Kate Forte Movies
- 2011
In the heart of NYC, a lonely Dutch expatriate finds solace in the world of cricket-playing in this adaptation of Joseph O'Neill's novel. Oprah Winfrey produces alongside Sam Mendes, who's also handling directing duties on the Focus Features production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- 2007
- Add Oprah Winfrey Presents: Mitch Albom's For One More Day to QueueAdd Oprah Winfrey Presents: Mitch Albom's For One More Day to top of Queue
Emmy Award-winner Michael Imperioli and Academy Award-winner Ellen Burstyn headline this made for television adaptation of author and radio personality Mitch Albom's bestselling book about a suicidal ex-baseball player who finds redemption after being granted one more day with his dearly departed mother. Chick Benetto (Imperioli) is a former star athlete who has fallen on particularly hard times. His glory days are little more than a fading memory, and lately he's fallen into a dangerous alcoholic daze. One night, after returning to his old hometown to commit suicide, something truly remarkable happens to Chick. At the very moment he's about to take his own life, Chick's mother Posey (Burstyn) appears before him to spend one last day with her beloved son. During their brief reunion, Chick's mother illuminates the secrets of their lives, allowing her son one last chance for deliverance and an opportunity to turn his life around. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Imperioli, Ellen Burstyn, (more)
Drawing inspiration from the true story of a temperamental debate coach who molded the students of a small East Texas college into a formidable team that gave even Harvard's elite squad a run for their money, Denzel Washington's The Great Debaters features the director himself as the ambitious educator, and Forest Whitaker as the resentful father of a student whose loyalties now lie almost exclusively with his coach. Melvin B. Tolson (Washington) is the kind of educator who truly recognizes the remarkable power of knowledge. An outspoken Wiley College professor who boldly challenged the discriminatory Jim Crow laws of the 1930s, Tolson's recognizes that his young debate students possess the spark of a new generation. Convinced that they could invoke great change if given the confidence and tools needed to do so, the tireless educator implores his students to take responsibility for the future while furtively attempting to protect them from his clandestine role as an organizer for the Southern Tenant Farmers Union. Chief among Tolson's promising young students is a 14-year-old prodigy named James Farmer, Jr. (Denzel Whitaker). Farmer's father, James Sr. (Forest Whitaker), is a renowned scholar and an important presence in the emerging student's life. Yet despite his formidable reputation, James Sr. has not yet learned how to truly harness the power of knowledge through action and assertion. James Jr. has seen the raving effects of racism all around him, and longs to live in a future where no one must be in fear simply because of the color of their skin. Other talented debaters on Tolson's team include fiercely independent student Henry Lowe (Nate Parker), and Samantha Brooke (Jurnee Smollett) -- the first ever female ever to join the Wiley College debate team. While most educators may not have recognized the remarkable potential of assembling such a disparate team, Tolson's unique vision truly set him apart from the pack as the team begins to experience a series of consecutive victories on their road to challenging Harvard at the National Championships. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, (more)
- 2001
Executive produced by Oprah Winfrey, the made-for-TV Oprah Winfrey Presents: Amy & Isabelle was based on the bestselling 1999 novel by Elizabeth Strout. The scene is the mining town of Shirley Falls, ME; the year is 1971. Seeking escape from the iron rule of her domineering, social-climbing single mother, Isabelle (Elisabeth Shue), shy teenager Amy (Hanna R. Hall) falls under the seductive spell of her new math teacher, Mr. Robertson (Martin Donovan). Meanwhile, Isabelle, who may not be as straight-laced as she appears, develops a yearning for her married boss, Avery Clark (James Rebhorn), who barely acknowledges the woman's resistance. The tensions between Amy and Isabelle, already heightened by their separate romantic travails, is exacerbated when the two women find themselves working together in the same accounting office. While the rest of the town buzzes with vicious gossip concerning the two heroines, the story takes on a disturbing new tangent when the body of a young girl is found stuffed into the trunk of an abandoned car. Also known as Amy & Isabelle, this film was first aired by ABC on March 4, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elisabeth Shue, Hanna R. Hall, (more)
Detroit Free Press sports columnist Mitch Albom (Hank Azaria) has found success and popularity in his occupation, but emotionally and spiritually he is bankrupt. While watching television one night, he comes across an episode of the news showNightline and learns that his former university professor Morrie Schwartz (Jack Lemmon) is battling A.L.S. -- better known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. At first, Mitch is reluctant to pay his former mentor a visit, since, at his graduation ceremony, Mitch promised to remain in contact with Morrie but failed to make good on that promise. Mitch eventually overcomes his uneasiness and, to his surprise, finds a very warm welcome from Morrie. The two begin to discuss the issues of happiness, life, and death, and they soon begin to meet on a weekly basis as Mitch reassumes the role of Morrie's student. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Hank Azaria, (more)
- 1998
This two-part TV miniseries, adapted from Dorothy West's novel The Wedding, takes a look at mid-century issues of race and class in well-to-do black society. On Martha's Vineyard in 1953, debutante Shelby Coles (Halle Berry) stirs discord in her social-climbing family when she chooses to marry impoverished white musician Meade Howell (Eric Thal). At the Shelby family estate, weeks prior to the wedding, Meade informs her parents, Corinne and Clark Coles (Lynn Whitfield, Michael Warren), that his family won't be attending the wedding, and the irony of upper-crust blacks being rejected by poor whites hangs heavy. In a later plot twist, the single black father (Carl Lumbly) of three mixed-race daughters takes a very strong interest in Shelby that quickly turns into an overly persistent pursuit. Filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, the miniseries premiered February 22-23, 1998 on ABC. Also known as Oprah Winfrey Presents: The Wedding. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Halle Berry, Eric Thal, (more)
- 1998
Oprah Winfrey co-produced this psychological drama, a TV movie remake of the acclaimed black-and-white low-budget ($180,000) 1962 David and Lisa. The original earned $1 million in its first run and also earned Oscar nominations for director Frank Perry and screenwriter Eleanor Perry, who adapted the story from the case history by Theodore Isaac Rubin. The script for the remake is credited to director Lloyd Kramer, Eleanor Perry, and Rubin. Emotionally disturbed teenager David (Lukas Haas), a genius with a fear of being touched, is taken by his mother to an institution where he encounters compassionate psychiatrist, Dr. Jack Miller (Sidney Poitier) and free-spirited teen Lisa (Brittany Murphy), who speaks in rhyme. Although Miller makes a supreme effort with David, it's Lisa who succeeds in reaching out to David and making contact with him, quelling his demons with love. The remake relocates the story from the East Coast to the West Coast, where it was filmed in Los Angeles locations (Venice, Los Feliz). The telepic premiered November 1, 1998 on ABC. When this remake was filmed, Rubin was still a practicing psychiatrist in New York at the age of 75. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sidney Poitier, Lukas Haas, (more)
Jonathan Demme directed this adaptation of Toni Morrison's fact-based fifth novel (winner of a 1988 Pulitzer Prize), written in an experimental stream-of-consciousness flow and capturing the impact and aftermath of slavery on the human soul. In 1873, middle-aged Sethe (Oprah Winfrey) lives near Cincinnati with her teenage daughter, Denver (Kimberly Elise). She gets a surprise visit from her old friend Paul D (Danny Glover), whom she knew when they were both slaves on the Kentucky plantation Sweet Home. Paul D moves in, and a number of mysteries are introduced, including Sethe's memories of her dead older daughter and the fact that Sethe has been abandoned by her husband, two sons, and Denver's grandmother, Baby Suggs (Beah Richards). When a feral, insect-covered, stuttering teenager (Thandie Newton) turns up at Sethe's house, she is nursed back to health by Denver and called "Beloved." Violent flashbacks begin to explore shocking episodes from Sethe's past. (The film is rated R "for violent images, sexuality and nudity.") Hints of the supernatural surface as the question arises -- could Beloved be Sethe's older daughter, back from the dead? This film was a pet project of producer-star Oprah Winfrey, who spent over a decade bringing this work to the screen after she bought the film rights in 1987. With titles fashioned by leading poster/titles designer Pablo Ferro and music by Rachel Portman, director Demme filmed in a variety of locations, including Pennsylvania (Philadelphia Civic Center, Lancaster's Landis Valley Museum), Maryland (Fair Hill Natural Resources Area), and Delaware (Old New Castle). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, (more)
- 1997
Connie May Fowler adapted her own novel for this dark drama about a dysfunctional family in northern rural Florida during the '60s. Alcoholic Billy (John Savage) reflects on his country-music career that never happened and beats his wife Glory Marie (Ellen Barkin), also a drunk. Grown-up son Hank (William Lee Scott) has moved away, but teenaged Phoebe (Julia Stiles) and sensitive nine-year-old Bird (Tina Majorino) have to live in the bleak alcoholic atmosphere. Problems escalate after Billy kills himself. The three females move into a trailer where the girls are subjected to a torrent of abuse from their mom. Fortunately, benign Miss Zora (Oprah Winfrey) appears like a guardian angel to lift their spirits. First of a half-dozen TV movies produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Films for ABC, this was shot in Ojai, California, and premiered 11/2/97 on ABC. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ellen Barkin, Oprah Winfrey, (more)
