Charlotte Arnold Movies
- 2001
Based on fact, the made-for-TV drama Jewel begins in 1945, a time when children afflicted with Down Syndrome were casually and cruelly dismissed as "Mongoloid Idiots." Already a mother with four healthy, normal children, 40-year-old Mississippi woman Jewel Hilburn (Farrah Fawcett) gives birth to daughter Brenda Kay, a Down's baby who will forever be challenged both mentally and physically. Urged by the local authorities to surrender Brenda Kay to an institution, Jewel defies the "experts" and packs herself and her family off to Los Angeles, where she hopes that her daughter will have a better chance at a normal life. But in her zeal to shower affection and attention on her "different little girl", Jewel sorely strains her relationships with her husband Leston (Patrick Bergin) and her other four kids. Cicely Tyson makes what the CBS publicity flacks labeled a "special appearance" in the role of a loving caregiver named Cathedral. Based on the novel by Bret Lott, Jewel originally aired February 7, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Following up on her 1998 opus Bedrooms and Hallways, Rose Troche directs this ensemble film about suburbia and its discontents. Once an up-and-coming singer/songwriter, Paul Gold (Joshua Jackson) now lies in a coma, attentively nursed by his mother Esther (Glenn Close), who dotes on her son to the exclusion of her husband and her daughter Julie (Jessica Campbell). Meanwhile, Jim Train (Dermot Mulroney) is a workaholic lawyer who is closer to his tortes than to his spouse Susan (Moira Kelly). Their son Jake has taken a morbid fascination with his sister's foot-high girl doll. At the same time, Paul's former lover Annette Jennings (Patricia Clarkson) is trying to pull her life and her family back together after a particularly brutal divorce. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Close, Dermot Mulroney, (more)
- 2000
Superachiever Claire Raphael (Lorraine Bracco) expertly divides what little time she has between her job, her family, and her invalid mother. As a result, Claire's stay-at-home husband Dennis (Martin Donovan) suffers from a profound inferiority complex. As a means of reclaiming his "manhood," Dennis sues for divorce -- and for the custody of the couple's children. By rights, Claire could challenge her husband; instead, she cuts her losses, starting life (and love) anew in a reconditioned lighthouse. Adapted from Barbara Delinsky's novel A Woman's Place, the made-for-cable Custody of the Heart was first telecast by the Lifetime network on August 28, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorraine Bracco, Martin Donovan, (more)
