John Considine Movies

Novelist Jay McInerney and playwright Michael Cristofer (who also made his feature film directorial debut) collaborated on the script for this bio of doomed supermodel Gia Carangi. In a star-making performance, Angelina Jolie stars as Gia, a gorgeous Philadelphia native who arrives in New York City to become a model and immediately makes an impression on high-powered agent Wilhelmina Cooper (Faye Dunaway). Gia's fierce good looks make her a star, as does her willingness to pose nude. Gia becomes entangled in a passionate affair with a photographer's assistant, Linda (Elizabeth Mithcell), but Linda is more conflicted about her bisexuality, driving Gia away and fueling the model's craving for mood-altering drugs. Failed attempts at reconciliation with both Linda and her mother Kathleen (Mercedes Ruehl) drive Gia further over the edge from cocaine to heroin, her emaciated body and sunken eyes becoming the catalyst for the "heroin chic" look. Although Gia is eventually able to kick her powerful habit, she learns that an infected needle has resulted in her contracting the AIDS virus. For the second year in a row, a made-for-TV film resulted in an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe victory for Jolie (the first was George Wallace, 1998). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Two unlikely friends -- a boy and a killer whale -- are reunited under potentially dangerous circumstances in this sequel to the successful family adventure Free Willy. Jesse (Jason James Richter) has finally found stability and contentment with his foster parents Glen and Annie Greenwood (Michael Madsen and Jayne Atkinson), but he is confronted with a new emotional challenge when his birth mother (a drug addict who abandoned him when he was young) dies, and his troubled half brother Elvis (Francis Capra) comes to live with the Greenwoods. Jesse also deals with new feelings when he develops a serious crush on Nadine (Mary Kate Schellhardt), the goddaughter of Randolph (August Schellenberg), an animal trainer at the theme park where Jesse helps out. But a much bigger problem is on the horizon when the safety of Willy, the killer whale he befriended and helped return to the wild, is threatened. An oil spill spoils the ocean environment where Willy and his family now live, and an unscrupulous owner of an oceanarium, Wilcox (M. Emmet Walsh), attempts to capture Willie and put him back into captivity as a performing attraction. While Free Willy featured Keiko, a trained whale who (ironically) was living in captivity when the film was shot, Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home instead utilized mechanical models and digital animation to bring "Willy" to life. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Set in a busy inner-city emergency room, this made-for-cable television drama follows the struggles of a world-weary surgeon who takes on the hospital administrators whose budget-cutting is affecting his ability to adequately care for his patients. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Murder She Wrote enters its eighth season with a revised production staff and a new central location (New York City rather than fictional Cabot Cove, Maine), but with the same popular star, Angela Lansbury, as mystery writer Jessica Fletcher. Having been contracted to teach a college criminology course in the Big Apple, Jessica leaves Cabot Cove behind to search for a midtown Manhattan apartment. She gets one, only to find that the previous tenant, an antique dealer, had been murdered--and that someone has broken into the place in search of...what? To help Jessica solve the mystery, her old Cabot Cove cohort Seth Hazlitt (William Windom) pays a timely visit. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This political drama takes a look at the underground network that helps South American refugees travel safely to the US. The story centers on a freedom fighter from Central America who uses the underground to get to the US and settle in a small town. His wife lies to a restaurant owner, telling him her husband is dead, and gets a job as a waitress. Soon after, the owner's son falls in love with her. Meanwhile a crooked CIA agent leads a death squad in pursuit of the former freedom fighter and things get worse when the local sheriff threatens to reveal his hideout to the hunters. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Up for re-election as mayor of Cabot Cove, Sam Booth (Richard Paul) figures that his staunch anti-development platform will enable him to easily defeat his pro-development opponent. Unfortunately, Sam's campaign is seriously compromised when a strange woman shows up in town and accuses the confirmed-bachelor mayor of being the father of her five children! While Sam tangles with this embarrassing turn of events, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) temporarily takes his place as the mayoral candidate--just in time to solve yet another murder. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The "history is inviolate" theory so chillingly elucidated in Ray Bradbury's The Sound of Thunder is recycled for the made-for-TV Timestalkers. William Devane plays a genially eccentric professor who teams with time traveller Lauren Hutton to prevent the course of history from being disastrously altered. In a manner slightly reminiscent of the 1984 movie hit The Terminator, Devane and Hutton must deal with Klaus Kinski, a mad scientist from the 26th century, who plans to hopscotch through time, spreading death and destruction wherever he goes. The odyssey takes the main characters to all manner of locales, including the Old West. Veteran actor Forrest Tucker made his final screen appearance in Timestalkers, which originally aired March 10, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

US air force lieutenant Lisa Echhorn is determined to prove her mettle by taking a grueling escape-and-evasion course. Along with several other trainees, Echhorn is parachuted to a remote island where she is to be tracked down by the "enemy". Reluctantly teamed with major Tom Skerritt, who has been injured in the jump, Echhorn successfully reaches the "safe" goal she's been assigned, only to learn that she has been dragooned into a far more deadly training program than she'd expected. Put to work in a hard labor camp, Echhorn is subjected to various and sundry humiliations by master sadists Anthony Zerbe and Richard Roundtree. What started out as mere "war games" ends in dead seriousness as Echhorn is forced to face her tormentors alone. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The time is The Future; the place is Rain City, formerly Seattle. The city is a police state, while the citizens have adopted the manner and dress of 1940s gangsters. Recently released from prison, ex-cop Kris Kristofferson tries to touch base with his ex-girlfriend Genevieve Bujold, who runs a 1950s-style cafe. Hoping to make up for past sins, thereby redeeming himself in Bujold's eyes, Kristofferson endeavors to save innocent, newly arrived couple Keith Carradine and Lori Singer from the evil designs of crooked Joe Morton. Trouble in Mind strives mightily for a film noir ambience, right down to the presence of a sinister, Greenstreetesque "fat man," played in male drag (for a change) by Divine. The title tune for Trouble in Mind is sung over the credits by Marianne Faithful. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When wealthy businessman Richard Kennerly (Richard Crenna) dies, he leaves behind a great many unresolved issues. More specifically, he leaves behind a wife named Catherine (Joanne Woodward) a mistress named Nina (Lindsay Wagner)--and the children from both liasons. Upon learning of Nina's existence, Catherine gears herself for a confrontation with her romantic rival. Things take an unexpected turn when both women discover that Richard left no provisions in his will for his illegitimate 6-year-old son. Made for television, Passions premiered October 1, 1984 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This is a made-for-TV bio about the film star Rita Hayworth. Lynda Carter stars as the legendary star. ~ Rovi

Based on a true story, Endangered Species stars Robert Urich and JoBeth Williams. Urich plays vacationing ex-cop Ruben Castle, while Williams portrays Harriet Purdue, a small-town sheriff. Intrigued by Purdue's investigation of a rash of cattle mutilations, Castle begins following the evidence trail himself. What has been attributed to a religious cult or extraterrestrials by the locals turns out to be a covert operation conducted by a corrupt cartel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this crime comedy, Dixie's life changes completely after the prostitution ring she runs is raided. She too is arrested and ends up sentenced to spend time in a convent. Though she is there to learn, she ends up teaching the Mother Superior and the others a thing or two about running a successful business. By the story's end, Dixie has learned to respect herself. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi