Charlayne Woodard Movies

This episode is a tour de force for actor Reiley McClendon, cast in the dual role of as teenaged graffiti tagger Logan Stanton and his twin sister Lindsay. After a member of the Stone Cold Assassins street gang is murdered, the SVU detectives seek out the only witness to the killing--who likewise turns up dead. When suspicion falls upon Logan Stanton, his sister Lindsay loyally comes forth, confessing to the crime. It would seem that the two siblings are covering for each other...but this is only the tip of a particularly chilling iceberg involving rape, child molestation, and an abundance of horrible family secrets. Mary Stuart Masterson makes her final sixth-season appearance as psychiatrist Rebecca Hendrix. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Writer and director John Sayles returns with another multi-layered look at an American community, subtly exploring how race, class, economics, and both national and regional history come together to shape people's lives. Plantation Island is a community on the coast of Florida; the island was once a notorious hotbed of segregationists, with most of the African-American population centered in the neighborhood of Lincoln Beach, while Delrona Beach is primarily home to white residents. Marly Temple (Edie Falco) is the sixth generation of her family to live in Delrona Beach, where she helps run a motel and cafe owned by her elderly and ill-tempered father (Ralph Waite) and drama instructor mother (Jane Alexander). Marly's former husband, Steve (Richard Edson), is a scruffy ne'er do well who's a sucker for get-rich-quick scams, while her current boyfriend, Scotty (Marc Blucas), is struggling to make something of himself as a golf pro. Meanwhile, Desiree Perry (Angela Bassett) is an actress who is returning to Lincoln Beach for the first time since she was a teenager, hoping to introduce her new husband, Reggie (James McDaniel), to her mother, Eunice Stokes (Mary Alice). Desiree was the center of a minor local scandal when she became pregnant as a teenager and moved away. Eunice has never quite forgiven her, while Flash (Tom Wright), Desiree's high school boyfriend and the man responsible, hasn't seen her since. Eunice is looking after Terrell (Alex Lewis), a troubled youth recently found guilty of arson, and Desiree and Reggie soon find themselves bonding with the misguided youth. In time, Delrona Beach and Lincoln Beach are brought together by a common concern; Greg (Perry Lang) and Lester (Miguel Ferrer) are representatives from a nearby resort community looking to expand, with Plantation Island looking like their most likely target. As homeowners debate whether to sell or stay put, local government officials and the town's business community argue the merits and faults of the resort's expansion into Plantation Island. Meanwhile, Marly becomes romantically involved with Jack (Timothy Hutton), a landscape architect affiliated with the developers who seems to believe his work is doing more harm than good. Sunshine State also features Mary Steenburgen, Alan King, and Bill Cobbs. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Legendary filmmaker Wim Wenders returns to the screen with this loosely structured murder mystery. The Million Dollar Hotel unites Wender's obsession with cool music, lost souls, and American trash culture. Set in 2001, the film opens with Tom Tom (Jeremy Davies) taking a flying leap off the roof of the Million Dollar Hotel, an ironically titled dive in the seedy section of L.A. Told in an extended flashback, Tom Tom recounts the murder investigation of a down-and-out artist and son of a media mogul, Izzy Goldkiss (Tim Roth), who also fell off the hotel. FBI special agent Skinner (none other than Mel Gibson), sporting a neck brace, looks into the death only to discover that the building is teeming with weirdos and losers. There is Vivien (Amanda Plummer), who claims to be the fiancée of the rock star; Geronimo (Jimmy Smits), a huckster trying to make a buck by selling Izzy's abstract painting; Eloise (Milla Jovovich), a burned out prostitute with a passion for intellectual literature; and Dixie (Peter Stormare), who swears up and down that he is the fifth Beatle. As the film progresses, Skinner proves to be just as much of a freak as the hotel tenets -- he was born with a third arm that was surgically removed from his back. Just as in his Until the End of the World (1991), Wenders features a fantastic soundtrack including songs from Bono, Daniel Lanois, and Brian Eno. The Million Dollar Hotel opened the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

This two-part TV miniseries, adapted from Dorothy West's novel The Wedding, takes a look at mid-century issues of race and class in well-to-do black society. On Martha's Vineyard in 1953, debutante Shelby Coles (Halle Berry) stirs discord in her social-climbing family when she chooses to marry impoverished white musician Meade Howell (Eric Thal). At the Shelby family estate, weeks prior to the wedding, Meade informs her parents, Corinne and Clark Coles (Lynn Whitfield, Michael Warren), that his family won't be attending the wedding, and the irony of upper-crust blacks being rejected by poor whites hangs heavy. In a later plot twist, the single black father (Carl Lumbly) of three mixed-race daughters takes a very strong interest in Shelby that quickly turns into an overly persistent pursuit. Filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, the miniseries premiered February 22-23, 1998 on ABC. Also known as Oprah Winfrey Presents: The Wedding. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

In 1988, Gail Devers was one of the best female sprinters in America, and seemed assured of a place on the United States Olympic Team to compete in the 100-meter hurdles in that year's games in Seoul, South Korea. However, tragedy struck Devers in the form of Grave's Disease, a rare ailment that causes swelling and bleeding in the feet. Devers' illness not only prevented her from competing in the Seoul Olympics, it also continued to spread and nearly forced her to have her feet amputated, until a new form of therapy led her to a miraculous recovery -- and a spot on the U.S. Olympic team for the 1992 games in Atlanta. Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story is a made-for-TV drama based on Devers' remarkable true story; Charlayne Woodard stars as Gail Devers, with Louis Gossett Jr. co-starring as her coach, Bob Kersee. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A week overdue, Vivian (Janet Hubert-Whitten) finally goes into labor. Unfortunately, no one but her daughter Ashley (Tatyana Ali) and her butler Geoffrey (Joseph Marcell) are around to help her--and after Geoffrey's hand is crushed by the latest of Viv's VERY violent labor pains, only Ashley (Tatyana M. Ali) is of any use. Trouble, Viv must be driven to the hospital right away...and Ashley can't drive! (Perhaps someday, somewhere, a TV-sitcom birth will go off without a single crisis--but not during February Sweeps Week). Without killing the suspense, it can be revealed that this episode introduces the character of Nicholas Andrew Banks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Will (Will Smith) is asked to be best man at the wedding of his Aunt Janice (Charlayne Woodard)--only to be forbidden from attending the ceremony by his domineering mother Vy (Vernee Watson-Johnson). The reason is both simple and sad: Vy has just learned to her horror that Janice's fiance is a white man (played by future Drew Carey Show regular Diedrich Bader). Vy's anger overflows during the wedding itself, which has a profound effect on the rest of the family. (Ironically, in real life several of the cast members of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air were the children of biracial parents, or were themselves in biracial relationships.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Certain that everyone has forgotten her 21st birthday, a melancholy Whitley (Jasmine Guy) decides to throw a party just for herself. Unbeknownst to Whitley, Kim (Charnele Brown) is arranging a secret birthday celebration, which is supposed to be "for girls only"--at least until Ron (Darryl M. Bell) and Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) find out. The ensuing chaos results in a nasty fall for Ron, which surprisingly turns out to be beneficial for Walter (Sinbad) when he meets an attractive hospital medic (Charlayne Woodard). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide