Michael Shepard Movies

Director Stan Dragoti, whose forte is plumbing the depths of the male psyche, plumbs those depths once again in She's Out of Control. Tony Danza stars as Doug Simpson, a broadcasting executive who has trouble adjusting to the fact that his fifteen-year-old daughter Katie (Ami Dolenz) is blossoming into a sexual being. This realization kicks in after his fiancee Janet (Catherine Hicks) takes Katie for a makeover; suddenly she appears before Doug looking like a sultry super model. Now Doug is unable to look at his daughter as anything other than as a sexy chick, and he spends his time fending off packs of horny suitors while dictating morality to Katie. It finally gets to the point where Doug consults with television psychiatrist Dr. Fishbinder (Wallace Shawn), who recommends that Doug read a book he has written for single fathers, advising him, "If you're a slow reader, you better put your daughter on the pill." ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Tommy Lee Jones plays the title character in The River Rat. Released from prison after 13 years, Jones heads south to meet his hoydenish daughter Martha Plimpton for the first time. The father-daughter relationship flounders until Jones takes the girl on a long, bonding raft trip on the river. Both Jones and Plimpton become fugitives from justice when they run afoul of crooked parole-officer Brian Dennehy. Before the film's allotted 93 minutes have passed, Plimpton has proven time and again to be truly her father's daughter. It's a toss-up as to which is more enjoyable in River Rat, the film itself or the wall-to-wall musical score by Mike Post. Screenwriter Thomas Rickman was underwritten for his directorial debut by Robert Redford's Sundance Institute. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi