Alex Allen Morris Movies
This unusual modern-day fable concerns a super-powered teenager who inspires nothing but hostility in the small-minded folk of his hometown. Sean Patrick Flanery stars as Jeremy Reed, nicknamed "Powder" because he is an albino. Powder has been living his entire 16 years in his grandparents' basement, but they have both passed away. The boy is removed from his home and placed in a school. There, science teacher Ripley (Jeff Goldblum) and psychologist Jessie Caldwell (Mary Steenburgen) discover that in addition to being an albino, their new student is the smartest person who ever lived with an IQ off the charts -- and that he is electrically super-charged, which renders him hairless. Powder also has miraculous powers of perception, ESP, and healing, which he uses to ease the death of the terminally ill wife of local Sheriff Barnum (Lance Henriksen) and to give a bigoted redneck hunter (Brandon Smith) a firsthand demonstration of the pain suffered by a deer he's just shot. Powder's gentle nature attracts a pretty coed, Lindsey (Missy Crider), but in spite of his Christ-like demeanor, Powder's abnormalities inspire hatred on the part of many bigoted citizens, especially school bully John Box (Bradford Tatum). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Steenburgen, Sean Patrick Flanery, (more)
- 1994
- PG13
Like the feature film Network (1976), this made-for-television drama scathingly satirizes an amoral, avaricious media. The story is set in 1999, a time the pay-per-view television industry is in a tailspin. It seems with over 500 available channels, audiences have become jaded with movies and sports. Enter up-and-coming executive Jessica Traynor (Sean Young) a member of the Tycom network team. It is her brilliant idea that her company can attract new customers by offering them a chance to witness a real execution on live television. Once her company approves and she untangles all the government red-tape, Jessica is left with the task of choosing an appropriately photogenic and charismatic death-row inmate. Trouble brews when Jessica begins suspecting that the man she selected may be innocent. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Young, Tim Daly, (more)
This high-speed action comedy stars Charlie Sheen as Jack Hammond, who has been given a life sentence for a bank robbery that he didn't commit. Hammond manages to escape, and while trying to avoid capture at a gas station, he ends up kidnapping Natalie Voss (Kristy Swanson); he threatens her with what she thinks is a gun, although it turns out to be a candy bar. Jack and Natalie take off in her BMW, with Jack unaware that his "victim" is actually Dalton Voss (Ray Wise), one of California's richest and most powerful land barons. Soon half the state's law enforcement officers and every member of the media is on Jack's tail as he races down the highway; in the meantime, Natalie and Jack get to know each other, and while she doesn't much care for him at first (as you might imagine), before long her attitude has softened quite a bit. Alternative rock fans might want to keep an eye peeled for Henry Rollins, playing a policeman, and Anthony Kiedis and Flea from The Red Hot Chili Peppers as a pair of yahoos with a very large truck. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Sheen, Kristy Swanson, (more)
This low-rent Disney comedy mines the Home Alone territory for labored laughs. Brian Bonsall stars as the eleven-year-old Preston Waters, who is low-kid on the family totem pole -- his father Fred (James Rebhorn) lectures him on saving his money, while his older brothers, Ralph (Michael Faustino) and Damian (Chris Demetral), are pushy bullies. The final insult arrives when Preston is invited to a friend's birthday party -- held at an amusement park -- and Preston doesn't have enough money to go on any of the good rides. Preston wishes to the gods in heaven that he had his own money. At that point, on-the-lam criminal Quigley (Miguel Ferrer) takes his cue and runs over Preston's bike with his car. Eager to leave the scene before the cops arrive, Quigley hurriedly gives Preston a half-written check and vamooses. Preston looks down at the check and notices that the amount has not been filled in, so he obligingly completes the transaction by adding six zeroes and a one -- for a million dollars in cold cash. This amount, by a strange coincidence, happens to be the exact amount that Quigley has deposited in a money-laundering bank run by his partner-in-crime Biderman (Michael Lerner). Preston goes to the bank, cashes the check, and purchases a neighborhood mansion with all the toys he has ever dreamed of owning. But Quigley and his gang want the money back, and they are on their way to Preston's new home for a housewarming he will never forget. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Bonsall, Karen Duffy, (more)
- 1992
Based on Clifford Irving's novel Trial, this 2-part TV movie is set amongst the Texas elite. Peter Strauss plays Warren Blackburn, a brilliant but discredited trial lawyer. His career seems due for redemption when judge Louise Parker (Jill Clayburgh), formerly Blackburn's bitterest foe, appoints him to defend a homeless man charged with murder. Simultaneously, Blackburn is hired to defend flashy nightclub entertainer Faye Boudreau (Beverly D'Angelo) in a separate murder trial. While investigating his clients' background, Blackburn uncovers several unsavory facts. Should he reveal what he knows and thereby risk everything -- including his life? Part one of Trial: The Price of Passion was first telecast May 3, 1992; part two was shown the following evening. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
