Patricia Carr Movies

In assembling the 1990 TV-movie version of Jekyll and Hyde, writer/director David Wickes recycled many of the elements of his 1988 adaptation of Jack the Ripper--including props, costumes, sets, and star Michael Caine. Caine goes through the standard motions as kindly Henry Jekyll, who dabbles where Men Must Not and unleashes his beastly alter ego Mr. Hyde. Anything new here? Well, the character of Dr. Lanyon, Jekyll's best friend in the original Robert Louis Stevenson story, has been rewritten as his worst enemy. Joss Ackland plays the vitriolic Lanyon, while Cheryl Ladd shows up as a newly fabricated love interest. Jekyll and Hyde has some neat makeup transformations, but otherwise is just the same old cloak 'n' fang jazz seen in so many earlier incarnations of the venerable Stevenson yarn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This gay coming-of-age drama from Britain was screened at many film festivals including Toronto, Edinburgh, and the 1999 Sundance Film Festival (World Cinema section). It tells the story of 16-year-old Steven (Ben Silverstone), a boy who can't tell anyone of his sexual preference except an overweight girl named Linda, who is also unlucky in love. Steven (and most of his school's female student body) have a crush on John, the school hunk, who dates a model. Before long, John and Steven finally meet and start a private romantic tryst. The lies, secrets, and deceit build to a head at the school's commencement ceremony, where John is to be presented a prize for athletics, while Steven reads his award-winning essay on growing up. All is finally revealed. ~ Arthur Borman, All Movie Guide

In this film, based on a true story, convicted criminal Lee Umstetter (Nick Nolte) is sentenced to life in San Quentin prison, with no possibility of parole. Despairing at his interminable sentence, Lee spends his time reading and educating himself. When he writes and performs a play that attracts the notice of a film critic (Rita Taggart), she sets out on a quest to have him paroled. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Actor Viggo Mortensen made his first starring appearance in a film after his breakthrough performance in the Lord of the Rings trilogy with this period adventure. Frank T. Hopkins (Mortensen) is a U.S. Cavalry officer who earned a reputation as one of the fastest and most daring riders in the West; however, after taking part in the bloody massacre at Wounded Knee, Hopkins becomes disenchanted with the Cavalry, and once his hitch is up, he takes a job as a rider with a seedy touring Wild West show. During an engagement in New York, Hopkins meets Aziz (Adam Alexi-Malle), an associate of wealthy Bedouin Sheikh Riyadh (Omar Sharif), who knows of Hopkins' talents and wants him to take part in "The Ocean of Fire," an annual 3,000-mile desert horse race running from Arabia to Iraq. Hopkins accepts the invitation and sails to the Middle East with his trusty mustang Hidalgo without knowing just what he's getting himself into. Once he arrives, Hopkins learns that the punishing race course claims the lives of nearly half its contestants, and that most of his competitors ride pure-bred Arabian stallions and do not regard Hidalgo and his master as worthy adversaries. Temporarily exiled to a land where freedom eludes the multitudes and class and wealth define one's fate, Hopkins finds himself riding for both honor and principle, with the support of Riyadh and his beautiful, headstrong daughter, Jazira (Zuleikha Robinson), though the Sheikh's nephew Katib (Silas Carson) is equally determined to see Hopkins go down in defeat. Hidalgo was directed by Joe Johnston, who previously worked with animals on the run in Jumanji and Jurassic Park III. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The starring cast of the hit A Fish Called Wanda reunited for this farcical comedy, which star and co-screenwriter John Cleese described as "not a sequel, but an equal." When London's Marwood Zoo is purchased by Octopus, Inc., the multi-national holding company run by New Zealand publishing tycoon Rod McCain (Kevin Kline), the staff is given a firm order: if the zoo is not turning at least a 20% profit soon, it will be shut down. Willa Weston (Jamie Lee Curtis), who was recently hired by McCain to oversee another firm that bit the dust, is assigned to keep a watchful eye over zoo director Rollo Lee (Cleese), who gets the idea that since people seem to enjoy aggressive, violent entertainment at the movies, the zoo should round up and execute all the cute, benign animals and replace them with more vicious specimens to boost attendance. Needless to say, talkative zookeeper Adrian "Bugsy" Malone (Michael Palin) is appalled at this suggestion and attempts to disguise the more timid beasts with fake fangs and daubings of artificial blood. Meanwhile, Rod and his son Vince (also played by Kevin Kline) want the animal displays to be more spectacular, and they hope to boost income by introducing corporate sponsorship with logos pasted on the cages, the staff uniforms, and even the animals themselves. An already complex situation is further tangled by the efforts of Vince, Rod, and Rolo to seduce Willa, whose obsession with the bottom line is compromised by her fondness for the gorillas. Fierce Creatures was originally shot in 1995, but when the original version tested poorly, producers John Cleese and Michael Shamberg opted to reshoot part of the film (most notably the ending), with director Fred Schepisi replacing Robert Young for the revised sequences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In Robert Zemeckis's trailblazing combination of animation and live-action, Hollywood's 1940s cartoon stars are a subjugated minority, living in the ghettolike "Toontown" where their movements are sharply monitored by the human power establishment. The Toons are permitted to perform in a Cotton Club-style nightspot but are forbidden to patronize the joint. One of Toontown's leading citizens, whacked-out Roger Rabbit, is framed for the murder of human nightclub owner Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye). Private detective Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins), whose prejudice against Toons stems from the time that his brother was killed by a falling cartoon piano, reluctantly agrees to clear Roger of the accusation. Most of the sociopolitical undertones of the original novel were weeded out out of the 1988 film version, with emphasis shifted to its basic "evil land developer" plotline --and, more enjoyably, to a stream of eye-popping special effects. With the combined facilities of animator Richard Williams, Disney, Warner Bros., Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, and George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic, the film allows us to believe (at least for 90 minutes) that "toons" exist, and that they are capable of interacting with 3-dimensional human beings. Virtually every major cartoon character of the late 1940s shows up, with the exceptions of Felix the Cat and Popeye the Sailor, whose licensees couldn't come to terms with the producers. Of the film's newly minted Toons, the most memorable is Roger Rabbit's curvaceous bride Jessica (voiced, uncredited, by Kathleen Turner). The human element is well-represented by Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, and Joanna Cassidy; also watch for action-film producer Joel Silver as Roger Rabbit's Tex Avery-style director. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Glenn Close goes to the dogs once again in this sequel to 101 Dalmatians, Disney's 1996 live-action adaptation of their beloved animated classic. After three years in prison, Cruella De Vil (Close) is judged to have paid her debt to society and is set free, as she pledges to have nothing to do with animal fur (especially dogs) ever again. Meanwhile, Kevin (Ioan Gruffudd) operates an animal shelter that has fallen on hard times; unless he's able to find new financial support, the lost dogs he's been caring for will have nowhere to go. Kevin and his girlfriend Chloe (Alice Evans), who happens to be Cruella's parole officer, get the idea of bringing their plight to the people through the press, but media reports of the shelter's problems attract an unlikely benefactor -- Cruella. While Ms. De Vil claims the purest of intentions, it seems the shelter is housing a large number of dalmatians, and in cahoots with mad fashion designer Monsieur Le Pelt (Gérard Depardieu), she plans to turn the puppies into haute couture. 102 Dalmatians was the first live-action feature for director Kevin Lima, who previously helmed two animated features for Disney, A Goofy Movie and Tarzan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide