Thomas Heaton Movies
Supporting actor, onscreen from the '60s. ~ All Movie Guide- 1987
In this drama, the life of a San Francisco widow changes forever when she has a brief encounter with a younger man. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Robert Conrad grits his teeth and flecks his pecs--this time with motivation--in the fact-based TV movie Anything to Survive. Conrad plays a divorced father who takes his three children (Matthew LeBlanc, Ocean Hellman and Emily Perkins) on a sea journey to the Alaska panhandle. Disaster strikes, and Conrad is forced to brave the Alaskan wastes with his three citified youngsters in tow. 24 days pass: The authorities assume that the family is dead, but they couldn't be more wrong. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Anything to Survive is the fact that Conrad's character is dead wrong at times--and he's willing to admit it. The film was based on Elmo Wortman's book Almost too Late. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Conrad, Matt LeBlanc, (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)
James Stewart and Dean Martin are atypically cast as outlaws in Bandolero! The film begins as Dee Bishop (Martin) and his gang are about to be hanged. The Scripture-spouting executioner turns out to be Dee's brother Mace (Stewart), who helps the desperadoes escape. They are pursued by a sheriff (George Kennedy), whose lady friend (Raquel Welch) has the hots for Dee. The brothers try to go straight, but before they can make up their mind they find themselves surrounded by Mexican bandidos and are forced to team up with the sheriff to fight them off. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Dean Martin, (more)
- 1990
In this drama a woman suffers terribly after she finally admits having an affair with her married doctor. Her husband does not accept the news gracefully and trouble ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1993
This version of Jack London's classic adventure was made for television and stars Rick Schroder as the inexperienced young prospector who heads northward for the Klondike gold-rush of 1897. While in the rugged territory he becomes friends with Buck, a courageous German Shepherd being used as a sled-dog. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In this romantic comedy, two people brought together by marriage are brought even closer by their mates. Maria Hardy (Isabella Rossellini) and Larry Konzinski (Ted Danson) first meet at a wedding, where Maria's mother and Larry's uncle are tying the knot. However, the new cousins also have something else in common: Maria's husband Tom (William L. Petersen) is having an affair with Larry's wife, Tish (Sean Young). Maria and Larry get to talking at the wedding reception after their spouses go missing for a while, and they develop a rapport. A friendship grows between them, and they start seeing each other on a regular basis. When Maria confronts Tom about his infidelity, he responds by asking her if she's sleeping with Larry. As Maria and Larry become aware of what's happening between their not-so-better halves, they decide to get revenge by pretending to have an affair as well. However, the longer they pretend to be in love, the more they realize that they aren't pretending after all. Cousins was based on the popular French film Cousin Cousine. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Danson, Isabella Rossellini, (more)
- 1992
The tragic wreck of the super-tanker Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound, Alaska on March 24, 1989 was one of the most devastating ecological disasters in recent history. Immediately after the ship ran aground and began pumping over 11 million gallons of suffocating oil from its ruptured hold, experts were sent out to assess the damage and clean up the mess. This gripping docudrama tells their story. Much centers on the conflict between local officials, the fishing industry, and the Exxon official sent out to oversee the clean-up and take the rap. With unflinching moral outrage, the filmmakers point out that much of the aftermath could have been minimized had the officials in charge been better prepared and not spent so much time involved in useless red-tape and petty bureaucratic bickering. Most of the film was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, but it also utilizes archival filmclips of the actual disaster and clean up efforts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Canadian sailor and fisherman Sean Phelan (Winston Rekert) has been duped into carrying a cargo of drugs for the Colombian Mafia when all he wants to do is set his business back on course. Unknown to the Colombian smugglers (the Canadian Mounties have been on to them all the time) special-agent Priscilla Lancaster (Britt Ekland) is on board to thwart the smugglers -- and to fall in love with the fisherman while still undercover. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Winston Rekert, Britt Ekland, (more)
A reclusive, unhappy gold magnate finds his isolated tropical paradise threatened by the intrusion of organized criminals in director Nicolas Roeg's convoluted, arty drama. Gene Hackman stars as Jack McCann, a one-time gold prospector who his parlayed the discovery of a rich deposit in the Canadian wilderness into an immense fortune. Instead of satisfaction, McCann's wealth leads to depression and paranoia, and he moves to a remote island and withdraws from the world. The bulk of the film centers on what has become of McCann some thirty years later, as he attempts to deal with a troubled daughter (Theresa Russell) and the attentions of the Mafia, who want to build a new casino on his tropical home. As the pressures increase, his efforts to protect his property and maintain his family become increasingly desperate, culminating in an extended public trial. Even stranger and more stylized than most of Roeg's work, the disjointed Eureka will seem incomprehensible and painfully pretentious to those with little patience for his indirect narratives and purposefully exaggerated approach. Devoted fans, however, will find further proof of the director's impressive visual sense, especially during the film's earlier sequences. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Hackman, Theresa Russell, (more)
- 1999
- R
Despite the efforts of her sleazy attorney, Mr. Butz (David Alan Grier), teen drug dealer/car thief Crystal (Natasha Lyonne) is sentenced to a 25-year prison term, the first segment of which will be served in a youth correctional facility where she will be treated for her rampant bulimia. There, in-between binge/purge marathons with her fellow eating-disordered inmates and relentless harassment of the hapless authorities, she fends off the lesbian advances of her psychotic cellmate, Cyclona (Maria Celedonio), a serial killer who's just received a life sentence. The two escape together and embark on a cross-country road trip in search of Sister Gomez (Vincent Gallo), the beneficent nun who protected Cyclona from the sexual predations of her family during her troubled childhood south of the border. Where writer/director Matthew Bright's original Freeway was a modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, Freeway 2 riffs on Hansel and Gretel; it borrows only the trailer-park trappings of the earlier film, making the titular allusion to automobiles somewhat tenuous. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Natasha Lyonne, Maria Celedonio, (more)
Old-line liberals Matt and Christina Drayton (Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn) have raised their daughter Joey (Katharine Houghton) to think for herself and not blindly conform to the conventional. Still, they aren't prepared for the shock when she returns home from a vacation with a new fiancé: African-American doctor John Prentice (Sidney Poitier). While they come to grips with whatever prejudices they might still harbor, the younger folks must also contend with John's parents (Roy Glenn Sr. and Beah Richards), who are dead-set against the union. To complicate matters, the older couple's disapproving maid (Isabel Sanford) and Christina's bigoted business associate (Virginia Christine) put in their two cents' worth. While Joey is determined to go ahead with the wedding no matter what people think, John refuses to consider marriage until he receives the unqualified approval of all concerned. The closing monologue delivered by Spencer Tracy turned out to be the last scene ever played by the veteran film luminary, who died not long after the production. The film was a success in the racially volatile year of 1967 and was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won for Hepburn and screenwriter William Rose. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, (more)
- 1987
Hands of a Stranger was adapted by playwright Arthur Kopit from the best-selling novel by Robert Daley. Armand Assante plays a New York City narcotics officer who aids DA Blair Brown in her investigation of a rape case in which drugs were involved. In the subsequent days, Assante becomes something of an expert in rape evidence. Thus, when his wife Beverly D'Angelo is sexually assaulted while en route to a rendezvous with her lover, Assante suspects something even though D'Angelo remains mum about the incident. Conducting his own investigation, Assante determines the rapist's identity while wiretapping a phoned-in attempt to blackmail his wife. Will Assante forget everything he's learned about police procedure and attempt to take the law into his own hands? Co-starring in Hands of a Stranger is Arliss Howard as the scummy rapist. Preceded by a warning that the film contained scenes of a violent and graphic nature, Hands of a Stranger was originally broadcast in two parts, on May 10 and 11, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
"The Zone" is a crime-infested ghetto neighborhood so dangerous that the police have long since given up trying to enforce the area. When one of Dawson's fellow Watchers is killed by Canaan (Santino Buda), the brutal gang lord in charge of The Zone, Dawson (Jim Byrnes) becomes convinced that Canaan is an Immortal. Though this proves not to be the case, Duncan (Adrian Paul) takes it upon himself to rid the Zone of Canaan once and for all. Sandra P. Grant co-stars as Duncan's reluctant ally, the street-smart Asia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adrian Paul, Stan Kirsch, (more)
Strange happenings occur when California teenager Sarah (Sarah Chalke) and her mother Rosemary (Markie Post) relocate to the small New England town of Pinecrest. It seems that Sarah shares the same name with a notorious witch who'd been burned at the stake three centuries earlier. Before her death, the "original" Sarah had vowed to get even with all the descendants of the people who persecuted her. A group of snotty high schoolers who've formed The Descendants' Club decide to give the hapless Sarah a very, very hard time -- but the fun is over when, while posing as a fortuneteller at a Halloween party, Sarah discovers that she possesses genuine psychic powers, and foresees a series of disasters that foment a frenzy of mass hysteria in the tiny community. Also tossed into this witches' brew is a mentally challenged serial killer, decked out in a Mike Myers-style mask. Adapted (and heavily laundered) from Lois Duncan's novel Gallows Hill, the made-for-TV I've Been Waiting for You debuted over NBC on March 22, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Chalke, Markie Post, (more)
- 1994
In this made-for-TV action adventure, some criminals terrorize a Seattle-bound bus filled with innocent passengers after a kidnapping goes awry. Michael O'Keefe stars as Jack Boulder, a just-released ex-con who, along with some resourceful characters, helps his fellow bus passengers defend themselves against kidnappers who have been duped out of their ransom money. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael O'Keefe, Linda Purl, (more)
A man who may be on the verge of death quickly takes a thorough look at his life in this drama. Vincent Eastman (Richard Gere) is speeding along a mountain road in Canada when, while swerving to avoid a stalled van, he discovers that he's about to run headfirst into a trailer truck. As he's about to suffer a potentially fatal accident, Vincent finds himself flashing back on the events of his life -- most notably his relationships with his wife Sally (Sharon Stone), his mistress Olivia (Lolita Davidovich), and his daughter Meaghan (Jenny Morrison). While Vincent genuinely cares for Sally, he finds her cold and unemotional, but while the free-spirited Olivia has a passion for life that Sally lacks, Vincent can't bring himself to leave his wife for her. All parties involved feel that Vincent is hurting Meaghan with his inability to commit himself one way or the other, and his friend Neal (Martin Landau), a partner in his architectural firm, warns him that it is wrong for a man to live under two roofs at once. Intersection was an American adaptation of the 1970 French drama Les Choses de la Vie. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, (more)
- 1984
In this children's movie, a young boy, the son of a loutish, irresponsible hockey player and a Canadian Indian woman is adopted by a Jewish storekeeper who wants to raise the boy as a Jew. The poor lad, trapped between three different cultures, gets confused and then rebellious. He soon finds himself constantly defending himself against a family of bullies. During one fight, he beats the tar out of one of the kids. Their family gets even by torching his step-father's store. This angers the boy who grabs a gun and takes a young girl hostage. The leads to a reconciliation between the troubled youth and his real father. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lou Jacobi, William Korbut, (more)
The backdrop for this epic Western, which aired in August 2002 on the Hallmark Channel, will be familiar to fans of the genre and students of Western history. The Johnson County War took place in northern Wyoming in April 1892, growing out of the familiar story of big-money ranchers who suspected homesteader neighbors of rustling. Screenwriters Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana adapted Frederick Manfred's 1957 novel, Riders of Judgment, which used some of the events and people but changed the names, including the county (which becomes Bighorn) and the main town (from Buffalo to Antelope). Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate (1981) also employed elements of the Johnson County War in its story. Manfred's book and this film center on Cain Hammett (Tom Berenger), a lonesome cowboy who hankers for Rory (Michelle Forbes); she has married his younger brother Dale (Adam Storke) in spite of the fact that she really loves Cain. A third Hammett brother, Harry (Luke Perry), unlike his honest, homesteading siblings, is a rustler who runs afoul of Marshal Hunt Lawton (Burt Reynolds), who is in the employ of wealthy Lord Peter (Christopher Cazenove), an Englishman in cahoots with the owners of big ranches to exterminate all of the homesteaders, guilty or innocent. Cain Hammett's real-life counterpart, Nate Champion, was a prime target of mercenaries hired by the big cattlemen, and the siege of Cain's cabin, which was the opening salvo in the war, provides the film with its climax. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Berenger, Luke Perry, (more)
This murder mystery from director Carl Schenkel stars Christopher Lambert (Highlander) as Peter Sanderson, an expert chess champion. When a woman Sanderson has recently slept with is among several women brutally murdered at a chess tournament, he becomes a suspect. But when the murderer contacts Sanderson and informs him that he's set up a maniacal human chess game, he realizes that he'll have to beat the murderer to stop the killings and clear his own name. Diane Lane plays a psychologist who falls for Sanderson, and Tom Skerritt is the local sheriff investigating the case. Knight Moves won the Critics Award at the 1992 Cognac Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Lambert, Diane Lane, (more)
- 1992
- R
Meg Tilly and Christine Lahti star in this female buddy story that recalls the earlier Thelma and Louise. Marianne (Meg Tilly) is a quiet waif who has just walked out on her abusive husband. Darly (Christine Lahti) is a brassy waitress who was a ballsy stripper using the stage name Pillow Talk. Darly is on her way to Alaska to claim a home being built for her and return to the family she abandoned eighteen years earlier. The two women run into each other and Darly allows Marianne to tag along as they journey to Alaska. On the way, they met a collection of colorful characters, including a strange-talking waitress named 66 (Patrika Darbo), and Walt (James Gammon), a road guy who recognizes Darly as the former Pillow Talk and wants to pay her big money for sex. The women finally make it to Alaska, where Darly finds that the house she was expecting to find has never been built. The two set up in a house trailer and, with the Alaskian wilderness as a backdrop, they begin to reevaluate their lives. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christine Lahti, Meg Tilly, (more)
- 1986
This drama is an engrossing exploration of the complexity of noble human traits, like loyalty and love, in conflict with a powerful argument for justice. Dr. David Sutton (Kenneth Welsh) and his wife Lily (Susan Wooldridge) have an argument that, unknown to them, is witnessed by their teenage son. The upshot is that they must move to a remote town in Alberta, Canada where no one knows them. David seems aloof towards his upper-crust wife; at first, it is not clear why, but little by little it becomes apparent he is sexually attracted to pre-pubescent girls. Enter a new housekeeper with a young adolescent daughter, and the tensions in the household become more volatile as they head toward an explosion. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kenneth Welsh, Susan Wooldridge, (more)
- 1992
When his brother is left in a coma after a near-fatal car accident, a young man decides it's time to do something on his own. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rick Schroder, James Farentino, (more)
- 1970
- PG
Monte Walsh (Lee Marvin ) and his pal Chet Rollins (Jack Palance) are two over the hill cowboys seeking work in the town of Harmony, Arizona in the final days of the Old West. They take a job at the ranch of Cal Brennan (Jim Davis) and meet an old friend Shorty (Mitch Ryan). Monte goes off to visit old flame Martine (Jean Moreau), a saloon girl suffering from tuberculosis. The ranch closes and Chet marries Mary Eagle (Allyn Ann McLerie), a widow who owns a profitable hardware store. He tries to talk Monte in to giving up his cowboy life and settling down. He asks Martine to marry him, but she declines and cites her deteriorating health as the reason for her refusal. Monte goes on a drinking binge and rides a wild horse through town. He is indignant when a rodeo owner offers him a job. Monte states he would rather spit on himself that resort to such degrading work. Shorty is soon unemployed and guns down local lawman (LeRoy Johnson). Distraught after the death of his beloved Martine, Monte goes after Shorty when he guns down Chet. This film marks the directorial debut for cameraman William A. Fraker. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Marvin, Jeanne Moreau, (more)
Actress Deborah Raffin had a hand in the screenplay of this Southern melodrama, set in the Depression. Christopher Reeve plays ex-con Will Parker, who is looking for work in a small Georgia town. The pregnant Elly Dinsmore (Deborah Raffin) has placed an ad looking for a husband to tend her farm and look after her children. Will applies for the job, and proceeds to work as a handy man for Elly. He is anxious to appear respectable, since the local sheriff, Reese Goodloe (J.T. Walsh), is breathing down his neck, anxious for him to break parole. But Will gives him no cause for concern and, as he works Elly's farm, the two slowly fall in love and agree to marry. Will gets a job as a custodian in the library and his life appears to be heading back to normal. But one night in the library, Lula Peaks (Helen Shaver), the local waitress, throws herself at him, kissing him passionately. The following morning, Lula's body is found and Goodloe arrests Will for murder. Out of her love for Will, Elly seeks out a lawyer to defend him at his trial. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Reeve, Deborah Raffin, (more)
