John Wierick Movies

Timothy Bottoms stars in this bittersweet drama about Mack Cameron, a famous Hollywood actor dealing with a midlife crisis and struggling marriage. When an on-location shoot lands him back in his small Texas hometown for the first time in years, Cameron gets answers to life's questions from some unexpected sources. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

Diagnosed with the degenerative disease ALS, Rob Kellerman (Timothy Carhart) will soon be in need of a full-time caregiver. Ostensibly on hand to intall the computers at Rob's business, Monica (Roma Downey) ends up trying to arrange for Rob to be looked after by his brother Pepper (William Moses), to whom he hasn't spoken in twelve years. The necessity of a reconciliation between the two warring brothers becomes even more urgent when Rob's wife Cortney (Deidre Lovejoy) is killed in an accident. Ironically, it was Courtney who first drove the brothers apart...and in roundabout fashion, it is she who brings them back together. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on the autobiographical book by novelist Beverly Lowry, the made-for-TV Crossed Over chronicles the unlikely friendship between Lowry and one of America's most notorious death-row inmates. Consumed by grief after the hit-and-run death of her 18-year-old son Peter (Nick Roth), Beverly Lowry (played by Diane Keaton, who also executive-produced the film) is unable to overcome her depression, despite the tender ministrations of her supportive husband Ethan (Maury Chaykin). But when a psychic informs her that her son's death was caused by a woman, Beverly obsessively begins researching the lives of other women who'd taken lives. The trail of information leads her to the infamous Karla Faye Tucker (Jennifer Jason Leigh), slated to become the first white woman executed for murder in Texas in 135 years. Although the film necessarily telescopes the facts (the actual relationship between Lowry and Tucker spanned nearly a decade), the film successfully details how Beverly's friendship with the doomed Karla enabled both women to expunge the demons within their respective souls. Filmed in Toronto, Crossed Over was originally aired by CBS on March 3, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The meteoric rise and precipitous fall of the rap singer known as MC Hammer is chronicled in this made-for-TV biopic. The film recounts the protagonist's early days as impoverished Oakland youngster Stanley Burrell, who earned the nickname "Hammer" while serving as a batboy for the Athletics because of his close resemblance to baseball superstar Henry Aaron. After a brief career as a gospel singer and lay minister, he gained popularity on the music-video circuit. By the age of 27, MC Hammer was the biggest-selling recording artist in rap history, so famous that he even "appeared" on a weekly Saturday-morning TV cartoon series. Sadly, his good days were numbered, and by 1996 the singer (whose personal wealth had once been estimated at $30 million) was filing for bankruptcy. Through good times and bad, however, Hammer could count upon the love and support of his wife, Stephanie. Although Hammer himself was one of the producers of Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story, the film was unsparing in its depiction of the inner demons that helped to ruin his career. Romany Malco stars as the title character, backed up by the original master recordings of Hammer's biggest hits, while Tangi Miller is seen as Stephanie. Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story first aired on the VH1 cable network on December 19, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi