Bonnie Timmermann Movies

Veering off in several thematic directions at once, A Night in Heaven starts with a torrid student-teacher romance which becomes somewhat derailed by adding on a failing marriage, political allusions related to NASA, a frustrated sister of the teacher, and several additional characters, many of whom are stuffing bills into male dancer's jock straps. Faye (Lesley Ann Warren) has just flunked a student in her speech class when she goes out that night to the "Heaven" nightclub and lo-and-definitely behold, there is Rick (Christopher Atkins), the failed student in his incarnation as a successful male stripper. This was a view of the student that Faye had never expected, and before anyone can flip a $20, the two are making mad, passionate love. While this may satisfy a few fantasies, events lead to an ultimate confrontation between the teacher's husband (who worked for NASA) and Rick that is even less believable than the student-teacher sexual liaison. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

People are disappearing all over the Big Apple. Nobody cares, though, because most of the missing are homeless. But when investigative reporter Murphy (J.C. Quinn) tips off principled photographer George Cooper (John Heard) to a government conspiracy involving the dumping of nuclear waste beneath the streets, Cooper decides to dig a little deeper. Soon he discovers the existence of C.H.U.D.s, or "Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers," derelicts who have become grotesque monsters after being exposed to the mountains of hazardous waste. Meanwhile, Captain Bosch (Christopher Curry), a cop whose wife is among the missing, forms an unlikely alliance with the Reverend (Daniel Stern), a leftist soup-kitchen cook who knows the score. Murphy, Cooper, Bosch, and the Reverend soon run up against the stonewalling tactics of Wilson (George Martin), a government toadie. As the titular monsters begin to tire of their underground habitat, the protagonists -- including Cooper's wife, beautiful model Lauren Daniels (Kim Greist) -- face a race against time to defeat not only the C.H.U.D.s, but the government's cover-up. The debut, and only film, from writer Parnell Hall and director Douglas Cheek, C.H.U.D. was followed by 1989's C.H.U.D. 2: Bud the C.H.U.D. Co-stars Stern and Heard would later appear together in the first two Home Alone pictures, while Curry would appear in the third. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Based on a play by Kevin Wade, this comedy stars Brooke Adams as a television producer who demands commitment from her free-spirited lover (Ben Masters). ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Adam Swit (Raphael Sbarge) is hounded by his consumer parents in their plush L.A. home, beset by his sexually deprived sister, and faces agony at school at the hands of the tougher kids. In order to escape his troubles, he daydreams about a fantastic young woman. Lo and behold, a dead-ringer for his dream woman shows up at school one day as a transfer student (Page Hannah) and Adam sets out to befriend her right away. On their first date they find a teacher in the parking lot who has just been severely worked over by a gang of thugs. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

A teenage girl learns about love, adult responsibility, and how to do The Dirty Boogie in this romantic drama. In 1963, "Baby" Houseman (Jennifer Grey) is a 17-year-old spending the summer with her family at a resort hotel in the Catskills; she plans on being in the Peace Corps next summer, so this is expected to be her last summer as a carefree adolescent. Baby doesn't get along with her older sister, Lisa (Jane Brucker), and she's bored to tears by most of the older guests at the resort. However, one night Baby hears what sounds like a party going on in the employee's dormitory, and she pokes her head in to discover most of the hotel staff enjoying the sort of close dancing that would get you kicked out of the senior prom in no time flat. Baby is particularly struck by handsome Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze), a dancer in the resort's floor show, and falls head over heels in love, wanting to be near him. When Johnny's dance partner, Penny (Cynthia Rhodes), finds herself pregnant after a fling with one of the waiters, Baby volunteers to learn her steps and take her place; however, Baby's father, Dr. Jake Houseman (Jerry Orbach), will have none of it, convinced that Johnny is a low life and that his daughter is too young to understand her own feelings. Dirty Dancing was a surprise box-office hit, and the soundtrack album was an even bigger success, spawning several hit singles and inspiring a top-drawing concert tour featuring several of its artists. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Set in Washington D.C. during the Vietnam War era, Gardens of Stone concentrates on the trials and tribulations of the Arlington National Cemetery home guard. James Caan plays career soldier Sgt. Clell Hazard, who has come to the sad conclusion that Vietnam is unwinnable and that America should withdraw as soon as possible. His attitude is contrasted to that held by Private Jackie Willow (D.B. Sweeney), who wants nothing more in life than to go into battle for his country. Though Hazard cannot officially dissuade Willow from this yearning, he pulls a few surreptitious strings to change the lad's mind, including encouraging a renewed romance between Jackie and his former girlfriend Rachel (Mary Stuart Masterton). After so many big-budgeters, Coppola determined that Gardens would be a deliberately "small" picture, concentrating on personalities rather than opulence; the director's father, Carmine Coppola, supplied the music, while Peter Masterton and Carlyn Glynn, the real-life parents of Mary Stuart Masterton, play Mary's on-screen dad and mom. Gardens of Stone was adapted by Ronald Bass from the novel by Nicholas Proffitt. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The last name "Silver" appears in both the producer and director credits of the bottom-budget Walk on the Moon, suggesting either a vanity production, or at the very least a benign case of nepotism. Kevin Anderson plays a Peace Corps volunteer, bubbling o'er with idealism. To his surging delight, he learns he has been assigned to a remote, backward Colombian village. When Anderson arrives, he is confused by the cynical attitude of his predecessor (Terry Kinney). Even more confusing--though it won't be for long--is that the villagers greet the ebullient Anderson's arrival with silent, sullen indifference. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Detroit cop Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) has seemingly smoothed out his differences with his Beverly Hills superior Bogomil (Ronny Cox), but there's trouble ahead for both men, not to mention two other holdovers from the first Cop film, officers Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and Taggart (John Ashton). The "untouchable" heavy this time out is masterminding a series of violent robberies, committed by leather-freak hoods Dean Stockwell and Brigitte Nielsen. Unaccumstomed to this nastiness, Bogomil entreats street-smart Foley to help find the miscreants. But mean-spirited chief of police Lutz (Allen Garfield) will brook no interference from outsiders-especially the profanely insouciant Mr. Foley. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

For his first directorial project in six years, Robert Towne selected a timeworn romantic-triangle yarn, injecting the material with subtlety and conviction. Tequila Sunrise stars Mel Gibson and Kurt Russell as two lifelong friends who, in true James Cagney-Pat O'Brien fashion, grow up on the opposite sides of the law. One is a retired drug dealer (at least he says he is), the other a "celebrity" cop. Both fall in love with gorgeous restaurateur Michelle Pfeiffer. Veteran movie buffs will enjoy spotting director Budd Boetticher as a judge, and will welcome the presence in the production credits of cinematographer Conrad Hall, who earned an Oscar nomination for his richly textured color camerawork. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Two brothers (Richard Gere, Kevin Anderson) have inherited a large farm (once voted "Farm of the Year") from their father, but cannot keep it afloat. When the farm goes bankrupt, the pair decide to torch the place and take off across the Midwest, fleeing the law to become folk heroes for many rural farmers in the area. ~ John Bush, Rovi

This directorial effort from Phil Joanou stars Sean Penn as an Irish-American undercover cop working the Hell's Kitchen beat. Penn is ostensibly on a sentimental journey to his old neighborhood. Actually he's been assigned to infiltrate a criminal gang led by Ed Harris, the brother of Sean's best friend Gary Oldman. Penn suffers the requisite honor vs. duty anguish when he renews his childhood romance with Harris' sister Robin Wright. State of Grace would have had more clout had it been more clear as to time and place: it's supposedly set in the 1990s, but the attitudes and behavior are pure 1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Amazon rain forest is a living laboratory for Dr. Robert Campbell (Sean Connery), a reclusive research scientist living with a Brazilian native tribe. Campbell has accidentally discovered a flower extract that cures cancer, but has been unable to duplicate the formula. With the assistance of Dr. Crane (Lorraine Bracco), he explores every possible chemical derivative, but continues to fail. When a child in the village is near death from a tumor pressing against his trachea, Campbell and Crane stand against each other on the moral issue to use the last of the successful serum to save him or to keep it for further analysis. At the last moment, Crane reconsiders, and agrees to save the child. At the same time, commercial loggers begin to creep ever closer to the village, and government officials demand the tribe's relocation. With only yards remaining between the bulldozers and the tribe, Campbell discovers a vital clue to the elusive elixir he seeks. His attempt to stop the workmen results in violence and a raging forest fire which destroys his lab equipment and the natives' village. The story ends with Campbell, Crane, and the tribe pushing deeper into the jungle in search of new answers.

In a change of pace from his usual action film fare, the skilled work of director John McTiernan brings emotional depth to what would otherwise be just another pro-environmental propaganda film. Connery, who had starred in McTiernan's crowd-pleasing 1989 film The Hunt for Red October, gives a convincing performance as the determined and complex researcher haunted by mistakes of the past. Bracco's character adds the realistic humor of the city scientist adjusting to Spartan life in the trees, but she does so with both strength and dignity. The constant bickering of two equally obstinate scientists gives a mild "honeymooners in the jungle" quality. Filmed in the Mexican rain forest, the canopy is captured in breathtaking cinematography. ~ Lucinda Ramsey, Rovi

The sponsorship of noted filmmaker Martin Scorsese helped the novice filmmakers making this film get it produced and receive mainstream distribution. In addition, it features a vast number of appearances by well-known performers, who took an interest in the project, taking union minimum pay. In the story, Jake (Eric Stoltz) has grown up in a wonderfully neurotic household. It is just as well that he has developed a fondness for drama, as this material is excellent fodder for his playwriting. He has spent a lot of time collaborating with his friend Chris (Ralph Macchio) writing plays, and eventually is given his chance to prove his stuff in New York City. There, he discovers that Chris wants to be more than just a friend, and an important stage actress (Kathleen Turner) also has the hots for him. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi