Frances Fisher Movies
One of the actresses most indelibly associated with the descriptor "fiery redhead," Frances Fisher has enjoyed a long career as a respected stage, screen, and television performer. In addition to her professional work, she also earned recognition for her long relationship with Clint Eastwood, by whom she had a daughter.Born in Milford on Sea, England, Fisher spent much of her childhood traveling all over the world, thanks to her father's job as an international oil refinery construction supervisor. After time spent in England, Colombia, France, Canada, Brazil, Turkey, and Italy, the family settled in Orange, Texas, where Fisher completed her schooling. Deciding to follow her interest in theatre, she eventually moved to New York, where she subsequently enjoyed a 14-year stage career in regional and off-Broadway productions. During this time, she also became involved with the Actors Studio, where she studied with the legendary Lee Strasberg.
Fisher segued into screen work via television, getting her start with regular roles on a number of soap operas. She began her film career with some help from Henry Jaglom, for whom she made her 1980 screen debut in Sitting Ducks, and went on to star in his Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? (1983) and Babyfever (1994). Fisher spent the 1980s and 1990s appearing in a wide variety of film and TV productions, including the made-for-TV Lucy and Desi: Before the Laughter (1991), which cast her as Lucille Ball; Eastwood's Unforgiven (1992); the Texas Dust Bowl drama The Stars Fell on Henrietta (1995); James Cameron's Titanic (1997), in which she starred as Kate Winslet's mother; and The Big Tease (1999), a Scottish hairdressing mockumentary that featured her as a publicist in need of a new 'do. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Dana Delany and William Russ play a poor-but-proud married couple with three children. Dana has made a promise to a dying relative to take care of said relative's four kids. And now, she and her husband are saddled with the additional responsibility, which turns out to be a grueling, rewarding and tear-jerking experience. Promise to Keep was "inspired by a true story," as most TV movies of this ilk claim to be. The film was shot on location in Charleston, South Carolina. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dana Delany, William Russ, (more)
This made-for-cable remake of the cult favorite 1957 film of the same name is updated with an even more feminist slant and has a more thoughtful (and clever) script. Nancy Archer (Darryl Hannah) is a rich but troubled young woman married to a cheating lowlife who only stays with her for her money. She is driving home by herself one night when an alien spaceship lands on the road. She is irradiated by the ship and over the next few days starts to grow taller and taller, until she reaches a height of 50 feet. She uses her newfound height (and power) to take revenge on those who have wronged her -- especially husband Harry (Daniel Baldwin) and the trashy, gold-digging bimbo (Christi Conaway) he has taken up with. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daryl Hannah, Daniel Baldwin, (more)
In this semi-improvised comic drama from maverick filmmaker Henry Jaglom, Gena (Victoria Foyt) is a businesswoman starting to creep into middle age. She thinks she might be pregnant, and she isn't sure how she feels about it: she wants to have children, and her body's clock is starting to tick rather loudly, but she's uncertain if this is the right time to start a family. Just as important, she's not sure who the father is, and she is torn between the two suspects. James (Matt Salinger) is sweet, stable, and a little boring, while Anthony (Eric Roberts) is exciting but arrogant and not terribly dependable. While Gena waits to hear from her doctor about the results of her pregnancy test, she attends a baby shower for one of her co-workers, where the women discuss their feelings about having children -- some want them, some don't, some aren't sure. Meanwhile, the hostess throwing the shower has her own problems; her husband is deep in debt and may have to sell their house to pay his bills. Jaglom co-wrote Babyfever with his wife (and star) Foyt -- appropriately enough, not long after the couple had their second child. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victoria Foyt, Matt Salinger, (more)
The coming-of-age drama Blue Car is the directorial debut feature from actress Karen Moncrieff. Played by newcomer Agnes Bruckner, quiet high school student Meg lives in an apartment complex where she takes care of her troubled little sister, Lily (Regan Arnold), while her emotionally unavailable mom (Margaret Colin) is busy at work or school. Since her dad left, the family has been under financial strain and Lily suffers from starvation, delusions, and self mutilation. Meg maintains a calm demeanor and endures her responsibilities but unleashes her frustrations and pain through her poems, which she shares with her supportive English teacher, Mr. Auster (David Strathairn). With his encouragement, she wins a regional poetry competition and makes it to the finals in Florida. However, she is faced with repeating hardships as her sister's condition intensifies, she gets fired for stealing, and her mom kicks her out of the house. Temporarily staying with her friend Georgia (Sarah Beuhler), she meets the delinquent Pat (A.J. Buckley) and gets involved in some petty crime. Agnes eventually goes to Florida by herself, where she meets Mr. Auster's intelligent yet discontented wife, Delia (Frances Fisher), and she finds her relationship with him becoming more complicated. Blue Car premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Agnes Bruckner, David Strathairn, (more)
This drama explores the inner turmoil of a parish priest who begins to question his beliefs and his celibacy after he becomes mixed up with the girlfriend of a murder victim. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Lee Jones, Annette O'Toole, (more)
- 1988
- R
First-timer Daniel Irom wrote and directed Bum Rap, which represents something of a variation on Fielder Cook's superior Seize the Day (1986). The picture concentrates on taxi driver and striving actor Paul Colson (Craig Wasson of Four Friends and Go Tell the Spartans), whose life goes through the floor. He's informed by the girl he's been pining for (Frances Fisher) that she wants to remain platonic friends (only) and by a physician that he has an exceptionally rare illness which will give him about seventy-two more hours to live. He subsequently lives out that age-old epicurean adage by patching things up with his folks, reconnecting with poker buddies, and spending a great deal of time with a well-meaning hooker.
(Blanche Baker). The late Al Lewis (AKA Grandpa Munster) has a bit part as a lunatic neighbor. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Craig Wasson, Blanche Baker, (more)
After a man (Michael Emil) and a woman (Karen Black) meet and begin to become romantically involved, his confirmed bachelorhood and her post-divorce trauma start to clash. As their interactions become more complex, and they move from one scenario to the next, they begin to learn more about one another. Director and writer Henry Jaglom used his non-tradtional filmmaking approach on this feature: set up the scene, let the actors improvise, and edit the result. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karen Black, Michael Emil, (more)
- 1989
Set in the early 1900s in a small Southern town, this made-for-cable television romance centers on the "scandalous" love affair that blossoms between a free-thinking, strong-willed Northern widow and the much older owner of a local general store. The plot is based on a novel by Olive Ann Burns. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1991
- R
Honest small-town cop Wings Hauser is weighed down by personal problems. This fact must be put on the back burner when crooked businessman John Saxon commits murder. Though the identity of the killer is never in question, Saxon manages to buy everybody off except Hauser. In order to collar the criminal, the sheriff must overcome his emotional difficulties-and keep one step ahead of a frame-up concocted by Saxon This modest melodrama offers good work from distaff cast members Frances Fisher, Patty D'Arbanville and Margaux Hemingway. Deadly Conspiracy was also released as Frame Up. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
In this made-for-cable-TV crime drama, New York detective Devlin must prove that he is innocent of killing his brother-in-law, a mayoral candidate. It is not easy for the unhappily married, alcoholic gumshoe because he suspects that the man trying to frame him is his arch nemesis, his corrupt father-in-law, a powerful local politician. Now while trying to save his neck and solve the murder, Devlin finds himself pursued by both his fellow cops and the mob. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
- R
An outwardly successful woman teeters on the brink of emotional collapse in this psychological drama. Evelyn Stevens (Tilda Swinton) is a skilled and well-regarded attorney who is being considered for a prestigious judicial appointment. However, she's plagued by self-doubt and neurotic obsessions (the "perversions" referenced in the title), including an obsession with expensive clothes and cosmetics, lingering fears about her relationship with her lover John (Clancy Brown), an exaggerated sense of competition with the new lawyer in her office, and an intense sexual curiosity about Renee (Karen Sillas), the psychiatrist who has just moved into her building. Evelyn is forced to put her own problems on hold for the moment when she learns that her sister Madelyn (Amy Madigan), a Ph.D candidate struggling to complete her doctoral thesis, has been arrested again for shoplifting. In time, the two sisters realize that they have to come to terms with the psychic damage inflicted upon them in their childhood. Female Perversions was based on the best-selling novel by Louise J. Kaplan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tilda Swinton, Amy Madigan, (more)
- 1991
- R
A young mens' hazing turns to murder in this crime drama set in a small town run by a powerful businessman. The victim was beaten to death with a monogrammed baseball bat, and later the head-killer tried to make it seem as if the young man was run down by the car of Frank Govers, a traveling salesman. Sheriff Ralph Baker begins investigating and finds his hands figuratively tied at every turn by the town fathers, particularly the powerful Will Curran. Baker does believe that Govers was framed, but the salesman, who has his own dubious past to protect takes off and ends up hiding out in the cabin of a teen-age wife whose husband has left her. Meanwhile Sheriff Baker arrests Will Curran's son Don, the guilty party in the murder. Back at the cabin, two fugitives from prison burst into the cabin and take the hapless salesman hostage. Things look pretty bleak at this point until Curran breaks his son out of jail and heads for the hills to cut a deal with the escaped convicts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In this action thriller, a master car thief has his skills pushed to the limit. Randall "Memphis" Raines (Nicolas Cage) can steal practically any car that crosses his path. While he has done well in his life of crime, he knows that there's a short future in theft, and he wants to get out of the business. But his retirement plans are interrupted when his younger brother Kip (Giovanni Ribisi) gets in trouble with a dangerous crime boss. To get his brother out of harm's way, Randall agrees to a profitable but risky scheme to steal 50 luxury cars in one night, with the help of several other car thieves, including Sara "Sway" Wayland (Angelina Jolie). A rival group of thieves is trying to pull the same stunt at the same time, and detectives Castlebeck (Delroy Lindo) and Drycoff (Timothy Olyphant) are trying to shut down both operations. Also starring Robert Duvall as Otto Halliwell, and Scott Caan as Tumbler, Gone in Sixty Seconds is a remake of the 1974 low-budget action hit of the same name, best remembered for a 40-minute chase scene in which 90 cars were destroyed. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie, (more)
- 2006
Derek (Patrick Dempsey) tears into Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) over her perceived relationship with Mark, but this time she gives back as good as she gets--with startling results. Likewise trading angry words are Burke (Isaiah Washington) and Cristina (Sandra Oh), while Izzie (Katherine Heigl) manages to upset Denny (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) even as she tries to cheer him up. Elsewhere, Callie's sanitary shortcomings cause problems with her temporary roomates; and we learn a bit more about handsome veterinarian Finn (Chris O'Donnell). But all these intrigues take second place to a horrible automobile accident caused by an intern (John Cho) suffering from short-term memory loss. In the episode's climactic moment, it appears as though a female crash victim will die, but there's a slim chance that her unborn baby can be saved. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
- R
A punch-drunk pugilist is set up as meat for a young boxer in this routine mat melodrama. The highlight of the film is the performance of Steve Buscemi as the oily, mob-connected fight promoter Nicky. Eddie (Brad Davis) is the addle-brained boxer Nicky hangs out to dry for quick money. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brad Davis, Frances Fisher, (more)
Russian filmmaker Vadim Perelman makes his feature-film debut with the psychological drama House of Sand and Fog, based on the novel by Andre Dubus III. Ben Kingsley plays Massoud Amir Behrani, an Iranian immigrant living the United States. Even though he was a high-ranking official in Iran, he works several menial jobs in order to provide his wife, Nadi (Shohreh Aghdashloo), and his son, Esmail (Jonathan Ahdout), with an apartment in California. He buys a California bungalow, thinking he can fix it up, sell it again, and make enough money to send Esmail to college. However, the house is the legal property of former drug addict Kathy (Jennifer Connelly). After losing the house in an unfair legal dispute with the county, she is left with nowhere to go. Wanting her house back, she hires a lawyer (Frances Fisher) and befriends a police officer (Ron Eldard). Neither Kathy nor Behrani have broken the law, so they find themselves involved in a difficult moral dilemma. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, (more)
When a model soldier who recently returned to the U.S. from the front lines of Iraq goes AWOL, his veteran father enlists the aid of a dedicated police detective in seeking out his son's true fate in director/screenwriter Paul Haggis's follow up to the Oscar-winning 2004 indie-hit Crash. Mike Deerfield (Jonathan Tucker) has served his country faithfully, and now the time has come for him to return home to the United States. Shortly after returning, however, Mike simply vanishes without a trace. Mike's father, Hank (Tommy Lee Jones), is a former MP from the Vietnam era, and quickly recruits Detective Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron) to assist him in his search for the missing soldier. While it remains to be seen whether Hank will ever find his missing son, he gets quickly enmeshed in a tangled web of intrigue, cover-ups, and murder, all related to the Iraqi conflict. The drama thus highlights the profoundly personal tolls taken by combat while striking at the very heart of the American experience in Iraq. Inspired by a Playboy Magazine article written by Mark Boal, Haggis's fictionalized version of the actual events co-stars Jason Patrick, Susan Sarandon, James Franco, and Josh Brolin. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, (more)
- 2000
The life of one of the most famous American women of the last half of the 20th century receives yet another retelling in this made-for-TV drama. Raised by a harsh, domineering mother (Frances Fisher) and a charming but unfaithful (and alcoholic) father (Fred Ward), Jacqueline Bouvier (Joanne Whalley) is born into privileged circumstances but learns early on that wealth and power do not guarantee happiness. Jackie falls in love with John F. Kennedy (Tim Matheson), the son of a family even richer and more influential than her own, and is by his side as he becomes President of the United States -- though she soon discovers that, like her father, his charm and position make him very attractive to other women, a temptation he does little to resist. After the assassination of Kennedy in 1963, Jackie becomes America's best-known widow, and is forced to struggle through her mourning in the glare of the public eye. Alone and with expensive tastes, Jackie eventually becomes the trophy wife of Aristotle Onassis (Philip Baker Hall), yet another wealthy and flamboyant man. Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was first aired in two parts on November 5 and 8, 2000, by the CBS television network. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joanne Whalley, Tim Matheson, (more)
Steve Martin wrote and stars in this look at the promise and dreamtime of Los Angeles culture. Martin stars as Harris K. Telemacher, a light-hearted television weatherman who does wacky comedy in lieu of reports since, being in L.A., he has very little weather to report. He spends his time roller-skating through museums and spending time with California's beautiful people. But Telemacher is fired and discovers that his girlfriend Trudi (Marilu Henner) is having an affair. He walks away from the relationship and re-evaluates his life, getting advice from a friendly electronic highway road sign. The sign suggests that he call SanDeE (Sarah Jessica Parker), a sprightly and attractive Valley Girl he met in a clothing store. With SanDeE he experiences a liberating and carefree spirit. But Telemacher comes to realize that he has actually fallen in love with Sara (Victoria Tennant), a tuba-playing British journalist who is in California to do a feature on Los Angeles lifestyles. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Victoria Tennant, (more)
- 1993
A genetics researcher is found murdered in his trashed laboratory. At first, it appears that a militant animal-rights group was responsible for the killing. But the detectives and the lawyers unearth another possible avenue of prosecution when it is revealed that the dead woman's husband, Donald Walsh (John Cunningham), is a chronic philanderer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Though equally respected in their field, divorce lawyers Audrey Woods (Julianne Moore) and Daniel Rafferty (Pierce Brosnan) are opposites inside and out of the courtroom. Audrey is meticulous and by the book, while Daniel relies on personality and luck to get by. Despite the difference in methods, neither lawyer has lost a case, and neither plan on ending their streak after being respectively hired by Serena (Parker Posey) and Thorne (Michael Sheen), a celebrity power couple gone wrong. The divorce settlement hinges on a particularly spectacular Irish castle, which both parties would like to keep for themselves. Audrey and Daniel hurry to Ireland with depositions in their eyes, but a growing mutual attraction manages to squirm out from beneath, and, after being immersed in a romantic Irish festival, the rival lawyers wake up married. Reeling, potentially in love (to Audrey in particular's dismay), and faced with the type of media explosion capable of leading to the end of their careers, the mismatched lawyers contemplate how to go about their clients' divorce hearings as man and wife. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierce Brosnan, Julianne Moore, (more)
- 1989
- R
Adam Horovitz, of Beastie Boys fame, plays a troublesome teen who is shipped off by his wealthy parents to an institute for "problem" youths. This is the sort of place where any sign of rebellion is dealt with in draconian fashion. The strapped-down Horovitz tells his life story to psychiatrist Donald Sutherland. In flashback, we see a fairly docile young Horovitz, whose chance involvement in a rumble instigated by gang leader Don Bloomfield leads to an arrest. Appearing in court, Horovitz is railroaded into the institute by his father, more as a means of getting even with his divorced wife than out of any concern for his son. Sutherland tries to help, but Horovitz betrays the doctor's trust once too often. Only by extricating himself from the influence of Bloomfield does Horovitz have any chance for redemption--and only by undergoing a domestic reversal of his own is Sutherland truly able to aid the boy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Sutherland, Adam Horowitz, (more)
- 1991
- PG
This unflattering TV movie offers a portrayal of the stormy marriage between comedienne Lucille Ball (Frances Fisher) and her Cuban bandleader husband (Maurice Benard). ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frances Fisher, Maurice Benard, (more)
- 1994
- R
Two women (Frances Fisher, Natasha Gregson) hit the road to seek revenge for the killers of their boyfriends. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
The sensationalistic murder of diet guru Dr. Herman Tarnower is explored in this stylized take on the tabloid cover story from first-time director Phyllis Nagy. As the inventor of the popular "Scarsdale Diet," Dr. Herman Tarnower (Ben Kingsley) became an overnight success during the peak of the early '80s diet craze. Despite the popularity of the Dr. Tarnower's revolutionary "lose one pound per day" diet, the womanizing ways of the Casanova cardiologist would soon come to a brutal end at the hands of his jealous, prescription drug-addicted lover Jean Harris (Annette Bening). Driven to despair after their 14-year romance failed to result in marriage and enraged by Dr. Tarnower's shameless status as a ladies' man, Harris confronts her former lover in one violent, final act of desperation. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Annette Bening, Ben Kingsley, (more)
