Rick Marshall Movies
- 1992
- PG13
In Michael Lessac's lugubrious House of Cards, women's intuition beats out psychology in the battle against autism. The story begins in Mexico, where a little girl named Sally Matthews (Asha Menina) lives with her parents, scientists studying ancient ruins. When her father falls to his death, Sally is comforted by a Mayan mystic that tells Sally her father has gone to the moon. When Sally, her mother Ruth (Kathleen Turner), and her brother Michael (Shiloh Strong) return home to North Carolina, Sally begins to retreat into autism. She first stares silently at the night sky. Then she shrieks when Ruth wears a baseball cap the wrong way. Finally she develops the habit of scaling the roof of the house and other tall structures. This makes Ruth realize that there is something seriously wrong, and she takes her to see Dr. Jacob Beerlander, a psychiatrist who is an expert in autism. As Sally retreats more and more into herself, Beerlander and Ruth clash over the scientific approach versus the intuition of a mother. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathleen Turner, Tommy Lee Jones, (more)
- 1991
Nightmare in Columbia County was inspired by a true-life crime which occurred in South Carolina in the 1980s. An elusive psychopath is stalking a beauty contest winner. He kidnaps the girl's sister, then murders several people to cover his tracks. The police are at a loss to find the maniac, who remains in contact with the beauty queen via short, untraceable phone calls. William Devane plays the obsessed police detective who burns the midnight oil to put the clues together. Nightmare in Columbia County refuses to insult the intelligence of its audience with a sugarcoating of the events or with any tacked-on happy endings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Devane, Jeri Ryan, (more)
After winning an Academy Award for their documentary Down and Out in America (1986), actress-director Lee Grant and her producer-husband Joseph Feury filmed this comedy-drama based on an original script by playwright Monte Merrick. In a small Southern town, the McDermott family has owned and operated a popular chicken restaurant for years. Each of the three McDermott boys, Brian (Tim Quill), Kit (Dermot Mulroney), and Duncan (Sean Astin) expects to inherit part of the business from their father (Jim Haynie). While enjoying liberal amounts of skirt-chasing, marijuana-smoking, and alcohol consumption in their off hours, the McDermotts have big plans for the place, but then dad drops a bombshell -- he's sold the restaurant without consulting his family, leaving each son to struggle with his newfound, unwanted independence. In the meantime, mom (Melinda Dillon) considers reuniting with her old band. Because of the bankruptcy of its producer, Hemdale Film Corporation, Staying Together (1989) was shelved for over a year before its release. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Astin, Stockard Channing, (more)
- 1989
In this police drama, a rookie cop finds his idealism nearly destroyed when he discovers that most of the officers in his new precinct are corrupt. This is based on a true story. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
My Name Is Bill W reunited the stars of the highly acclaimed 1986 TV movie The Promise: James Garner and James Woods. This time Woods has the bigger role as the real-life Bill Wilson, who comes marching home from World War One with a "little" liquor problem. He drinks steadily throughout the Prohibition Era, but Wilson's habit doesn't catch up with him until he is ruined by the 1929 stock market crash. This disaster propels Wilson into flat-out alcoholism, costing him his family and his reputation. While drying out in detox, Wilson strikes up a friendship with Bob Smith (Garner), an alcoholic doctor. Through Smith's influence, Bill Wilson organizes a small band of chronic drinkers into what will eventually become Alcoholics Anonymous. The formation of AA consumes the emotional final third of My Name Is Bill W, which like its Garner/Woods predecessor The Promise was originally presented as a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV special. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Ryan White was the teenaged hemophiliac who contacted AIDS through a blood transfusion, then was barred from attending school in Kokomo, Indiana. All but ostracized by the community, Ryan's mother (Judith Light) engages the services of a high-powered attorney (George C. Scott) to win back her son's basic rights. While the film ends with Ryan triumphing over his human adversaries, no effort is made to sugarcoat the situation. Even after he has been welcomed by another school, we see how the boy is shunned by certain students and their parents; nor is there any glossing over the fact that Ryan's days are numbered, despite the boy's enthusiastic plans for the time he has left (young White died shortly after this TV movie was first telecast in 1989). Despite its inherent sadness, The Ryan White Story is a celebration of an exceptional young human being whose short life touched so many others in a positive, uplifting manner. While Lukas Haas portrays the title character, the real Ryan White appears in the small role of Chad, another hemophiliac AIDS victim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
