Tess Harper Movies
Born in Arkansas and schooled in Missouri, actress Tess Harper worked hard to shed her Southern accent. Nevertheless, some of her best movies have been set in the American South. Her film breakthrough came in 1983 opposite Robert Duvall in Bruce Beresford's Tender Mercies. As compassionate Rosa Lee, she earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. After a few TV movies, miniseries, and feature films, she earned an Oscar nomination for her role of cousin Chick in the comedy drama Crimes of the Heart. Also directed by Beresford, the film was based on the play by Beth Henley and starred Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange, and Sissy Spacek. In the late '80s, other comedy roles followed in Beresford's Her Alibi and Elaine May's Ishtar. Harper began the next decade with a return to her Southern-style roots. In 1990, she starred in the Southern Gothic black comedy Daddy's Dyin'...Who's Got the Will? as a greedy daughter fighting for her family fortune. In the drama My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys, she was a sister of a rodeo rider. The actress appeared opposite Sam Waterston in Robert Mulligan's coming-of-age drama The Man in the Moon, also starring fellow Southerner Reese Witherspoon and set in small-town Louisiana. In 1992, Harper played an alcoholic mom in the drama Home Fires Burning, set in Pocohantas, VA. She switched to television for most of the '90s, including based-on-a-true-story dramas like Willing to Kill: The Texas Cheerleader Story. The TV movie Christy led to a regular role on the CBS dramatic series of the same name, starring Kellie Martin as a schoolteacher in rural Tennessee. In 2000, Harper narrated the CBS TV movie Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder, as the older Laura Ingalls Wilder herself. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Tim Kirkman wrote and directed Loggerheads, a film that follows three different storylines that all transpire over the course of a Mother's Day weekend, but take place at different times. One of the stories features a man who arrives in a coastal North Carolina town in order to preserve turtles that are endangered. He becomes involved with a local businessman and must decide where he feels in his heart that he belongs. A second story concerns a woman who begins to feel her small-town changing in ways that frighten her. She must face these changing social realities while constantly listening to the speeches of her minister husband. The third storyline involves a woman who intends to spend the weekend celebrating the holiday with her own mother while also attempting to make contact with the child she gave up for adoption years before. Loggerheads was a selection at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bonnie Hunt, Kip Pardue, (more)
A car wreck causes the lives of 15 strangers to unexpectedly collide in this independent comedy drama. It's Father's Day, and Ted (William Forsythe) is out on the road with his 19-year-old son Josh (Dan Byrd). When Josh slams on the brakes to avoid hitting a dog along a two-lane highway in the country, his car is rear-ended by Lorraine (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a cellist en route to a gig. Josh's car hits a telephone pole which soon blocks the road, and a traffic jam results. Among the folks waiting for the road to clear are Lilac (Gina Torres) and her lesbian girlfriend Rose (Mariah O'Brien), who is about to have a baby and needs medical help. Jerry (David DeLuise) and Curt (Christopher Amitrano) are a pair of half-bright rednecks who have stolen an ATM machine and are trying to figure out how to liberate the cash from it when they're enlisted to help Rose have her child. Divorcé Dale (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is spending the day with his kids Robert (Skyler Gisondo) and Brianna (Marissa Blanchard), but he isn't sure how to break the news he'll soon be moving away and won't see them very often. Gary (Jonathan Silverman) and Judy (Julie Claire) are a bickering yuppie couple at odds over the fact they haven't been able to have a baby. Amy (Amanda Detmer) is on her way to her wedding, and her friends Stephanie (Amanda Foreman) and Jen (Elizabeth Bogush) are there to lend support, but Amy is having second thoughts and Stephanie knows something that would have a very serious effect on the nuptials. And Mick (Alex Rocco) is a middle-aged man traveling with his wife Ruby (Tess Harper) who ends up acting as an advisor on affairs of the heart to several other stranded motorists. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Love brings a shiftless young man in touch with the Lord, which proves more than a bit confusing to his family in this independent comedy drama. Joey Vitello (Vincent Pagano) is a guy in his mid-twenties who still lives with his extended Italian-American family and his trying to get his life in order. One day, Joey unexpectedly crosses paths with Mary O'Callahan (Marley Shelton), a girl who was one of his classmates in grade school. While Mary was homely as a child, she grew into a beautiful woman, and as Joey gets caught up on what she's been doing, he learns Mary survived a bout with cancer and credits her survival to a miracle from God. As Joey becomes deeply infatuated with Mary, he finds himself embracing her spiritual beliefs, but as he tries to share his enthusiasm with his family, they seem more than a bit suspicious, and in time decide that maybe they should be able to have a miracle of their own. Jesus, Mary and Joey also stars Olympia Dukakis, Jennifer Esposito, Tess Harper, and Stacy Keach. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Weary and dispirited following the death of his wife Lorraine (Meredith Baxter) and after suffering a mild stroke, Buddy Bishop (Ronny Cox) anxiously reaches out to his estranged daughters Sarah (Tracy Needham) and Beth (Natasha Gregson Wagner), asking that they join him for a Christmas reunion. Despite a multitude of their own problems, Sarah and Beth agree--but they're not too happy about spending the holidays in the old, boarded-up house that Buddy had shared with his late wife. Circumstances change dramatically when the Bishops awaken one morning to find a beaming Lorraine waiting for them in the kitchen as if nothing had ever happened to her! The "resurrection" of Lorraine leads to a moving and inspirational conclusion in the made-for-cable Angel in the Family, which first aired December 18, 2004 on the Hallmark channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A woman learns a valuable lesson about her family as she and her aunt look back at her troubled past in this independent drama. As Virginia Wilder (Frances Fisher) visits her elderly Aunt Millie (Alice Drummond) for the Christmas holidays, she discovers a number of letters she received during the 1940s, and gains a new and clearer picture of Millie's life when she was younger. Teenaged Emily (Laurel Holloman) falls in love with a soldier who soon ships out to fight in World War II, but not before she discovers herself pregnant. When the soldier refuses to marry her, Emily is left to have the baby on her own, and soon she discovers herself an outcast in the small Southern town where she was born. While Emily's father (Gary Cole) turns his back on her, her mother (Tess Harper) remains supportive, and Emily soon becomes close friends with two other people who haven't been welcomed by the community, a strong-willed black woman named Wilma Watson (Elise Neal) and Will Bacon (Mark Webber), a well-meaning young man with a bad habit of bending the truth. As Emily's new friends stand by her, Emily in turn stands up for them as Wilma and other members of the town's African-American community begin standing up for their rights as citizens. The first feature film from writer and director Tom Rice, The Rising Place also features Jennifer Holliday and Frances Sternhagen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurel Holloman, Elise Neal, (more)
- 2001
An arrogant high-school football star, known to be an abrasive class clown and a bully, is found murdered in a school bathroom. The CSI team picks through evidence indicating that the boy was murdered in retaliation by one of his put-upon victims. And in another case, Sara (Jorja Fox) and Nick (George Eads) piece together the clues when the decomposed body of an ex-serviceman is found unceremoniously stuffed in a huge bag. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2001
Ami Canaan Mann, the daughter of acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann, follows in her father's footsteps with this, her first feature as a director. Johnny (J.R. Richards) and Trick (Kieran Mulroney) grew up together in a small North Carolina community, but now that they're edging into their thirties and living in New York, their lives have taken different paths; Johnny is still trying to make his mark as a rock musician, while Trick is a low-level advertising man stuck in a failing marriage with Lily (Annabeth Gish). Johnny and Trick have a bitter argument, and Johnny responds by stealing Trick's car; Trick and Lily give chase, with their pal King (Steven Schub), who runs a neighborhood delicatessen, in tow. Eventually, Trick catches up with Johnny, only to discover that he died in an auto accident which he appears to have caused on purpose. When Trick breaks the bad news to Johnny's parents (Tess Harper and Pat Hingle), they express concern that Johnny's strange life and stranger death would make him unfit for a Christian funeral; as a last gift to his friend, Trick sets out to make that possible, though the project soon proves to be a great deal more complicated than he ever imagined. Along the way, Lily begins to develop a new respect for Trick, while King finds romance with Shelly (Laurel Holloman), who works at a supermarket. Morning features an original score co-written by actor J.R. Richards and noted songwriter and instrumentalist Lisa Germano. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kieran Mulroney, Annabeth Gish, (more)
- 2000
Four of the autobiographical novels of Laura Ingalls Wilder served as the basic source material for this made-for-TV movie. Covering some of the same ground as the Wilder-inspired TV series Little House on the Prairie, the film stars Meredith Monroe as 19th-century teenager Laura Ingalls, who at the beginning of the story is still living on her South Dakota family farm with her father (Richard Thomas), mother (Lindsay Crouse), and three siblings. Acknowledging her dad's insistence that she has "the wandering strain," Laura yearns for life beyond the prairie, but is obliged to accept a nearby schoolteaching position to help support her loved ones. After her marriage to homesteader Almanzo Wilder (Walt Goggins), Laura endures the usual trials and tribulations of life as a farmer's wife, further complicated by the loss of her first child and a raging diphtheria epidemic. Yet, somehow, Laura and Almanzo survive their many ordeals with renewed hope for the future. Tess Harper, cast as the "older" Laura, narrates the story. Originally broadcast by CBS on January 2, 2000, Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder was followed by a TV-movie sequel over two years later, on the same network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meredith Monroe, Tess Harper, (more)
- 2000
The popular daytime TV show "Breakfast with the Baxters" has been cancelled, and hosts Betsey and Bud Baxter (Tess Harper, George Dzundza) are out of work. As they sit in their home ruminating over their bad luck, Betsey and Bud are visited by their two biggest fans--who bear a remarkable resemblance to angels Monica (Roma Downey) and Andrew (John Dye). As the evening progresses, the Baxters reveal that they've put up all sorts of emotional roadblocks to shut out their past--and all because they've never forgiven themselves for aborting their baby 15 years earlier. Only when all defenses are down do Monica and Andrew reveal their true identities...and their true purpose of their visit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
This fact-based TV movie stars John Ritter as Ed Chandler, whose life is torn asunder when his daughter Missy (Anna Chlumsky) is diagnosed with cancer. The nature of Missy's illness obliges Ed to spend many hours away from his job as a car salesman to commiserate with her daughter's doctors at the hospital. Then one day, Ed shows up at work to be coldly informed that he has been fired--and there is no one to whom he can go to plead his case. The plight of the Chandler family ultimately leads to the creation of the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows persons up to six weeks' leave from their jobs when their family members are suffering from serious illnesses. Telecast by CBS on January 21, 1997, Child's Wish (cable title: Fighting for Justice made headlines when it first aired because of the appearance of President Bill Clinton in the final scene--the first time that a sitting President ever starred as "himself" in a dramatic film (as well as the first such scene to be lensed on location in the Oval Office!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Small screen veterans Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster), Ari Meyers (Kate & Allie, Evening Shade) and Tess Harper (Tender Mercies) co-star in the melodrama The Secret (AKA The Killing Secret), which took its initial bow on Mon., Jan. 6, 1997 as an NBC prime-time telemovie, but is now available in this home video release. While fictional, the story nonetheless bears eerie parallels to such real-life incidents as the Scott Peterson homicide. It tells of Greg (Mark Krassenbaum), a well-to-do high school senior and football star who divides his time and attention between two girlfriends: ritzy cheerleader Nicole (Meyers) and poor-as-dirt Emily (Frye). All is well until Emily drops the bombshell that she's expecting - and Greg does away with mom and the baby. Although Greg protests his innocence, his vice tightens when Nicole and Emily's mother become friends, and the authorities discover Emily's body in a lake. Noel Nosseck directs, from a teleplay by Rob Fresco. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Krassenbaum, Ari Meyers, (more)
- 1996
Based on a true story, the made-for-TV A Stranger to Love stars Beau Bridges as Allan Grant, a reasonably happy Omaha man with a wife (Tess Harper) and two sons. Attacked by muggers and left for dead, Allan awakens with no memory of his past life--or even his name. Wandering from town to town, he ends up living on the streets of Tucson, Arizona, where he is helped by Andie (Pam Dawber), a single mother who works at a local restaurant. Andie arranges for Allan to get a kitchen job, where he exhibit a remarkable talent for whipping up tasty and exotic dishes. Ultimately, he becomes the highly sought-after chef of the Class-A motel owned by Andie, with whom he has fallen in love. Allan's "second life" then slowly but surely begins to unravel when his memory starts to return. Intelligently and realistically handled,the story comes to a sobering climax, wherein the protagonist realizes that, no matter which way he turns, someone he loves will be hurt beyond measure. A Stranger to Love was first broadcast by CBS on March 24, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Middle-age crises abound in this ribald New Jersey-set sex-comedy. Professional dry cleaner Joey Green is not aging gracefully. With little interest in making love to his wife Beth, a rapidly growing bald spot, and a failing business, he is convinced that he has hit "male menopause." To lift his flagging spirits, Joey's therapist steers him towards a prostitute. The encounter is a flop and in fact leads to Joey's discovery of Beth's affair with her chiropractor Lowell. Worsening matters is her obvious pregnancy. Poor Joey (who is white) will have to wait several months to learn whether the baby is his or the African American Lowell's. Out of spite, Beth insists that Lowell move in with them. This creates considerable chaos amongst Joey's family, chaos that only gets worse when Lowell's estranged wife shows up to win him back. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
In this heartwarming drama, a dying widow "abducts" a trio of women suffering from Alzheimer's disease and embarks upon a journey to the title Texas town in order to fulfill her lifelong fantasy of seeing the ocean. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cicely Tyson, Tess Harper, (more)
- 1994
Based on a well-publicized 1991 Dallas murder case, the made-for-TV Death in Small Doses begins with the death of architect Nancy Lyon (Glynnis O'Connor), who has succumbed to arsenic poisoning. The prime suspect is Nancy's frequently estranged husband Richard (Richard Lyon), who stands to collect an enormous insurance policy. Nancy's family pressures the local authorities to prosecute Richard--and never mind that virtually every person in that family also seems to have had substantial reason to wish Nancy dead. But Richard plays a trump card when he supplies evidence indicating that his wife actually committed suicide--a move that proves to be a thrown gauntlet to relentless Assistant DA Jerri Sims (Tess Harper). Filmed in 1993, Death in Small Doses did not air on ABC until January 16, 1995. The film was directed by actress Sondra Locke, best known at the time for her long association with Clint Eastwood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Thomas, Tess Harper, (more)
- 1992
This 1970s true story features a fanatically religious woman and her son-in-law who hold her children prisoner while waiting for her late husband's resurrection in Utah. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1992
Do not confuse this fact-based feature with the more tongue-in-cheek cable TV version, The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader Murdering Mom. This one looks seriously at the story of a Texas mother who was willing to kill to ensure her daughter's place on the cheerleading squad. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1992
With his All-American good looks, Cliff (Michael Dolan) has had easy access to the sorts of groups that appealed to him as he traveled around the U.S., mostly Klan and neo-Nazi organizations. He is bitter about his childhood, during which his parents bickered constantly. Now, at 22, he has come back to Pocohantas, Virginia to try and make some peace with his past, if he can, and is disturbed to find that his parents are just finalizing their divorce. His mother (Tess Harper) is taking it particularly badly, having sunk into an alcoholic stupor, and his father (Raymond J. Barry) is getting it on with a new girlfriend (Karen Allen). While steeling himself for a confrontation with his parents, the scary-attractive lad spends some time catching up on things with his old girlfriend (Gillian Anderson). Then, just when one might have expected some long-awaited violence to take place, this slow-paced and almost universally unpopular film unveils a surprise ending. Based on a stage play by Chris Ceraso, the film's highlight seems to be Gillian Anderson's brief appearance. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karen Allen, Raymond J. Barry, (more)
- 1989
The made-for-cable Incident at Dark River stars Mike Farrell as a working-stiff family man. When his daughter falls ill, Farrell discovers to his horror that the girl is suffering from toxic poisoning. A local battery factory has been polluting the area with its deadly waste, but when Farrell tries to take legal action, he finds that the law favors the factory. Albert Rubin's slowly paced script leans towards "bad guy vs. good guy" rather than shades of gray, but it successfully hits all the right emotional buttons. The presence of well-known environmentalist Mike Farrell in this sincere, medium-budget effort is a prime example of putting one's money where one's mouth is. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
This biopic follows physically challenged Richmond Flowers Jr. as he overcomes his difficulties and the conflicts caused by his father's activism in the civil rights movement, and becomes a famous college athlete. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
When a couple tries to adopt a child, they run into red tape because the foster child asserts that her natural father molested her. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1987
Comedian Foster Brooks curtails his "lovable lush" routine to play Simon Thane, a celebrated artist living in Cabot Cove. For the last several years, Thane has jealously guarded his favorite painting, which he has never allowed to be seen publicly. Jessica (Angela Lansbury) becomes involved in the story when Thane is murdered and his prized painting stolen, leading our heroine to conclude that the mysterious work of art may contain a clue as to the killer's identity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
"Daddy" is Dermot Mulroney--a high-school-age kid who has no clue of what he's in for. Mulroney has gotten his girlfriend Patricia Arquette pregnant, less out of callousness than naivete. Arquette drops out of school, thinking she can drop back in anytime, while Mulroney puts his music lessons on hold for the "duration," also treating the situation as temporary. The film is remarkable in conveying the principles' utter lack of preparedness for their upcoming parental responsibilities. Some critics felt that the film should have been required viewing for teens who think themselves wise beyond their years simply because they've discovered sex. Made for TV, Daddy was first telecast April 5, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
In this family drama, the life of a woman and her son are severely disrupted when her estranged husband, who abandoned them thirty years before, returns. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Claire Bloom, (more)
