Jonathan Taylor Thomas Movies

Two very different men are brought together and learn a mutually important lesson about the real function of a church in this drama. Ethan Jenkins (Michael W. Smith) is a man in his mid-thirties who after years of scuffling as a musician on the West Coast has decided to move back East and work with his father. As it happens, his father is Jeremiah Jenkins (J. Don Ferguson), a well known and respected minister who leads the flock at "The Rock," a massive "superchurch" where worship often looks more like a flashy multi-media presentation than a church service. Ethan becomes an associate pastor at The Rock, but it's clear he views his mission more as a business than service to the community, and Jeremiah decides his son needs to learn a bit more about what work at a church is all about. In the early '60s, Jeremiah helped found the Second Chance Community Church during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. The inner-city neighborhood Second Chance serves is now a crime-ridden slum, and Jeremiah sends Ethan there to assist pastor Jake Sanders (Jeff Obafemi Carr) as he tries to maintain an oasis of peace and hope in the middle of a gang-dominated war zone. Through Jake, Ethan gains some hard-won wisdom about the true nature of faith and service, and he tries to share his new knowledge with his father, whose new congregation is a far cry from where he started his mission for the Lord. The Second Chance marked the first feature film role for award-winning Christian musician Michael W. Smith. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A budding misfit finds his troubles are just beginning when he's sent to a school run by his mom and dad in this comedy from France. Daniel (Damien Jouillerot) is the overweight and socially inept son of Pierre (Olivier Gourmet) and Genevieve (Carole Bouquet), a couple who run a boarding school for troubled kids. 15-year-old Daniel is having a hard time with the physical and emotional trials of adolescence, and things don't improve a bit for him when his folks enroll him in their school, especially since most of the students are convinced he's getting an easy ride. Daniel makes friends with Zygelman (Raphael Goldman), but when Zygelman is thrown out of school after an incident involving the undergarments of a female classmate, Daniel falls in with Jean-Claude (Franc Bruneau), a student with a criminal streak who brings Daniel in as an assistant in his latest illegal business venture. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Harvey Fierstein, Terrence McNally, and Paula Vogel each wrote episodes for this three-part made-for-cable drama which examines changing attitudes and issues facing the gay and lesbian community in the small town of Homer, Connecticut. Opening in the 1950s and leading up to the present day, Common Ground features Eric Stolz, Mimi Rogers, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Margot Kidder, Edward Asner, Beau Bridges, Jason Priestley, and Steven Weber, as well as co-writer Fierstein. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Teen heartthrob and Home Improvement star Jonathon Taylor-Thomas stars in this Disney Christmas film that is a teenaged variation on the Planes Trains and Automobiles theme. Jake has missed Christmas in New York with his family these past few years, so as an incentive, his father promises him a 1957 red Porsche if he makes it home by Christmas Eve. No sweat, until an unexpected twist blows up in poor Jake's face. It seems that the "cheat sheet" he supplied the college football team was incorrect, and the whole team is out to get him. For revenge, they leave him in the middle of the California desert in a Santa Claus suit (his hat and white beard are glued to his face) with no wallet, no cash, and no identification. To make matters worse, Eddie, one of the football players and Jake's arch-nemesis, is now hitting on Jake's girlfriend Allie. What's poor old Jake to do? Well, if you guessed hitchhike, freeload, con, fly, crawl, race and bully an array of colorful characters, you guessed correctly. ~ Chris Gore, Rovi

In this gritty drama executive-produced by Gus Van Sant, a teenaged would-be stock-car driver gets more than he bargained for when he makes a pit stop in Las Vegas to earn a little cash. Almost as soon as he arrives in the city, high-school dropout Johnny (Jesse Bradford) finds himself victimized at the slot machines by a slick little vixen. His journey to glory on the racetrack thus sidetracked, he soon falls in with a group of hoods and street urchins. Befriended by solicitous hustler Steven (Jordan Brower) and condescended to by gay-for-pay stud Eric (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), Johnny gets a quick introduction to the sleazy Vegas landscape. At first he rejects his new acquaintances, but after a disastrous liaison with a buxom young lady (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen), he finds himself the reluctant new best friend of the besotted Steven. Adamantly professing his own heterosexuality, Johnny tries to find female clients to bankroll his ticket out of town. But soon Eric arrives, promising big bucks from his wealthy male patrons, setting the stage for conflict with Steven and unexpected bloodshed. Shown during the Panorama program at the 1999 International Berlin Film Festival, Speedway Junky was the debut feature from writer/director Nickolas Perry. Daryl Hannah co-stars as an older ex-prostitute who serves as a sort of foster mother for both Johnny and Steven. The film also marked the acting debut of musical artist Warren G and features a cameo appearance from Patsy Kensit. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Based on the true saga of the Stouffer brothers, this movie is an unusual combination of comedy film and nature documentary. In the 1960s in rural Arkansas, Marty Stouffer (Jamey Sheridan) grooms his three sons to take over the family auto parts business. But the sons are more interested in animals, photography, racing cars and trucks, and impressing girls. Marty, Jr. (Scott Bairstow) and Mark (Devon Sawa) fight frequently with their stern father over his work demands and their yen for adventure. Finally, their mother Agnes (Frances Fisher) intercedes, and the patriarch agrees to let the two boys take a cross-country trip to film a nature documentary. The youngest son, Marshall (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), stows away in his brothers' van and joins them on their travels. They head west, encountering a variety of animals and surviving many dangerous scrapes. The brothers' wacky exploits contribute to a new kind of participatory nature cinematography. In real life, the Stouffer film was shown on national television in 1977, and all three brothers became documentarians and served as advisers on this film biography. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

Unlike the more familiar animated Pinocchio by Disney, there are no song interludes here, and characters added to the story by Disney (such as Jiminy Cricket) are not included. Producer Francis Ford Coppola and director Steve Barron, (known for the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film) closely adhere to Carlo Collodi's 1883 novel and use the visually timeless setting of a Czechoslovakian village. Jim Henson's puppet studio skillfully brings this Pinocchio to life. Long ago, in his youth, Gepetto (Martin Landau) loved but did not court Leona (Genvieve Bujold), who married Gepetto's brother instead. In that earlier time, he carved her initials with his onto a tree. Now his brother is dead, and though he still feels for Leona, he is still too shy to woo her. Instead, the old puppet-maker goes into the forest and cuts down a tree in order to make a puppet just for himself. The tree is the same one he carved his initials into when he was younger, and it has the magic of his love in it. Soon after the puppet Pinocchio is made, he comes to life. Aside from being made of wood, he begins to live the life of a perfectly normal little boy. He even goes to school. Lorenzini, an evil magician who runs a children's puppet show, hears of Pinocchio and wants to use him in his show. Lorenzini lures children to his show, only to later turn them into donkeys. Donkeys are useful creatures, and Lorenzini makes a lot of money selling them. Through many trials and tribulations, the puppet-boy earns the right to become the human boy Pinocchio (Jonathan Taylor Thomas). ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

A young boy attempts to sabotage his single mother's relationship with her new fiancé in this family-oriented comedy. Ben Archer (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) has become protective of his attractive mother Sandra (Farrah Fawcett) since they were abandoned by his father, and he resents the intrusion of anyone else into their lives. Despite his disapproval, however, Sandra has built up a relationship with district attorney Jack Sturges (an extremely low-key Chevy Chase), who eventually pops the question. Ben decides that marriage is out of the question, and he sets out to drive the lawyer away through a variety of schemes. These plans culminate in an effort to trick Struges into participating in the "Indian Guides," a scouting program involving all sorts of strenuous father-son activities. As one might expect, things do not quite go as Ben planned, as Jack proves himself a more suitable father figure than either expected. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Home Improvement enters its fourth season with do-it-yourself expert Tim Taylor (Tim Allen) continuing to hold court on the cable-TV show "Tool Time," but with his wife, Jill (Patricia Richardson), being laid off from her job. Jill subsequently decides to go back to college, opening a whole new realm of story possibilities as Tim begins to worry that his wife will become "too smart" for him (which, truth to tell, she's been all along!). In other developments, Blake Clark becomes a semi-regular in the role of Harry, a hardware-store owner whose heart attack at age 40 sets his contemporary Tim a-worrying about his own wellbeing. Eventually, Harry sells his store to Tim's TV assistant, Al (Richard Karn), who becomes so obsessive about his job that he nearly breaks up his engagement to Ilene Markham (Sherry Hursey). In previous years, Home Improvement's season finale would concern itself with the ongoing rivalry between Tim Taylor and real-life home-improvement expert Bob Vila. This year, however, the season's last episode involves Tim's always-heard, never-seen neighbor Wilson Wilson (Earl Hindman), who upon deciding to go on his first date in 20 years, falls into the clutches of irrepressible matchmaker Jill Taylor. Ranking number three in the Nielsen ratings throughout its fourth season, Home Improvement also brought home a fourth Emmy award for the series' lighting director, Donald A. Morgan. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Inasmuch as Home Improvement had closed out its first season as the nation's fifth highest-rated TV program, neither its producers nor the ABC network saw the need to make anything but superficial changes for the series' second season on the air. ABC moved the program from its Tuesday night slot to an even better Wednesday-night berth, while one of the recurring characters, long-suffering "Tool Time" assistant Al Borland (Richard Karn), was promoted to "series regular" status. Otherwise, things remained pretty much the same as they'd been during season one. Protagonist Tim Taylor (Tim Allen) was still a fount of wisdom and expertise on his Detroit-based "do it yourself" cable TV series, "Tool Time" but a momument to ineptitude and insensitivity in his own home. Tim's wife, Jill (Patricia Richardson), now employed at a Detroit magazine, continued in her efforts to force culture and class upon her husband, all the while struggling to prevent him from "repairing" the household appliances. The Taylors' three sons -- eleven-year-old Brad (Zachery Ty Bryan), ten-year-old Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), and seven-year-old Mark (Taran Noah Smith) -- persisted in causing trouble for themselves and their parents, though it was clear that there was a lot of love and mutual respect in the family's household. Of the remaining characters, ubiquitous neighbor Wilson (Earl Hindman) continued to dispense advice and philosophy to Tim and his brood -- and also continued to remain a somewhat shadowy figure, never showing his face to anyone. Buxom "tool girl" Lisa (Pamela Anderson) was still a fixture of Tim's TV series, seldom saying much but certainly making a big impression whenever she wriggled into camera range. And in a new development, Maureen Binford (Vicki Lewis), ditzy daughter of "Tool Time"'s primary sponsor, became the series' producer, saddling Tim with all manners of idiotic format changes to boost his ratings. Moving from fifth to third place in the real-life ratings, Home Improvement was the second most popular sitcom of 1992-1993, beaten out only by another ABC offering, Roseanne. And for the second year in a row, an Emmy award was bestowed upon the series' director of photography, Donald A. Morgan. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi