Hayden Panettiere Movies
Though she was only 17, by the time Hayden Panettiere gained stardom as one of the leads on NBC's hit superhero drama Heroes, she'd already been acting for more than 16 years. After appearing in television commercials beginning at 11 months old, flaxen-haired Panettiere was cast as a regular on One Life to Live at five. She remained on the show for three years, before leaving for a stint on another soap, Guiding Light. Meanwhile, she appeared in a number of small movie parts as well as one of the lead voices in Pixar's A Bug's Life. After Panettiere showed up in such films as Remember the Titans and Joe Somebody, her next notable role was Maddie Harrington, the long-lost daughter of the quirky title character on Fox's Ally McBeal. Along with supporting parts in Raising Helen and Racing Stripes and the lead in the second straight-to-DVD Bring It On sequel, several more small TV roles followed before 2006, when she was cast on Heroes as the cheerleader with the ability to spontaneously heal herself. Panettiere's first post-Heroes project came in 2007 with the indie comedy drama Shanghai Kiss, in which she starred opposite Ken Leung. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
Following their television series Home Improvement and the features The Santa Clause (1994) and Jungle 2 Jungle (1997), the actor/director team of Tim Allen and John Pasquin collaborate once again on this high-concept comedy. Allen stars as Joe Scheffer, a nice guy video specialist for a Minneapolis pharmaceutical company who's plodding through both his thankless job and an unhappy divorce from his ex-wife Callie (Kelly Lynch). When Joe brings his daughter Natalie (Hayden Panettiere) to the office with him on Take Our Kids to Work Day, he's humiliated in a spat with company bully Mark McKinney (Patrick Warburton) over a parking space. It's the last straw for the mild-mannered Joe, who challenges McKinney to a rematch, hires a has-been action movie star (Jim Belushi) to instruct him in martial arts, and pays a stylist to make over his wardrobe and hair. As Joe's image improves and the big day approaches, he finds his new self-respecting stance has positive effects in both the workplace, as he lands a long-overdue promotion, and in his romantic life, as both Callie and a cute "wellness coordinator" (Julie Bowen) start warming up to him. The levelheaded Natalie, however, seems to prefer the previously non-confrontational dad she already loved. Joe Somebody (2001) is the feature debut of screenwriter John Scott Shepherd, who actually worked as a corporate filmmaker in Minneapolis. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Allen, Julie Bowen, (more)
A director of contemporary comedies, Charles Shyer makes a genre leap into period costume drama with this lavish epic based on a controversial chapter of French history. Hilary Swank stars as Jeanne de la Motte Valois, a countess whose royal title has been stripped from her family by the crown in late 18th century. Determined to restore her good name and privilege, Jeanne schemes politically and sexually with a trio of co-conspirators that includes her gigolo lover, Retaux de Villette (Simon Baker), her husband, Nicolas (Adrien Brody), and a mysterious Italian count (Christopher Walken) to obtain a diamond necklace worth millions. Jeanne's cabal concocts a series of forged letters linking Marie Antoinette (Joely Richardson) and the stunning 2,800-carat jewelry to the debauched Cardinal Louis de Rohan (Jonathan Pryce), an act that could end up restoring rank to the Valois family or fanning the flames of growing revolutionary sentiments. The Affair of the Necklace (2001) co-stars Brian Cox as the narrator Minister Breteuil. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hilary Swank, Jonathan Pryce, (more)
Walt Disney Pictures redefined computer animation with this technically accomplished fantasy of prehistoric life, combining live-action backgrounds with computer-generated animals. After a pterodactyl snatches a dinosaur's egg and accidentally drops it while flying away, the egg is rescued by a family of lemurs, who keep it warm until it hatches. They raise the baby dinosaur, named Aladar, as one of their own, and as he grows to adulthood, Aladar protects the primates that he has come to regard as his family. When a giant meteor appears in the sky, packs of dinosaurs have no idea what to make of the strange fiery light, but Aladar and the lemurs are convinced that they must escape to a safer place before the huge flaming stone destroys their home, leading Aladar to encounter his own kind for the first time. D.B. Sweeney provides the voice of Aladar; other actors in the voice cast include Joan Plowright, Julianna Margulies, Alfre Woodard, and Ossie Davis. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- D.B. Sweeney, Alfre Woodard, (more)
A high school football coach finds himself fighting for stakes much higher than the State Championship in this drama based on actual events. In 1971, a court order forces three high schools in Alexandria, Virginia (two white, one African-American), to integrate their student bodies and faculties for the first time. As a result, Coach Bill Yoast (Will Patton), longtime head coach of the T.C. Williams High School football team, is asked to step down, and Herman Boone (Denzel Washington) is appointed to replace him as the school's first black faculty member. The new coach is hardly welcomed with open arms, either by the school's staff or the students, and the newly integrated team is full of players (both black and white) who have little trust or respect for one another. But Boone is determined to put a winning team on the field -- it's how he approaches the game, and his future depends on it. Against long odds, Boone helps his team overcome distrust and misunderstanding of their coach (and each other) as they become a gridiron force to be reckoned with. Remember the Titans also features Nicole Ari Parker, Kate Bosworth, and Jerry Brandt, and was produced by action-film kingpin Jerry Bruckheimer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denzel Washington, Will Patton, (more)
- 1999
The top-rank performances of Lauren Bacall, Richard Chamberlain and Lindsay Frost elevate the two-part TV biopic Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke from the usual malaise of lurid, voyeuristic trash. As she lies near death in her luxurious mansion, 80-year-old tobacco heiress Doris Duke (Bacall) hardly seems to take notice of the sinister behavior of her boozing, control-freak butler Bernard Lafferty (Chamberlain). Ultimately, of course, Doris will die (in 1993), and the mysterious circumstances will cast suspicion on the redoubtable Mr. Lafferty (who himself died three years later). Before this happens, however, Doris flashes back to the sordid events of her life, whereupon the title role is taken over by a series of younger actresses, with Frost playing Doris from ages 20 through 50. We see how Doris' future is shaped by her loving, overindulgent father (Joe Don Baker) and her aloof, icy mother (Kathleen Quinlan). Though warned early on that Doris would always have to be wary of fortune hunters, she progresses through a string of highly publicized and largely unhappy romances, and also endures two disastrous marriages. All the familiar players in this real-life drama are in attendance, including writer Louis Bromfield (Brian Dennehy), international playboy Pofirio Rubirosa (Michael Nouri), and Doris' adopted daughter Chanzy (Mare Winningham) who is destined to break Doris' heart time and time again until the grieving millionairess finally worked up the courage to renounce the girl. Also touched upon are Doris' lifelong obsessions, which ranged from mysticism to belly-dancing. Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke was originally telecast by CBS on February 21 and 22, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lauren Bacall, Richard Chamberlain, (more)
- 1999
A few days before she is scheduled to board the space shuttle Discovery, astronaut Josie Saunders (played by ER's Sherry Stringfield) is told that her mother has died. Josie's husband Greg (Brian McNamara's, who is also one of the space mission's Capcoms, worries that his wife may not be emotionally ready for her voyage, and seriously considers washing her out. This crisis could not have come at a worse time: Josie has all but promised young cancer victim Diana (a pre-Heroes Hayden Panettiere) that she will deliver a message to God while flying in space. Monica (Roma Downey) endeavors to alleviate the pain of both Josie and Diana, with the help of a celebrity ghost! Real-life astronaut Dr. Sally Ride appears as herself in this final episode of Touched by an Angel's fifth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
John Lasseter, director of Pixar's movie phenomenon Toy Story, has set new standards in computer animation with this effort, another Disney-released children's epic entitled A Bug's Life. Blending classic Disney storytelling characters and the mysterious underground world of bugs, Lasseter has created a film that can be enjoyed by all audiences, and another franchise in the process. A Bug's Life is a computerized retelling of the Aesop fable The Ant and the Grasshopper, made as a cartoon-short by the one-and-only, Walt Disney, in the mid-'30s. However, A Bug's Life has modernized the story with many new twists and celebrity voices. The story focuses on a colony of ants who seasonally gather food for themselves and a wild gang of rowdy grasshoppers. When bumbling worker ant Flik (David Foley) destroys the food supply, the angry grasshoppers, lead by the maniacally warped Hopper (Kevin Spacey), threaten to kill the ants if they don't produce a new supply of food by the time they return -- an impossible feat. Flik leaves the anthill in search of help in the form of bigger bugs, and to wage war against the grasshoppers. What he doesn't know is he has actually discovered a group of down-on-their-luck traveling circus insects in need of a job. When the ants realize that their heroes are really circus performers (and the circus bugs realize these grasshoppers are really big and mean), the situation goes from bad to worse. Ultimately, the ants use their large numbers to overcome the grasshoppers. ~ Chris Gore, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, (more)
