Blythe Danner Movies
American actress Blythe Danner brings a kind of classy elegance to her work that betrays her real-life background: the daughter of a Philadelphia bank executive, she enjoyed an expensive prep school education and undergraduate study at Bard College. Her earliest theatrical work was with the Theater Company of Boston and the Trinity Square Playhouse of Boston; by the time she was 25, Danner had won the Theatre World Award for her performance in the Lincoln Center Rep's production of The Miser. In 1970, she earned a Tony for her performance in Butterflies are Free; based on the true story of a blind attorney, Danner played the central character's free-spirit love interest. Given the tenor of '70s newspaper publicity, Danner was featured in several magazine and newspaper photo spreads because she spent much of Butterflies' first act clad in nothing but her underwear. Subsequently, the actress was frequently cast opposite fellow up-and-comer Ken Howard, notably in the short-lived 1973 TV sitcom Adam's Rib. She worked so well with Howard that many fans assumed that the two were married; in fact, Danner's longtime husband is Broadway and TV producer Bruce Paltrow.A "critic's darling" thanks to her husky voice and pleasantly mannered acting style, Danner has worked with distinction in TV and on stage, though her film roles have tended to be few and far between. She was memorable as Robert Duvall's long-suffering wife in The Great Santini (1980) and as Nick Nolte's wife in The Prince of Tides (1991), while in 1986's Brighton Beach Memoirs, the decidedly WASPish Danner surprised fans by portraying a middle-aged Jewish woman. Danner's film appearances became more frequent during the latter half of the '90s: she did starring work in such films as To Wong Foo: Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995), The Myth of Fingerprints (1997), The X-Files (1998), and The Love Letter (1999). A memorable turn opposite Robert DeNiro in the 2000 comedy found the established dramatic actress reaching the apex of a particularly impressive comedy run, and a year after reprising her role in the 2004 sequel Meet the Fockers, Danner would make showbiz history by earning a record three Emmy nominations for her roles in Huff, Will and Grace, and Back when We Were Grownups. When the smoke cleared and all of the winners had been announced, Danner did ineed come out on top when she took home the "Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" award for Huff, with nominations for both Huff and Will and Grace at the following year's ceremony offering telling testament as to just how strong her work truly was. In 2006 Danner could be seen performing opposite Zack Braff in the romantic comedy drama remake The Last Kiss.
Frequently seen in TV guest roles (she managed to make her Mrs. Albert Speer in 1982's Inside the Third Reich sympathetic, no mean feat), Danner could be seen on television on a regular basis in the brief 1989 series Tattingers, produced by her husband. In 1992, she did stellar work in the made-for-TV movie Cruel Doubt, in which she played the matriarch of a broken family. Her daughter Gwyneth Paltrow was also featured in the movie, and has since gone on to become a successful actress in her own right. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2010
The Ben Stiller/Robert De Niro franchise continues with this third outing of the Meet the Parents film series. Owen Wilson, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner, Jessica Alba, and Harvey Keitel co-star, with Paul Weitz stepping in to take over directing duties from Jay Roach, who directed both Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, (more)
- 2008
- PG13
- Add The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 to QueueAdd The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 to top of Queue
The 2008 sequel to the female buddy film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants constitutes an adaptation of Ann Brashares' novel Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood. Like the premier installment, this picture explores the seriocomic events that unfold one summer in the lives of four temporarily estranged friends as an extremely special pair of jeans works its way from one girl to the next. In one subplot, Lena (Alexis Bledel) travels to Providence, RI, and enrolls in a painting course; in another, Bridget (Blake Lively) embarks on an archaeological excavation in Greece; in a third, Carmen (America Ferrera) works on the backstage crew for a Vermont-based theater festival; and in the fourth, Tibby remains in New York and enrolls in summer courses. Sanaa Hamri, best known for her Prince and Mariah Carey music videos, directs; Elizabeth Chandler, who co-scripted the first film, adapts the Brashares book. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, (more)
A successful 30-year-old (Zach Braff) with a the perfect girlfriend (Jacinda Barrett) and a lucrative outlook on life struggles with the increasing pressures of adulthood as he weighs the merits of settling down with the woman who loves him against risking it all to be with a comely co-ed (Rachel Bilson) in director Tony Goldwyn's remake of Gabriele Muccino's 2001 comedy drama. Crash and Million Dollar Baby screenwriter Paul Haggis adapts a script originally penned by Italian filmmaker Muccino, and Casey Affleck, Blythe Danner, Eric Christian Olsen, and Tom Wilkinson co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, (more)
The most elaborate and successful art heist in modern history is detailed in filmmaker Rebecca Dreyfus' cinematic account of the daring raid on Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner museum staged in the early morning hours of St. Patrick's Day, 1990. By the time the ruse of the well-organized and cleverly disguised thieves was discovered, the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum had been stripped of 13 priceless works including Vermeer's "The Gardener" -- one of only 35 works by the master known to currently exist. As respected art detective Harold Smith attempts to uncover the labyrinthine mystery surrounding the bold burglary while dealing with the frightening effects of his lifelong battle with skin cancer, the obsessive efforts of the cunning gumshoe are interwoven with interviews in which contemporary authors ponder the power of Vermeer's impressive body of work. Additional details concerning art collector Isabella Stewart's turn-of-the-century correspondence with personal advisor Bernard Berenson are voiced by actress Blythe Danner and Campbell Scott, respectively, and serve to give a more personal perspective to the investigation while simultaneously putting into context the true value and ultimate fragility of these plundered treasures. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2004
Adapted from the novel by Anne Tyler, the made-for-TV "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation Back When We Were Grownups stars Blythe Danner as 53-year-old Baltimore widow Rebecca Davitch. Having long since given up her dreams of college to get married and raise a family, and also having abandoned all of her other goals and ambitions in order to manage her family's catering business, Rebecca is attending an engagement party for her stepdaughter when it suddenly strikes her that she has, in the words of the film's press release, "been living the wrong life!" Thus begins Rebecca's quest to reclaim her lost youth -- with her childhood sweetheart Will Allenby (Peter Fonda) figuring prominently in Rebecca's "second wind." Boasting a star-studded supporting cast (Faye Dunaway, Jack Palance, Nina Foch, Peter Reigert, Ione Skye), Back When We Were Grownups was first broadcast November 21, 2004, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Blythe Danner, Faye Dunaway, (more)
After suffering the humiliation of being given the third degree by his girlfriend's father, one man now faces the even more embarrassing task of introducing his own mother and father in this star-studded sequel to the box-office smash Meet the Parents. After getting off on the wrong foot (to put it mildly) with his prospective in-laws, Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) has finally won the grudging approval of Jack and Dina Byrnes (Robert De Niro and Blythe Danner) to marry their daughter Pam (Teri Polo). But after clearing the first hurdle, now Greg has to face an even bigger challenge -- introducing the straight-laced Byrnes family to his folks, free-spirited sex therapist Roz (Barbra Streisand) and eccentrically open-minded Bernie, who blend with Pam's parents not quite as well as oil and water. Meet the Fockers was directed by Jay Roach, who handled the same chores for Meet the Parents. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, (more)
Up until the day that a 15-year-old patient committed suicide right in the middle of his office, prosperous L.A. psychiatrist Dr. Craig "Huff" Huffstodt (Hank Azaria) had been sublimely confident that his was the most secure and well-ordered of lives. But as he finds out in the course of Huff's first season on Showtime, our hero is the central figure in a bizarre, often incomprehensible real-life scenario festooned with hitherto untapped neuroses, sexual hang-ups, dysfunctional family members, and jaw-dropping plot convolutions. Just your typical, everyday midlife crisis. Inasmuch as the parents of his unfortunate teenage patient hold Huff responsible for the suicide, Huff's attorney, Russell Tupper (Oliver Platt), would seem to be the "go-to guy" whenever the going gets too rough. Unfortunately, despite his sympathy toward Huff's plight and his pithy words of wisdom, Tupper himself is an angst-ridden mess, as he proves via his weird behavior during a Medical Board hearing. There's worse in store for Tupper when his latest client turns out to be the hooker (Nichole Mercedes Robinson) with whom he'd previously enjoyed a spontaneous one-night orgy. As for Huff's self-absorbed mother, Izzy (Blythe Danner), she had never been a pillar of moral support before, and is even less of one now as she prepares to divorce Huff's long-estranged father, Ben (Robert Forster). Izzy's other son, Teddy (Andy Comeau), wouldn't have been of any help even if he hadn't gotten himself lost in the middle of a field trip. And Huff's own son, Byrd (Anton Yelchin), has begun messing around with illegal substances, much to the dismay of Huff's wife, Beth (Paget Brewster), who already has a big-time cross to bear in the form of the grave illness that is sapping the life from her mother, Madeleine (Swoosie Kurtz). And believe it or not, this litany of misfortune is often played for laughs -- successfully! Adding to Huff's burdens are the ravings of his bipolar patient Melody Coatar (Lara Flynn Boyle), and his brief flirtation with infidelity as he dallies with a sexy pharmaceutical rep. It's not for nothing that the series' holiday offering is titled "Christmas Is Ruined" -- just as the season finale, "Crazy Nuts & All Fucked Up" bears an appropriate moniker, given Huff's anguished response to his mom Izzy's post-menopausal love affair with...well, let's not give away the entire plot! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hank Azaria, Paget Brewster, (more)
The life of poet and novelist Sylvia Plath -- one of the most celebrated literary figures of her generation -- is brought to the screen in this controversial screen adaptation. Born in Boston, MA, in 1932, Plath (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) developed a precocious talent as a writer and published her first poem when she was only eight years old. That same year, tragedy introduced itself into her life as Plath was forced to confront the unexpected death of her father. In 1950, she began studying at Smith College on a literary scholarship, and while she was an outstanding student, she also began suffering from bouts of extreme depression; following her junior year, she attempted suicide for the first time. Plath survived, and, in 1955, she was granted a Fulbright Scholarship to study in England at Cambridge. While in Great Britain, Plath met Ted Hughes (Daniel Craig), a respected author who would later become the British Poet Laureate; the two fell in love, and married in 1958. However, marriage, family, and a growing reputation as an important poet failed to bring Plath happiness, and as she became increasingly fascinated with death in her later poetry and her sole novel, The Bell Jar, and after Hughes left her for another woman, her depression went into a tailspin from which she would never fully recover. Sylvia was adapted in part from Birthday Letters, a collection of poems Ted Hughes published in 1998, in which he dealt with his marriage to Plath in print for the first time. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gwyneth Paltrow, Daniel Craig, (more)
- 2002
The title of the CBS doctor drama referred to the fictional Presidio Medical Group of San Francisco. Distinguishing this effort from all other forcep-and-scalpel weeklies was the fact that the staff of Presidio Med was virtually all-female, save for a brace of "token" handsome hunks. Still, in standard TV fashion, the doctors became emotionally (and sometimes intimately) involved in the welfare of their patients. The main characters included OB-GYN specialist Harriet Lanning (Blythe Danner), oncologist Rae Brennan (Dana Delany), cardiologist Letty Jordan (Anna Deavere Smith), plastic surgeon Jackie Collette (Sasha Alexander), pediatrician Jules Keating (Julianne Nicholson), and, from the male contingent, internist Matt Slingerland (Paul Blackthorne) and Greek-born surgeon Nicholas Kokoris (Oded Fehr). Created by former ER producers Lydia Woodward and John Wells, Presidio Med debuted Tuesday, September 24, 2002, before settling into its usual Wednesday-night time slot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dana Delany, Paul Blackthorne, (more)
Can it truly be said that a family is torn apart when they were never truly "together" to begin with? This is one of the disturbing questions posed by the wrenching made-for-cable drama We Were the Mulvaneys. Adapted from the novel by Joyce Carol Oates, the film stars Beau Bridges and Blythe Danner as Michael and Corinne Mulvaney, the parents of four "ideal" children. Outwardly the picture of domestic perfection, the Mulvaneys reveal the truth about themselves when their daughter Marianne (Tammy Blanchard) is raped. Desperately trying to avoid a public scandal, Michael and Corinne force Marianne to keep quiet about her violation, then ship her off to an undisclosed location where she can "recover." In the ensuing three years, Corinne tries to expunge her outrage and guilt over her daughter's plight by overzealously embracing religion, while the once-ambitious Michael degenerates into an abusive drunkard. The story is told from the viewpoint of youngest Mulvaney son, Judd (Thomas Guiry), whose life is likewise adversely altered forever. Heavily promoted by the Lifetime cable network publicity team, We Were the Mulvaneys made its initial TV appearance on April 8, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A young woman trying to better understand the fate of her sister finds herself following in her footsteps in this emotional drama. 18-year-old Phoebe (Jordanna Brewster) has been haunted by the memory of her sister Faith (Cameron Diaz), who died under mysterious circumstances while travelling through Europe several years earlier. Looking for closure, Phoebe decides to retrace her sister's journey in hopes of finding out what happened to her. In the course of her travels through France, Portugal, and the Netherlands, Phoebe crosses paths with Wolf (Christopher Eccleston), Faith's boyfriend, and finds herself falling for the man her sister once loved. Based on the acclaimed novel by Jennifer Egan, The Invisible Circus also features Blythe Danner and Camilla Belle. The film marked the directorial debut for screenwriter Adam Brooks. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jordana Brewster, Christopher Eccleston, (more)
- 2000
An amateur sleuth gets some help from her pets in this family-oriented mystery. Mary Haristeen (Ricki Lake), known to her friends as Harry, is the Post Mistress in a small Southern town; when she's not reading mystery novels, she tends to her cat, Mrs. Murphy (voice of Blythe Danner), and her dog, Tucker (voice of Anthony Clark). When handsome stranger Blair Bainbridge (Linden Ashby) moves in next door, Harry's friends try to play matchmaker, but Harry thinks something is not cricket about her new neighbor. Mrs. Murphy and Tucker, who share Harry's enthusiasm for solving whodunits, also think that something's not right, especially after Ben Seifert (Wayne Robson), a local banker, is found dead several days after being discovered in Blair's new home. Things don't look good for Blair, especially after it's learned that his ex-girlfriend died under mysterious circumstances, but local socialite Fitz-Gilbert Hamilton (Ed Begley Jr.) also has a few secrets he's not sharing. This made-for-TV drama, produced for the Wonderful World of Disney TV series, was based on characters from Rita Mae Brown's "Mrs. Murphy" mystery series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ricki Lake, Blythe Danner, (more)
Actor Martin Sheen hosts this PBS program that looks at some of the special contributions made over the years to the nation's White House in Washington D.C. Avery Brooks, Blythe Danner, Campbell Scott, Sam Waterston, and Dianne Wiest are among those who read what former Presidents, First Ladies, and others have written about the time they spent in this magnificent place. Additional commentary focuses on the architectural changes made since the White House was first built. ~ Elizabeth Smith, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Sheen
In this comedy from Austin Powers director Jay Roach, Ben Stiller plays a young man who endures a disastrous weekend at the home of his girlfriend's parents. Greg Focker (Stiller) is completely in love with Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo), and views their upcoming trip to her parents' house on Long Island (where her sister is to be married during the weekend) as a perfect opportunity to ask her to marry him. Once Greg is introduced to Pam's parents, however, things stampede steadily downhill. Pam's father, Jack (Robert De Niro), takes an instant and obvious dislike to his daughter's boyfriend, lambasting him for his job as a nurse and generally making Greg painfully aware of the differences between him and Pam's family. Where Greg is grubby, relatively unambitious, and Jewish, Pam comes from a long line of well-mannered, blue-blooded WASPs. Things go from bad to worse in less time than it takes to spin a dreidel, with Greg incurring the wrath of both Pam's father -- who, it turns out, worked for the CIA for 34 years -- and the rest of her family, and almost single-handedly destroying their house and the wedding in the process. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, (more)
Ben (Ben Affleck) has two days to get from New York to Savannah, Georgia for his wedding to Bridget Cahill (Maura Tierney). Everything is running smoothly until his plane skids off the runway. Ben inadvertently saves the life of his seatmate, Sarah (Sandra Bullock), who becomes his companion for the longest two days of his life. As fate begins to repeat itself through a series of disasters involving a rental car, a train, and a bus (not to mention a hurricane), Ben has to wonder if someone's trying to give him a message. Inevitably, he also finds himself falling in love with Sarah. Meanwhile, Bridget wonders where, exactly, Ben is, and her old boyfriend Steve (David Strickland) attempts to take advantage of the situation. Not that Bridget's dad (Ronny Cox) really minds, since Steve is much more successful than Ben. En route, Ben and Sarah collide with Ben's best man, Alan (Steve Zahn) and his girlfriend, the maid of honor (Meredith Scott Lynn), which further adds to the series of cosmic tests that Ben must try to answer. ~ Ron Wells, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Bullock, Ben Affleck, (more)
- 1999
This Lifetime Intimate Portrait tells Mia Farrow's life story with the help of interviews with Ms. Farrow herself, her children, ex-husband Andre Previn, and longtime friends and colleagues including Carly Simon, Nancy Sinatra, Natasha Richardson, and Roman Polanski. Born in 1945, the third of seven children, to actress Maureen O'Sullivan (Jane in the classic Tarzan movies) and screenwriter John Farrow, Ms. Farrow has lived a somewhat public life. Afflicted with polio as a child, she spent months in an iron lung. Later, her older brother was killed in a plane crash. She began to act on the New York stage at age 18, was in the TV series Peyton Place, and married Frank Sinatra at age 20 (divorcing 2 years later). Her starring role in Polanski's chilling movie, Rosemary's Baby, made her famous. During her nine-year marriage to conductor Andre Previn, three sons were born and three daughters adopted. Her long relationship with director/actor Woody Allen (which ended in a highly-publicized custody battle) is mentioned with restraint. Much of the focus of the film is on Ms. Farrow's life with her many children, and footage of the family at their Connecticut country home is included in this "authorized biography." ~ Alice Duncan, All Movie Guide
Helen (Kate Capshaw) runs a bookstore in Loblolly By The Sea, a small fishing community in New England where everyone seems to know everyone else's business. A 42-year-old single mother, she is emotionally distant and fearful of getting too close to anyone. George (Tom Selleck) has known Helen since they were schoolmates, and he's been in love with her for ages, but has always settled for just being her friend. Convinced she wasn't interested in him, he married another woman years ago. Helen also has another secret admirer, Johnny (Tom Everett Scott), who isn't at all put off by the fact that Helen is twice his age. Johnny, however, is currently occupied with Jennifer (Julianne Nicholson), a fellow student who also works at the bookstore and is crazy about him. Into this tangled web of unrequited love comes an amorous letter that Helen finds in the store one day. The letter bears no signature and no address; it's at once passionate and oblique, fervent and cryptic. It's very interesting stuff. So who wrote it? And to whom was the writer planning to send it? Before long, the letter has made its way through this circle, and everyone has an idea (or a hope) of who their secret love is, although no one knows for sure or just how to find out. The Love Letter marked the American debut of director Peter Ho-Sun Chan, who enjoyed success in Hong Kong with Comrades: Almost A Love Story and He's A Woman, She's A Man. The supporting cast includes Ellen DeGeneres, Blythe Danner, and Gloria Stuart. The Love Letter may be best remembered as the only major studio film to open the same week as Star Wars: Episode One -- The Phantom Menace. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kate Capshaw, Blythe Danner, (more)
- 1998
Based on a best-selling Anne Tyler novel, this Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation centers on an unselfish young man who in 1965 sidelines his own considerable ambitions to single-handedly raise his brother's children. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thomas McCarthy, Mary-Louise Parker, (more)
This 60-million-dollar science fiction suspense drama (marketed with an additional 25 million dollars), was adapted from the popular TV series The X-Files -- arriving in theaters while the Emmy-winning series was still being aired, continuing plot threads familiar to many of the series' 25 million viewers, and featuring several familiar recurring characters introduced during the previous five TV seasons. In 15,000 B.C., a strange creature attacks a caveman. Cut to present day, when a boy at the same North Texas spot falls into a pit and is contaminated by a black substance. When a bomb threatens the Dallas Federal Building, special FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) locate the device but are unable to prevent the explosion. The agency blames Mulder and Scully for the disaster, subjecting them to lengthy interrogations while trying to sever their partnership. In a bar, conspiracy theorist Kurtzweil (Martin Landau), a friend of Mulder's father, tells Mulder about the group behind the explosion, the cover-up of the boy's death, the bodies of four infected rescue workers removed from the Federal Building, the secret government, and the forthcoming plague. Mulder and Scully set out to find answers, and their investigation becomes a foray into the fantastic. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, (more)
- 1998
- PG13
This drama about the efforts of an upper-class couple to have a child takes place in 1935 Boston. When Father Michael McKinnon (Kenneth Branagh) arrives from England to join the St. Jude's clergy, he avoids wealthy parishioners Arthur and Eleanor Barret (William Hurt, Madeleine Stowe). Attorney Arthur, an FDR adviser, and successful author Eleanor, want a child, but Arthur is sterile. Eleanor asks Arthur to pay someone to impregnate her, and Harvard law student Roger Martin (Neil Patrick Harris) is hired. He profits considerably, since he is required to return for several attempts. However, he becomes obsessed with Eleanor, infuriating Arthur, who threatens to kill him. Emotions and events escalate, as McKinnon reveals he's the son of Arthur's Nazi-leaning brother, Eleanor loses the baby, McKinnon becomes attracted to Eleanor, and there's a mysterious' murder. Shown at the 1998 Santa Barbara Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kenneth Branagh, Madeleine Stowe, (more)
- 1998
- R
Writer-director-actor Edward Burns (The Brothers McMullen, She's the One) looks at small-town ex-lovers in this low-key, blue-collar drama with atmospheric, muted-color cinematography by Emmy-winner Frank Prinzi (Northern Exposure). To the tune of Sheryl Crow's "Home", Charlie (Burns) returns to his quiet seaboard hometown to win back his ex-girlfriend Claudia (Lauren Holly), whom he abandoned three years earlier. He quickly learns that she's now engaged to Michael (Jon Bon Jovi), his best buddy since elementary school. Claudia has a dull job as a waitress at a slow-paced diner, while Michael repairs autos at a local garage. Michael loves her, but Charlie's return forces her to re-examine her life. Burns commented, "I wanted to do a drama about a working-class community, about the kind of people I grew up with, and take a look at what their lives are like as they hit their 30s and start to put their adolescent dreams aside. Their old hopes and dreams get rekindled, so they try and go for it one more time. And in the end they discover that you can't relive your past." Songs relate literally to the onscreen action, with tunes by Lynryd Skynryd, Glen Campbell, Pete Yorn, Georges Gasguy & Saveur Mallia, Macy Gray, Patti Scialfa, Bruce Springsteen, Local H, Sponge, and the Allman Brothers. Filmed on location during the off-season at Rockaway Beach, Queens, not far from New York's JFK Airport. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lauren Holly, Edward Burns, (more)
Leo Burmester, Blythe Danner, and Guy Ale star in this tense domestic drama. A disturbed woman murders her daughter, and her husband and son are forced to hide the body and try to keep the incident a secret. The Farmhouse was written and directed by Marcus Spiegel, who adapted the film from his stage play of the same name. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Burmeister, Blythe Danner, (more)
Investigative TV journalist Max Brackett (Dustin Hoffman) suffers setbacks and winds up filing routine reports from Madeline, California. Max and his eager intern Laurie (Mia Kirshner) are doing a story at the local Museum of Natural History when a bigger story erupts. The Museum's director, Mrs. Banks (Blythe Danner), refuses to talk to former museum security guard Sam Baily (John Travolta) about his firing due to budget cuts. Angered, Sam shoots a shotgun, accidentally hitting another security guard. Realizing he's in the middle of breaking news, Max phones his supervisor (Robert Prosky) and goes to live coverage. A class of young children is visiting the Museum, and Sam holds them hostage. Sam's link to the outside world is the opportunistic Max, who manipulates the situation, telling Sam what to say on camera. Within hours, as the event escalates to national interest, vendors arrive to hawk products at the museum grounds, while the entire country tunes in the ongoing coverage. The screenplay by Eric Williams and Tom Matthews (former managing editor of Boxoffice) is a technological updating of the 1951 Billy Wilder classic Ace in the Hole (aka The Big Carnival) about a scheming journalist (Kirk Douglas) who delays the rescue of a man trapped by a rockfall in order to continue his newspaper reports. Acknowledging the Wilder film, the name "Brackett" is an obvious nod to Charles Brackett, Wilder's long-time collaborator. Filmed in Los Angeles and San Jose, where the San Jose Athletic Club served as the museum location site. Shown at the 1997 Denver Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Dustin Hoffman, (more)
A family is torn between their need to air out their dirty laundry and their habit of sweeping things under the rug in this emotional drama. Hal (Roy Scheider) and Lena (Blythe Danner) are a successful but emotionally frosty New England couple whose four adult children are coming home for Thanksgiving. Strapping Jake (Michael Vartan) brings along his new girlfriend Margaret (Hope Davis), but while her affection for him is obvious, he's not sure how he feels about her. Mia (Julianne Moore), an alternately reserved and sexually ravenous art gallery worker, also brings her current lover, the nervous and unstable Elliot (Brian Kerwin). Leigh (Laurel Holloman) seems happier and better adjusted than her siblings, but she still hasn't resolved her long-standing rivalry with Mia. And Warren (Noah Wyle), who hasn't seen his parents for three years, has a bitter grudge against his father and hasn't been able to get his former girlfriend Daphne (Arija Bareikis) out of his mind. Co-star Noah Wyle also served as associate producer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arija Bareikis, Noah Wyle, (more)
- 1997
- R
Nearly 20 years after the Holocaust, a survivor's new life in America is torn asunder when she learns that the son she thought a casualty of war is alive and anxious to see her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Blythe Danner, Joe Mantegna, (more)
