Maeve Quinlan Movies
Director Bill Duke steps behind the camera for this adaptation of the T.D. Jakes novel concerning a newly married couple that finds their union threatened by pressures involving faith, family, and finances. As the couple exchanges their vows, the minister lays a cord around them while uttering the blessing, "a threefold cord is not easily broken." Later, during their darkest hour, the minister's advice to always keep God at the center of their marriage could be the only thing that keeps this troubled pair together. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Morris Chestnut, Taraji P. Henson, (more)
Told from the vantage point of two young runaways who are forced to sell their bodies in order to survive on the streets, director Glenn Klinker's somber drama follows the grim plight of Cat and Nolan as they become hopelessly ensnared in a dangerous world of sex, drugs, and violence. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tamara Hope, Reiley McClendon, (more)
- 2005
This Hallmark Channel TV movie is one of a series starring John Larroquette as McBride (no first name), a hard-nosed cop turned compassionate defense lawyer, specializing in "lost causes." McBride's client this time is a hitchhiker named Dudley Banks (Devon Gummesall), who had the rotten luck to accept a ride from a beautiful, affluent-looking woman calling herself Whitney (Maeve Quinlan), just before she is found murdered. As he digs into Whitney's past, he finds that there are several men who had good reason to wish her dead--especially the several husbands she accumulated (and robbed blind) while adopting a plethora of false identities! McBride: The Chameleon Murder originally aired January 14, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Way back when she was 13 years old, lonely Holly Grant (Kelli Williams), envying the busy social lives of her best friends, made a wish to receive a boyfriend for Christmas. Instead, Holly was given a glass globe, ostensibly by "Santa Claus" himself, with the attached message that her wish would be granted within the next two decades. Flash forward 20 years: Now a dedicated pro bono attorney, the still-unattached Holly has experienced great success in making everyone happy -- except herself. Enter two men in our heroine's life: Ted Powell (Bruce Thomas), her onetime high school heartthrob, and some guy calling himself Doug, who strangely resembles a person whom Holly ardently dislikes -- and who may well be the answer to the wish posted to Santa twenty years before! A Boyfriend for Christmas originally aired over the Hallmark channel on November 27, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kelli Williams, Patrick Muldoon, (more)
A con artist finds family squabbles are getting in the way of a major payday in this sharp blend of comedy and suspense, based on the Argentinean hit Nueve Reinas (aka Nine Queens). Richard Gaddis (John C. Reilly) is a smart-suited confidence man who knows how to run a big con but prefers to pull off a number of small scams over the course of the day, cheating a lot of folks out of a little instead of taking one or two for a lot. One day, while looking for marks at a gambling casino, Gaddis spies Rodrigo (Diego Luna), a fellow grifter with little polish but obvious talent. Gaddis takes Rodrigo under his wing, and after showing him a few tricks, the two begin working as a team. A golden opportunity presents itself when Gaddis learns the whereabouts of an incredibly valuable antique bank note just as an ideal customer is passing through town; Gaddis and Rodrigo quickly try to set up a deal that will separate cash from customer without the note actually changing hands, but the scheme proves complicated enough that others have to be brought in, causing each individual's share of the loot to dwindle. Adding to Gaddis' annoyance is the appearance of his sister Valerie (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who works at the hotel where the deal is to go down and isn't especially happy with her brother and his attempts to get his hands on the family's fortune. Criminal marked the directorial debut of Gregory Jacobs, who previously distinguished himself as a producer and assistant director. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John C. Reilly, Diego Luna, (more)
- 2004
When a young girl mysteriously dies while undergoing a routine procedure at a high profile hospital, her father's desperate attempts to uncover the cause of his daughter's death reveals a massive corporate cover-up in director Damon O'Steen's adaptation of Gerald Clarke's popular novel. Stephen Roland (Billy Wirth) is certain that his daughter Jamie (Talia-Lynn Prairie) has overcome neuroblastoma - a horrifying childhood cancer - but when Jamie dies suddenly during an MRI scan at St. Mark's hospital, no one will tell the grief-stricken father the truth about his long-suffering daughter's unexpected death. The truth is, this isn't the first time that an MRI malfunction has claimed the life of a patient at St. Mark's, yet the company who manufactured the scanner has repeatedly denied any and all responsibility. Though Stephen's appeal for an investigation taps into powerful evidence that a computer virus may be to blame for the tragic accident, high ranking St. Mark's pathologist Dr. Jameson (Michael Ensign) enlists the aid of Scan Tech representative Schmidt in stonewalling the investigation. As everyone in power continues to turn their back on the tenacious father, he soon finds an unexpected ally in the form of Jamie's former oncologist Dr. Colleen Burke (Maeve Quinlan) - an ambitious research physician who has been profoundly affected by the death of the young innocent. It's going to take everything they've got to find out the truth about Jamie's death though, and as Stephen and Dr. Burke begin the arduous process of wading through Scan Tech's thick web of lies and deceit, it becomes increasingly evident that not only the careers, but the very lives of those who staged this elaborate cover-up hang in the balance. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Wirth, Maeve Quinlan, (more)
Uwe Boll's Heart of America: Homeroom is a drama about a massacre on the final day of the school year. The last day of school contains many problems for teachers and students alike. The principal must discipline an English teacher (Michael Paré) who has let his professional frustrations get the better of him, student Dara needs to score from the drug dealing Wex (G. Michael Gray), and a foursome of cruel athletes continues to torment the losers and nerds. Unbeknown to everyone else at the school, the eternally picked upon Daniel (Kett Turton) and Barry (Michael Belyea), as well as a third accomplice, are extensively armed and plan to unleash their fury on the school right after final bell. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jürgen Prochnow, Elisabeth Rosen, (more)
A man who has it all finds his perfect world spinning into a blinding storm of psychotic rage after engaging in a bout of extramarital cybersex in this thriller starring C. Thomas Howell. Despite having a life that every man would envy, Adam Vance (Howell) just can't help but feeling that his sex life has grown a little lackluster. When Adam discovers an illicit website known as "Cyber-chat," his steamy exchanges with the lusty "Angel" provide the sex-starved husband with just the kind of no-strings-attached sex that he had been craving. When Angel attempts to blackmail Adam, the hapless philanderer finds himself caught in a murderous web of deceit that may claim the life of not only himself, but everyone he holds dear as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- C. Thomas Howell, Lala Sloatman, (more)
- 2002
Filmmaker Larry Clark reunites with Kids screenwriter Harmony Korine, with some additional directorial assistance from cinematographer Ed Lachman, for this look at a group of troubled teens and their guardians living in Southern California. The film opens at a skate park, where a troubled character takes his own life; it then proceeds to chronicle the somewhat-interrelated lives of his classmates. The audience is introduced to Tate (James Ransome), a young man living in relative misery with his board-game-playing grandparents. Also tormented by his living situation is Claude (Stephen Jasso), a quiet, shy teen constantly henpecked by his brutish father (Wade Andrew Williams). Meanwhile, the vapid Shawn (James Bullard) occasionally trades verbal spars with his mother, in between leaving the house for sex sessions with his girlfriend's mom. Finally there is Peaches (Tiffany Limos), living alone with her devoutly religious father as she covertly experiments with her boyfriend (Mike Apaletegui). Though Ken Park played at such festivals as Toronto and Telluride in the fall of 2002, it would languish on the shelf for months and months afterward, as its explicit content made finding a U.S. distributor near-impossible. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Ransome, Tiffany Limos, (more)
Andrew Van Slee's romantic comedy Totally Blonde concerns a dark-haired girl whose love life takes an interesting turn once she lightens her tresses. In a very short period of time she meets a club-owner who offers her almost everything she could want in a life mate, and a muscle-bound millionaire for whom she gets the hots. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
The regulars at a shot-and-a-beer bar in a decaying working-class town are the focus of Nick Stagliano's drama The Florentine. Michael Madsen plays Whitey, who owns a bar called The Florentine where most of the guys he knows hang out. His sister Molly (Virginia Madsen, Michael's real life sister) is soon to be married, and Whitey has been saving up for a nice reception. But when her old boyfriend Teddy (Tom Sizemore) comes back into town, bets for the wedding would seem to be off, which may be just as well -- Whitey's buddy Frankie (Luke Perry) got hold of the wedding cash and lost it to Billy Munucci (James Belushi), a con artist with a far quicker turn of mind. Whitey has other money problems; the bar has been mortgaged to a low-level gangster named Joe (Burt Young), who has been leaning on Whitey's friend Bobbie (Chris Penn) to pay off his mounting gambling debts. Bobbie is trying to stay one step ahead of Joe, which doesn't leave him much time to patch up his ailing marriage to Vicki (Mary Stuart Masterson). The screenplay by Damien Gray and Tom Benson was adapted from the Off-Broadway drama penned by Gray. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, (more)
