Judith A. Polone Movies

A woman sets out to stamp out unscrupulous baby brokers in this made-for-cable drama. Nathalie Johnson (Dana Delany) is a woman edging into middle age who has an eight-year-old stepdaughter with her husband Steve (Hart Bochner). Nathalie would like to have a baby of her own, but after discovering to her frustration that she is unable to conceive, she and Steve choose to adopt an infant. While investigating adoption options online, Nathalie sees a listing for a beautiful baby girl from Hungary, and immediately contacts Hungarian adoption agent Gabor Szabo (Bruce Ramsay). Nathalie soon learns that Szabo is less interested in the welfare of his children than in padding his bank account, and that the Hungarian is a black-market broker who essentially auctions off children to the highest bidder. Nathalie is suitably outraged and pledges to put Szabo and his kind out of business, though she soon discovers that the laws regarding adoption are neither as stringent or as easily enforced as she imagined. Originally produced for the Lifetime cable network, Baby for Sale first aired on July 12, 2004. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This off-beat urban anthology offers four different views of the mayhem and destruction that came from the 1992 Los Angeles riots. The first vignette "Gold Mountain," directed by Galen Yuen, centers on a struggle between a traditional-minded Chinese storekeeper and his increasingly uncontrollable son, who is assimilating rapidly into American ghetto life. Their relationship explodes as their store is looted during the riot. Alex Munoz's "Caught in the Fever," featuring a screenplay by the late Joe Vasquez, follows the corruption of a basically good Latino couple who get caught up in the riot's hysteria and set aside their values participate in the chaos. In "Empty" an Anglo policeman finds himself in the center of the riot alone and surrounded by angry youths who force him to take desperate measures. The final vignette, "Homecoming Day" centers upon a black man who managed to escape South Central and forge a better life for himself and his wife. The day the verdict for the Rodney King trial was announced, he goes back to the old neighborhood to see his mother, not realizing that the place will soon become a maelstrom of hatred and violence. In making this anthology, the four filmmakers created continuity by having characters from each film occasionally appear in the background of the other films. They also all utilized the same cinematographer, editor and basic crew. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Recovering from a disastrous romance, graduate student Jennifer Cole (Lisa Rinna) is attracted to the brilliant, charismatic and unpredictable aspiring author Adam (Rob Estes), whose manuscript she has been hired to type. Adam's proposed novel concerns a serial killer who has systematically targeted eight women for death--and as the work progresses, Jennifer cannot help but worry that Adam intends to convert fiction into fact! Unable to convince her parents, her professors or even the police that Adam may be a dangerous killer in the making, Jennifer takes matters in her own hands, offering to be Adam's "accomplice" in hopes of preventing a bloodbath. A definite change of pace for its stars (both of whom had also worked together on Melrose Place), the made-for-TV Close to Danger originally aired January 13, 1997 on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Grover Reindorf (Kyle Howard) is a kid with a problem, which is how to keep his parents from divorcing. He hits on a solution that makes sense to him. Why not lock them up in the basement, and keep them there until they reconcile? He and his younger sister Stacey (Amy Sakasitz) agree to do just that, and they successfully lure their parents into the basement and lock them in. When their junior-high-school friends find out what they've done, they decide that their own misbehaving parents need exactly the same treatment. One after another, all are tricked into entering into the Reindorf's basement. Meanwhile, upstairs, the youngsters have a very mild good time, as they can't even bring themselves to swallow the champagne they try. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Based on a true story, this made-for-television drama chronicles a couple's downward spiral into drug addiction. Meredith Baxter stars as Mary Ann Guard, a nurse who gets romantically involved with heroin abuser Guy Grand (Stephen Lang). Guy turns Mary Ann onto drugs and her once-stable life is suddenly out of control, with Mary Ann stealing from her hospital in order to support their habit. Her family decides to get her clean and get Guy out of her life by checking her into rehab. Mary Ann's rough road isn't over though, and she has to decide for herself which life she wants to lead. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

Kate Capshaw plays a schoolteacher and suburban housewife who happens to be an ex-spy. Nobody knows of Capshaw's previous espionage activities, least of all her somewhat obtuse husband Cliff De Young. When Capshaw's ex-lover Jeroen Krabbe, an intimate of Castro, lands in a Cuban prison, she is swept back into the spy business, leaving her nonplussed hubby in the dust. Made for television, Her Secret Life did prove there was more to Kate Capshaw's repertoire than the wimpy heroine of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It also proved that a workable premise is not enough when the script is skimpy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The story of Olympic downhill racer Bill Johnson is related in this made-for-TV biopic. Future ER star Anthony Edwards plays Johnson, who while growing up in Oregon was known far and wide for his capacity as a troublemaker. After several brushes with the law (one landing him behind bars), Johnson straightens out and flies right when he develops an interest in skiing. Dennis Weaver co-stars as Johnson's supportive dad. Going for the Gold was first telecast May 18, 1985, less than a year after Johnson's Gold Medal win at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide