Peter Lefcourt Movies

His career in an uncontrollable downward spiral, a hapless Hollywood producer cons a major studio into financing a $100 million action film following the adventures of 19th century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, only to find his swindle taking a sudden turn for the worse when his star is kidnapped and the production is shut down. Now left with few other options for resuscitating his flat-lining career, the producer aligns himself with a well-connected Hollywood studio executive in a clandestine attempt to finance another, wholly different film by utilizing the blocked studio funds. William H. Macy and Meg Ryan star in The Wool Cap director Steven Schachter's comic look at the twisted side of Hollywood politics. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Season one of the racy Showtime sitcom Beggars and Choosers begins as Rob Malone (Brian Kerwin), the harried president of the LGT television network, pins all his hopes for high ratings and job security by greenlighting a reality series about a group of violent extroverts called the Mountainmen. Though Rob's strategy proves successful, it later bites him in the backside when LGT faces a lawsuit after a youthful fan imitates the Mountainmen's destructive behavior. If this wasn't migraine-inducing enough for Mr. Malone, he must also contend with the self-serving program ideas cooked up by Lydia Luddin (Carol Kane), the conniving trophy wife of LGT's comatose owner E.L. Luddin (Bill Morey). Then there are Rob's problems on the home front, namely the neverending efforts by his wife Cecile (Isabella Hoffman) to conceive a child, his son Cary's (Kaj-Erik Ericksen) attempts to have "phone sex" with a beautiful TV star, and his teenage daughter's romance with Parker Meridian (Paul Provenza), the egotistical star of the popular NGT sitcom "Parker's Pals." While the "Parker matter" would ultimately be resolved, there are plenty of other intrigues to keep the NGT employees in a state of constant hysteria. Lori Volpone (Charlotte Ross), the network's sharkish vice president of development, is swept off her feet by poetry spouting Russian gangster Nicky Krasnakov (Rudolf Martin), who is pitching a miniseries based on his career. Casting director Malcolm Laffley (Tuc Watkins) wiffles and waffles about declaring himself a homosexual, until an embarrassing sexual harassment suit forces him to "out" himself on a coast-to-coast network hookup. The lead character in the LGT ethnic soap opera "Puerto Vallarta," who suffers from Tourette's Syndrome, runs afoul of the FCC as the result of her uncontrollable outbursts of profanity. And the much-beloved female star of the heartwarming LGT family drama "An Angel in the Family" is revealed to be sleeping with her teenaged co-star. Amidst all this fictional chaos, real-life TV favorite Bea Arthur makes an appearance as herself, showing up at LGT to pitch a TV biopic about Ethel Merman with herself in the lead -- only to end up competing for the role with a transvestite hooker! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ray (David Marciano) falls hopelessly in love with a beautiful woman (Susan Gibney) whom he has seen but once--when she knocked him down with her car. All subsequent evidence indicates that Ray's "dream girl" is a pretty tough cookie, and an illegal arms dealer to boot. But Ray cannot get over her, even when she repeatedly tries to kill him. Can it be that he is loving neither wisely nor well, or is the girl truly the outlaw that she appears to be? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

While on vacation in Paris, a mother (Joanna Cassidy) and daughter (Lara Flynn Boyle) fall for the same doctor (Guy Marchand). Both pursue the man without knowing the truth. ~ John Bush, Rovi

A made-for-TV domestic comedy, Let's Switch stars Barbara Eden as a homemaker and Barbara Feldon as her best friend, a glamorous magazine editor. Both are slightly jealous of each other's life style, so they decide to switch roles for a while. Feldon is consigned to the laundry and kitchen, while Eden makes the worldwide journalistic rounds. "There's no place like home...there's no place like home..." Let's Switch plays like an elongated half-hour sitcom, which in essence it is. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi