Bob Clendenin Movies

In the tradition of The Office and Reno 911!, the half-hour cable sitcom 10 Items or Less was largely ad-libbed and improvised by its unknown but talented cast. John Lehr doubled as co-creator and series star, playing Leslie Pool, son of the founder of Green & Grains, a medium-sized grocery store somewhere in Ohio. A lifelong failure and foul-up, Leslie was determined to succeed in his efforts to keep his late dad's store afloat after inheriting the place, despite the formidable competition of the neighboring "big box" operation Super Value Mart -- which was managed by Amy Anderson (Jennifer Elise Cox), who happened to be the girl who'd broken Leslie's heart back in high school. Not surprisingly, Leslie's staff was comprised of eccentrics and social misfits, all of whom wished that they were somewhere else or someone else. Carl (Bob Clendenin) was the goofy stock boy who'd appointed himself Leslie's second in command; Yolanda (Roberta Valderrama) worked in the produce department, and at the beginning of the series was also poised to "produce" Carl's baby within a few months; Buck (Greg Davis Jr.) was the grocery bagger, with both eyes on bigger things in life and both feet firmly entrenched in minimum-wage employment; Ingrid (Kirsten Gronfield), the customer-service person, had a lot of trouble dealing with the realities of life, preferring the camaraderie of her fellow Renaissance Faire aficionados; Richard (Christopher Liam Moore), the erudite cashier, aspired to be an ice dancer; and Todd (Chris Payne Gilbert), the hunky butcher, dreamed of racing on the stock-car circuit. 10 Items or Less was added to the TBS superstation lineup on November 27, 2006, for a five-episode trial run. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lea Thompson is both star and director of this made-for-cable movie, another entry in the Hallmark Channel's series about a suburban housewife who leads a double life as a government agent. Not long after he is fired from the staff of a billionaire cereal-company mogul, former Central Security Agency operative Jim Monroe (Dorian Harewood) is found floating in a lake, the apparent victim of an accidental drowning. Suspecting foul play, CSA head Frank Darnell (Joe Penny) prevails upon his former colleague Cathy Davis (Lea Thompson) to investigate. Assuming her CSA identity as "Jane Doe", Cathy quickly deduces that Monroe was killed 48 hours before his alleged drowning. There's only one problem with this theory: Monroe was seen on a nationally telecast interview at the exact time of his death! In her efforts to crack the case, Cathy must once again delicately balance her high-risk espionage activities with her "normal" marriage to the long-suffering Jack Davis (William R. Moses). Jane Doe: The Harder They Fall was first seen on March 4, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Frequent television director Brad Silberling directs the romantic drama Moonlight Mile. Set in a Massachusetts town in the early '70s, Joe Nast (Jake Gyllenhaal) is distraught after the death of his fiancée. He moves in with her parents, Ben (Dustin Hoffman) and JoJo (Susan Sarandon), while trying to sort out all of the legal troubles and painful details of the wedding cancellations. While trying to locate the wedding invitations in the mail, Joe meets Bertie (Ellen Pompeo), whose boyfriend has been MIA in Vietnam. Despite his growing relationship with his late fiancée's parents, Joe begins to foster a romance with Bertie. Also starring Dabney Coleman and Holly Hunter. Moonlight Mile is based on Brad Silberling's real-life situation following the murder of his TV-star girlfriend Rebecca Schaeffer. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Back from searching for a missing Rambaldi artifact at Oxford University, Sydney (Jennifer Garner) is forced to take a polygraph test by Sloane (Ron Rifkin), who is determined to expose the mole working for SD-6. A later counterespionage assignment takes Sydney and her reluctant partner, Dixon (Carl Lumbly), to Mexico, this time to locate an ancient timekeeping device that may prove to be another piece in the Rambaldi puzzle. And although Will (Bradley Cooper) now knows the truth about "retired" SD-6 agent Eloise Kurtz (the last person to see his friend David alive), he can't make his findings public -- at least not just yet. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Director Michael Stevens debuts with this two-fisted ultra-violent crime drama about redemption and revenge. Adapted from British author Tim Willocks' 1991 novel, the movie weaves together four stories resulting from a botched bank robbery. Callilou (Judith Hoag), the wounded girlfriend of the robbery's mastermind Luther (Jim Metzler), seeks refuge with kind-hearted doctor Eugene Grimes (Michael Massee), who lives among the impoverished in New Orleans' worst neighborhood. Hot on Callilou's trail is rakish but corrupt Vice Squad Captain Clarence Jefferson (Michael McGrady), who is looking to horn in on the robbers. He eventually catches up with Eugene, and, after a great deal of physical and emotional abuse, Eugene reveals both his odd connection with the criminal ringleader and his hideout. Soon after Jefferson and his gang converge on Luther's lair, a bloody gunfight ensues. Bad City Blues was screened at the L.A./AFI Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi