Fran Drescher Movies
With long, shapely legs, a svelte, curvaceous body to die for, and thick black hair cascading around her lovely face, Fran Drescher has all the looks of a sophisticated movie star. And then she opens her mouth. Out comes a crow-like cacophony of nasal sounds made more grating by a thick Queens accent and a tendency to pull no punches. The paradox between the book and its cover is what has made Drescher a rich and popular comedienne; her long-running sitcom The Nanny, with its combination of romantic and slapstick comedy, led many to hail her as Lucille Ball's successor. Though she capitalizes on playing a rather ditzy working-class gal from Flushing, Drescher is known for her creativity and shrewdness. In addition to acting, she is a talented writer and producer.Much of Drescher's comedy, especially that from her sitcom, is drawn from her life experiences. Like her character, Fran Fine, she was born and raised in Queens. She has had a lifelong interest in acting and studied drama in high school. She attended a year at Queens College and then attended cosmetology school to become a hairdresser. For a time, she had her own business. She made her film debut playing Connie in Saturday Night Fever (1977). Her next film, American Hot Wax (1978), provided Drescher with her first major role and though she would continue on to play supporting parts in numerous other films, it was not until she played a small but memorable part in Rob Reiner's hilarious mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap (1984) that she began making a name for herself. In addition to her film roles, she was also busy on television, guest starring in series and appearing in television films like Terror in the Towers. She played starring roles in three short-lived series, including Princesses. She and her husband Peter Marc Jacobson created The Nanny and it aired on CBS from 1993 to 1999. She not only starred in the show, but also wrote and produced it; Drescher received Emmy nominations for her work on the show. In 1996, she co-starred with Robin Williams in the Disney comedy Jack, while in 1997, she and Jacobson co-created the idea for the romantic comedy The Beautician and the Beast, in which she also starred. Drescher published her autobiography, Enter Whining, in 1996.
Drescher once again drew from her life experiences in the 2002 memoir Cancer Schmancer, which chronicled the actress's battle with uterine cancer, and formed the Cancer Schmancer Movement in 2007. The nonprofit is dedicated to educating women about cancer prevention and the importance of early detection (Drescher's cancer was initially misdiagnosed). In 2011, Drescher appeared on Oprah Winfrey to discuss her relationship with her then ex-husband Peter Mark Jacobson after he came out as gay after the end of their 21-year marriage. The television series Happily Divorced (2011-2012) is based on her experience with Jacobson. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
As a shoestring-budget clone of the A-list animated features Finding Nemo and A Shark Tale, the U.S.-Korean co-production The Reef constitutes yet another CG-animated picture about the 'little fish that could.' The piscine in question is the cleverly-named Pi (voice of Freddie Prinze, Jr.), orphaned when his parents are caught by a net off of Boston harbor. Adopted by a family of porpoises, Pi later swims a great distance to a tropical reef to live with his Aunt Pearl (voice of Fran Drescher), a psychic fish. He also falls in love with the supermodel fish Cordelia (voice of Evan Rachel Wood), who is promptly kidnapped by the brutish shark Troy (Donal Logue). She agrees to wed the shark if he resists the urge to kill Pi. We won't be spoiling the fun or ruining any surprises to reveal that Pi soon hatches an elaborate rescue plan. Andy Dick, Rob Schneider and John Rhys-Davies provide additional voices. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Freddie Prinze, Jr., Evan Rachel Wood, (more)
- 2003
Full-figured Broadway actress Marissa Jaret Winokur, who won an Emmy award for her performance in the musical version of Hairspray, is felicitously (if somewhat incongruously) teamed with slender soap opera heartthrob Mark Consuelos in this uplifting made-for-cable comedy. Although she's not what one could call beautiful or svelte, Becca Wasserman (Winokur) possesses a beauty that emanates from within: she also happens to be great singer, with a great career as a teacher and a super-great fiancé named Adam (Consuelos). All Becca lacks is the money to afford her dream honeymoon to Hawaii. Partly to get even for being snubbed by the gorgeous Libby (Reagan Pasternak), and partly just to prove that she can do it, Becca enters the The Miss Squirrel Hill beauty pageant, the first prize of which is two free tickets to the Aloha State. But though everyone is pulling for Becca, the plain cold fact of the matter is that no "super-sized" woman has ever won the pageant--and even Becca's mom Amanda (Fran Drescher), hitherto her daughter's biggest booster, is certain that Becca is going to make a fool of herself. Beautiful Girl originally aired October 19, 2003 on the ABC Family channel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1998
This TV sitcom apparently was inspired by the low concept of Martha Stewart meets Green Acres, since the central character is country-living TV host Sara Campbell (Judith Light) who feels it's deceptive to do a show about life in the country as part of the population in New York City. So she decides to relocate her life, her huge business empire, and her television show to a farm in upstate New York. As she explains to her daughter Frederica (Ashlee Levitch), "You don't need therapy in the country. If you get tense, you just go and milk something!" Accompanying Sara on this rural sojourn are her complaining mother Muriel (Florence Stanley) and her producer Greg (James Patrick Stuart). Husky farm foreman Lucas (Brett Cullen) offers a contrast to the citified types, including Fran Drescher and Rachel Chagall who guest as cameos in the first episode, re-creating their roles on The Nanny. Filmed in L.A., the series premiered June 3, 1998 on CBS. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Judith Light, Brett Cullen, (more)
- 1998
This two-hour TV entertainment special takes a surface skim (95 minutes minus commercials and promos) over the history of CBS, quickly skipping past decades of CBS radio to concentrate on CBS television from the late '40s to the present. It features more than a dozen hosts (Adam Arkin, Ed Bradley, Carol Burnett, David Copperfield, Roma Downey, Fran Drescher, Don Johnson, Angela Lansbury, David Letterman, Cheech Marin, Mary Tyler Moore, Dan Rather, Della Reese, Ray Romano, Jane Seymour) introducing a parade of primetime clips covering a variety of shows, events, and people -- Ed Sullivan, The Carol Burnette Show, 60 Minutes (Mike Wallace interviewing Barbra Streisand), Gunsmoke, The Honeymooners, Edward R. Murrow (his oft-seen editorial on Joe McCarthy), I Love Lucy, The Twilight Zone, The Waltons, Dan Rather reporting from Vietnam, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Green Acres, Dallas, Petticoat Junction, The Beverly Hillbillies, M*A*S*H, The Andy Griffith Show, Murphy Brown, the JFK assassination, and more -- with reminiscences from Tom and Dick Smothers, David Letterman (on Ed Sullivan), Larry Hagman (on "Who shot J.R.?"), Alan Alda, Ron Howard, Walter Cronkite, and others. At 95 minutes, these nostalgic nods, truncated tributes, and familiar faces might leave many viewers yearning for an archeological dig through the little-seen rarities and antiquities buried in the Museum of Television & Radio collection while waiting for the major networks to cover broadcasting history in depth. Premiered May 20, 1998 on CBS. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Adam Arkin, Ed Bradley, (more)
- 1998
Season five of The Nanny ended with newlyweds Fran Fine (Fran Drescher) and Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy) both falling over the rail of their honeymoon cruise ship. The opening episode of the series' sixth and final season reveals that Fran and Maxwell have managed to avoid a watery grave by swimming to a deserted island. But before the series can evolve into a neo-Gilligan's Island, the couple is rescued and flown back to New York City, where Fran promptly adopts Maxwell's three children: 22-year-old Maggie (Nicholle Tom), 16-year-old Brighton (Benjamin Salisbury), and 12-year-old Grace (Madeline Zima). In a later two-part episode, our heroine is told that there will soon be one more youngster in the Sheffield household -- but alas, Fran's obstetrician, Dr. Reynolds (Nora Dunn), informs Fran that her pregnancy test was a "false positive." Having not succeeded, Fran and Maxwell try, try again, and in the episode "The Yummy Mummy" it is confirmed beyond all doubt that Fran is "with child." Ultimately, she gives birth to twins in the series finale, which also establishes the fact that the Sheffield family will soon be relocating to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Maxwell's butler, Niles (Daniel Davis), who has spent the past six years in a war of insults with his boss' bitchy business partner, C.C. (Laura Lane), surprises everyone -- himself included -- by asking C.C. to become his wife. Her first impulse is to laugh in his face, which she does; but given time to think, she realizes that she and Niles are made for each other. Although this would the last season of The Nanny, there was no slackening of the series' commitment to featuring celebrity guest stars as "themselves." This year's crop of big names includes Whoopi Goldberg, Lynn Redgrave, former Beverly Hillbillies leading lady Donna Douglas, game show host Bob Goen -- and, in the episode "The Baby Shower," Fran Drescher herself! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fran Drescher, Charles Shaughnessy, (more)
- 1997
Season five of The Nanny begins with a wrap-up of the cliffhanger established at the end of season four, with Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy) firmly and without hesitation declaring his love for Fran Fine (Fran Drescher), the down-to-earth nanny for Maxwell's three children. Unlike the "false start" of the previous season, in which Maxwell took back his words of love, this season he fully intends to march Fran down the aisle -- which indeed happens in the season's two-part finale, with a genuine rabbi presiding over a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony. Even allow for this golden moment, season five ends on yet another cliffhanger. It seems that Fran is so enchanted by the prospect of a honeymoon cruise with Maxwell that she falls overboard -- whereupon her dutiful husband dives into the briny deep after her! Guest stars appearing this season include Roseanne as Fran's cousin Sheila in "The Morning After"; Lainie Kazan, repeating her off-and-on role as our heroine's Auntie Frieda in "The Ex-Niles"; Ray Charles, as the uncle (!) of TV personality Bryant Gumbel in "Fair Weather Fran"; Harry Hamlin as a college philosophy teacher idolized by Maxwell's daughter Maggie (Nicholle Tom) in "Educating Fran"; Scott Baio as a fledgling doctor in "Rash to Judgment"; Ray Romano in his Everybody Loves Raymond guise as Ray Barone in "The Reunion Show"; and even Nanny regular Charles Shaughnessy, appearing in the dual role of Maxwell Sheffield and a Middle Eastern sultan in "Not Without My Nanny." And we haven't even mentioned those celebrities who appear as themselves during season five, notably Elton John, Chevy Chase, Michael Bolton, columnist Cindy Adams and "The Donald's" then-inamorata, Marla Maples. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fran Drescher, Charles Shaughnessy, (more)
- 1996
As season three of the CBS sitcom The Nanny drew to a close, widowed Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy) was stammering out the words "I love you" to Fran Fine (Fran Drescher), a Jewish gal from Queens who for the past several years had been working as the nanny for Maxwell's three children. But as season four commences, Maxwell panics and takes the words back! Sent into an emotional spiral, Fran consults a therapist named Dr. Miller (played by legendary monologist Spalding Gray), who tells her that she should put the kibosh on her insatiable man-chasing -- words that do not sit too well with Fran's mother, Sylvia (Renee Taylor), who is anxious to marry off her daughter post-haste. Despite the cooling off of her relationship with Maxwell, Fran continues to work in the Sheffield town house, enduring the taunts and put-downs of Maxwell's female business partner, C.C. (Laura Lane), who is laboring under the misapprehension that she can get her own lunchhooks into Maxwell. As it turns out, however, the main man in C.C.'s life may very well be her worst enemy -- namely, Maxwell's sarcastic butler, Niles (Daniel Davis). This year's guest star crop includes Seinfeld's Jason Alexander, cast against type as a blind man in the season opener, "A Tart With Heart"; Nora Dunn, who would later join the series' cast as obstetrician Dr. Reynolds, but in the meantime is seen as Mrs. Richardson in "The Bird's Nest"; Donald O'Connor as a millionaire to whom Fran gives dancing lessons (!) in "Frieda Needa Man"; Robert Vaughn as Maxwell's dad and Joan Collins as Maxwell's new mother-in-law in "Me and Mrs. Joan"; Pamela Anderson, introduced as Fran's gold-digging archrival Heather Biblow in "Danny 's Dead and Who's Got the Will?"; and future Daily Show host Jon Stewart as a Jewish doctor whom Fran gets serious about until she learns a startling fact about him in "Kissing Cousins." And, of course, a number of celebrities show up as "themselves": Rosie O'Donnell, Jay Leno, Monty Hall, Donald Trump, and Celine Dion, to name but a few. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fran Drescher, Charles Shaughnessy, (more)
Moving back to Wednesdays after a year on CBS' Monday-night lineup, The Nanny inaugurates its third season, offering 27 episodes this year. Fran Drescher continues to head the cast as Fran Fine, the cheekily vulgar nanny in the veddy-proper Manhattan household of widowed Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy) and his three growing children. Although Sheffield's female business partner, C.C. (Laura Lane), has not given up her efforts to strong-arm Maxwell into marriage, it is clear that the master of the Sheffield house is falling in love with Fran. Indeed, in the season-ending finale, Maxwell not only takes Fran along on a business trip to Paris, but also stammers out those three magic words, "I love you" -- just as the "To be continued" title crashes on the screen. In other developments, Fran briefly moves out of the Sheffield town house and into an apartment with her best friend, Val (Rachel Chagall); Maxwell's imperious mother, Elizabeth (Dina Merrill), sweeps into town, immediately demanding that her son dismiss his nanny; Maxwell's shy daughter Maggie (Nicholle Tom) turns sweet sixteen; and in the series' animated-cartoon Christmas episode, "Oy to the World," the leading actors provide the characters' voices in a helter-skelter North Pole fantasy. As in previous seasons, several guest stars appear as "themselves" during The Nanny's third season, among them Elizabeth Taylor, Alex Trebek, Jay Leno, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Eartha Kitt, Burt Bacharach, tennis champ Monica Seles, fashion designer Todd Oldham, the cast of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and even "presidential brother" Roger Clinton. Most amusingly, Marvin Hamlisch also shows up -- not as himself, but as a fellow who happens to look like Marvin Hamlisch! Breaking into the Top 20 TV programs for the first time this year, The Nanny closed out its third season as America's 16th most-watched series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fran Drescher, Charles Shaughnessy, (more)
Moving from Wednesdays to Mondays, The Nanny begins its second season on CBS, with Fran Drescher as the title character. Offering 26 episodes this season (up from the previous year's 22), the series provides ample time and space for abrasive, down-to-earth Fran Fine (Drescher) to gleefully upset the decorum of the posh town house owned by her widowed employer, Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy). Despite Fran's million-and-one social gaffes, Maxwell could never bring himself to fire her as the family's nanny, especially since his children, Maggie (Nicholle Tom), Brighton (Benjamin Salisbury), and Grace (Madeline Zima), dote upon our heroine. Even the Sheffields' haughty butler, Niles (Daniel Davis), has warmed up to Fran, if for no other reason than she provides a potential threat to Niles' sworn enemy: Maxwell's bitchy, predatory business partner C.C. Babock (Laura Lane) -- who has been trying to manipulate Maxwell into marriage for years. This season, the possibility begins to arise that the relationship between Fran and Maxwell will eventually blossom into something more than "strictly business." The first clue occurs in the season opener, "Fran-Lite, in which Fran encourages Maxwell to re-enter the dating scene, only to have him go out with a woman who is exactly like her! Other episodes of note include "Everybody Needs a Bubby," in which Fran's freewheeling grandmother Yetta (Ann Morgan Guilbert) briefly moves into the Sheffield household (and now it's Fran's turn to go into the "snob" act!); "A Star Is Born," in which Fran finds herself on-stage playing Juliet, with Fran Drescher's then real-life husband, Peter Marc Jacobson, as Romeo; and the season finale, "Fran Gets Mugged," which not only offers a delightful spin on an old urban legend, but also sets up a situation whereby Fran and Maxwell come very, very close to exchanging their first romantic kiss. As in the previous season, The Nanny exploits the fact that Maxwell Sheffield is supposed to be a major producer by featuring several celebrity guest stars, cast as "themselves": Bob Barker, Sally Jessy Raphael, Steve Lawrence, Eydie Gorme, Shari Lewis, and Billy Ray Cyrus, to name but a few. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fran Drescher, Charles Shaughnessy, (more)
- 1993
Nasal-voiced comic actress Fran Drescher, she of the braying laugh and garish bargain-basement wardrobe, was both star and co-creator (with her then-husband Peter Marc Jacobson) of the long-running CBS sitcom The Nanny. Debuting November 3, 1993, the series cast Drescher as Fran Fine, a middle-class Jewish girl from Queens who is somewhat improbably hired by stuffy British-born theatrical agent Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy) to be the nanny for his three motherless children: shy Maggie (Nicholle Tom), wheeler-dealer Brighton (Benjamin Salisbury), and button-cute Grace (Madeline Zima). Comfortably installed in Maxwell's posh Manhattan town house, the healthily vulgar and outspoken Fran immediately ran afoul of snooty butler, Niles (Daniel Davis), who despite his forbidding demeanor was a softie at heart -- and who infinitely preferred Fran's company to that of Maxwell's overbearing business partner Chastity Claire "C.C." Babcock (Laura Lane). Also in the cast were Renee Taylor as Fran's mother, Sylvia Fine, who considered the day wasted that she didn't harass her daughter over her unmarried status; Ann Morgan Guilbert as Fran's earthy grandmother Yetta; and Rachel Chagall as our heroine's best friend, Val Toriallo. Having set her cap for the widowed Maxwell Sheffield, C.C. rightly perceived Fran as her rival, though Maxwell himself did not glom on to the fact that he was in love with Fran until the series was several seasons old. Even then, he balked at admitting his ardor and refused to pop the question, which sent Fran into an emotional downward spiral and into the arms of several lesser gentlemen. Finally, at the end of the series' fifth season, Fran and Maxwell were wed, whereupon Fran adopted her former boss' children. Eventually she became pregnant herself, giving birth to twins in the series' final episode (number 146). Meanwhile, the "hate-hate" relationship between Niles and C.C. took a surprising turn, with the warring couple ending up in bed together! After six successful seasons, The Nanny ended its CBS run on June 23, 1999. Some five years later -- December 6, 2004 -- the original cast was reassembled for The Nanny Reunion, a special broadcast consisting largely of "bloopers" from the old series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Season one of The Nanny begins as the cheerfully abrasive Fran Fine (Fran Drescher) is fired from her job at her ex-fiancé's bridal store in Queens. Taking a new job selling cosmetics door to door, Fran ends up in the foyer of the lavish Manhattan town house owned by British-born Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy). Mistaking Fran as an applicant for the job of nanny, Sheffield's haughty butler, Niles (Daniel Davis), escorts our overwhelmed heroine into the house -- and before you can say "Oy gevalt!," Fran has accepted the nanny position, tackling the not inconsiderable task of caring for Maxwell's children: 14-year-old Maggie (Nicholle Tom), ten-year-old Brighton (Benjamin Salisbury), and six-year-old Grace (Madeline Zima). Although both Maxwell and Niles are aghast at Fran's manners -- or lack of same -- Niles would rather have Fran in the house than Maxwell's bitchy, predatory business partner C.C. Babcock (Laura Lane). Quickly establishing the series' predilection for guest stars, season one of The Nanny finds Cloris Leachman cast as Maxwell's former governess in the episode "The Nanny-in-Law," Andy Dick in a dual role in "Maggie the Model," Rita Moreno as the title character in "The Gym Teacher," and even Fran Drescher's real-life mother, Sylvia Drescher, who shows up in family home movies in "I Don't Remember Mama." Also, allowing for the fact that Maxwell Sheffield is a major showbiz mover-and-shaker, a handful of celebrities appear as themselves during The Nanny's maiden season, among them Carol Channing and Patti LaBelle. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fran Drescher, Charles Shaughnessy, (more)
- 1992
The official title of this ragged comedy-melodrama is We're Talkin' Serious Money. Dennis Farina and Leo Rossi play a couple of Manhattan con men who make the mistake of shaking down a powerful mobster. Once they've realized their error, the unheroic heroes skeedaddle to California. The mob boss wants his 10 thousand back, however, and this spells more trouble for Farina and Rossi, who now must also contend with the FBI. Any laughter aroused by this fiasco is purely accidental. Serious Money might have remained unreleased indefinitely were it not for the presence of Nanny star Fran Drescher in a secondary role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1990
The fact that ALF is around 230 years old isn't surprising, in that the average Melmaccian life span is nearly 650 years. Unfortunately, humans don't enjoy this sort of longevity--and as a result ALF begins to brood over the fact that the Tanners' children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be obliged to look after him as the years roll on--and the alien's vision of the future is bleak indeed. A pre-stardom Fran Drescher appears as Roxanne. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1989
Stefanie Powers goes the wronged-wife route with Love and Betrayal. She is happily married to David Birney, and is also the blissful mother of two. Out of nowhere, her husband sues for divorce. He's found someone younger, and he's got all the legal pull to deny Ms. Powers such niceties as custody of the children and financial support. Hiss and boo if you wish. Made for TV, Love and Betrayal was buried in the ratings during its first telecast in April of 1989, by an unusually strong barrage of network competition--including a new adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1989
Actress Theda Blau is well on the wrong side of forty, but she's gamely pretending to be thirty. Though it's hard to believe, she nonetheless manages enough of the ancient siren's song to get a middle-aged producer of TV commercials to come back to her apartment with her. She gets him to stay by "accidentally" spilling water on him - but she's not trying to get him into bed. Her game is to get him to stick around long enough to read the screenplay she's written, and maybe (just maybe) decide that he's good for more than just making commercials. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Renée Taylor, Joseph Bologna, (more)
- 1988
Dyan Cannon plays the title character, a middle-aged housewife and mother who enjoys singing in local amateur contests. Almost overnight, she becomes a nationally famous rock star, with all the attendant trappings of glamour and adulation. But fame has its price: As Cannon rises to the top of her profession, she neglects her two teenaged children. Heather Locklear guest stars as a rocker who calls herself Darcy X; also in the cast is a pre-stardom Fran Drescher. Rock 'n' Roll Mom was originally telecast on The Disney Sunday Movie. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dyan Cannon, Telma Hopkins, (more)
- 1986
Bull (Richard Moll) hopes to express his love of youngsters by entering a children's book contest. Unfortunately, the judges reject his efforts as being too violent--and profane--for youthful consumption, leading Bull to dash out of the courtroom and shamefully squirrel himself away in a museum. Meanwhile, Dan is confused to the point of madness when he dates a schizophrenic client named Miriam (played by a pre-stardom Fran Drescher). Watch for Joe Alaskey, the post-Mel Blanc voice for cartoon stars Porky Pig and Daffy Duck, in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1978
This lively musical comedy pays tribute to the birth of rock & roll in the late 1950s and the instrumental role played by disc jockey Alan Freed who helped bring the new sound into vogue. Much of the story centers on the daring deejay's attempts to put on the very first live rock & roll stage show at the Paramount Theatre in Brooklyn. To do this he must overcome the protests of concerned and angry parents, conservatives, and local police. Several performers of the era appear in the film including Chuck Berry, and Jerry Lee Lewis. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tim McIntire, Fran Drescher, (more)
A crime of passion unwittingly leads to a "miracle" in this satirical comedy. Tex (Woody Allen) is a butcher who is married to Candy (Sharon Stone), a former exotic dancer who has no skill or enthusiasm for fidelity. Unhappy with her extramarital affairs, Tex kills Candy while performing a "sawing the woman in half" trick with her during a magic show. Tex tries to bury the pieces of Candy's body on the outskirts of town before anyone can find out the trick was real, but he makes the mistake of losing one of Candy's hands along the way; a blind woman happens upon it, and when she can suddenly and miraculously see, she's convinced she's found the hand of the Holy Virgin. Father Jerome (David Schwimmer), the priest of the local Catholic church, isn't so sure, but the town's mayor (Cheech Marin) is more than happy to have hundreds of tourists coming into town to see a holy relic, and word of the miraculous hand spreads like wildfire. However, Sheriff Bobo (Kiefer Sutherland) is convinced the severed hand appeared through foul play, and Tex is eager to retrieve it before anyone finds out who was once attached to it. Picking Up the Pieces, which also features Fran Drescher, Eddie Griffin, Andy Dick, and Elliott Gould, had its American premiere on the Cinemax premium cable network after the film's controversial themes prevented it from getting a distribution deal with a U.S. studio. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Woody Allen, David Schwimmer, (more)
Robin Williams stars in this oddball comedy about a fast-talking car salesman who is down on his luck and in over his head until an extreme situation forces him to use his sales skills to save lives. Joey O'Brien (Williams) is the stereotypical car salesman: enterprising, aggressive, and desperate to make enough money to spend on his high-maintenance girlfriends. But suddenly the pressure is really on: he owes money to the mob, his ex-wife is nagging him about not spending enough time with their teenage daughter, and if he doesn't sell at least a dozen cars by the time the big sale is over on Saturday, he's going to lose his job. As Joey attempts to placate several potential buyers, his day is interrupted by Larry (Tim Robbins), the insanely jealous husband of dimwitted showroom receptionist Donna (Annabella Sciorra), who's been having an affair with someone who works at the dealership. With the police surrounding the place, his job (and life) on the line, Joey realizes that it's up to him to use his wits to persuade Larry -- who's not even sure what he wants out of the situation -- not to kill anyone. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Tim Robbins, (more)
- 1989
- R
In this comedy, the members of the Shakers, an aspiring rock band, perform at a series of weird and wacky weddings. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi
- Starring:
- William Katt, Joyce Hyser, (more)
In a thinly-plotted story about redeeming a failing hotel by turning it into an optional brothel (depending on the guest), Peter Scolari stars as Elliot, the young man who has to succeed at this hotel business in order to garner the favor of Clifford, his prospective father-in-law (Christopher Lee). Unknown to Elliot and his girlfriend Tracy (Colleen Camp), her father just intends to blast the building to smithereens so he can collect the insurance money. But with Fran Drescher as the head of the contingent of call girls-cum-bellhops, the hotel starts to turn a tidy profit, giving Clifford second thoughts. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Colleen Camp, Peter Scolari, (more)
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