James Grant Movies

In one of the most startling examples of "playing against type" in TV history, beloved sitcom icon Mary Tyler Moore stars as Sante Chamber Kimes, a woman who was accurately described during her trial for murder as "...a sociopath of unremitting violence, the most remorseless degenerate ever to appear in this courtroom..." Based on a true story, this CBS TV movie details the events leading up to the killing of wealthy, lonely socialite Irene Silverman (Jean Stapleton), a murder orchestrated by the evil-incarnate Sante and carried out by her loving son Kenny (Gabriel Olds). The film is unsparing in its depiction of the coldblooded, sexually promiscuous Sante, who throughout her life managed to wheedle and manipulate other people to do her bidding, no matter how odious and repellant that bidding was. Without giving away the film's ending, it is a matter of record that, as of this writing, Sante and Kenny Kimes are serving prison terms with a combined total of 246 years. Like Mother, Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes was originally broadcast on May 20, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A young man unthinkingly throws himself into a world of political and sexual turmoil in John Schlesinger's adaptation of the novel by Ian McEwan. Leonard Markham (Campbell Scott) is a British communications and surveillance expert who is sent to Germany in the early 1950s, at the height of the Cold War. Leonard is put under the command of Bob Glass (Anthony Hopkins), an American agent who goes out of his way to show him around town. Leonard is woefully naive about most subjects not directly involving his job, and when Bob takes him to a typically decadent Berlin nightclub, he is astonished to discover that Maria (Isabella Rossellini), a beautiful and mysterious woman, announces that she's quite attracted to him. Soon Leonard is no longer a 24-year-old virgin, but (as one might expect) Maria's interest in him is not entirely a matter of physical attraction. Bob's secret project is a hidden tunnel beneath Berlin that allows his forces to tap into Russian telephone transmissions, which is Leonard's responsibility. But the Americans are also obtaining coded information that they aren't passing along to the British; while Leonard helps Bob, he's also finding out what Bob knows and passing it along to the British. However, Maria is also looking for certain information, and she sees the innocent and gullible Leonard as an easy way to get it. The Innocent was originally completed in 1993, but it was not shown in the United States until 1996, when it was given a brief theatrical release before appearing on home video. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This unadorned biography of playwright Joe Orton (Gary Oldman) charts his bawdy, dangerous relationships. Alfred Molina plays Orton's brutish lover, Kenneth Halliwell, a pathetic figure who becomes horrific and then tragic before the film is over. The hilarity of scenes from such Orton plays as Loot and What the Butler Saw is evenly balanced by the bleakness of the playwright's tormented (and tormenting) off-stage existence, which ended suddenly at age 34 with half a dozen blows to the head from a hammer. Prick Up Your Ears is based on the book by theater critic John Lahr, who is played in the film by Wallace Shawn. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi