Deborah Goodrich Movies
- 1992
A man trying to help out his sister finds himself chin-deep in hot water in this screwball comedy. Yuppie businessman Bill Campbell (Matthew Broderick) is close to sealing a $140 million business deal when he gets a phone call from his little sister Marci (Courtney Peldon), who is convinced that her new stepfather, Peter Van Der Haven (Jeffrey Jones), the mayor of the city of Buzzsaw, California, is up to no good. Though understandably wary, Bill heads to Buzzsaw, where he promptly loses his paperwork on the deal in progress and is confronted by the city's remarkable collection of eccentrics, including the crazed fugitive Sally (Heidi Kling), the subnormal Jim Jr. and Jim Sr. (John C. Reilly and Michael Monks), and Ann (Marian Mercer), the mayor's loopy wife. It turns out that Marci wasn't entirely wrong; year's ago, Peter's diabolical twin brother Matt (also played by Jones) was sent to jail in his brother's place on criminal charges, and now Matt has violent revenge on his mind. Out on a Limb features an original score by noted composer and arranger Van Dyke Parks. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Broderick, Jeffrey Jones, (more)
- 1988
- R
In Remote Control, a video by the same name is a big-time rental at the video parlors. Too bad for its renters, because when they watch the video, they get hypnotized and then go out on violent sprees. The video store's boss catches on to what's going on and tries to discover who's behind the evil ploy. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Dillon, Deborah Goodrich, (more)
- 1988
- PG
One of two "dueling" TV biopics of 1988, Liberace stars Andrew Robinson (who'd once played the giggling killer in Dirty Harry!) as the titular flamboyant entertainer. The film recounts Liberace's rise to fame thanks to TV exposure during the 1950s, but does so with distressing disregard of the facts: at one point, Liberace manages to mispronounce the name of his Wisconsin home town! A thin veneer of authenticity is maintained by the use of Liberace's actual piano-shaped swimming pool and his real jewelry and wardrobe. The AIDS angle is barely touched upon in the final scenes, thanks to the intervention of the entertainer's family and lawyers. Of the two Liberace films, Liberace runs a distant second to Liberace: Behind the Music (telecast the following October week of 1988 by a rival network), though Robinson does rather well in the leading role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
- R
In this actioner, a young soldier, an expert in survival and combat, must work with his original trainer after his lover and her father are abducted. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mike Norris, Deborah Goodrich, (more)
April Fool's Day just happens to be the birthday of rich college student Buffy (Deborah Foreman), so she invites a group of friends from Vassar over to her family's island getaway to spend the weekend partying. Though some practical-joke shenanigans on the ferry over from the mainland lead to unexpected bloodshed and put a damper on the festivities, Buffy unleashes a flood of more benign pranks on her guests, setting a tone of giddy abandon. With plenty of randy guys and gals on hand and no parental supervision, it isn't long before drunken escapades ensue. As the weekend progresses, however, guests begin to disappear mysteriously, and before long Buffy and friends find themselves huddling in terror in their remote getaway. The next ferry isn't due until Monday, and the partygoers aren't sure whether any of them will make it that long. The mostly Canadian cast of April Fool's Day includes Leah King Pinsent, daughter of actor/director Gordon Pinsent, and Amy Steel, a veteran of the second and fourth Friday the 13th installments. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jay Baker, Pat Barlow, (more)
- 1986
Mark Harmon stars as baby-faced serial killer Ted Bundy in this sobering 2-part TV movie. Ostensibly the archetypal All-American boy, Bundy was, from 1974 onward, responsible for the rapes and murders of several young women in the Pacific Northwest. The clues begin to mount when one of Bundy's victims manages to escape; she can only say that her assailant was a fellow named Ted who drives a yellow Volkswagen. Finally arrested after he moves from Seattle to Utah, Bundy is so certain of his superiority over the general run of human beings that he conducts his own defense at his trial; then, when extradited to Colorado, he escapes, triggering a desperate nationwide manhunt. At the time Deliberate Stranger was first telecast on May 5 and 6, 1986, Theodore Bundy was on Death Row, still contesting his sentence and seeking a legal way out. When time came for his execution, Bundy attempted several bizarre last-minute "stays," which would make intriguing subject matter should someone want to make a follow-up film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
The scene is New Mexico, where evil towing-service operater Tyler (Don Stroud) is using the most vicious means imaginable to drive his chief competitor, the Corson Garage, out of business. Tyler, it seems, is in league with drug dealer Zuniga (Carlos Romero), and is using the towed cars to smuggle narcotics out of Mexico. But fear not--the A-Team is on its way to save the day. Among the many schemes cooked up by our heroes is an elaborate eavesdropping ruse in which Murdock (Dwight Schultz) hides under the hood of a car! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this uneven teen comedy, an aspiring female high-school journalist assumes a fake male identity after her essay on just that subject -- a woman posing as a male jock -- is rejected in a contest. Miffed by what she assumes is a bias against her gender in the rejection of her essay, Terry (Joyce Hyser) dons the right garb, gets a new haircut, drops her voice down to a suitable male-sounding register and passes herself off as a guy (okay, not believably, but one is willing to go along with the conceit to see what happens). As she soon discovers, moments in the locker room and at phys ed classes can be harrowing, but worse yet, she becomes seriously enamored of Rick (Clayton Rohner) a quiet, good-looking guy who does not run with either the macho or preppie pack. How can she broach the subject of her real identity? Terry's friends have their own romantic interests, all of which are resolved at the high school prom. It just had to be -- this film was followed by one titled Just One of the Girls with another director, and a male cross-dresser as the featured protagonist. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joyce Hyser, Clayton Rohner, (more)
- 1985
In this drama, set twenty years after the original saga, a woman comes to the tumultuous New England village to investigate the mysterious disappearance of her mother and discovers that the town's most respected citizens have been keeping a series of dark, disturbing secrets. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
