Sonny Davis Movies
After their Los Angeles suburban house is burglarized, Karen and Michael Carr (Madeleine Stowe and Kurt Russell), are assisted by policeman Pete Davis (Ray Liotta). At first, Davis seems helpful and polite, even helping the Carrs when he is off duty. Soon, it becomes apparent that the policeman has developed an obsession for Karen, and he begins terrorizing the couple, with the intent of killing Michael and running away with Karen. Though the plot is fairly predictable, Unlawful Entry is highlighted by fine performances by all three lead actors. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kurt Russell, Ray Liotta, (more)
Project X is a top-secret government undertaking involving trained chimpanzees. Grounded pilot Matthew Broderick, assigned to teach the chimps how to operate a flight simulator, discovers that his charges are to be subjected to high levels of radiation to test potential human endurance. Risking a court martial, Broderick links up with Helen Hunt, the researcher who has taught the chimps sign language, to save the simians from destruction. The serious subtext of Project X is forgotten during a Disneyesque comic finale, wherein the lovable chimps nearly trigger a nuclear meltdown! Without taking anything away from human stars Matthew Broderick and Helen Hunt, we must note that the most engaging performance in Project X is delivered by Willie the Chimp, who essays the challenging role of Virgil the Chimp. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Broderick, Helen Hunt, (more)
Farrah Fawcett earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her portrayal of Francine Hughes in the television movie The Burning Bed. The film is structured as a series of flashbacks while Francine's character endures a murder trial after she poured gasoline on her sleeping spouse and burned him to death. Her husband Mickey (Paul Le Mat) drove her over the edge after years of physical and emotional abuse when he rapes her. Television regular Richard Masur has a prominent co-starring role. Fawcett parlayed her work in this film into a series of more serious movies, including Extremities and Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Real-life father and son Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez star in the made-for-TV In the Custody of Strangers. Blue-collar Sheen and his wife Jane Alexander attempt to instill discipline in their three growing children. But their 16-year-old son Estevez chafes at their authoritative attitudes, and runs seriously afoul of the law. Picked up on a drunk-driving charge, Estevez is charged with assault and battery when he fights off the sexual advances of his cellmate. His release continually delayed by judicial red tape, Estevez holds his parents, who are virtually helpless within the strictures of the Law, responsible for the mess he's in. But the real villain of the piece is not a person but an entity: The juvenile justice system, which is overworked, understaffed and swamped with dead-end bureaucracy. Scripted by Jennifer Miller, In the Custody of Strangers debuted on May 26, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Jonathan Demme's breakthrough movie featured the shaggy energy and affection for marginal American eccentrics that marked his earlier Citizens Band (1977) and such later films as Something Wild (1986) and Married to the Mob (1988). Melvin Dummar (Paul LeMat) is a barely-getting-by Nevada milkman. One day in the early 1970s, while driving down a lonely highway, Melvin picks up a shaggy, bearded bum (Jason Robards Jr.) and offers him a ride into town. Melvin gives the bum a quarter at the end of the ride, and that, so far as Melvin is concerned, is that. The story goes off on a new tangent, involving the on-and-off marriage between Dummar and his contest-happy wife Lynda (Mary Steenburgen). During one of the multitude of financial crises endured by the Dummars, Melvin discovers that the tramp he picked up was none other than billionaire Howard Hughes -- and when Hughes dies, Melvin inherits $150 million. The movie's wide acclaim included Oscars for Steenburgen and Goldman's script and New York Film Critics Awards in almost all major categories, including Best Picture and awards for Demme, Goldman, Steenburgen, and Robards. Demme would gain even greater attention in the 1990s as the director of The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Philadelphia (1993). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Le Mat, Jason Robards, Jr., (more)
- 1980
- PG
In this romantic drama, Treat Williams plays Cletus, a rather unpleasant and morally shaky man desperate to keep his mitts on the one-million-dollar inheritance bequeathed to himself and his siblings. He improbably accepts a job as a social worker, then becomes emotionally involved with Jeorge (Gabriel Swann), a little boy torn away from his wrongly convicted and incarcerated mother., Cletus then sets about reuniting Jeorge with his mother. Along the way, he falls in love with Kay (Lisa Eichhorn. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Treat Williams, Lisa Eichhorn, (more)
Roadie is a showbiz saga about the working slobs who make live pop-music performances happen. Texas good ol' boy Travis W. Redfish (pop singer Meat Loaf) drives a Shiner beer truck on his appointed rounds, but he becomes smitten with rock groupie Lola Bouillabase (Kaki Hunter), a "roadie" whose sole ambition in life is to bed her idol, Alice Cooper (playing himself). Travis' grizzled pappy, Corpus C. Redfish (Art Carney), feels disgusted by his son's lifestyle. After hearing that Cooper and his band are on tour, Lola sets out to catch up to them and offer her services, with Travis in pursuit. Along the way, they meet a number of pop-music stars -- Blondie, Asleep at the Wheel, Hank Williams Jr., Roy Orbison, and Ramblin' Jack Elliott -- who are all working on their own tours. Travis signs on, himself, as a groupie for a rock band, and is quickly dubbed "greatest roadie of all time," but he soon realizes that he must return to Texas for the wedding of his sister and his best friend. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meat Loaf, Kaki Hunter, (more)
