Richard Brams Movies
As repayment for services rendered by his father, young New Jerseyite Frank Siena (Danny Nucci) is put through medical school in the U.S. and Italy by powerful mafia don Nicola Dellarusso (Paul Sorvino). Upon becoming a doctor, Siena dutifully returns the favor by giving body and soul to the organization, covering up murders, tending to the mob wounded without making police reports, and, in general, relinquishing his soul in the name of gratitude. Although Frank's mafia-princess wife enjoys the perks attending his privileged status, Frank ultimately suffers from pangs of conscience fueled by the pointed words of his envious friend Danny Keegan (Jonathan Scarfe). But when Frank goes to Dellarusso and respectively asks to be let off the hook, he is rather forcibly made to realize that no one retires from the mafia and lives to tell about it. Mafia Doctor first aired March 16, 2003, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Nucci, Paul Sorvino, (more)
David Anspaugh's mix of female bonding and mob drama, Wisegirls concerns a trio of waitresses. Meg (Oscar winner Mira Sorvino), wise-talking Raychel (Mariah Carey), and wannabe dancer Kate (Paul Thomas Anderson regular Melora Walters) grow close while working at an Italian restaurant. After saving a man's life at the eatery thanks to her time in medical school, Meg begins to realize that the establishment is mob-controlled. Soon she must hide the dead body of her boss (whose "whacking" she indirectly caused). Eventually, Meg discovers secrets about her two friends and is forced to risk her life in order to gain information on the mobsters. This mix of gangster film and female bonding screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mira Sorvino, Mariah Carey, (more)
- 2001
Due to the round-the-clock coverage of the World Trade Center tragedy, the beginning of the fall 2001 TV season was delayed on all of the major networks. The first "new" primetime series to be unveiled was CBS's Wolf Lake, a quirky supernatural effort in the tradition of The X-Files and Twin Peaks. Six months after the disappearance of his girlfriend Ruby, Seattle policeman John Kanin (Lou Diamond Phillips receives an anonymous tip that the girl was spotted in the remote Pacific Northwest community of Wolf Lake. Unbeknownst to John (at least at first!), the community is controlled by shapeshifting werewolves, several of whom are locked in a power struggle to attain the coveted title of Alpha Wolf. Working hand and glove with local lawkeeper Sheriff Jack Donner (Tim Matheson), John sets about to solve Ruby's disappearance, while at the same time trying to sort out the strange goings-on in Wolf Lake. Meanwhile, John's 16-year-old daughter Sophia (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who is herself beginning to exhibit wolflike tendencies, carries on a clandestine romance with local "wild boy" Luke Cates (Paul Wasilewski), the son of powerful industrialist Willard Cates (Bruce McGill), who happens to be the chief competition of local entrepreneur Tyler Creed (Scott Bairstow) for the Alpha Wolf position. The only person who knows all the dark secrets of Wolf Lake is enigmatic biology teacher Sherman Blackstone (Graham Greene. Not surprisingly, the weekly, 60-minute Wolf Lake was executive-produced by an X-Files alumnus, Alex Gansa. The series debuted on September 19, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lou Diamond Phillips, Tim Matheson, (more)
- 1999
- NR
In this courtroom drama set in the near future, the U.S. Supreme Court has recently overturned the Roe vs. Wade decision and thrown the issue of abortion rights back to the individual states. Alabama has subsequently outlawed abortion on demand and has prosecuted Virginia Mapes (Lisa Gay Hamilton) for first degree murder after she opted to terminate her pregnancy. Mapes and her attorney have taken the case to the Supreme Court in hopes of keeping her out of prison, and with the court evenly divided on the issue, newly appointed Supreme Court Justice Joseph Kirkland (Andy Garcia) looks to be the man who will cast the deciding vote in a case that could reinstate a woman's right to choose. Kirkland, however, finds himself surrounded by proponents of both the pro-choice and pro-life agendas, with his fellow justices, his secretary and even his wife trying to influence his vote. Produced for ABC Television, Swing Vote boasts a distinguished supporting cast, including Harry Belafonte, Robert Prosky, Milo O'Shea, Kate Nelligan, Albert Hall, and Bob Balaban. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andy Garcia, Harry Belafonte, (more)
- 1999
Based on the first of Dorothy Gilman's popular novels about a senior citizen who joins the CIA, The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax stars Angela Lansbury as Emily Polifax, an elderly woman who feels out of sorts and unsure of what to do with herself after the death of her husband. Her doctor tries to cheer her up by telling her this is a perfect time to try new things and fulfill ambitions set aside earlier in life. Emily decides this is fine advice and takes a shot at the career of her dreams -- she writes a letter to her congressman asking how one goes about becoming a CIA agent. The letter is passed along and the CIA agrees to an interview. However, Emily is mistakenly sent on a mission to Morocco before anyone realizes she isn't actually an agent, and operative Jack Farrell (Thomas Ian Griffith) is sent out to keep an eye on her. When Emily and Jack are unexpectedly taken hostage, Jack discovers Mrs. Pollifax is far more clever and resourceful than anyone expected. The first in a proposed series of TV movies aimed to appeal to the large and loyal audience Lansbury attracted with the show Murder, She Wrote, The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax was produced for CBS television, who first aired it in May 1999. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angela Lansbury, Thomas Ian Griffith, (more)
- 1997
Reminiscent of the "best" of David Lynch, the two-part TV movie Night Sins uses a mysterious abduction as catalyst for a progressively bizarre and disturbing expose of small-town corruption, hypocrisy and perversion. When the 8-year-old son of a doctor is kidnapped from his home in the rural Washington town of Deer Lake, government agent Megan O'Malley (Valerie Bertinelli) arrives to investigate. It soon becomes apparent that this most recent abduction is tied in to a string of kidnappings and murders that have occurred in the region over the past twenty years. As Megan pursues her investigation with the help of friendly local cop Mitch Holt (Harry Hamlin)--to whom she grows extremely close--innumerable local skeletons are dredged out of innumerable local closets. In fact, it seems that everyone concerned with the story is harboring a dark, unsavory secret--including Megan. If nothing else, this offbeat melodrama may well be the only TV movie to feature an evil chess club! Originally telecast on CBS, Night Sins was first seen on February 23 and 25, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Lacey Chabert was still the darling of the television series Party of Five when she accepted the leading role in this suspenseful TV movie. When the biological mother of adoptee Jenny Newhall (Chabert is murdered, Jenny's adoptive father Greg (Gregory Harrison) immediately falls under suspicion. This tragic set of events rocks the small, tranquil town in which the Newhalls live to its foundations, ultimately laying bare a number of unpleasant and long-hidden secrets. Making matters worse, Greg Newhall all but confirms his "guilt" when he escapes custody--but who is the actual culprit? (You'd be surprised--or at least, that's what the film producers hoped!) Based on a novel by Patricia McDonald, When Secrets Kill first aired over CBS on April 6, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
A bitter, nasty child custody battle is at the center of this fact-based TV movie. Having long since written off her divorced daughter-in-law Sarah (Tracey Gold) as an unfit mother, DeDe Cooper (Kate Jackson) anxiously awaits the slightest opportunity to take her granddaughter Josie (Laura Harris) away from Sarah for good. When Josie begins making disturbing references to "satanic rituals", DeDe figures it is time to take action. Before long, someone has kidnapped Josie--and Sarah, whose life has only just begun to find meaning via her relationship with her new beau Jack (Jeff Yagher), insists she has a pretty good idea who's responsible. What follows is a maelstrom of lies, deceptions, and ultimate vindication for one of the two principal characters. A Kidnapping in the Family originally aired February 26, 1996 on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Grumpy, chain-smoking prosecuting attorney Ingrid Maynard (Stockard Channing) hasn't accepted a case since the accident that left her confined to a wheelchair. But when the husband of assistant DA Rachel Simone (Michelle Forbes) is killed in a robbery, Ingrid decides to return to the courtroom to take over the investigation and ultimate prosecution of the culprit. Forced to work together, the embittered Ingrid and the dispirited Rachel don't always see eye to eye, but this does not compromise the value of their work. However, a major "conflict of interest" crisis threatens to slow the wheels of justice to a grinding halt. Made for the NBC network by the same team responsible for the series Homicide and Prime Suspect, The Prosecutors originally aired on December 2, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Barely recognizable under a blonde wig and several layers of garish makeup, Kirstie Alley stars in this made-for-TV drama as Marty, a freewheeling waitress who compensates for the emptiness in her life with jokes and wisecracks. On the verge of finding emotional fulfillment with a new romance, Marty is crippled in a freak traffic accident. Her subsequent efforts to adjust to her paraplegic state are hampered by a vicious assault from a mugger -- not to mention her erstwhile boyfriend's desertion. Hitting rock bottom, Marty is awash in booze and self-pity when redemption appears in the unlikely form of a handsome, upbeat guy in a wheelchair named Joe Mulvey (Jason Beghe). Suddenly originally aired December 1, 1996, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirstie Alley, Jason Beghe, (more)
- 1996
In this haunting made-for-TV drama, a young woman is visited by the troubled ghost of a young girl and asked to capture the person who killed the girl's mother by throwing her off a cliff. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Tim Matheson, (more)
- 1995
An alcoholic lawyer has to prove more than just his case in this made-for-television crime drama. Brian Dennehy stars as Charlie Sloan, a defense attorney with a drinking problem. When his old flame Robin Harwell (Bonnie Bedelia) asks him to defend her teen daughter (Fairuza Balk) who is accused of murdering her rich father, Sloan agrees. The prosecution then takes on not only the murder case, but Sloan's life as well, and the lawyer must prove himself both in court and to Robin. The movie is based on the book of the same name by William J. Coughlin and the score is by jazz artist Jane Ira Bloom. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1994
A computer with a mind of its own is the subject of this made-for-television thriller. Set sometime in the future, the film tells the story of a female writer who goes to a secluded cabin to work. She decides to take a programmable male android with her for company. She changes his programming to suit her specific needs but gets more than she bargained for when the android gets his own ideas on what she wants. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1993
In this feature-length reprise of the popular '70s police drama Ironside Raymond Burr returns as the wheelchair-bound police chief. This time, he is drawn out of retirement by a puzzling murder and the San Francisco police department's need to find a new chief. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raymond Burr, Don Galloway, (more)
- 1992
Made for television, In the Company of Darkness was first aired on January 5, 1993. Helen Hunt stars as a small town rookie cop. Her first big assignment is to extract a confession from a male stalker who may be responsible for the murders of several small boys. The task drains her emotionally, especially when she endeavors to "enter" the psyche of the suspect. Rather reminiscent of Silence of the Lambs, it takes forever to get started, but you're not likely to tune out once you've tuned in. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Hunt, Jeff Fahey, (more)
Directed by Brian Gibson, this television mini-series stars Steven Bauer as an undercover DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, whose kidnapping and subsequent murder lead to an intensive investigation. The shocking findings all pointed towards a disturbing connection between the Mexican government and high-profile druglords. Based on a true story, Drug Wars also features Benicio Del Toro, Elizabeth Pena, Treat Wilson, and Miguel Ferrer. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Miami Vice has been described as "the first cop show for the MTV generation." Brilliantly capturing the mood, the style, the rhythm, the pulsations, the bright electric colors, and the garish glitz of the early '80s, the weekly, 60-minute series was just a much an elongated music video (with a Jan Hammer score) as it was a crime drama -- and it set the standard for the scores of copycat series that followed in its wake. Set in (where else?) Miami, the series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as hard-nosed Miami-Dade PD vice detectives Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs. Crockett was a Ferrari-driving fashion trendsetter (how many millions of the series' young male fans emulated Sonny's no-socks, no-shave "look"?), who lived on a sailboat called St. Vitus' Dance with his pet gator, Elvis. Tubbs hailed from New York, and had come to Florida to track down the drug dealer responsible for his brother's murder. Like most such salt-and-pepper TV detective teams, Crockett and Tubbs did not always see eye to eye on details and procedure, but when they worked together as undercover cops in the sleazy underbelly of the Florida resort community, they almost invariably got results. And the criminal element -- which on this series consisting primarily of drug lords, white slavers, and illicit arms traders -- was well advised to stay out of their way. Though Sonny and Ricardo were pretty much the whole show, a few supporting characters were also worth noting, especially Edward James Olmos as the boys' mercurial superior officer Lt. Martin Castillo, Olivia Brown and Saundra Santiago as feisty female cops Trudy Joplin and Gina Navarro, and John Diehl as Larry Zito, Crockett and Tubbs' obligatory "orthodox" co-worker Calabrese. Making occasional appearances were Belinda Montgomery as Sonny's ex-wife, Caroline, and Sheena Easton as wife number two (albeit briefly), Caitlin Davies. Except for a short 1988 story arc in which an amnesiac Sonny assumed his "undercover" identity as drug dealer Sonny Burnett, things moved at a steady and reliable clip throughout the series' four-season run. Maybe it is true that series producer Michael Mann favored style over substance -- but what style! Miami Vice was seen on NBC from September 16, 1984, to July 26, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
- R
The Keep is an ambitious visual feast from director Michael Mann, whose previous effort was the moody, stylish Thief, and who would soon produce the quintessential pastel-colored '80s TV series Miami Vice. Adapted from the novel by F. Paul Wilson and set in German-occupied Romania of 1943, the film introduces the invaders to the dark presence lurking within the walls of an ancient fortress in the Carpathian Alps -- a presence which doesn't take well to unwanted guests. When soldiers under the command of Captain Woermann (Jurgen Prochnow) begin to die horribly, he receives the unwanted assistance of Nazi Major Kampffer (Gabriel Byrne), who immediately assumes command and forcibly enlists the aid of the local expert on ancient languages, the Jewish Doctor Theodore Cuza (Ian McKellen), in the translation of the cryptic writings left near a murdered soldier's body. When Cuza comes face-to-face with the Keep's ancient resident -- an ethereal creature which gains strength by draining the life-force from its enemies -- he forms a pact with the creature in the hope that it will escape and destroy Hitler's armies. When a mysterious stranger (Scott Glenn) arrives at the nearby village and befriends Cuza's daughter Eva (Alberta Watson), he reveals the true nature of the beast within the Keep, as well as his intent to destroy it before Cuza can release it -- a task which, if failed, will spell doom for all mankind. The film's fever-dream-logic casts a hypnotic spell -- ably assisted by Tangerine Dream's pulsating, ethereal music (including electronic variations on a theme by Thomas Tallis) -- with a story that seems to play by the Keep's own eerie supernatural rules. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Glenn, Alberta Watson, (more)
In Thief, James Caan plays Frank, a professional jewel thief who wants to marry Jessie (Tuesday Weld) and settle down into a normal life. In order to achieve his dream of a family, Frank--who is used to working solo--has to align himself with a crime boss named Leo (Robert Prosky), who will help him gain the money he needs to begin his domestic life. Frank plans to retire after the heist, yet he finds himself indebted to Leo and he struggles to break free. Thief is the first feature film from director Michael Mann and it seethes with his stylish, atmospheric direction. Though his cool approach may put off some viewers, it's a distinctive and effective story-telling approach, and Caan's performance ranks among his very best, making Thief a crime movie like few others. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Caan, Tuesday Weld, (more)
