John Mankiewicz Movies
- 2006
16-year-old Hurricane Katrina victim Leona (Aasha Davis) is flown into the clinic, suffering from hallucinations--and then from cardiac shock, even though her heart is sound. Making things personal for House (Hugh Laurie) is the fact that the girl is accompanied by his former bandmate Dylan Crandall (D.B. Sweeney), who has just learned that Leona is his daughter. Not only does House suspect that Leona, a congenital liar, is scamming Dylan, but he also has grave doubts over the advisability of Cuddy's (Lisa Edelstein) decision to be artificially inseminated. At the same time, House takes drastic measures to sooth his ever-intensifying leg pains. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2005
A typically truculent House (Hugh Laurie) is slapped with a court order instructing him to determine if mobster Joey Arnello (Joseph Lyle Taylor), who is slated to give testimony in Federal Court before entering the Witness Protection Program, is faking a serious illness. Joey's knuckle-busting brother Bill (Danny Nucci) warns House to lay off the case--but not for the (seemingly) obvious reasons. At the same time, Vogler (Chi McBride) puts extra pressure on Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) to fire House, or risk losing a $100 million donation. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2005
House (Hugh Laurie) is flummoxed by the plight of his ex-girlfriend Stacy Warner (Sela Ward), who can't understand why her husband Mark (Currie Graham) is suffering from abdominal pains and mood swings--nor why Mark is vividly recalling events during his honeymoon that never actually happened! It's not stress, and it's not Alzheimers...but it could be fatal if House makes the wrong diagnosis. As this final episode of House's first season approaches its cliffhanger climax, it looks as if there still may be a few romantic sparks between the ill-tempered doctor and his former sweetheart. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2005
Pro baseball pitcher Hank Wiggen (Scott Foley) insists he is not a drug user, but the evidence indicates otherwise: His bones are brittle to the point of disintegration, and his kidneys have started to fail. Astonishingly, the clinic's lab test indicate that Wiggen is not currently on steroids, nor is he suffering from cancer as the symptoms might also suggest. House (Hugh Laurie) must figure out what's really wrong with Wiggen before the ballplayer's girlfriend Lola (Meredith Monroe) aborts her pregnancy in order to donate her kidneys. And in another development, Foreman (Omar Epps) is secretly dating a sexy drug representative (Salli Richardson-Whitfield), while Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) is seeing one of House's former lovers. Somehow or other, this all winds up at a monster-truck rally! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2004
Throwing himself into his work to get his mind off his birthday, House (Hugh Laurie) is intrigued when diagnosed schizophrenic Lucille Palmeiro (Stacy Edwards) has a pulmonary embolism at the unusually young age of 38. In fact, he's so intrigued that he breaks his own self-imposed rule and tries to talk to the woman at her home--where her 15-year-old son Luke (Aaron Himelstein) seems to know a lot more than he's saying. Elsewhere, Chase (Jesse Spencer) has serious issues with his past. This episode affords a rare opportunity to hear Hugh Laurie speak in his authentic British accent. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2000
One of two sci-fi/fantasy series that premiered October 27, 2000, on UPN (see separate entry for Freedom), Level 9 was co-created by executive producer John Sacret Young and mystery novelist Michael Connelly. The series is based on the not-entirely-incredible premise that the next generation's security leaks, federal crimes, and international crises will be the handiwork of rogue computer hackers. What is needed, then, is a highly skilled team of "technological enforcers" to take on the new breed of cyber-crooks. The members of the top-secret government agency Level 9 include Annie Price (Kate Hodge), Jerry Hooten (Romany Malco), Jargon (Esteban Powell), Roland Travis (Fabrizio Filippo), Joss Nakano (Susie Park), Sosh (Kim Murphy), and Wiley (Max Martini). Appearing in the pilot episode is Tim Guinee as Detective John Burrows, whose plot function is promptly taken over by the "maverick" Wiley. Burdened with surprisingly unlikable characters, Level 9 has to rely upon its story values and top-level special effects. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fab Filippo, Kate Hodge, (more)
- 1999
Tony Restrelli (Brian Bloom) left his San Diego mobster family after college to "go straight" on Wall Street. Not only did he flourish, but he met the woman of his dreams in Gloria (Alicia Coppola), a beautiful and smart businesswoman. But when Tony's beloved younger brother Primo (Rocco Vienhage) is gunned down, Tony and Gloria return to San Diego for the funeral -- and Tony is convinced by longtime family friend Willy "the Hammer" (Alan Arkin) to stick around to straighten out affairs. Tony begins to unspool a plot to get his family out of massive debt using money from competing mobs against the other -- and in the meantime exact revenge for the death of his brother. Gloria's financial wizardry comes in handy, as well. But these two yuppies, who are more comfortable reading stock tickers than shooting pistols, have no idea how dangerous a game they are playing. ~ Buzz McClain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alan Arkin, Brian Bloom, (more)
Daniel Pyne directed and co-scripted (with John Mankiewicz) this satirical look at private eyes, originally planned as a TV series but instead later expanded into a feature. Before a switch to color, the film begins with a black and white prologue in which NYU film-school graduates Wilton Crawley (Mos Def) and A.J. Edison (John Livingston) bore the small audience at the Utica Township Film Festival with their 180-minute film about NYC water-supply sources. Realizing a stronger subject is needed for their next documentary, they focus on L.A. private investigators Joe Boone (Miguel Ferrer) and Murphy (John Slattery) and the agency's secretary Angela (Allison Dean) -- captured in the usual student-film techniques of hand-held subjective shots (plus Super 8 when their regular camera breaks). As the filmmakers shoot, they soon become intrigued by an unsolved case and look for a solution. Shown at the 1998 Mill Valley Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miguel Ferrer, Mos Def, (more)
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