Marshall Colt Movies

Deceptions, a made-for-cable below-average erotic thriller, tells the familiar story of a homicide cop who falls for a beautiful suspect. When wealthy socialite Adrienne (Nicollette Sheridan) kills her husband Douglas (Marshall Colt), she claims self-defense. Nick Gentry (Harry Hamlin), the cop assigned to the case is suspicious but becomes obsessed with the sensual young woman. There is little new here and director Ruben Preuss spends little time with plot or character development, depending on the audience's interest in the extremely attractive cast, including Hamlin and Sheridan who were married at the time. Both Hamlin and Sheridan give stilted, wooden performances and surprisingly generate very little heat in their love scenes. Deceptions is a remarkably predictable, non-erotic thriller with little to recommend it. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Rob Lowe stars in this screwball comedy as Richard Dice, the college dropout who comes back home to St. Augustine, Florida to get his act together. He is selected for jury duty and falls for the defendant Molly Gilbert (Colleen Camp), a young woman he later recognizes as his grade-school sweetheart. Richard tries to gather the evidence that will lead to her acquittal. He is not alone in his pursuit of an elusive audiotape that recorded the murder for which Molly is on trial. Jessica James plays Richard's mother, who is courted by Freddie Boneflecker (Rick Jason). Johnny Cash sings some tunes co-written with director Peter Bogdanovich. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Based on the popular novel by V. C. Andrews, Flowers in the Attic centers on such chancy topics as incest and misguided religiosity. When their father is killed, teenagers Cathy (Kristy Swanson) and Chris (Jeb Stuart Adams), together with their preteen siblings Cory (Ben Ganger) and Carrie (Lindsay Parker), are put in the care of their religious-zealot grandmother (Louise Fletcher). Grandma has never approved of the wanton lifestyle of the kids' mother Corinne (Victoria Tennant), and she has no intention of extending her love to the children. Even worse, Corinne is anxious to win back the love of her estranged father, who, knowing that Corinne and her late husband were cousins and thus incestuously linked, would never approve of any children from this union. Thus, the four children are locked in their grandmother's attic, far from the view of their unforgiving grandfather. How the kids cope with their imprisonment is the heart of the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though based on a true story which occurred in 1985, the made-for-TV Mercy or Murder? bears traces of the 1947 Fredric March film An Act of Murder. Robert Young stars as Roswell Gilbert, a 75-year-old Florida retiree happily married for 45 years. Gilbert's wife (Frances Reid) falls victim to Alzheimer's disease, which transforms their blissful existence into a six-year ordeal of unrelieved misery. Gilbert is eventually moved to murder his wife and end her suffering. He is tried for murder, and sent to prison chiefly because he refuses to apologize for what he has done. The performances of Robert Young and Frances Reid compensate for the windier, preachier passages of Mercy or Murder? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this hit thriller, a prosecuting attorney-turned-defense lawyer falls in love with a rich, charming client who's been accused of murdering his wife and her maid with a hunting knife. When an unknown assailant gruesomely slays San Francisco newspaper heiress Paige Forrester (Maria Mayenzet), her husband and business partner, Jack Forrester (Jeff Bridges), turns to corporate attorney Teddy Barnes (Glenn Close) for counsel. Teddy, who quit her job with the district attorney's office four years earlier over an ethical dilemma, has reservations about returning to criminal work; nevertheless, she accepts the assignment, convinced of Jack's innocence and eager to face off in court against her old boss, DA Thomas Krasny (Peter Coyote), who's about run for attorney general. With the help of investigator Sam Ransom (Robert Loggia), the recently divorced Teddy builds a strong defense for her client, though the work -- and her incipient romance with Jack -- cause strain in her relationship with her children. When Jack's innocence and his romantic intentions come into question, Teddy feels her life slipping back into a moral quagmire until a series of courtroom denouements set the stage for even bigger surprises. Big-name screenwriter Joe Eszterhas' follow-up to Flashdance, Jagged Edge was directed by Richard Marquand, who had previously lensed Return of the Jedi. Parts of Jagged Edge were shot on-location in San Francisco, whose City Hall provides the film's courtroom exteriors. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Obviously a labor of love for all concerned, Those Lips, Those Eyes is set in the 1950s. Pre-med student Thomas Hulce takes a job as a prop boy at an Ohio summer-stock theatre. His ineptitude nearly costs him his job, but Hulce is protected by Frank Langella, the troupe's leading man. Langella's character is instantly recognizable to anyone who's ever worked in community or summer theatre: possessed of more charm than talent, he is a "star" only so long as he remains a big fish in a small pond. While any other film might turn this character into a loser or villain, Langella emerges as the most likeable person in Those Lips, Those Eyes, especially when he orchestrates a romance between Hulce and chorus dancer Glynnis O'Connor. Almost as good as Langella, though not quite as lovable, is Jerry Stiller as Hulce's abrasive father. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Brian De Palma returns to the mind-blowing potential of telekinesis in the follow-up to his 1976 horror hit Carrie. While vacationing with his psychic son, Robin (Andrew Stevens), and close associate Childress (John Cassavetes), government agent Peter Sandza (Kirk Douglas) survives a terrorist attack, only to discover that it was staged by Childress so he could kidnap Robin for his own nefarious purposes. With the assistance of another psychic (William Finley) and Hester (Carrie Snodgress), an employee at the Paragon Institute for Psychic Research, Peter discovers a telekinetic Chicago high-school girl named Gillian (Amy Irving), who may be able to help him find Robin. Even though they have never met, Gillian can see Robin's memories and experiences telepathically, and she knows that he is in trouble. But Childress knows all about Gillian, too, and he is not about to let Peter's paternal quest get in the way of his plans for harnessing their psychic power. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide