MacKenzie Astin Movies

A hapless team of military-intelligence personnel attempts to determine the location of a secret German fighter-plane base in director Dale Kutzera's pointed satire of kitschy training films and preemptive warfare. Authentic footage of World War II training films combines with a newly filmed plot concerning a military analyst, a hawkish major, and a figurehead general attempting to determine the location of a purported German Ghost Squadron base. The result is a film that knowingly parodies timeless military clichés while simultaneously skewering the Bush administration's frightening penchant for to rushing into war without proper cause. Patrick Muldoon, Elizabeth Bennett, and Mackenzie Astin star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Teen pop star Mandy Moore stars in the romantic comedy How to Deal. Directed by British filmmaker Clare Kilner, the script is based on two of author Sarah Dessen's popular teen novels: Someone Like You and That Summer. Halley (Moore) is a teenager trying to make sense of the faltering romantic relationships within her immediate social sphere. Her mother, Lydia (Allison Janney), can't seem get a date, while her father (Peter Gallagher) is getting remarried to a woman that nobody seems to like. Halley's wedding-obsessed sister, Ashley (Mary Catherine Garrison), is engaged to Lewis (MacKenzie Astin), a guy that is completely wrong for her. Meanwhile, bad boy Macon Forrester (Trent Ford) won't leave Halley alone. Just when she decides to become cynical about love because of all the romantic disappointments around her, a troubled situation involving her best friend Scarlett (Alexandra Holden) changes her outlook. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Playwright Neil Simon got his first big break in the early '50s as a staff writer on Sid Caesar's fabled television series Your Show of Shows, and this comedy (adapted by Simon from his play) takes a fictionalized look at the backstage chaos that went into producing one of the landmarks of television's golden age. Max Prince (Nathan Lane) is the star of The Max Prince Show, a popular comedy-variety series with ratings that have begun to slip; Prince's show is still a major hit on the East Coast, but network executive Cal Weebs (Colin Fox) insists that it's too sophisticated for the Midwest, and urges Prince to dumb down his act. Prince has also become the whipping boy of newspaper columnist Walter Winchell (Frank Proctor), and between the tensions of producing a hour of top-quality comedy each week and being pestered about his ratings, Prince is beginning to unravel. His relationship with his wife Faye (Sherry Miller) and their children is falling apart, and stress is eating him alive. Prince's brother Harry (Richard Portnow) is Max's assistant, and his last line of defense against both the network and his writing staff, which spend its days coming up with business for the show while hurling humorous invective at each other and anyone else within earshot. (The actors playing Max's writers include Mark Linn-Baker, Victor Garber, Dan Castellaneta, Saul Rubinek, Peri Gilpin, and Zach Grenier.) Laughter on the 23rd Floor received its world premiere at the 2001 Palm Springs Film Festival and was scheduled for showings several months later on the Showtime premium cable network (who co-produced the feature). The film was directed by Richard Benjamin, who previously teamed with Mark Linn-Baker for another comedy inspired by the career of Sid Caesar, My Favorite Year. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Directed by Robert Mickelson, Off the Lip follows Kat (Marguerite Moreau), equipped with a spanking new journalism degree, on her first big assignment. Though the job sounds ideal at first -- its only requirements are a positive outlook, good instincts, perseverance, and a willingness to travel to Hawaii -- Kat finds that her search for a surfer known only as "The Monk" is much harder than she had initially foreseen. As it becomes increasingly clear that the mysterious surfer has no intention of being found, other problems pop up at an alarming rate; among them are her boyfriend's (Mackenzie Astin) constant meddling, her washed-out guide's (Mark Fite) deteriorating mental health, and her supervisor's unwanted affection. To make matters worse, Kat's efforts land her a spot on the FBI's most wanted list. As the obstacles mount before her eyes, Kat begins to wonder who she's really searching for -- The Monk or herself? ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

If aliens from another galaxy were to observe ordinary people as they look for love in contemporary America, what would they make of it? That is the premise of The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human, which takes the form of a documentary in which a camera crew from an alien civilization spies on a couple from Earth as they meet, fall in love, and navigate the bumpy road to matrimony, as a helpful narrator explains what's going on. The Male (Mackenzie Austin) encounters The Female (Carmen Electra) at The Sacred Meeting Ground (a nightclub in Los Angeles), and thus begins a long series of dates, conversations, sexual episodes, meetings of parents and friends, and finally marriage, as an expert (David Hyde Pierce) enlightens us as to what it all means. The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human was written and directed by Jeff Abugov, best known for his work in television on the series The Golden Girls, Roseanne, and Grace Under Fire; the supporting cast includes Lucy Liu, Markus Redmond, and Lisa Rontondi. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

As another installment of Whit Stillman's trilogy, The Last Days of Disco fits chronologically between Metropolitan (1990) and Barcelona (1994), with several cameos overlapping and linking the films. During "the very early 1980s," friends gather at a popular Manhattan disco club reminiscent of Studio 54, where getting past the velvet ropes and inside was the first step. Edgy ad-exec Jimmy (Mackenzie Astin) can sometimes get his clients in with the help of the club's womanizing assistant manager, his pal Des (Chris Eigeman), who lets them enter via the rear door. Beautiful brunette Charlotte (Kate Beckinsale) and her former college classmate Alice (Chloe Sevigny) move about the club during the 24-minute opening club sequence. Attorney Tom (Robert Sean Leonard) takes an interest in calm, reserved Alice. Both Alice and the opinionated, assertive Charlotte hold day jobs as entry-level editorial associates at a small book publisher. With Holly (Tara Subkoff) as a third roommate, the trio rents a railroad flat in the Manhattan's Yorkville neighborhood. Charlotte throws dinner parties in an effort to solidify a social circle as an alternative to "the ferocious pairing off" around her. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

This romantic historical drama is based on the diaries of Agnes Von Kurowsky, who while serving as a nurse during World War I had a love affair with a young man who would later become one of the great literary figures of the 20th century, Ernest Hemingway. In 1918, 18-year-old Hemingway has volunteered to fight in the great war; while he goes into battle imagining it to be a lark, he soon discovers that the realities of warfare are far more grim, and during a shelling attack in Italy, his leg is severely wounded. Hemingway has taken a great deal of shrapnel, and the doctors at the field hospital decide that amputation would be the quickest and most effective way to deal with the injury. However, the idea of losing a leg horrifies Hemingway, and he pleads with Agnes (Sandra Bullock), the Austrian nurse looking after him, not to let the doctors cut off his limb. Moved by Hemingway's concern, Agnes convinces the doctors to pursue other treatments, and she looks after him during his long and difficult convalescence. Love and passion bloom between the young and naive soldier and the 26-year-old nurse, but while he's eager for her to return home with him as he follows his muse as a writer, she regards him not as the love of her life but as a passing fling and thinks that he's too young to marry. Agnes eventually sends Hemingway a "Dear John" letter; later Hemingway would use her as the basis for several characters in his novels and short stories, not always flatteringly. In Love and War was directed by Richard Attenborough, previously an Academy Award winner for Gandhi. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Set in San Francisco, this romantic comedy centers on the relationships between an aspiring actress and a blue-eyed handsome fellow who meets all her stringent requirements for being the "Perfect Boyfriend." Actress Frankie has spent much of her young-adult life living in an apartment of Uncle Leo's Café. She works there as a waitress along with Rob, her cousin. There they usually hang out with their friends, slacker Juice and fellow would-be star Allison. Before spying beautiful, blue-eyed David, Frankie refused to waste her time dating anyone "less than extraordinary." But the minute they meet, they begin exchanging literary quotes and from there it is love all the way, at least until Frankie learns that David has a girl friend. Adding further tension is Frankie's upcoming acting job, one that requires she move to LA. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A rousing Disney dog-sled adventure based on a real life event -- a 522-mile dog-sled race between Winnipeg, Canada and St. Paul, Minnesota that occurred in 1917. When his father is accidentally killed, South Dakota farmboy Will Stoneman (Mackenzie Astin) decides to enter the dog-sled race in order to save his family from financial ruin. His mother (Penelope Windust) wants Will to use part of the prospective $10,000 race winnings for college, but Will just wants to save the farm. With the help of Indian handyman Ned Dodd (August Schellenberg), Will begins to train for the race. But the rich mogul underwriting the race, J.P. Harper (David Ogden Stiers), doesn't want Will to enter, thinking the competition too arduous and too dangerous for such a young boy. To Will's aid comes yellow journalist Harry Kingsley (Kevin Spacey), who convinces Harper to permit Will to enter the race. But Harry also has his own agenda -- he sees a great story in Will and thinks it will sell newspapers and advance his journalistic career. With his father's best dog Gus at the head of his dog team, Will is ready and determined to win the race. But Will discovers that winning the race is only half his battle. Dealing with the petty and malevolent human beings involved in the race -- in particular, the egotistical Scandinavian champion Borg Guillarson (George Gerdes) and the wealthy gambler Angus McTeague (Brian Cox) -- prove to be as much of a challenge to his mettle than any natural obstacles Will might encounter. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Based on a true story, the made-for-TV Child Lost Forever was advertised as a "docudrama." A unwed teenage mother is forced to give up her baby for adoption. 16 years later, the girl (played as an adult by Beverly D'Angelo), now married and the mother of two, decides to look for the son she lost. She finds that the boy died at age three under mysterious circumstances. The more she investigates, the more she realizes that she's stumbled upon a long-hushed-up case of child abuse. Child Lost Forever debuted November 16, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this comedy, a revival of the popular TV-series from the mid-60s, the wedded bliss of astronaut Tony Nelson and his magical djin and wife Jeannie is endangered when Jeannie desires to become more independent. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi