Diane Perella Movies
An average American family suffers from a grave and unexpected loss that forces its members to confront past issues in this all-star ensemble drama from acclaimed director Dennis Lee (Jesus Henry Christ). Julia Roberts stars as Lisa Taylor, the wife of a college professor, Charlie (Willem Dafoe), living in the Midwest. As the tale opens, the aging couple are proud parents of two grown and reasonably successful children, Michael (Ryan Reynolds) and Ryne (Shannon Lucio). Then tragedy strikes: not long after Michael arrives in town (visiting from Manhattan), Lisa perishes in a fatal car accident, leaving the family bereft of its matriarch. As the devastated Taylors feebly attempt to cope with their loss, tensions resurface that have long boiled beneath the surface between Charlie and Michael; meanwhile, Michael's estranged wife, Kelly (Carrie-Anne Moss), turns up at the funeral to pay her respects to Lisa and gradually begins making amends with Michael. When Michael announces to the family that he's planning to publish a memoir about his childhood, Lisa's younger sister, Jane (Emily Watson), grows horrified that it will unearth devastating long-buried skeletons from the family's past; moreover, it seems that prior to her death, Lisa was guarding one major secret of her own that lingers just out of view and threatens to destroy everyone's sense of familial security when it finally comes to light. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds, (more)
Chuck Norris stars in this made-for-TV thriller as Joshua McCord, a Presidential secret agent. Though still quite virile and limber, McCord feels that he is getting too old for his job, thus he begins training a younger man named Deke Slater (Dylan Neal) as his replacement, using Zen and proper nutrition as primary teachings tools. But McCord springs back into action -- and kicks plenty of serious butt in the process -- when the First Lady is kidnapped by a terrorist organization. First telecast by CBS on April 2, 2000, The President's Man was followed two years later by a sequel, The President's Man: A Line in the Sand. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chuck Norris, Dylan Neal, (more)
- 1995
It's Reversal of Fortune meets Jerry Springer in this made-for-TV miniseries, which concerns the true-life tale of a Texas oil magnate on trial for conspiring to murder his brassy ex-wife -- and for very successfully doing away with her lover and daughter. Texas Justice stars Peter Strauss as Cullen Davis, a millionaire businessman who falls in love with the tempestuous, lower-class Priscilla (Heather Locklear), a young woman with a checkered past and a temper to match. When their relationship goes sour, Cullen's jealousy flares up and he does the unthinkable -- but in the courtroom, he attempts to clear his name with the help of the grandstanding, high-powered attorney Richard Haynes (Dennis Farina). ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
This low-rent Disney comedy mines the Home Alone territory for labored laughs. Brian Bonsall stars as the eleven-year-old Preston Waters, who is low-kid on the family totem pole -- his father Fred (James Rebhorn) lectures him on saving his money, while his older brothers, Ralph (Michael Faustino) and Damian (Chris Demetral), are pushy bullies. The final insult arrives when Preston is invited to a friend's birthday party -- held at an amusement park -- and Preston doesn't have enough money to go on any of the good rides. Preston wishes to the gods in heaven that he had his own money. At that point, on-the-lam criminal Quigley (Miguel Ferrer) takes his cue and runs over Preston's bike with his car. Eager to leave the scene before the cops arrive, Quigley hurriedly gives Preston a half-written check and vamooses. Preston looks down at the check and notices that the amount has not been filled in, so he obligingly completes the transaction by adding six zeroes and a one -- for a million dollars in cold cash. This amount, by a strange coincidence, happens to be the exact amount that Quigley has deposited in a money-laundering bank run by his partner-in-crime Biderman (Michael Lerner). Preston goes to the bank, cashes the check, and purchases a neighborhood mansion with all the toys he has ever dreamed of owning. But Quigley and his gang want the money back, and they are on their way to Preston's new home for a housewarming he will never forget. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Bonsall, Karen Duffy, (more)
Like George Lucas' American Graffiti, Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused is an affectionate look at the youth culture of a bygone era. While Lucas took aim at the conservative 1950's, Linklater jumps ahead a generation to the bicentennial year of 1976 to celebrate the joys of beer blasts, pot smoking and Frampton Comes Alive. Set on the last day of the academic year, the film follows the random activities of a sprawling group of Texas high schoolers as they celebrate the arrival of summer, their paths variously intersecting at a freshmen hazing, a local pool parlor and finally at a keg party. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason London, Wiley Wiggins, (more)
- 1992
Two rich boys decide to try their hands at manual labor and so get summer jobs working on a Texas offshore oil rig in this taut thriller. They look forward to it until they encounter a mean-spirited boss who resents them because of their wealth. He mercilessly picks upon them and they wonder if they will survive until helpful Bo Landry shows up. Bo seems to be such a good person and the boys are glad to have him on their side. Unfortunately, things are not what they seem and soon their lives are really in danger. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Something stinks in tiny Norman, Texas and New York detective Kelly, who has come to attend the funeral of his brother-in-law, is determined to find out what it is. Much of the problem stems from the control a San Antonio gangster has over the town's lawmen. This actioner chronicles Kelly's crusade to clean up the dirty little town. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1991
"Saying 'no' to Melanie could lead to murder--and more." Thus did the CBS Network publicity department lure the viewer into watching the made-for-TV Seduction in Travis County. Based liberally on fact, the film stars Lesley Ann Warren as an accused murderer. Peter Coyote is the dynamic, married young attorney whom Warren twists around her little finger. He wins her acquittal, and also her eternal deadly vigilance. Coyote says "no" to Warren--and we all know where it will lead. With traces of the 1950 Barbara Stanwyck film The File on Thelma Jordon, Seduction in Travis County delivers a few chills but very little believable motivation for the characters' actions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lesley Ann Warren, Peter Coyote, (more)
- 1991
- R
In the made-for-cable film Without Warning: The James Brady Story, Beau Bridges stars in the true-life story of the Ronald Reagan press secretary who was critically wounded in the 1981 assassination attempt on Reagan by John Hinckley. Brady was left crippled by the shooting, and the film follows his recuperation process, as well as his fight for more stringent gun control. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beau Bridges, Joan Allen, (more)
- 1989
- R
Adam Horovitz, of Beastie Boys fame, plays a troublesome teen who is shipped off by his wealthy parents to an institute for "problem" youths. This is the sort of place where any sign of rebellion is dealt with in draconian fashion. The strapped-down Horovitz tells his life story to psychiatrist Donald Sutherland. In flashback, we see a fairly docile young Horovitz, whose chance involvement in a rumble instigated by gang leader Don Bloomfield leads to an arrest. Appearing in court, Horovitz is railroaded into the institute by his father, more as a means of getting even with his divorced wife than out of any concern for his son. Sutherland tries to help, but Horovitz betrays the doctor's trust once too often. Only by extricating himself from the influence of Bloomfield does Horovitz have any chance for redemption--and only by undergoing a domestic reversal of his own is Sutherland truly able to aid the boy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Sutherland, Adam Horowitz, (more)
- 1987
- R
Set in a small town in Texas, a young man begins to lose interest in his sex-brained girlfriend and begins falling for her mother instead. This romantic comedy-drama features C. Thomas Howell, Ann-Margret, Kelly Preston and Charles Durning. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann-Margret, C. Thomas Howell, (more)
- 1986
Mariette Hartley stars in this groundbreaking TV movie as Gail Springer, a widowed mother on the horns of an outwardly familiar romantic dilemma. Equally in love with two different people, Gail has the devil's own time choosing between them. What made this film unique (at least when it initially aired over the ABC network on April 7, 1986) is that one of Gail's amours is her late husband's business partner Ben Taylor (Barry Newman)--while the other is Gail's female best friend, Marjorie Lloyd (Lynn Redgrave). Impeccably tasteful in its treatment of a potential volatile subject, and refreshingly honest and uncompromising at its conclusion, My Two Loves was filmed on location in San Antonio, Texas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
