Robert Sertner Movies

Determined fashion journalist Lane Daniels (Hilary Duff) weighs love against ambition while researching the Cosmopolitan cover story that could make or break her career. An aspiring writer who has always dreamt of penning a cover story for Cosmo, Lane makes a pitch to editor Kate White (Jaime Pressly) for an article entitled "Switching Careers to Find Love." Incredibly, Kate gives Lane the green light, instructing her to first seek out a corporate job, and commence dating as many of her co-workers as possible. In no time, Lane is punching the clock, and juggling boyfriends. But while Tom (Michael McMillan) and Seth (Matt Dallas) are both plenty of fun, charming music producer Liam (Chris Carmack) is the guy who really drives Lane wild. Trouble is, Liam doesn't work in Lane's office, so he's strictly off-limits. Now, with her biggest career goal finally within grasp, Lane must choose to follow her heart, or give in to ambition. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

An overly optimistic mother (Joan Cusack) does everything she can to get her daughter (Mae Whitman) into college by interpreting SAT scores, visiting campuses, and filling out application after application. Based on the novel by Susan Coll. ~ Rhoda Charles, Rovi

Inspired by the unsolved mystery surrounding Natalee Halloway's 2005 disappearance, director Mikael Saloman's made for cable drama details one mother's desperate search for her missing daughter. Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway (Amy Gumenick) was on a class trip to Aruba when she vanished without a trace. Over the course of the next four years, her mother Beth (Tracy Pollan), her stepfather George (Grant Show) and their good friend Carol (Catherine Dent) would continually press Aruba authorities for answers while never giving up hope that Natalee could still be alive. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Talented young female racecar driver Kylie Shines (Michelle Trachtenberg) strives for success in a male dominated sport, and steps up to the challenge of filling her legendary father's position after he's cut from the team. As Kylie races toward the checkered flag, she discovers that sometimes sticking by your family is more important than celebrating in the winner's circle. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A recently divorced mother of two attempts to regain her footing in life after falling for a hunky young surf instructor while vacationing alone in Hawaii. Her marriage dissolved on the eve of her fortieth birthday, Jackie (Heather Locklear) heads to Hawaii to celebrate the landmark solo. There, she reluctantly becomes swept up in a sun-soaked romance with resident surf instructor Kyle Hamilton (Robert Buckley). Sensing that their relationship is more than just a one night stand, Jackie soon begins booking flights to Hawaii every chance she gets, despite the disapproval of her friends and her ex-husband. But Jackie is losing balance, and with a little help from her younger lover she soon discovers that forty is just the beginning. Based on the semi-autobiographical best seller by author Jane Porter. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Academy Award-nominee Kathy Bates (Misery, Fried Green Tomatoes) helms and stars in Ambulance Girl - her third directorial credit on a made-for-television feature. Produced by and originally aired on Lifetime Television, Bates's comedy concerns Jane Stern (Bates), a housewife of thirty years who spent decades building a successful career as co-author of food books with her husband, the rebounding ex-alcoholic Michael (Robin Thomas). When faced with a chain of unpredictable mood swings, Jane refuses to take the problem lying down - and instead opts to launch a new career as an EMT. Her only real obstacle is a beast: she must learn to surmount her phobia of ambulances! Ambulance Girl waxes bittersweet, interweaving over-the-top, hilarious comedy with perceptive insights and a heartwarming message about confronting and overcoming the obstacles that life dishes out. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A series of devastating storms are leveling major cities across the globe, and it's up to discredited scientist Faith Clavell (Shannon Doherty), dedicated storm chaser Tommy Tornado (Randy Quaid), and the FEMA head Judith Carr (Gina Gerson) to journey into the eye of the storm and find out just why mother nature has turned so violently on mankind in the shocking sequel to 2004's weather-gone-wild thriller Category 6: Day of Destruction. An unprecedented Category Six storm has leveled the Eiffel Tower and reduced the Great Pyramids to rubble, and as the pitch black funnel clouds lay waste to anything and everything in their path, three dedicated heroes attempt to discover whether the malevolent weather is the cause of global warming, or something far more sinister. When a vengeful gang of terrorists threaten to use the storms to their advantage by staging a large scale attack the likes of which the world has never seen, it seems as if it very well may be the end of the world. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Having survived a traumatic encounter with hordes of dangerous locusts, Dr. Maddy Reardon (Lucy Lawless), a specialist in the behavior patterns of voracious insects, accepts what she thinks will be a stress-free job as a professor at Tate University in Louisiana. Unfortunately, Maddy is once again forced to put her knowledge to use--and her life on the line--when the body of a student is found, drained of blood. Assisted by her husband Dan (Dylan Neal) and by several of her more courageous (or should we say foolhardy?) students, Maddy endeavors to prove that the death of the student was caused by a flock of particularly vicious vampire bats, mutated into monstrosity by a recent toxic waste dump. Timothy Bottoms costars as Mayor Hank Poelker, who is covertly in cahoots with the chemical company that has caused this calamity. (Can it be that Bottoms was cast because of his resemblance to President George W. Bush, whom the actor has also played on several occasions?) Originally slated to be filmed in New Orleans, Vampire Bats shifted production to Canada to avoid the anticipated onslaught of Hurricane Katrina; the made-for-TV thriller debuted October 30, 2005 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This made-for-cable "dramedy" represents a change of pace for comedian George Lopez), here cast as a nasty, vituperative Chicago radio "shock jock" sportscaster named Henry Ramiro. Although his show is Number One in the ratings, Henry has managed to alienate everyone around him with his relentless verbal assaults--and when we say "everyone", we also mean his long-suffering wife Diana (Lisa Vidal) and his insecure daughter Olivia (Bianca Collins). This is the status quo until 15-year-old Grant Michael (James Kirk), whose life-threatening illness has not dampened his zest for living and his relentless good cheer, shames Henry into being a nice guy for one whole day. Not surprisingly, Henry's ratings immediately tank--but he manages to learn a valuable lesson (with a few detours along the way) just in time for Christmas. Naughty or Nice was produced by the Hallmark corporation and telecast by the ABC network on December 11, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This three-hour TV biopic of actress Natalie Wood emulates Citizen Kane by beginning at the end -- the tragically ironic drowning death of the water-phobic actress in 1981 -- then recounts her life story in flashback. Justine Waddell plays the adult Natalie, with younger performers Elizabeth Rice, Candice Moore, and Nadia Scappa portraying the actress in various stages of childhood, adolescence, and puberty. Although little Natasha Gurdin's Russian-born mother and father (here played by Colin Friels and Alice Krige) had drive and ambition, it was the girl herself who energetically and enthusiastically promoted her career as a child star named "Natalie Wood," and it was Natalie herself who demanded that producer stop casting her in cute-kid and ingenue roles and take her seriously as an adult -- even before she technically was one. Naturally, the film recounts Natalie's marriage to actor Robert Wagner (Michael Weatherley), the breakup of the union as she pursued affairs with the likes of Warren Beatty (Matthew Settle), and Wood and Wagner's ultimate reconciliation and remarriage. One might assume that the "mystery" of the film's title is Natalie's death by drowning -- to this day, no one quite knows how she managed to end up in the water -- but it also manifested in the enigma of Natalie herself, a woman who despite her aggressive and unending pursuit of fame and stardom might well have willingly given it all up just to be a wife and mother. In fine old Hollywood-biography tradition, the movie boasts an endless parade of celebrity lookalikes impersonating such friends and colleagues of Natalie Wood as James Dean, Edmund Gwenn, Marilyn Monroe, and directors Irving Pichel, Elia Kazan, and Nicholas Ray, as well as several real-life celebs offering their reflections on the film's protagonist, notably Margaret O'Brien, Robert Vaughn, and Henry Jaglom. Directed by no less than Peter Bogdanovich, The Mystery of Natalie Wood first aired over ABC on March 1, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A suspense novel by Sue Miller was the source for the made-for-TV While I Was Gone, which made its CBS network debut on October 10, 2004. Boston veterinarian Jo Beckett (Kirstie Alley) feels trapped in her marriage to kindly but unexciting minister Daniel Beckett (Bill Smitrovich). Then, one day, a dog that may have to be put down is brought into Jo's office. The dog's owner turns out to be her old college friend Eli Mayhew (Peter Horton), with whom Jo shared a hippie pad along with several other shaggy students back in the 1960s. As she waxes nostalgic over her carefree youth, Jo considers leaving staid Daniel for footloose Eli, and goes so far as to set up a clandestine meeting with him. But Jo's dream romance turns into a nightmare with the revelation of a horrible secret from her past -- and the fulfillment of a strange "out-of-body" premonition which Jo had experienced in the opening scenes of the film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on a novel by Melissa Senate, this made-for-cable romantic comedy stars Charisma Carpenter as Jane Grant, a New York bachelorette with a moderately successful job at a publishing company. At the behest of her Aunt Ina (Linda Dano), Jane must find a suitable date to escort her to her cousin's wedding in four weeks. Our heroine experiences a number of romantic misadventures with a steady parade of "Mr. Wrongs" (one of whom is played by Joe Millionaire's Evan Marriott) before hitting upon a man who might be "the One" -- and then again, might not. Making Jane's task all the more difficult is the presence of her former high school nemesis Natasha Nutley (Holly Marie Combs), now a soap opera diva whose autobiography Jane has been assigned to edit. See Jane Date debuted August 16, 2003, on the ABC Family Channel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In June of 2002, 13-year-old Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her own bedroom in Salt Lake City, a crime witnessed by her younger sister Mary Katherine. The desperate search for Elizabeth evolved into a gigantic media event, as her anguished parents combined forces with the authorities -- and a number of top-rated cable talk show hosts -- to follow any lead, big or small, that would help them find their daughter. Eight months into the girl's disappearance, hopes for her safety were growing dim -- until, miraculously, she was spotted only a short distance from her home, accompanied by a pair of bizarre and seriously disturbed personalities, Brian David "Emmanuel" Mitchell and Wanda Barzee. Originally telecast November 9, 2003, by CBS, the made-for-TV Elizabeth Smart: The Long Way Home is divided into two plains of action: the ordeal of the abducted Elizabeth and her uncanny ability to keep her wits and optimism intact despite the ever-growing possibility that she would never see her parents again; and the dogged determination of Elizabeth's parents Ed and Lois, who against all odds, never gave up hope that their daughter was still alive and well. The film was released shortly after Elizabeth's rescue. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi