Sam Hennings Movies
- 2005
- Add The Work and the Glory: American Zion to QueueAdd The Work and the Glory: American Zion to top of Queue
The true story of how the Church of Latter Day Saints made its way to the American West in search of a home free from persecution informs this historical drama, based on the novel by Gerald N. Lund. In 1833, Benjamin Steed (Sam Hennings) and his wife, Mary Ann (Brenda Strong), were the leaders of a family of Mormons living in Missouri, but they and their fellow followers of the teachings of Joseph Smith (Jonathan Scarfe) knew little peace, as fierce anti-Mormon factions took violent action against the settlers. When several hundred LDS members were forced from their homes by vigilantes, Smith and his loyal second Brigham Young (Andrew Bowen) set forth to find a new home for their growing flock. Benjamin and Mary Ann join the migration west, but not everyone in their family joins them; their eldest son Joshua (Eric Johnson) has turned his back on the Mormon faith, and has joined forces with the men seeking to put a stop to Smith, Young, and their new church. The Work and the Glory: American Zion was the sequel to the 2004 film The Work and the Glory, also based on a novel by Gerald N. Lund. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Hennings
A pair of naïve young girls learn that even the most insignificant actions can have lasting consequences in this music-driven take on teen culture starring Anne Hathaway and Bijou Phillips and directed by two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple. Influenced by the hip-hop thug lifestyle and seeking to explore life outside of their insulated, culturally homogenized suburb, pretty young teenagers Allison (Hathaway) and Emily (Phillips) set their sights on East L.A. to experience the "gangsta" lifestyle firsthand. By the time the pair meet some true-life Latino gang-bangers and realize just how far out of their element they really are, it may already be too late to turn back. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
When the Steed family relocates to upstate New York from their long-time home in Vermont, religious strife threatens to destroy their close-knit relationship in director Russel Holt's screen adaptation of author Gerald N. Lund's best-selling romance novel. A hardworking family whose struggle to adapt to the ways of Palmyra is complicated when they find that their hired help is embedded in a tense religious controversy. The Steeds' situation grows increasingly dire when both siblings fall for the daughter of a wealthy merchant. The more the family struggles to unbind themselves from the all-consuming religious firestorm, the tighter they are bound to a town that could shake the very foundation of their existence. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alexander Carroll, Eric Johnson, (more)
- 2002
Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) investigates when the production of a "faked" snuff film results in the far-from-fake stabbing death of a young woman. Or did a murder actually occur? Clues are either vague or nonexistent, and Catherine finds herself running down a multitude of blind alleys. Meanwhile, Grissom (William L. Petersen) pieces together the evidence when an abandoned aluminum toolbox yields a human skeleton -- infested with imported fire ants. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Hunter: Return to Justice is the second made-for-TV movie based on the popular cop series Hunter, which originally ran from 1984 to 1991. Fred Dryer returns to the role of LAPD detective Rick Hunter, whom, as we soon discover, may be older but is no mellower. In fact, the film begins with a burst of gunplay that would put Dirty Harry to shame. As the result of a bad drug bust which cost the lives of a few innocent civilians, Hunter is put "on leave" by the department and advised to take a good long rest. He heads down to San Diego, current home of his former police partner, Dee Dee McCall (Stephanie Kramer), now the fiancée of fabulous, wealthy mayoral candidate Roger Prescott (Sam Hennings). If Hunter truly expects any R&R, he is in for a shock: Prescott turns out to be an ex-KGB agent, placing himself and Dee Dee in the cross-hairs of the Russian mafia. Filmed almost entirely on location, Hunter: Return to Justice played to excellent ratings when it first aired November 16, 2002, on NBC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) journeys to Rome to provide rewrites for a film based on one of her novels. As can be expected, all is not going well on the movie set, especially after a stuntman dies in a highly suspicious "accident." Among the principal players in this mystery is guest star Michael Connors, repeating his role of Boyce Brown previously introduced in the eleventh-season episode "Film Flam". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Wesley Snipes is battling bad guys in the air again, this time with parachutes, in this action-packed suspense thriller. Pete Nessip (Snipes) is a Federal Marshall who, teamed with his brother Terry (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), is escorting criminal computer genius Earl Leedy (Michael Jeter) to a new prison facility. Pete, Terry, and Earl are on a jet en route to Earl's new lockup when terrorists attempt a daring hijacking; Terry is killed in an explosion aboard the plane, and suddenly Earl is missing. Pete discovers that a team of sky-diving outlaws, led by former DEA agent gone bad Ty Moncrief (Gary Busey), have snatched Earl from his flight and spirited him away for a special raid on Washington D.C.; Ty and his men intend to take advantage of an obscure rule in which the normally restricted airspace in Washington D.C. is open to parachute enthusiasts on July 4. Eager to avenge his brother's death and put both Ty and Earl behind bars, Pete recruits sky-diving expert Jessie Crossman (Yancy Butler) to teach him how to infiltrate Ty's team of sky-bound criminals. Superb aerial stunt work highlights this film; please note that Pete's last name is an anagram for the leading man's last name. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Gary Busey, (more)
A grieving mother unable to get over the death of her two young daughters finds her marriage and family life threatened due to her inability to let her newly adopted son into her heart in director T.C. Christensen's touching tale of loss and acceptance. Their trek across the American plains was a treacherous one, yet despite losing their two beautiful daughters in a tragic accident, Jed and his mourning wife, Martha, agree to raise young orphan Danny to the best of their abilities. As Martha's heart continues to drown in a perpetually welling tide of wistful memories, she finds herself unable show her new charge the love that she once showed her precious young girls. With Martha's marriage hanging in the balance and her husband and new son desperately trying to break down the stoic wall behind which she has chosen to lock herself away, one snowy Christmas Eve offers the unexpected welcoming of a second chance at life, love, and happiness. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leigh Lombardi, Sam Hennings, (more)
- 1992
- Add Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story to QueueAdd Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story to top of Queue
Donny B. Lord and Victor Love share the title role in Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story. The film traces the true story of young Gathers, played by Lord as a child and Love as an adult. Rising from his inner-city origins to become a basketball star at Loyola Marymount, Gathers' career is suddenly, and tragically, cut short. Co-starring are Nell Carter as Hank's supportive mother and George Kennedy as the inspirational neighborhood priest. Made for television, Final Shot was first seen in syndication during the week of March 29-April 4, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Love, Donny B. Lord, (more)
- 1992
- R
People-eating plants sown from outer galaxies are turning local yokels into human zombies. Watch this, and you're probably already one yourself! It's hard to believe that the creators of this film hadn't just viewed The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. However, this could pass as pretty good comedy. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1991
- PG13
John Travolta stars as a hip music teacher in this old-fashioned pseudo-musical set in 1955, the dawn of the rock n' roll era. Travolta is Jack Cabe, a musician on the run in Texas for murdering a man during a recording session. Attempting to elude the law, Jack takes refuge at the Benedict School for Boys, where he is hired as a music instructor by school director Eugene Benedict (Richard Jordan). At the school, he sets teen rebel Jesse Tucker (James Walters) straight by introducing him to the new music called rock n' roll. But Jack doesn't just stop there, and soon all the youngsters are snapping their fingers to the devil's music instead of keeping time to John Philip Sousa. This steers Jack on a collision course with Eugene, who doesn't appreciate the rhythm and the blues of rock n' roll. As if that weren't enough, Jesse has taken it into his head to seduce Sara (Heather Graham), Eugene's beautiful daughter. Meanwhile, Jack has problems of his own. With the law closing in on him, he is ready to take it on the lam to another state. But the big school concert is coming up and he doesn't want to let his students down. Should he stay to play the gig and risk arrest, or elude the law and take off down the road to freedom? ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, James Walters, (more)
- 1990
- R
A former Vietnam war hero becomes a drill instructor. Members of his squad begin dying from questionable accidents, and one of the soldiers discovers that the brutal DI makes his own rules. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Hewitt, Joe Dallesandro, (more)
- 1990
- R
In this horror film, a vamp masquerades as a fashion model and uses her feminine wiles to suck the souls and life from wimpy men. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isa Anderson, Karen Black, (more)
- 1989
Police dispatcher Carol Lane (Dorothy Lyman) is approached by several shady characters who threaten dire consequences to her son Bobby (Christopher Stone), who is heavily in debt to a gambling ring. In order to save Bobby's life, Carol agrees to delay reports of a burglary in progress--and as a result two men end up dead. Guilt-ridden over her complicity in the crime, Carol insists upon bringing the criminals to justice herself...while Hunter quietly remains a step or two behind, just in case of trouble! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
An international ring of art thieves has connections with a Latin American dictator, and investigator Gideon gets into a heap of trouble when he uncovers this conspiracy. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1988
The Enterprise lands on Angel One, a planet ruled entirely by women. The crew comes across four male survivors of a Federation Freighter crash, now fugitives because of their opposition to the female status quo. Picard's efforts to rescue the men are stymied by a virus which holds the Enterprise in thrall. Perhaps significantly, "Angel One," which originally aired January 30, 1988, was written by a man, Patrick Barry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
After dropping out of the CIA while in Manila, a man descends into drug addiction. After his recovery, an old flame asks him to help his own brother, who has suffered much the same trouble. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1986
- R
- Add Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling to QueueAdd Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling to top of Queue
Popular African-American comedian Jo Jo Dancer is severely burned while free-basing cocaine. Producer/director/writer Richard Pryor insists that the movie is not autobiographical. While hovering between life and death, Dancer flashes back to his childhood, when he grew up in a brothel. Producer/director/writer Richard Pryor insists that the movie is not autobiographical. Dancer decides to become a comic, but has a great many difficulties rising to stardom until he begins making scatological comments about race relations. Producer/director/writer Richard Pryor insists that the movie is not autobiographical. As he rises to fame, Jo Jo has problems controlling his drug addiction and womanizing. Producer/director/writer Richard Pryor insists.....Well, you've caught on by now. If one were able to excise the excruciatingly boring "introspection" scene, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling would stand as an excellent testimonial to Richard Pryor's cutting-edge comic brilliance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Pryor, Debbie Allen, (more)
- 1985
Cheated out of her fortune by a crooked business manager, former fashion model Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd) has but one asset to her name: the Blue Moon Detective Agency, an incredible unprofitable concern run by cocky P.I. David Addison (Bruce Willis). Maddie is all for liquidating the agency as quickly as possible, but David manages to flummox her into keeping it up and running. Though it is hate at first sight for the mismatched couple, Maddie and David almost immediately begin collaborating on a crimesolving career, beginning with the case of a dying client and a broken watch. Originally telecast as a single 97-minute "TV movie", this pilot episode of Moonlighting has since been divided into two hour-long segments for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
First telecast in early 1985, the 2-hour pilot film for the lighthearted TV detective series Moonlighting opens with fashion model Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepard) discovering that her business manager has skipped with her fortune. The only asset she has left is the ramshackle Blue Moon Detective Agency, manned by acerbic David Addison (Bruce Willis). Maddie takes an immediate dislike to David, while he considers her a sexual conquest-to-be. The twosome continues to bicker their way through their first case, pausing for amenities only when it appears that both of them are about to be bumped off. Once safely back in the office, their verbal guerilla warfare resumes, leading the viewer to expect marvelous things from the subsequent Moonlighting TV series. Little of the series' fabled self-consciousness (talking directly to the audience, making references to the quality of the scriptwriting, etc.) surfaces in the Moonlighting pilot, but the film works well despite this "drawback." The series itself ran (or, as it turned out, limped) until May of 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cybill Shepherd, Bruce Willis, (more)
