming-of-age comedy about a wealthy public school system newcomer (Anton Yelchin) who wins over his skeptical classmates by serving as a surrogate psychiatrist to the troubled student body. Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis, and Kat Dennings co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey, Jr., (more)
- 1997
- PG13
Based on Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust, a book by Gay Block and Malka Drucker, this made-for-cable drama was intended as the first of a trilogy inspired by the same literary source. The film is divided into two segments, both set in Europe during WWII. Scripted by Ernest Kinoy, "Mamusha" stars Elizabeth Perkins as a Polish-Catholic nanny who saves her orphaned Jewish charge by literally hiding the child in plain sight, posing as the child's mother. And "The Woman on the Bicycle," adapted by Susan Nanus, features Sela Ward and Fritz Weaver in the story of a fearless French resistance fighter who smuggles secret papers for the Allies while going about her daily cheese deliveries (this same character was fictionalized in the 1963 theatrical epic The Longest Day). Executive-produced by Barbra Streisand and directed by Peter Bogdanovich, Rescuers: Stories of Courage -- Two Women made its Showtime cable debut on October 5, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Perkins, Sela Ward, (more)
- 1995
Outraged by the actions of his new landlord John Taylor (Karl Pruner), Fraser (Paul Gross) organizes a tenants' protest--and succeeds only in getting practically everyone evicted. Refusing to give up the fight, Fraser takes his case all the way to the Chicago city council, whereupon Taylor takes violent revenge upon the remaining tenants. Fraser's climactic filibuster is reminiscent of the 1939 film classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, which may explain why this episode's alternate title is "Thank You Kindly, Mr. Capra." Katayoun Amini, real-life wife of series regular David Marciano (Ray), is here cast as Ray's ex-wife Angela. First broadcast on Canadian television, "One Good Man" made its US debut on February 9, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paul Gross, David Marciano, (more)
- 1994
Fraser (Paul Gross smells a rat when his neighbor Charlie (Brendan Kelly) suffers from one too many "accidents." Promising Charlie's daughter Lucy (Azura Bates) that he'll investigate her dad's streak of bad luck, Fraser discovers that Charlie is the unwilling fall guy for an insurance scam. In his efforts to help Charlie out, Fraser runs afoul of investigative reporter Mackenzie King (Madolyn Smith-Osborne), who thinks that the displaced Mountie is a part of the scam. Meanwhile, Fraser's still-unlicensed pet wolf Diefenbaker runs afoul of the local dog catcher. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paul Gross, David Marciano, (more)
- 1990
Meredith Baxter-Birney stars against type as a mother whose child dies, prompting her to kidnap another baby to replace him. Years pass, and when the maturing child begins having nightmarish flashbacks, he begins to question his true identity. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
- Starring:
- Meredith Baxter, David Ogden Stiers, (more)
Anna Dunlap (Diane Keaton) is a divorced mother living is Boston with her 6-year-old daughter Molly (Asia Viera). She supports herself and her daughter by working part time in a lab and teaching piano. Her ex-husband Brian (James Naughton) is a Washington lawyer who has since remarried. Anna meets Leo Cutter (Liam Neeson) and she and the Irish sculptor begin a torrid and passionate love affair. Molly walks in while the two are making love and lies down to sleep next to her mother, oblivious of their act of intimacy. Molly innocently relates the incident to Brian, and the livid lawyer sues for custody of the little girl. An ugly courtroom battle begins, with Leo being accused of molestation of a minor and Anna branded as an amoral, unfit mother. Her attorney Muth (Jason Robards) levels with Anna and tells her she must choose between Molly and her lover. Directed by Leonard Nimoy, this powerful drama is taken from the best-selling novel by Sue Miller. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Diane Keaton, Liam Neeson, (more)
With a script that is too anemic for the red-blooded actors featured here, this anorexic comedy moves slowly up and down the corporate ladder with the fortunes and misfortunes of several company men. Jack Issel (Judge Reinhold) gets a VIP position at INC in the PR department (business-speak). Suddenly the corporation's shady activities come to the fore -- especially when a U.S. plant is set to close for a move south of the border where labor is almost free. Enmeshed in these tangles, Jack is hardly prepared to fall in love with the leading activist against the plant closing -- but he does. Meanwhile, a lot of other subplots quickly dispose of potentially budding villains like Stedman (Danny DeVito) the inside trader -- too bad. DeVito and Don King (appearing as himself) would have made a great team. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Judge Reinhold, Eddie Albert, (more)
- 1985
In this taut action drama, an unbalanced Vietnam vet goes off the beam and takes over Central Park in this made for cable outing that was filmed entirely in Toronto. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1984
A Matter of Sex is the calculatedly misleading title of a based-on-fact TV movie, which originally bore the more suitable title Women of Willmar. In 1976, the women working in a bank in Willmar, Minnesota become incensed because less-qualified men are being promoted over them. Head teller Jean Stapleton, with the help of attorney Peter Dvorsky and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, organizes an employee's union. When the chauvinistic bank officers cause negotiations to break down, Stapleton and seven other female employees go on strike--a job action which lasts for two years, despite political and social pressure from the community. Director Lee Grant, whose daughter Dinah Manoff is cast as one of the strikers, had previously helmed a documentary based on the same incident, The Willmar Eight--which was telecast on PBS the night before the January 1984 network premiere of A Matter of Sex. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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