John Finnegan Movies

John Cassavetes' harrowing masterpiece charts the emotional meltdown of a suburban housewife and its effects on her blue-collar Italian family. Gena Rowlands stars as Mabel Longhetti, a mother of three whose husband Nick (Peter Falk) works as a construction worker; a mismatched couple like so many others in Cassavetes films, the Longhettis seem to be complete opposites: she's impetuous, extroverted, and fragile, while he's controlling, distant, and hard-bitten. Their differences underscore a series of domestic dramas, culminating in a nervous breakdown that sends Mabel to a psychiatric hospital for six months, only to return to a home environment on even thinner ice than before. The improvisational style central to Cassavetes' vision is at its most acute throughout A Woman Under the Influence. Like its title heroine, the film threatens to veer out of control at any time, its shape and scope defined not by narrative but by the emotional upheaval at its center. Embracing the full spectrum of the Longhettis' relationship, from seismic bursts of high drama to small, even trivial moments of domestic tedium, its long scenes relentlessly probe every nook and cranny of the family's life, drawing out each moment for maximum emotional impact; the film is by turns beautiful and ugly, illuminating and frustrating, and it features a performance by Rowlands as heartwrenching and unforgettable as any ever committed to celluloid. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Ellery Queen (also known as Too Many Suspects) was the 78-minute pilot film for a TV series based on the fictional intellectual author/sleuth created by cousins Frederick Dannay and Manfred Lee. Jim Hutton plays Ellery (the tenth actor to do so on screen!), while David Wayne is his police inspector father. The plot, set in 1947 Manhattan, involves the murder of a fashion model. Fifteen minutes before the fade-out, Ellery turns to the audience, presents the clues, and asks us to solve the murder--a cute if unnecessary trick, since Ellery's got the case all worked out and the killer is no surprise to anyone who's watched TV murder mysteries in the last 25 years (the actor in question has said "I did it!" so often that it's a wonder he can walk the streets without being apprehended). Ellery Queen was a pet project of the TV writing team of Richard Levinson and William Link (of Columbo) fame. After the subsequent Queen TV series expired after a single season, Levinson and Link revived the notion of a murder-solving novelist and changed the gender of the protagonist--and the result was Murder She Wrote. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Peter Bogdanovich's early career as a film writer stood him in good stead for this comedy drama about the early days of the motion-picture industry, based in part on his interviews with pioneering directors Raoul Walsh and Allan Dwan. Leo Harrigan (Ryan O'Neal) is a lawyer and Buck Greenway (Burt Reynolds) is a cowboy and gunman. Both are sent to California to shut down a renegade group of silent-movie makers -- financed by blustery H.H. Cobb (Brian Keith) -- who are in violation of the Motion Picture Patents Co. Trust. Harrigan and Greenway somehow find themselves working with the movie crew instead of shutting them down; they join forces with cameraman Franklin Frank (John Ritter), leading lady Kathleen Cooke (Jane Hitchcock), and precocious prop girl Alice Forsyte (Tatum O'Neal). Greenway becomes a star and Harrigan a respected director, but both battle over the affections of Cooke. Incidentally, Cobb's big speech near the end is taken almost verbatim from a quote given to Bogdanovich in an interview with actor James Stewart. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Heroes is an old-fashioned social problem movie concerning a troubled Vietnam veteran and the loving woman who helps him to work out his problems. Henry Winkler plays Jack Dunne, a veteran who has a history of mental problems. Jack fools the hospital doctor Elias (Hector Elias) and escapes from the hospital with the intention of starting a worm farm with money collected from his fellow inmates. Jack hops aboard a bus, where he meets up with Carol Bell (Sally Field), who, invites Jack to join up with her on a trip to California. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Dentist Sheldon Kornpett (Alan Arkin) is a respectable man. He has a daughter who is about to marry the son of a very suspicious character, Vince Ricardo (Peter Falk). They are practically relatives already, the wedding is so near. Certainly, Sheldon already despises Vince as if he were already a well-known relative. Nontheless, Vince calls on Sheldon and convinces him to go with him on a series of wild and hilarious adventures, claiming all the while that he is a CIA agent, and that what he is doing is in the national interest. Sheldon follows Vince to a South American country ruled by a very odd man, General Garcia (Richard Libertini), who talks to his hand (which talks back). It seems that the dictator is involved in a scheme to counterfeit and undermine U.S. currency. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Screenwriter Walter Bernstein made his directorial debut with Little Miss Marker, a re-make of the Damon Runyon story that has been filmed many times before (most notably as Little Miss Marker with Shirley Temple, Sorrowful Jones starring Bob Hope, and the Tony Curtis vehicle 40 Pounds of Trouble). Here the cute little moppet is played by Sara Stimson, with Walter Matthau as the kid's nemesis Sorrowful Jones. The story concerns the relationship between the two when Little Miss Marker is left with Sorrowful as a down payment for one of her father's bets. Jones is involved with Blackie (Tony Curtis), who's trying to open an undercover casino in a mansion owned by Amanda (Julie Andrews). Jones and the kid find themselves in a number of dangerous scrapes as they try to keep one step ahead of the law -- and of Blackie. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

The film version of The Natural pulls off the neat trick of conveying the spirit of the Bernard Malamud novel upon which it is based, even while changing both the outcome and the meaning of Malamud's closing chapters. In his first film appearance in four years, Robert Redford plays Roy Hobbs, a farm boy with a hankering to be a great baseball player. With his faithful homemade bat "Wonderboy" in hand, Roy heads to the big city. En route, he arouses the fascination of the mysterious Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey). Luring the boy to a hotel room, Harriet asks Roy what he wants out of life. Roy brashly responds he wants to be "the best there is," whereupon Harriet whips out a gun and shoots Roy down. Sixteen years later, a humbler Roy Hobbs emerges from the bush leagues to become a 35-year-old "rookie" on the 1939 lineup of the New York Knights. He soon becomes the team's star player, and in so doing once more attracts enigmatic woman Memo Paris (Kim Basinger), the glamorous niece of the Knights' manager Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley) and the mistress of Rothstein-like gambler Gus Sands (a curiously unbilled Darren McGavin). Roy's fascination with Memo compromises his ability to play, but this time he finds salvation in the form the angelic Iris Gaines (Glenn Close), his childhood sweetheart. From this point forward, the script for The Natural bears very little resemblance to the Malamud original. Without giving anything away, it can be said that Roy Hobbs is given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compensate for the mistakes of his youth, despite the demonic intrusion of inexplicably spiteful sports writer Max Mercy (Robert Duvall). The Natural elevates the art of slow-motion photography to new heights; while this technique would become precious and boring in later baseball films, it works beautifully here, as does the decision by director Barry Levinson and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel to convey the symbolism inherent in the story in purely visual rather than blatantly verbal terms. (If the characters told you that the story was a retelling of the Camelot legend in baseball terms, would you have watched?) Another plus is the pastoral theme music by Randy Newman, which has been well utilized on sports broadcasts and "human interest" TV documentaries ever since. The baseball scenes in The Natural were staged at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo, New York. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Disney's The Journey of Natty Gann stars Meredith Salenger in the title role. During the Depression, Natty's father (Ray Wise) takes a job in a Northwestern lumber camp, leaving his daughter behind in Chicago with the promise that he'll send for her when he's put together enough money. Unwilling to wait that long, Natty runs away from her guardian (Lainie Kazan) and hops a freight bound for her dad's camp. In addition to the human friends she accrues along the way, including vagabond John Cusack and tough-but-nice juvenile delinquent Barry Miller, Natty is protected on her journey by a friendly wolf (actually a dog, but you try training a wolf). Journey of Natty Gann stretches its "PG" rating as far as possible, but it's still safe and sane entertainment for the younger crowd. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this teen-sex laugher, a high-school Romeo is killed in a car accident but is able to return to life for a 24-hour period. During this time he chases after his dreamboat only to find she's not interested. So, he turns invisible at the most opportune times (for him) such as in the girls' shower room, etc. He's out to have as good a time as he can in the little time that he has. ~ Rovi

Tim Daly stars in director Janet Greek's fair horror-thriller as Los Angeles attorney Jeff Mills, who rescues beautiful Miranda Reed (Kelly Preston) from being raped. As he and Miranda become lovers, Jeff learns that his new girlfriend is a witch trying to escape from an evil cult led by Aldys (Anthony Crivello), who wants to use her as a human sacrifice. Borrowing ideas from thrillers like Fatal Attraction (1987) and Tutti i Colori del Buio (1972), this borderline occult chiller co-stars genre veterans Rick Rossovich, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Stefan Gierasch, and Audra Lindley. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

This light comedy is a contemporary--and wacky--version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In this version, a malformed young man hangs out in the bell tower of a California college campus and has to face a number of prejudices when he is brought out into the light. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

Jessica (Angela Lansbury) serves as narrator for tonight's story, which centers around working-class private eye Frank Albertson (a pre-Politically Incorrect Bill Maher) and his wife Sunny (Faith Ford). After years of sponging off Frank and Sunny, Frank's uncle Charlie (John Finnegan) suddenly inherits a fortune--and just as suddenly disappears. Later on, a mangled corpse is found on a local railroad track, whereupon Frank attempts to claim the body as that of Uncle Charlie.. However, there seems to be several other people interested in claiming the corpse--and the aforementioned inheritance--themselves. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi