Robin Givens Movies

This crime comedy from director Craig Singer is the filmmaker's third independent feature and his second outing with screenwriter Robert Dean Klein and star Gary Stretch, who had contributed to 2001's Dead Dogs Lie, Singer's sophomore effort. Stretch plays Ronnie, a hitman who, three years prior, vouched for his pal and fellow contract killer, August, played by Michael Rapaport (Zebrahead, Mighty Aphrodite). Unfortunately for Ronnie, over the years, August has gotten himself into some trouble and made a few enemies. Now, over the course of one day, Ronnie has to somehow clean up all of August's messes or both men will be facing the consequences of their unhappy bosses. In addition to Frank Whaley and Seymour Cassel, the supporting cast boasts a bevy of 1980s artifacts including Ralph Macchio, Robin Givens, Deborah Harry, and Ally Sheedy. A Cold Day in August screened at Robert De Niro's 2003 Tribeca Film Festival under the title A Good Night to Die. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

In this detective drama a mismatched pair of lady gumshoes are forced to team up to survive and solve cases in the uncaring city. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Faye Dunaway stars as a successful madam who is faced with difficulties from her "girls" in this made-for-TV movie. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Subtitled "The Definitive Reason Why Men Are Dogs", Book of Love is a mockumentary following the lives of three L.A. bachelors (Eric K. George, Anthony "Treach" Criss, and (Richard T. Jones) as they recover from a series of unhealthy relationships. The team of average Joes are no match for their manipulative girlfriends (Robin Givens, Mari Morrow, and Salli Richardson) , however, and the over eager men are taken for all they're worth. It's this manipulative, self-serving treatment that drives the young bachelors into behaving like "dogs" themselves. Directed by Jeff Byrd, Book of Love was produced by both BET Studios and 5th Gear Entertainment, and eventually released by Strange Fruit Films. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Tracey Gold stars in this made-for-TV suspenser as Elizabeth Sorenson, the wife of corporate executive Larry Sorenson (Tobias Mehler). Alas, Larry hardly has time to start his new job in Seattle before he is kidnapped at gunpoint in broad daylight. Shortly afterward, the kidnappers contact the distraught Elizabeth, informing her that unless their demands are met within 12 hours, Larry is toast. Working in concert with Seattle detective Jimmy Kelsoe (Chris Kramer) and FBI agent Jade Marlo (Robin Givens), Elizabeth does everything in her power to save her husband's life--and in the course of events, it becomes obvious that the abduction was but a smokescreen for a more insidious scheme to manipulate stock prices and take over her husband's multinational corporation. Even more disturbing in a different way is the fact that Elizabeth and Detective Kelso are falling in love with one another. Filmed in Canada, Captive Hearts debuted in the US over the Lifetime cable channel on August 15, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Matthew Miele directs this tale about a mysterious homeless guy. Jake (Ernie Hudson) lives relatively contently in his homeless routine -- he wakes in the morning, plays the bongos for change, and collects dog feces. Everything seems hunky-dory, as it were, until he encounters Cameron, who is attempting suicide. Jake takes the guy under his wing and shows him the ropes of life on streets. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

A French boy goes to Virginia and finds love with an intelligent black girl in this nostalgic French drama set in 1955, and based on the popular 1986 novel by Philippe Labro. The movie was filmed in both Paris and Virginia. The film contains many references to blues and jazz, Faulkner, Chandler and Salinger. The French student Phillippe Le Clerc meets many interesting characters when he becomes a foreign exchange student in a Virginia college. Of all the people he meets, the one he loves the most is April, a highly educated "Negro girl," who must clean faculty houses when she is not in school. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Season one of Head of the Class begins as substitute teacher Charles Moore (Howard Hesseman) takes over the high-achieving Individual Honors Program (IHP) at New York's Monroe High School (soon to be re-christened Millard Fillmore High). Though principal Dr. Samuels (William G. Schilling) expects Charlie merely to keep quiet and allow the students to study on their own so that the school can continue winning the annual Academic Olympics Contest, our hero prefers to take a less passive approach to his work. He realizes that although his students all possess genius-level intellects, they are woefully lacking in personal maturity and basic social skills. Thus, Charlie sets the class on its ear by adopting a "hands-on" approach, flamboyantly instructing his charges in "The Book of Life." Though Samuels is terrified that the kids' grades will suffer, in fact they begin to excel beyond all expectation -- just as Charlie and assistant principal Bernadette Mehra (Jeanetta Arnette) figured they would. Mr. Moore's first crop of students include Maria (Leslie Bega), Darlene (Robin Givens), Allan (Tony O'Dell), Arvid (Dan Frischman), Simone (Khrystyne Haje), Dennis (Dan Schneider), Eric (Brian Robbins), Sarah (Kimberly Russell), Jawarhalal (Jory Husain), and preteen prodigy Janice (Tannis Vallely). Occasionally commiserating with the IHP-ers during this and the next season is "normal" student Lori Applebaum (Marcia Christie). Charlie's new job is jeopardized early in the season when the IHP's regular teacher Vernon Thomas (Roscoe Lee Browne) returns from sick leave; fortunately, Thomas is wiling to defer to Charlie's unorthodox techniques. Later in the season, the academic tables are turned when the students help Charlie re-qualify for his teaching license. And in one far-sighted episode, the kids compete in an academic tournament against a group of brainy Russian students; two years later, Head of the Class would be the first American sitcom to film an episode in the Soviet Union. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Permanent substitute" teacher Charlie Moore (Howard Hesseman) continues to instill the genius-level students of Fillmore High's Individual Honors Program (IHP) with the sort of things one can't find in a book -- such as emotional maturity, personal responsibility and a genuine sense of self-worth -- in season three of Head of the Class. New to the series this year is Rain Pryor, daughter of Richard Pryor, as the street-smart T.J. Jones, a remedial student who is "slow" mainly because of a bad and overly defensive attitude, but who is determined to earn the right to join the IHP kids. This is the season that Head of the Class carved its niche in the annals of television history. The hour-long episode "Mission to Moscow," originally telecast November 2, 1998, was the first American prime time comedy series episode ever to be filmed in the Soviet Union. Other season highlights include "Let's Rap," featuring future King of Queens regular Leah Remini in a one-line bit part; "First Date," wherein tough-guy Eric (Brian Robbins) and budding poetess Simone (Khrystyne Haje) go out together for the first time; "I Am the King," which sets up Charlie Moore's eventual exit from the series when he is hired as a commercial spokesman for an appliance store; and "King of Remedial," in which fat, wisecracking science geek Dennis (Dan Schneider) surprises himself by becoming the role model for a group of special-education students. Finally, season four offers the second of the series' musical episodes with the two-part "Shop Til You Drop," wherein the IHP class stages a production of "Little Shop of Horrors." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

By rights, Head of the Class should have ended its run at the end of its fourth season, with the departure of series star Howard Hesseman. However, ABC decided to film a fifth and final season as a back-up, in case any of their new programs of the 1990-1991 season should be prematurely canceled. As it turned out, the network's new sitcom Baby Talk was not quite ready for prime time in September, thus Head of the Class was hastily inserted into the schedule until the production problems on the other series could be ironed out. In the season opener, it was explained that Hesseman's character, Fillmore High School substitute teacher Charlie Moore, had quit his job to pursue a full-time acting career. Thus, the genius-level students in Moore's Individual Honors Program now had a new teacher, a flamboyant Scotsman named Billy McGregor (played by Hibernian comedian Billy Connolly). Like Moore, Mr. McGregor was dedicated to instilling in his brilliant charges the emotional maturity and social skills that they would need when finally released into the real world. Unlike Moore, McGregor conducted his classes as though he were performing a monologue at the local comedy club. He also tended to become more involved than your average teacher in the students' off-campus lives, notably in the episode "Viki's Torn Genes," in which he helps student Viki Amory (Lara Piper) locate her birth mother -- with surprising results. Occasionally, his unorthodox methods backfired disastrously, notably in the two-part episode in which, after McGregor lectures the kids on the proper way to protect themselves from being mugged, nerdish Arvid (Dan Frischman) is inspired to purchase a gun! Head of the Class was canceled mid-season on January 15, 1991, only to return on May 28 with five new episodes, all of them leading up to the series finale when the IHP class finally graduates -- not so much because it is high time that they did so (which of course it is), but because Fillmore High is about to be demolished. In the last episode, the two-part "It Couldn't Last Forever," the IHP kids try to figure out who among a classroom full of geniuses will be chosen to deliver the valedictory speech. This terminal episode marks the brief return of former regular Tannins Valelly in the role of child prodigy Janice Lazarotto. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted from Jackie Collins' best-selling novel of the same name, this glittery made-for-TV movie stars three veteran small-screen divas as the "newest" generation of Tinseltown spouses. Farrah Fawcett heads the cast as film favorite and top recording artist Lissa Roman, who hires handsome private eye Michael Scorsini (Jack Scalia) to trail her much-younger husband, who is not only a philanderer but psychotic. While all this is going on, Lissa seeks out moral support from her two best friends: Taylor Singer (Melissa Gilbert), the wife of a major movie director, who has enough on her hands with the young writer with whom she is collaborating on a screenplay and cohabitating in the bedroom, and vocalist Kyndra Rossiter (Robin Givens), who, alone among her peers, aspires merely to a happy, well-balanced life -- and a closer relationship with her daughter Saffron (Kandyce McLure). Ultimately, melodrama creeps into the picture when Lissa's daughter Nikki (Pascale Hudson) is kidnapped. Jackie Collins' Hollywood Wives: The New Generation debuted October 19, 2003, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Michael Jace stars in this made-for-TV movie about the life and career of basketball superstar Michael Jordan, following him from his early days as a struggling high school athlete to his multiple championships with the Chicago Bulls, when he became one of the most acclaimed players in the history of the game. Michael Jordan: An American Hero also stars Ernie Hudson and Debbie Allen as Jordan's parents and Robin Givens as his wife Juanita. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide