Brooke Nevin Movies

Fate brings together two mismatched travelers in this comedy. Sherman (Michael Shulman) is a tightly wound, career-obsessed college student whose mother, Evelyn (Donna Murphy), is a successful politician who micromanages her own life as well as that of her son. Planning to spend a few weeks in Northern California with his girlfriend, Marcy (Lacey Chabert), Sherman instead discovers that she's dumped him for another, more fun-loving guy; adding insult to injury, Sherman's wallet and credit cards have been stolen and Evelyn decides it's time to cut off his allowance. With few options and eager to prove he can be free-spirited and self-reliant, Sherman decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles for an internship interview, and takes a ride with the first person willing to take him down the coast. Sherman's ride turns out to be Palmer (James LeGros), a former Olympic skiing champion-turned-footloose middle-aged bohemian who is more interested in keeping his vintage convertible in tune than in getting anywhere at any specific time. While Sherman and Palmer have next to nothing in common, before long the younger man finds himself learning some lessons about life from the scruffy stranger behind the wheel. Sherman's Way was the first theatrical feature from producer-turned-director Craig Saavedra. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Bruce McCulloch's buddy comedy Comeback Season stars Ray Liotta and Shaun Sipos as a pair of unlikely friends. Liotta plays Walter Pearce, a man who ends up without a place to stay after a fight with his wife of 24 years. Walter ends up in jail after an incident with another man, and in the cell meets up with Skylar Eckerman (Sipos), a promising football player who has landed in the clink after a drinking binge. Eckerman worries for his future as he has recently suffered a severe injury. Although Eckerman and Pearce share an uncomfortable history, the two bury the hatchet and soon are able to depend on each other. Comeback Season had its world premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Paige (Rose McGowan) is suffering from an unidentified pain, exacerbated by a tiny voice inside her brain. Sandra (Elizabeth Dennehy), an Elder at the magic school, determines that Paige is suffering from a profound lack of confidence -- and in the process of resolving this problem, Sandra compels Paige to utilize her latent talents as Whitelighter. Elsewhere, baby Wyatt continues to exert more and more control over his inbred magical powers, and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) and Piper (Holly Marie Combs) are kept busy searching for Pandora's Box, which has been stolen by a demonic shapeshifter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first season of USA Network's sci-fi thriller The 4400 begins (pardon the cliché) with a bang, as a huge, glowing object falls from the sky and lands near Highland Beach, Washington. The comet-like object then disgorges some 4400 human beings, all of whom had vanished from the earth over the past 58 years! After a brief quarantine, the "4400" leave for various parts of the world--and then several returns, exhibiting such paranormal abilities as telekinesis, mind control, supersensitve hearing, and even, in the case of Shawn Farrell (Patrick Flueger), the power to revive the dead. Another of the 4400, Lily Moore, is pregnant with the child of Richard Tyler (Mahershalahashbaz Ali) Acutely aware that the returnees' otherworldly powers can be used for evil as well as good, Dennis Ryland (Peter Coyote), head of the National Threat Assessment Command division of Homeland Security, dispatches agents Tom Baldwin (Joel Gretsch) and Diana Skouris (Jacqueline McKenzie) to locate the rest of the 4400 to make certain that nothing terrible happens. Unfortunately, the damage has already been done, as witness the serial killer who has the power to make others do his dirty work. Also, whatever has caused the 4400 to develop these skills also has a profound effect on the two NTAC agents--to say nothing of Tom's son Kyle (Chad Faust), whose erratic behavior turns is a harbinger of things to come. Meanwhile, another of the 4400, the mysterious Jordan Collier (Bill Campbell), offers protection and shelter to his fellow retunees at Arcadia Estates--an outward act of altrusim that may be a cover up for a sinister hidden agenda. The five-episode first season ends after several of the 4400 are assassinated once their identities are made public--and after the startling secret behind the 4400 is revealed (we won't give too much away here: suffice to say that, though the 4400 were definitely abduction victims, their abductors were NOT aliens from another planet!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An American journalist takes on the dangerous responsibility of rescuing nearly a thousand refugees from a Nazi concentration camp in this two-part made-for-TV movie based on a true story. In the early days of America's involvement in World War II, Ruth Gruber (Natasha Richardson) is a reporter who has been giving particular attention to a recent story: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in violation of United States policies of the day, has announced he will grant asylum in America to 982 European refugees from Nazi labor camps. But someone needs to escort the prisoners to the U.S.; Gruber, of European ancestry and Jewish faith, volunteers for the assignment over the objections of her parents (Anne Bancroft and Martin Landau). Gruber travels to Italy on behalf of Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes (Hal Holbrook), where she helps the refugees board the U.S.S. Henry Gibbins. But Gruber discovers that the American sailors manning the ship regard their passengers as little better than their Nazi jailers, and the State Department declares, upon their arrival in the United States, that all the refugees are to be housed in a camp in Oswego, NY -- even those who have families willing to sponsor them in America. Gruber realizes her work with the refugees is far from done, and she bravely battles against both bureaucracy and prejudice to win both dignity and fair treatment for the new settlers. Haven was originally broadcast on the CBS television network on February 11 and 14, 2001. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This exciting drama centers on the efforts of a UN wildlife observer and his family as they work with park rangers on an African animal preserve to prevent poachers from slaughtering elephants. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide