Christine Chatelain Movies

Comic actor Bob Saget served as producer and director of this made-for-TV film, inspired by the true story of Saget's sister Gay, who died in 1994 at the age of 47. Despite the pressures of single motherhood, schoolteacher Hope Altman (Dana Delany) seems to have her life in order until she is diagnosed with scleroderma, a disfiguring skin disease that causes her body's connective tissues to stiffen and atrophy, and will eventually paralyze her while eating away at her vital organs. There is no cure for scleroderma, and the survival rate is tragically low--and worse, neither the medical community nor the general public has a firm grasp on understanding the disease and its many victims (500,000, mostly female, in the United States alone). The film chronicles the manner in which Hope and her family handle the nightmarish situation, often with what Saget described as "irreverence and dark humor" (At one point, Hope's brother Alan--a comedy writer--quips that scleroderma sounds like "a deli entrée"). Sharon Monsky, who at the time ran one of the most prominent organizations for those suffering from scleroderma, appears briefly as herself. For Hope originally aired over the ABC network on November 17, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this teenage horror film, a young man avoids the hand of death, only to find that he can't get away from it so easily. On the way to Paris with his high-school French club, Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) has a vivid premonition of the plane crashing and killing all its passengers. After Alex and some other passengers demand to be let off the flight, his premonition turns out to be true, and the jet explodes during takeoff. While the FBI is convinced that Alex was involved in some kind of foul play, the passengers who got off the flight are all dying in horrible ways, as if whoever determined that the passengers would perish is punishing those who cheated death. Final Destination marked the feature directorial debut of James Wong, a producer and director for the TV series The X Files. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Logan (Michael Weatherly) helps Max (Jessica Alba) find another fugitive of Manticore: Hannah (Eileen Pedde), the woman who saved young Max's life during her escape from the lab. Tracking Hannah down to her home on Sedro Island, the usually nonsentimental Max prepares for a tender reunion -- little suspecting that Hannah is now in league with mad Manticore scientist Lydecker (John Savage). More trouble arises from Max's cat DNA, which forces her to go into heat just as she meets a personable fellow named Eric (Branden Williams). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The writing/directing team of Drew Daywalt and David Schneider are responsible for the straight-to-video heist comedy Stark Raving Mad. Seann William Scott plays Ben McGewen, a guy who needs to pay off some major debts. Mostly he needs to pay the crime lord Gregory (Lou Diamond Phillips), the gangster who killed his brother. Ben gets the idea to throw a big rave in a club next to a bank vault. According to plan, the loud music and party atmosphere will disguise the fact that he and his gang (Timm Sharp, Patrick Breen, John B. Crye, and Suzy Nakamura) are breaking through the wall. Once inside the vault, they will steal a valuable statue and Ben will revenge his brother's death. This being a heist comedy, however, things don't go exactly according to plan. Dave Foley and Kavan Smith play a couple of pesky FBI agents. Alan Arkin plays cranky club owner Don Partridge. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

After living his life with clockwork precision, a man throws any and all caution to the wind in this freewheeling comedy-drama. Frank Allen (Ryan Reynolds) is a successful motivational speaker and author whose book "The Five-Minute Efficiency Trainer" advises readers that strict organization and avoiding impulsive behavior is the key to success. Frank is married to Susan (Emily Mortimer), who has been his sweetheart since college, but while he's happy, she's beginning to have second thoughts -- she chose to be with Frank rather than his best friend Buddy (Stuart Townsend) because of his sweet and gentle nature, but his new habit of carefully budgeting every moment of the day has squeezed most of the fun out of their lives. After a quarrel with Susan leaves Frank in a troubled state of mind, he's enthusiastically propositioned by a sexy woman at a self-help seminar (Sarah Chalke), and has to take a pregnant woman (Jocelyne Loewen) to the hospital when he nearly runs her over on the street. Susan learns about Frank's day and comes to the mistaken conclusion that he's been unfaithful to her with both women. Susan leaves him and Frank decides that his hyper-organized life is to blame for the collapse of his marriage. Suddenly, Frank figures its time to give his id full reign -- he buys a motorcycle, starts fist fights in bars, sleeps with strange women, takes up streaking, and does nearly everything the old Frank would warn him against. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide