Roger Dunn Movies

Playwright Neil Simon got his first big break in the early '50s as a staff writer on Sid Caesar's fabled television series Your Show of Shows, and this comedy (adapted by Simon from his play) takes a fictionalized look at the backstage chaos that went into producing one of the landmarks of television's golden age. Max Prince (Nathan Lane) is the star of The Max Prince Show, a popular comedy-variety series with ratings that have begun to slip; Prince's show is still a major hit on the East Coast, but network executive Cal Weebs (Colin Fox) insists that it's too sophisticated for the Midwest, and urges Prince to dumb down his act. Prince has also become the whipping boy of newspaper columnist Walter Winchell (Frank Proctor), and between the tensions of producing a hour of top-quality comedy each week and being pestered about his ratings, Prince is beginning to unravel. His relationship with his wife Faye (Sherry Miller) and their children is falling apart, and stress is eating him alive. Prince's brother Harry (Richard Portnow) is Max's assistant, and his last line of defense against both the network and his writing staff, which spend its days coming up with business for the show while hurling humorous invective at each other and anyone else within earshot. (The actors playing Max's writers include Mark Linn-Baker, Victor Garber, Dan Castellaneta, Saul Rubinek, Peri Gilpin, and Zach Grenier.) Laughter on the 23rd Floor received its world premiere at the 2001 Palm Springs Film Festival and was scheduled for showings several months later on the Showtime premium cable network (who co-produced the feature). The film was directed by Richard Benjamin, who previously teamed with Mark Linn-Baker for another comedy inspired by the career of Sid Caesar, My Favorite Year. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Adapted from a novel by Garrison Keillor and Jenny Lind Nillson, this made-for-Showtime movie is set in the conservative small town of Sandy Bottom, WI, where life moves along at a pleasantly quaint pace and doctors still make house calls. Although life may be agreeable for most of the town's residents, it has never been easy for Ingrid Green (Glenne Headly), a classically trained pianist who moved to Sandy Bottom years ago with her dairy farmer husband Norman (Tom Irwin). Politically outspoken and cheerfully eccentric, Ingrid has never fit in with the town's residents, and when Norman announces his intention to put together a classical concert instead of the traditional marching band for the town's Dairy Days, his decision sets in motion a whole chain of events that disrupt everyday life in Sandy Bottom. Meanwhile, Ingrid and Norman's daughter Rachel (Madeline Zima) is struggling with her own problems: a star violinist who has inherited her mother's talent, she is concerned that she has also inherited Ingrid's eccentricities, and the fact that she's growing away from her best friend and wants to attend a musical academy doesn't make fitting in any easier. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

This TNT miniseries stars Alec Baldwin as Robert Jackson, the Supreme Court justice who served as the head prosecutor for the war crimes tribunal that took place in Nuremberg after the horrors of WWII and the Holocaust. The film follows Jackson from his preparations for the trial to the outcome of the trial itself, paying particular attention to the interplay between Jackson and the Nazi thugs he is trying to prosecute. Brian Cox co-stars a Hermann Goering, Hitler's right-hand man, while Christopher Plummer plays British prosecutor Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, and Jill Hennessey portrays Elise Douglas, Jackson's invaluable secretary and sometime lover. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

A young girl stuck in a horrific cycle of familial violence finds the power to build her own future from the place she least suspected in an inspiring tale of friendship and devotion starring Ossie Davis and Della Reese, and directed by Bruce Pittman. For years Jo Ann Foley (Madeline Zima) has suffered under the cruel hand of her ruthless grandfather. A chance meeting with kindly neighbors Honey (Reese) and her husband Too Tall (Davis) finds things looking up, however, as the nurturing couple provides Jo Ann with the support needed to break free of her grandfather's tyrannical grip. As the future lies before her ready to be molded however she sees fit, Jo Ann must now find the courage to let go of the past and seek the redemption needed to start life anew. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Originally titled Milgaard, this made-for-TV drama is a disturbingly accurate account of one of the most infamous miscarriages of justice in Canadian history. In 1969, 17-year-old hippie David Milgaard (Ian Tracey) is arrested on suspicion for the rape and murder on nursing assistant Gail Miller (Ardith Boxall). Anxious for a quick conviction despite a paucity of conclusive evidence, the authorities in Saskatchewan rush David's trial through, and within less than two months of the murder he is sent to prison for life. As David's mother Joyce (Gabrielle Rose]) and a team of dedicated pro bono attorneys battle to clear her son's name, David goes through hell behind bars--for the next twenty-three years. First telecast in Canada in April of 1999 (though banned from viewing in Saskatchewan, where the events took place), Milgaard was retitled Hard Time: The David Milgaard Story for airing in the US via the Lifetime channel. Since that time, a third title has been bestowed on the film at the behest of David's family: Innocent: The David Milgaard Story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the most sensational crime stories of the 1950s was the murder trial of Cleveland doctor Sam Sheppard, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of his wife. Though he protested his innocence and insisted that he'd seen a "curly-haired man" leaving his house on the night of the crime, Sheppard was condemned in the court of public opinion long before the judge handed out his sentence. (This true story served as the basis for the long-running TV series The Fugitive.) Years later, Sheppard was released from prison after it was determined that he hadn't had a fair trial, but his name was never officially cleared. Forty years after the death of his mother, Sheppard's son Sam Reese made it his mission in life to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that his father was innocent. In this TV movie adaptation of the younger Sheppard's autobiographical book, Peter Strauss is seen as Dr. Sam Sheppard, and Henry Czerny as Sam Reese. My Father's Shadow: The Sam Sheppard Story made its CBS network bow on November 17, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rising business executive Jake Peterson (Tim Matheson) is given a make-or-break assignment when he is sent to a small town for the purpose of severely downsizing the local tractor factory. Upon his arrival, Jake is mistaken by the townsfolk as the man sent to save rather than destroy their community, and is treated as such, much to his discomfort. Making his task even more difficult is Jake's blossoming romance with factory employee Emma Murphy (Melissa Gilbert), whose daughter Noelle (Michelle Trachtenberg) regards our hero as Santa Claus Incarnate. Made for the CBS TV network (and filmed under the title A Holiday for Love, Christmas in My Hometown premiered December 10, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Michael Moore's political satire, the U.S. president (Alan Alda) decides to wage a cold war against Canada in an attempt to reverse his slipping popularity, and, as a result, he drives a small group of incensed Canadians to take matters into their own hands. Alda is the first president in years not to lead his country into war, which naturally means that his approval rating is dangerously low. The sure-fire way to boost his popularity is to start a war and demonstrate American superiority. Unfortunately, as his advisors point out, the U.S. has run out of enemies. That is, until Alda's National Security Advisor Stuart Smiley (Kevin Pollak) happens to catch a segment on the news about a brawl at a Canadian hockey game that began when local American sheriff Bud Boomer (John Candy) made a remark about Canadian beer. This incident gives Smiley the notion to make the public believe that Canada is their new enemy. Determined to demonstrate the mighty power of America to the Canadians, Boomer gets a group of equally angry fellow Americans together to cross the border and perform the most serious of all Canadian crimes -- littering. However, the invasion is foiled and Boomer's numerous blunders threaten to turn a fabricated war into a real one. Written, directed, and produced by Michael Moore, Canadian Bacon takes lighthearted jabs at the differences between the U.S. and Canada, while also satirizing America's obsession with its military strength. The film features John Candy in his last complete screen performance. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story is a made-for-cable adaptation of James Neff's Mobbed Up, a real-life account about Teamster president Jackie Presser. Brian Dennehy plays Presser, who was Jimmy Hoffa's successor as president of the Teamsters. Like Hoffa, Presser was caught between the Mafia, the FBI, and his own ambitions, and the film follows his rise to power, as well as all the trials and tribulations that arose while he was president of the Teamsters. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Even as Season Three of the animated series Beetlejuice was spooling every Saturday morning on ABC, a separate fourth season, consisting of 65 episodes, was merrily humming away from Monday through Friday on the Fox network. Though the principal characters are still the grotesquely hilarious and presumably dead practical joker Beetlejuice (aka BJ) and his wide-eyed mortal friend Lydia, and while the main locale for the series remains the surrealistic Neitherworld, the Fox version differs slightly from the ABC edition by specializing in literary and pop-culture parodies, beginning with BJ enthusiastically booking several dead historical figures for Neitherworld's top TV talk show. Later on, BJ assumes the guise of Grimdiana Jones to rescue Lydia from the clutches of giant beetle Thing Thong; a pair of severed ears show up as the main characters in a Maltese Falcon takeoff; BJ and Lydia pay a visit to the yecchiest place in Neitherworld, the ghoulish theme park Grislyland, where the mascot is Bartholomew Bat (try to spell out THAT name in a song!). Also: BJ is trapped in the enchanted village Brinkadoom, which disappears every time the citizens fall asleep, a frozen chicken haunts BJ's roadhouse as "The Poultrygeist"; our hero is given a chance to see what would have happen if he never existed by the spectral Clarence Sale; a trip back to 17th Century London finds BJ and Lydia being kidnapped by various Shakespearean characters who want her to rewrite their plays so they won't get killed; a Caesar salad comes to life and forms a legion of vegetables, then divides all Aroma into three parts (what Gaul!); BJ squares off against notorious outlaw Jesse Germs; thej first production of BJ's "Disasterpiece Theater" is Moby Richard, featuring the most temperamental whale in showbiz history. And you can't imagine the instigated in the episode "The Wizard of Ooze." Plus: exercise fitness guru Jacques LaLean finds a formidable foe in King of Fitness Armhold Musclehugger; BJ and Lydia compete in the fast-food business with Scuzoo the Clown; BJ defends his title of World's Great Prankster against his great rival, Germs Pondscum; an attempt to exterminate some ants results in BJ creating a whole new colony of annoying relatives (all "Aunts" of course); and finally, BJ takes advantage of a new TV cartoon trend by transforming himself into UltraBeetleMan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season two of the ABC version of the zoned-out cartoon series Beetlejuice features 13 new adventures with the Neitherworld's favorite ghoulish prankster Beetlejuice ("B.J") and his winsome mortal friend Lydia Deetz. This season, it's Beetlejuice vs. Lydia on Scary Fools Day; the duo races against the well-named Scuzzo the Clown in the Neitherworld Groan Prix; "Dr. Beetlejuice" creates a perfume that alters personalities; the episode "Uncle B.J.'s Roadhouse" dishes up a wild spoof of Pee-wee's Playhouse (which, like Beetlejuice, was a spinoff of a popular live-action movie directed by Tim Burton); and bug-eating B.J. is in gross-out heaven when he lands a job as a scarecrow on a beetle farm. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first season of the grotesquely hilarious animated series Beetlejuice originally aired weekly on ABC, and consists of 19 half-hour episodes, in which the hideously ugly, outrageously gross and stone-cold-dead con artist/prankster Beetlejuice, aka "BJ", made periodic visits to the surrealistic Neitherworld in the company of his mortal friend Lydia. This season offers our first glimpses of such other Neitherworld denizens as Judge Mental, the pesky Sandworms, the King and Queen of Gross, commercial pitchman Barry MeNot, Scuzzo the Clown and Beetlejuice's faithful pet, Doomie the DogBrained Cat. Typical adventures include B.J.'s public embarrassed when the skeletons in his closet come to life; the havoc wreaked by a walking tree who doesn't want to be cut down for a highway project; a dull Halloween livened up when BJ breaks open a can of Party People; a showdown with Neitherworld gunslinger Bully the Crud; BJ's unpleasant encounter with Pat on the Back, a leprechaun growing out of his shoulder blades; a cautionary fable of fame's fickleness when BJ hits the big time as an "armpit musician"; the curious courtship of Lydia by Neitherworld's Prince Vince; and a surprising encounter with Beetlejuice's ultra-ultra-ultra-ultra-ultra-ultra-conservative parents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide