Lynne Bespflug Movies
- 2004
The title of this made-for-TV drama refers to a grim-visaged trio of women who were all raped by the same man. Forming a united front to help track the suspected rapist down are Jillian Hayes (played by Roma Downey, who also produced film), Carol Rossen (Jacqueline Bisset) and Meg Pesaturo (Lauren Lee Smith. Under intense pressure from both the "Survivors Club" and an outraged public, the authorities waste no time hauling in prime suspect Eddie Como (Darren Shahlavi), even though Eddie's wife Tawnya (Pamela Diaz) is confident to the point of smugness that Eddie is innocent. On the first day of his trial, Eddie is shot down and killed by an unseen sniper--whereupon Jillian, Carol and Meg all but dance in the streets, making shocking public comments of how thrilled they are about this instance of vigilante justice (and in the process arousing suspicion that they may have engineered the shooting) . It soon develops, however, that Eddie may not have been guilty after all. . .and that the real rapist may have ordered the hit. The one person who seems to hold the key to the mystery is one David Price (Brian Markinson)--who happens to be a serial killer! Based on the book by Lisa Gardner, The Survivors Club made its first CBS appearance on March 7, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roma Downey, James Remar, (more)
- 2000
This made-for-TV fantasy was based on Rod Serling's "A Stop at Willoughby," a 1960 episode of Serling's classic anthology series Twilight Zone. The story begins in the year 2000, with advertising executive Charles Lattimer (Mark Harmon) escaping his hectic professional life and increasingly dissatisfying marriage to wife Kristen (Catherine Hicks) by obsessively tinkering with his elaborate model-train set. Through the aid of a magic stopwatch, Charles boards a real train and is whisked back to 1896, where he inaugurates a romance with attractive widow Laura Brown (Mary McDonnell). Traversing back and forth through the years, Charles ultimately finds that he will never truly be happy until he chooses between the "real" world and the world fashioned by his nostalgic imagination. Filmed in Alberta, For All Time made its CBS network debut on October 18, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Billionaire Charles Morse (Anthony Hopkins) accompanies his much-younger wife Mickey (Elle Macpherson) and a fashion photography team headed by Bob Green (Alec Baldwin) to a remote lodge in Alaska. Charles is a quiet, introspective man, fond of accumulating trivia and other facts in his encyclopedic mind; he is also troubled with the idea that Bob and Mickey may be lovers. Even though he suspects the younger man plans to kill him, Charles goes with Bob and his assistant Stephen (Harold Perrineau) on an airplane trip to find a photogenic friend (Gordon Tootoosis) of the lodge owner (L.Q. Jones), but the plane crashes in a lake, killing the pilot. The crash is miles from their planned path, so they can't expect to be spotted by an aerial search; there's only one chance: they have to walk to a more likely spot.Though Robert and Stephan are more physically fit, Charles' calm wit and ingenuity proves the key to their survival, especially after a ferocious bear brutally kills Stephen. Robert and Charles' odyssey becomes more urgent when they discover that the bear is now stalking them. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin, (more)
Yuppie couple Denise Harris (Alyssa Milano) and Roger Lewis (Cameron Bancroft) get it in their wee little heads to head off to Alaska, there to work a gold mine some 75 miles away from civilization, At first, Denise and Roger revel in their exotic new surroundings, but before long the weather goes from cold to really cold, the supplies run out, and all contact with the outside world is cut off. Are the two city-dwellers prepared to endure the ordeal of making their way back to town or will they end up a pair of frozen Yuppie-sickles? In one of the big dramatic moments, the starving Denise and Roger seriously consider eating their pet dog; one suspects that this idea is borne of jealousy, since the dog gives the film's best performance. Lensed on location in British Columbia, the made-for-TV To Brave Alaska originally aired November 3, 1996, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alyssa Milano, Cameron Bancroft, (more)
- 1995
Television standbys Courtney Thorne-Smith (Melrose Place, Ally McBeal), Kyle Secor (Party of Five) and Tracey Gold (Growing Pains) co-star in the prime-time melodrama Beauty's Revenge (AKA Midwest Obsession), which first premiered on NBC, on Friday, September 22, 1995, but is now available in this home video release. Thorne-Smith plays Cheryl, a diabolical and sociopathic high-school cheerleader in a Midwestern small town, who has her heart set on dating nice guy mechanic Kevin (Secor). Only one problem: Kevin's already attached to Beth (Gold), a local plain Jane. Beth therefore stands as an obstacle in-between Cheryl and Kevin, and Cheryl schemes to eliminate her rival. But first, Cheryl grows irate over her father's lack of affection toward her, and decides to off Kevin's best friend, Larry (Stephen Fanning). Soon, the cops have multiple homicides on their hands - all of which point to the same girl. William A. Graham directs, from a teleplay by Duane Poole. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
