Deborah Grover Movies
A reclusive princess and a directionless young man embark on a quest to save the world's mythical creatures from becoming extinct in this romantic fantasy for the entire family. An eccentric crowned head, Ithaca (Nora Zehetner)'s quirky personality has made her something of a local legend. But curious as she may be, Ithaca is far from selfish; she's just volunteered to auction herself off for charity, where the highest bidder will take her out for one unforgettable date. William (Kip Pardue) is so smitten with Ithaca that he spends his entire life savings only to spend a few short hours with her. Little did William realize that before the night was over he'd be helping Ithaca choose her successor; should Ithaca fail to name her heir, the mythical creatures of the world with surely perish. Now, as Ithaca's searches for someone to inherit her crown, William finds himself falling deeper in love than ever before. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nora Zehetner, Kip Pardue, (more)
Has the search for a better way of life sent a man into a murderous rage? A seemingly respectable husband and father faces this question in this independent drama. Warner (J.R. Bourne) and Claire (Caroline Cave) are a couple in their mid-thirties who've chosen careers that offer greater emotional rewards than financial benefits, and neither seems to regret that -- Claire helps run an art gallery, while Warner is the director of a non-profit organization. Both make enough money to keep their heads above water, and they have two children they love very much. But when Warner and Claire decide to move into a new home, things begin to change -- Claire falls in love with a house that's more than they can practically afford, and they decide to buy it anyway, sending them deep in debt. While Warner is up for a raise at work, he doesn't get it, and as Claire begins to chafe at their newly strained financial status, Warner turns to his family for help, only to discover how disappointed they are with him. One day, Claire is brutally attacked with a hammer, sending her into the hospital with head trauma, and as police detectives begin investigating the crime, Warner discovers he's become the prime suspect. Claire's mother is convinced Werner is guilty, his parents don't know what to think, and Warner realizes its up to him to prove his innocence to those around him -- including Claire. Six Figures was the first feature film from writer and director David Christensen. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Caroline Cave, Deborah Grover, (more)
A reporter unexpectedly gets a personal perspective on a legendary show-business story in this adaptation of Rupert Holmes' novel, scripted and directed by noted Canadian independent filmmaker Atom Egoyan. In the mid-'50s, Lanny Morris (Kevin Bacon) and Vince Collins (Colin Firth) were a wildly popular comedy team who suddenly and unexpectedly broke up at the peak of their popularity. Fifteen years after Morris and Collins called it quits, journalist Karen O'Connor (Alison Lohman), who has earned a reputation for her celebrity exposés, wants to write about the true story of what happened with Morris and Collins -- and to her surprise, her publisher tells her Collins has agreed to co-author the book for a cool million dollars. The only catch is that Collins has to tell the full truth about a very large skeleton in the team's closet -- a beautiful naked woman was found drowned in the bathtub of Morris and Collins' hotel suite shortly before they broke up the act, and while the comics were cleared of any wrongdoing, rumors about the incident followed them for years. As O'Connor and Collins complete their book, they learn to their surprise that Morris has opted to write a book of his own about the team's career; eager to learn what Morris has to say, O'Connor meets him posing as a schoolteacher, and soon falls into an unexpected romantic relationship with him. O'Connor soon finds herself playing two sides against one another as she tried to learn the truth about two men with dark and scandalous pasts. Where the Truth Lies became the subject of unexpected controversy when the MPAA gave the film an NC-17 rating due to a brief scene involving a ménage à trois; the film earned significantly more lenient rating in other countries. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, (more)
- 2002
Apparently suffering from a mid-life crisis that causes moments of bizarre whimsy, billionaire computer executive Sidney Teal (J.C. McKenzie) pulls a gun and attempts to rob a couple outside a restaurant--and is killed in the process. Though beset with financial problems, and facing the possible loss of his trusted nurse Sharona (Bitty Schram), Monk (Tony Shalhoub)agrees to investigate Teal's death, and the reasons behind it. Perhaps the answer can be gleaned from the two people whom the dead man mugged...or perhaps the solution is in the hands of Officer Moretta (Jonathan Rannells) the cop at the crime scene who inexplicably ran away before back-up arrived--and hasn't been seen since. (Note: the scene in which Monk discusses clues pertaining to the earlier death of his wife with writer Kelly Street [Mary Black] was actually filmed for, but removed from, Monk's two-hour pilot episode). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by E. Annie Proulx becomes this drama from director Lasse Hallström. Kevin Spacey stars as Quoyle, a struggling, emotionally drained newspaper reporter suffering through a wretched marriage with the abusive Petal (Cate Blanchett), a promiscuous wild woman who tries to sell their daughter, Bunny, into adoption before she's killed in a car wreck. Retrieving his daughter, Quoyle sets out for Newfoundland, his ancestral home, with his long-lost Aunt Agnis (Judi Dench). Although he initially finds life on the island to be as forbidding and severe as Agnis herself, Quoyle gets work as a shipping columnist for the local newspaper "The Gammy Bird," owned by eccentric fisherman Jack Buggit (Scott Glenn). Quoyle's work soon finds an appreciative audience and he begins to rebuild his life, dating local single mother Wavey (Julianne Moore), learning some sea craft, discovering his family's dark history, and finally earning some self-respect. Agnis, in the meantime, starts her own successful business and faces a traumatic incident from her childhood involving Quoyle's late father. The Shipping News (2001) co-stars Rhys Ifans and Pete Postlethwaite. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, (more)
- 2001
A nice guy discovers just how complicated his life can get in this quirky comedy-drama. John Toma (Chris Owens), an Italian immigrant living in Canada, is the manager of a successful Italian restaurant. John's work puts no small amount of pressure on him, and it hardly helps that he's having an affair with Rochelle (Veronika Hurnik), the wife of the owner, Lino Rossi (Dino Tavarone), who is adamant that John take over the business some day. John hardly gets any respite at home, where he has to look after his rather eccentric family. His elderly mother Talia (Nicola Lipman), whose husband abandoned the family years before, refuses to learn to speak English. His thirty-ish sister Celia (Tara Rosling), who is mentally retarded, has recently become keenly interested in sex and motherhood -- and has developed the bad habit of bringing home babies she's taken from women in the neighborhood. And John's younger brother Marco (Kelly Harms) is stumbling through college, more interested in sports than in his grades. John's problems come to a head when Rochelle announces she wants a baby, and since Lino isn't interested in helping her get pregnant, she wants John to do the honors. The Uncles was the first feature film directed by Jim Allodi, who is better known for his work as a character actor. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chris Owens
Having created an empire on girly shows and skin flicks, Jim Mitchell and Artie Mitchell achieved mainstream success with Behind the Green Door (1972), one of only a handful of hardcore porn movies to do so. Brothers Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen star in the film about the life and troubled times of porn's dynamic duo. Opening with the 1991 fratricidal murder of Artie (Sheen) at the hands of Jim (Estevez, who also directs), the film flashes back to their father lecturing them on the importance of family. In 1967, while studying film at San Francisco State, Jim's professor (Peter Bogdanovich) upbraids him for including numerous leering shots of half-naked women in his student works. Soon Jim along with his brother, fresh out of the Army, starts a smut studio in an old warehouse. Their business takes off, and in no time they are being harassed by the police for obscenity. Along the way, the two hire former Ivory Snow model Marilyn Chambers, get married, and snort half of the cocaine in Bolivia. After the fleeting success of Green Door, their lives spiral into a drug-addled hell. Jim eventually bottoms out, but Artie, wracked by a profound inferiority complex, slides into cocaine dementia and begins to threaten Jim's family. Things eventually boil over, culminating in that bloody night in 1991. This film was screened at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez, (more)
- 1999
Based on a true story, the made-for-TV Half a Dozen Babies stars real-life married couple Melissa Reeves and Scott Reeves as Indiana couple Becki and Scott Dilley. Unsuccessful in their many attempts to have children, the Dilleys willingly undergo a new, experimental infertility treatment. As a result, in the Summer of 1993 the Dilleys become the proud parents of America's first surviving sextuplets: Julian, Claire, Brenna, Quinn, Adrian and Ian. Now Becki and Scott must not only endure the trials and tribulations of first parenthood, but they must do it six times over--and in full view of a voracious media! Reportedly, the actual members of the Dilley family were none too pleased with the liberties taken in the film, but audiences in general were satisfied. Half a Dozen Babies made its ABC network debut on May 17, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1998
Childless couple Keith and Kim Lussier (Andrew McCarthy and Teri Polo) have seemingly had their prayers answered when they are placed in charge of 3-month old foster child Brittany. When the couple decides to adopt the child, it is Kim who seems most enthusiastic about her prospective parenthood, while the noncommittal Keith assumes a "whatever" posture. And then, disaster strikes: Kim is diagnosed with cancer. When it seems as though she'll recover, the adoption agency elects to allow the couple to continue caring for Brittany--and in the process Keith, who has had to take full responsibility during Kim's convalescence and treatment, grows to dearly love Brittany and proves to be an ideal apart. Alas, Kim goes into remission and dies, whereupon the agency falls back on its long-standing policy that no single parent be permitted to adopt. Keith long, agonizing legal battle to win full custody of Brittany serves as the climax to the fact-based TV movie A Father for Brittany (home video title:Change of Heart, which originally aired March 15, 1998, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Andrew McCarthy, Michael Learned, (more)
Afraid to spend the Christmas holiday alone, an aging widower decides to hire himself a spouse to spend the vacation with him in his lovely mountain retreat and finds true romance in this heartwarming made-for-cable television drama that is based on a story by Helen Norris. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
During a boring, routine weekend, young Glen (Stephen Dorff) and his best buddy, Terry (Louis Tripp), decide to explore Glen's backyard. Before long, the boys come across a strange hole in the ground which yields all manner of sinister prizes. Consulting one of his heavy-metal record albums, Glen comes to the correct conclusion that the hole is actually the Gate to Hell. Offering a sacrifice in the form of a dead dog, Glen further opens the portals of Hades, through which pass some of the most hideous demons imaginable. A surprise box-office hit, The Gate yielded a sequel, predictably titled Gate II. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stephen Dorff, Christa Denton, (more)
- 1986
Mania is an "omnibus" film courtesy of Canadian director Paul Lynch. If you haven't heard of Lynch, you might be familiar with some of his films: Prom Night, Bullies, Humongous. This 1986 effort is a TV-style horror anthology (very likely intended for small screen) concerning four separate terror stories, united by a gritty urban setting. The film runs 120 minutes, a bit too attenuated for its subject matter. The cast of Mania is comprised of Canadian actors who are best known in the U.S. for their voice-over contributions to Saturday morning cartoon shows: Deborah Grover, Stephen B. Hunter, Lenora Zenn, Wayne Robson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Agnes of God is an "opened up" adaptation of the minimalist stage play by John Pielmeier. Meg Tilly plays a young nun who secretly gives birth to a baby; the child's body is later found strangled to death. Court-appointed psychiatrist Jane Fonda is sent to the convent to investigate, a task made difficult by the weathervane behavior of mother superior Anne Bancroft. To draw out Tilly, who remembers nothing of the birth, Fonda suggests that hypnosis is called for. Playwright Pielmeier poses many questions--is Tilly a pure-and-simple murderess, or was there something "divine" in her act?--but offers frustratingly few answers. The evocative photography is by longtime Ingmar Bergman associate Sven Nykvist. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft, (more)
Rating Systems
Blockbuster
BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster L.L.C.
2013 Blockbuster L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation. 2013 Rovi Corporation.