Jacobus Rose Movies

Using the 1960 breakup of the marriage between Lucille Ball and her husband/co-star Desi Arnaz, the film covers 40 years in the life of America's favorite redheaded gal, beginning with her early dramatic aspirations as an acting student (one of her fellow aspirants is Bette Davis) and her emergence as a platinum-blonde chorus girl in such film extravaganzas as Eddie Cantor's Roman Scandals. Once Hollywood is convinced of Lucy's fierce work ethic, and her willingness to do anything -- even allow herself to be caked in mud -- for the good of the picture, RKO Radio inaugurates a star build-up, though poor Lucy never quite gets beyond the B-list of leading ladies. In 1940, she falls madly in love with Desi Arnaz, a sexy Cuban bandleader and scion of an aristocratic family. Despite Desi's imperious nature, and his self-proclaimed "entitlement" to savor the favors of as many ladies as possible, Lucy and Desi are wed. Moving from RKO Radio to MGM during the war years, Lucy becomes a redhead to take better advantage of the studio's Technicolor cameras, and also learns the rudiments of broad slapstick comedy from such masters as Buster Keaton and Red Skelton. Even so, she is considered washed-up in Hollywood by the end of the 1940s, and her union with the constitutionally faithless Arnaz is on the rocks. Coming to the rescue of both Lucy's career and marriage is a new medium called television: With Desi as her creative Svengali, Lucy scales the heights of superstardom as star of the top-rated weekly sitcom I Love Lucy. Alas, the more popular Lucy becomes, the more her marriage to Desi suffers, and the film is unsparing in showing how fame and fortune can be fatal to domestic happiness. In the title role, musical comedy actress Rachel York doesn't resemble the real Lucy all that much, though she gamely recreates such classic I Love Lucy moments as the "Vitameatavegamin" commercial and the grape-stomping orgy. Far better cast is Danny Pino as Desi Arnaz, depicted as an enigmatic blend of Latin charm, filmmaking genius, and sociopathic serial philandering. While the teleplay is an acceptable overview of the subject's life and career, there is little in the film that is not common knowledge to Lucy buffs, save for a re-enactment of the childhood tragedy which left the heroine a mass of insecurities, and Lucy's morbid fear of birds (yes, birds). The three-hour Lucy first aired on May 4, 2003, telecast by Lucy's old home network, CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The first in a series of "true crime" cable-TV films based on the writings of Dominick Dunne, Murder in Greenwich retraces the brutal bludgeoning murder of Martha Moxley, a Greenwich, Connecticut high school girl, in 1975. Although the prime suspect is Martha's teenaged neighbor Michael Skakel (Jon Foster), the boy is able to evade arrest for a variety of reasons, not least of which is the fact that he is related to the politically "untouchable" Kennedy family. Over two decades later, the case is re-opened at the urging of former police detectitve Mark Fuhrman (Christopher Meloni), whose recent association with the O.J. Simpson trial has branded him a racist pariah. Despite his tarnished reputation, Fuhrman is able to enlist the aid of another detective, Steve Carroll (Robert Forster), the original investigator of the Moxley murder. Although Fuhrman and Carroll are clearly never going to be the best of friends, their combined efforts ultimately bring the elusive (and now adult) Michael Skakel to justice. Not surprisingly, the real Mark Fuhrman was one of the producers of Murder in Greenwich, which made its USA Network debut on November 15, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Photographer, Beatles wife, tambourine player, purveyor of vegetarian entrees: Linda McCartney led an undeniably remarkable life. The Linda McCartney Story, based on the book Linda McCartney: The Biography, attempts to present this life in all its glory. Scion of the George Eastman photography dynasty, McCartney is first shown as Linda Eastman, aspiring rock photographer. Flirting her way around the transatlantic rock scene with the likes of Jim Morrison and Mick Jagger, she eventually meets Paul McCartney during the heyday of mid-'60s Beatlemania. Thirty years of marriage, the Beatles' break-up, tambourine playing with Wings, and McCartney's ultimately unsuccessful battle with breast cancer follow, illustrating, over the course of 120 minutes, a life lived with both strength and aplomb. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

David Caruso and Charles S. Dutton play two men at the end of their wits in this beat-the-death-sentence TV drama. Jacob Doyle (Dutton) has just seen his son wrongly convicted of murder and decides to take the law into his own hands: He sequesters the jury himself -- at gunpoint -- and demands that they re-try the case. To this end, he summons prosecuting attorney Ned Stark (Caruso), a level-headed legal eagle who, despite the fact that he just convicted the boy, believes that he's innocent. Meanwhile, the SWAT team closes in on the courthouse. Deadlocked originally aired on the TNT network. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

A real estate developer (Eric Roberts) sells out his partner/buddy in order to clear the path for the construction of a major hotel. The wife of his buddy, who was a former lover of his, discovers the body of her husband (with the body of a woman he was having an affair with) and becomes aware his scheme. The big boss in charge of the whole project (Angus McFadyen) assigns two goons to get rid of the wife, but she manages to escape their bumbling chase and get her revenge. ~ Rovi

Trey Parker, creator of the TV series South Park, wrote, directed, and stars in this cheerfully vulgar comedy. Joe Young (Parker) is a devout Mormon living in L.A. trying to raise enough money to go back to Utah and marry his girlfriend, Lisa (Robyn Lynne Raab). Joe is spreading the word about the church of Latter Day Saints one day when he's confronted by two burly bodyguards. A scuffle breaks out, and Joe's martial arts skills impress Maxxx Orbison (Michael Dean Jacobs), who directs pornographic movies. Maxxx offers Joe 20,000 dollars to star in his latest skin flick as X-rated superhero Captain Orgazmo. While Joe is wary, he agrees under the condition that a body double is used during the sex scenes. Ben Chapleski (Dian Bachar), who plays the good captain's sidekick, Choda-Boy, has invented a real-life version of Orgazmo's secret weapon, a gun that stuns people with spasms of sexual ecstasy. When Joe and Ben learn that Maxxx is involved in organized crime, they leap into action to see that justice is served. Meanwhile, their film becomes a surprise crossover success, which means that Joe has a lot of explaining to do to Lisa. Trey Parker cast Orgazmo with a number of real-life adult film stars, including Ron Jeremy, Julie Ashton, and Chasey Lain. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Playwright Sam Shepard wrote and directed this bizarre combination of western film revisionism and Greek tragedy. Silent Tongue (Tantoo Cardinal) is a mute Kiowa who is raped by Eamon McCree (Alan Bates), the owner of the Kickapoo Traveling Medicine Show. Eamon attempts to make up for his crime by marrying her, hoping for forgiveness. Instead, Silent Tongue enacts a bitter retribution through her two daughters, Awbonnie (Sheila Tousey) and Velada (Jeri Arredondo). Awbonnie, as the film begins, has already died, but her grieving husband Talbot (River Phoenix) refuses to let her go, dragging around her corpse. To assuage Talbot, his father Prescott (Richard Harris) sets out to purchase Velada from Eamon, thinking that only Awbonnie's sister can replace her in Talbot's eyes. But Velada's half-brother Reeves (Dermot Mulroney) protests the attempted transaction. As a result, Prescott kidnaps Velada and flees, with not only Reeves and Eamon chasing him, but also Awbonnie's ghost. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi