Tony Torn Movies
A kidnapped African fights for his life rather than allowing himself to be sold into slavery in this historical drama. In 1869, slavery is outlawed in America as well as most of the world, but that doesn't stop certain unscrupulous traders from trafficking in human beings to an underground market in the U.S. As the ship Argon Miss begins to enter British waters, 24 kidnapped African natives are held in chains below the decks, with another 60 soon to be delivered. As the captives ponder their fate, they are visited by an ancient spirit (voice of Eartha Kitt) that has been trapped within the planks used to build the ship. The spirit urges the slaves to escape to freedom while the African coastline is still within reach. One of the slaves, Fyah (Djimon Hounsou), is so moved that he breaks free from his shackles and leads his fellow captives in an effort to take over the ship and sail home. Blending an accurate historical recreation of period slave ships with dialogue that incorporates modern-day slang, Ill-Gotten Gains was shot on the same ship used in Steven Spielberg's drama about a slave uprising, Amistad, and features the same leading actor, Djimon Hounsou, though Ill-Gotten Gains was filmed several months before Spielberg's picture. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Djimon Hounsou, Akosua Busia, (more)
Antonio Tibaldi directed this drama set off the Georgia coast on remote Dolphin Island, where young Italian Stefano Mauri (Stefano Dionisi) mysteriously arrives out of the blue one day, promptly finding work as a handyman at a rundown motel, although he never explains just who he is, where he came from, or why he landed on Dolphin Island. The motel's laundress is the attractive Claudine Van Doozen (Christina Applegate). Subject to major mood swings and occasional erratic behavior, Claudine moonlights as a dance hostess in the evenings. Amid the coastal splendor, Stefano and Claudine fall into a riddle of a relationship, explored with enigmatic twists and turns. The screenplay by director Tibaldi and Heidi Hall is based on Hall's short story, The Magnificent Rescue. Shown at the 1998 L.A. Independent Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christina Applegate, Stefano Dionisi, (more)
- 1997
It looks like a clear-cut case of suicide when a young woman plunges off a bridge. However, disturbing questions are raised during the ensuing investigation thanks to the evasive behavior of the witnesses. The subsequent prosecution boils down to a case of arson, a probable instance of blackmail, and a grown-up version of the traditional "big bully." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Adapted by Horton Foote from his own television play, A Trip to Bountiful is set in 1947 Houston. Forced by circumstances to live her loathsome son (John Heard) and daughter-in-law (Carlin Glynn), elderly Geraldine Page wants nothing more out of life than to return to her home town of Bountiful. Escaping from her family's clutches, Page boards a bus to Bountiful, where she makes the acquaintance of young Rebecca DeMornay. The two women immediately hit it off, and their trip is a most pleasant one. Eventually, sheriff Richard Bradford, ordered to find Page and bring her back to her family, catches up with the old woman just 12 miles from Bountiful. Feeling sorry for Page, Bradford permits her to complete her sentimental journey, even though he knows full well that Bountiful is now a ghost town of empty ruins and dilapidated shacks. It doesn't matter, though: Page sees Bountiful just as it was when she left it, and for the first time in years she is truly happy and at peace with herself. After several near-misses, Geraldine Page finally won an Academy Award for A Trip to Bountiful (incidentally, the original TV production, which still exists in kinescope form, starred Lillian Gish and Eva Marie Saint). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geraldine Page, John Heard, (more)
