Linda Dano Movies
The lingering weight of tragedy threatens to pull two men under following a harrowing hit-and-run accident in a quiet revenge drama directed by Terry George and starting Mark Ruffalo and Joaquin Phoenix. When his son is killed in an unsolved hit-and-run accident, a grieving father (Phoenix) spends his waking hours seeking vengeance against the man (Ruffalo) who perpetrated the deadly crime. It was a warm September evening when college professor Ethan Learner (Phoenix), his wife, Grace (Jennifer Connelly), and their daughter, Emma (Elle Fanning), went to see Emma's ten-year-old brother, Josh (Sean Curley), play cello at a recital. As usual, Josh's performance is superb and the rest of his family wells up with pride. Later, a chance stop at a gas station on Reservation Road results in a tragedy that will leave the surviving members of the family forever broken. On that same evening, hours earlier, law associate Dwight Arno (Ruffalo) takes his 11-year-old son, Lucas (Eddie Alderson), to see a Red Sox game. The loving father cherishes the time spent with his young son, and the pair hope to watch their favorite team pave a road to the World Series. When the game ends, Dwight prepares to drop Lucas off with his mother, Ruth (Mira Sorvino) -- who is also Dwight's ex-wife. On the way home, Dwight and Lucas stop at a gas station on Reservation Road. There, the accident happens in a flash -- so fast that Lucas never even realized what his father had done. But this crime wasn't without a witness, because Ethan watched every horrifying second of the tragedy unfold with his own eyes. As the police are called and the investigation ensues, everyone involved responds to the incident in their own ways, and two grief-stricken fathers are faced with making the hardest decisions of their lives. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, (more)
Based on a novel by Melissa Senate, this made-for-cable romantic comedy stars Charisma Carpenter as Jane Grant, a New York bachelorette with a moderately successful job at a publishing company. At the behest of her Aunt Ina (Linda Dano), Jane must find a suitable date to escort her to her cousin's wedding in four weeks. Our heroine experiences a number of romantic misadventures with a steady parade of "Mr. Wrongs" (one of whom is played by Joe Millionaire's Evan Marriott) before hitting upon a man who might be "the One" -- and then again, might not. Making Jane's task all the more difficult is the presence of her former high school nemesis Natasha Nutley (Holly Marie Combs), now a soap opera diva whose autobiography Jane has been assigned to edit. See Jane Date debuted August 16, 2003, on the ABC Family Channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charisma Carpenter, Cameron Mathison, (more)
- 1997
Munch (Richard Belzer) is convinced that a student has committed suicide. Brodie (Max Perlich), however, thinks that the boy's death was caused by his drug-dealing classmate Alan Schack (a decidedly cast-against-type Neil Patrick Harris) -- and Brodie ends up risking his life to prove this theory. Elsewhere, Bayliss (Kyle Secor) and Kellerman (Reed Diamond) suspect that two recent bombings are linked to their longtime nemesis, drug kingpin Luther Mahoney. And a marriage counseling session ends disastrously when Frank and Mary Pembleton (Andre Braugher, Ami Brabson) argue over the baptism of their baby daughter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, (more)
Iranian-born director Ramin Niami loosely adapted the Maxim Gorky play The Lower Depths for this ensemble character study set in modern-day New York City's Lower East Side. Sandra Bernhard stars as Betty, a remarkably introverted and lonely therapist hungering for a male companion. In her apartment building, several other residents also have emotional, career, or romantic issues. Chinese student Lu Lu (Bai Ling) wants to stay in the U.S., so she interviews prospective husbands in hopes of obtaining a green card. Marta (Ornella Muti) is forced to sexually service her building's fat landlord daily in exchange for a free room, but she's in love with Frankie (Robert John Burke), an inept thief. Che (Paul Anthony Stewart) is a rich kid trying to incite a worker's revolt from his basement headquarters, while Graham (Peter Stormare) is a gay Shakespearean actor looking for love. Their stories intersect in the film's finale, which involves the kidnapping of former New York mayor Ed Koch (who plays himself). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Bernhard, Ornella Muti, (more)
- 1995
Based on a true story, the made-for-cable When the Vows Break is a remnant of those dark days not long ago when many women were at the mercy of a chauvinistic legal system presided over by misogynistic judges. Having endured much mental anguish through her marriage, affluent Barbara Parker (Patty Duke) finally divorces her husband Art (Art Hindle) when he coldly changes his life insurance policy to make their daughter Susan his sole beneficiary. When the case comes before Oakland County judge Wendell Adams (Robin Gammell), he presumptively concludes that Barbara was responsible for all the friction in her marriage and rules that she is allowed only a pittance of a settlement and an insultingly low alimony allotment. Thus, despite her divorce, the all-but-impoverished Barbara is still at the mercy of her vindictive ex-husband. Refusing to accept this state of affairs, she launches a legal counterstrike, representing herself in court as she charges Judge Adams with anti-female bias. Produced for the Lifetime cable network, When the Vows Break premiered November 1, 1995. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
When three of his fellow private eyes lose their licenses, Jim (James Garner) risks his own to help them. It turns out that the P.I.'s have been victimized by a "mystery woman" (Katherine Charles) working for a huge detective agency which is determined to eliminate all competition--even if means committing murder. To get even with the villains, Jim and his friends stage an elaborately preplanned break-in at the impenetrable Waterbury Building, an undertaking that bears a startling resemblance to the Watergate burglary, right down to a cameo appearance by an ersatz "Deep Throat". Simon Oakland) makes his first series appearance as detective Vern St. Cloud. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Receiving commendations for bravery, Roy (Kevin Tighe) and John (Randolph Mantooth) have good reason to be humble; they honestly can't remember the incident for which they're being honored. Back on the job, the paramedics deal with a 101-year-old man (Liam Dunn) who breaks an ankle while dancig, and an injured mountaineer trapped on a steep cliff. And Dr. Brackett (Robert Fuller) treates a man who has mysteriously passed out in a dentist's chair. LA County Fire Chief Richard Houts appears as himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
While Beth (Gretchen Corbett) is stuck in jail on a contempt-of-court charge, Jim agrees to do some leg work on behalf of Beth's client Arnold Bailey (Joseph Campanella), who has been accused of income-tax evasion. Unfortunately for both Jim and Beth, Bailey is connected with the Mob. . .and has been systematically stealing funds from the "organization". Tied in with all this chicanery is corrupt union official Fred Metcalf (Richard Venture), whose murder may well be a prologue for Jim's own demise. In a neat bit of casting, the head mobster in this episode is played by Frank Campanella, the brother of guest star Joseph Campanella. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
The friends and family of young Aura Lee Benton (Melissa Greene) are shocked when the girl dies from a heroin overdose--especially since they know full well that Aura Lee never did drugs. Jim (James Garner) is hired by the dead girl's coworker Sara Butler (a pre-Bionic Woman Lindsay Wagner) to uncover the truth behind the tragedy. The detective methodically follows the trail of clues to a powerful senator (Robert Webber)--who promptly commits suicide, sending Jim right back to Square One! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
The eighth and final season of Ironside begins with the first episode of a two-part story. Believing herself possessed by the malevolent spirit of her dead brother, college coed Susan Todd (Sian Barbara Allen) confesses to the murder of her mother. Suspecting that Susan is not telling the truth, Ironside (Raymond Burr) consults a psychic to determine the murderer's actual identity. Meanwhile, Susan's somewhat sinister psychoanalyst Theodore Gallin Bill Bixby lurks ominously in the background. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
With the conspicuous exception of Roy Desoto (Kevin Tighe), The men of Squad 51 form a firehouse barbershop quartet to enter a musical competiton. This week's emergency caseload includes a woman who o.d.'s of sleeping tablets, and a corpulent fellow (Len Weinrib) who causes all sorts of accidents and sustains all manner of injuries while trying to reduce (his close encounter with an electric rowing machine is the "piece de resistance"). This is one of several Emergency! episodes directed by Hollywood veteran Joseph Pevney (Tammy and the Bachelor, Man of a Thousand Faces et. al.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
In the conclusion of Ironside's Season Eight opener, Chief Ironside (Raymond Burr) now knows that college coed Susan Todd (Sian Barbara Allen) was not truly responsible for the murder of her mother. The real villain of the piece is Susan's deranged psychiatrist Theodore Gallin (Bill Bixby), who specializes in brainwashing his patients to do his bidding. The situation takes a truly sinister turn when Gallin "programs" policewoman Fran Belding (Elizabeth Baur) to kill Ironside! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
