Deirdre Lovejoy Movies
A booze-swilling, pot-smoking, hard-swearing seventh-grade teacher rallies to get out of the classroom for good by wrangling a rich substitute teacher into marriage in this comedy from director Jake Kasdan (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story). Cynical teacher Elizabeth (Cameron Diaz) hates her job. She can't wait for the day she finds a man who makes enough cash to let her walk away from her life of middle-school misery, and when her fiancé cancels their wedding plans, her frantic search intensifies. Just when it starts to look like Elizabeth will have to muscle her way through another semester of skull-crushing hangovers, however, handsome substitute Scott Delacorte (Justin Timberlake) shows up at school sporting a fancy wristwatch and the promise of a care-free future. But in order to earn her meal ticket, Elizabeth will have to out-cute perky fellow teacher Amy (Lucy Punch). And it won't be easy, because Scott is crushing on Amy hard. Now, if Elizabeth can just motivate her students to study so that she can win a state contest to earn enough cash for some new breast implants, perhaps she can finally find a means of diverting Scott's gaze. Meanwhile, much to Elizabeth's chagrin, wisecracking, self-effacing gym teacher Russell (Jason Segel) refuses to admit defeat despite being turned down for a date by his gold-digging colleague time and again. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, (more)
When a teenage boy (Penn Badgley) begins to suspect that his new stepfather (Dylan Walsh) is a notorious serial killer who preys on broken families, he races to gather the evidence that will back up his radical claim before it's too late. The 1987 thriller that shot Lost star Terry O'Quinn to cult stardom serves as inspiration for this remake penned by J.S. Cardone and directed by Nelson McCormick. Sela Ward, Jon Tenney, and Amber Heard co-star in a Screen Gems release. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dylan Walsh, Sela Ward, (more)
An aspiring ballerina from a wealthy family learns some lessons about both dancing and life from a roughneck with soul in this teen drama. Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum) grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in a rough section of Baltimore, and has been in and out of trouble with the law most of his life. Finding himself before the judge yet again, Tyler is sentenced to 200 hours of community service, and he ends up mopping floors at the Maryland School of the Arts. Tyler catches the eye of Nora (Jenna Dewan), a gifted ballet student who is trying to incorporate hip-hop moves into her classical routines. None of Nora's fellow students seem to be on the same page as her, but Tyler is a talented street dancer with strength, moves, and enthusiasm. Despite the misgivings of the school's administrators, Nora persuades Tyler to team up with her for a major class project. Tyler gains a new self-respect as he gives in to the discipline of the dance academy, but he wonders if this new opportunity means turning his back on who he really is. Matters become all the more complicated when Tyler and Nora realize they're falling in love. Step Up was the first directorial credit for choreographer Anne Fletcher, who designed dance routines for the films Bring It On, She's All That, and Boogie Nights. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan, (more)
David Simon's masterful social commentary went back to school, quite literally, in the fourth season, which focuses on Baltimore's crumbling education system. A relevant link to its first three seasons is supplied by Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski (Jim True-Frost), who left the police department to become a teacher at Edward Tilghman Middle School, a hardscrabble institution on life support that services a low-income, drug-infested neighborhood. (Incidentally, Prez's career path is similar to one of the series' producers, Ed Burns). His eighth-grade math class includes a close-knit quartet of friends -- Randy Wagstaff (Maestro Harrell), Michael Lee (Tristan Wilds), Duquan "Dukie" Weems (Jermaine Crawford) and Namond Brice (Julito McCullum). The wisecracking Brice is ignominiously selected to be part of a university experiment studying at-risk kids, which counts a former police commander, Bunny Colvin (Robert Wisdom), as a consultant. Out on the corners, Marlo Stanfield (Jamie Hector) strengthens his grip on the city's West Side narcotics trade once dominated by the Barksdale gang, and with his cold-blooded lieutenants, Chris (Gbenga Akinnagbe) and Snoop (Felicia Pearson), devises an ingenious method to hide the collateral damage of his ascent from the law. This sleight-of-hand bedevils detectives Freamon (Clarke Peters), Greggs (Sonja Sohn) and Bunk (Wendell Pierce). The trio are flummoxed by the lack of victims that would surely coincide with Marlo's ever-widening domain, a savage power grab that also threatens the relative peace of the New Day Co-Op under East Side pooh-bah Proposition Joe (Robert F. Chew). Meanwhile, the Democratic primary in the city's mayoral campaign pits the entrenched African-American incumbent, Clarence Royce (Glynn Turman), against Councilman Tommy Carcetti (Aidan Gillen), a scrappy politico with a savvy campaign manager in Norman Wilson (Reg E. Cathey), but a long shot to become Charm City's first white chief executive in years. ~ Joe Friedrich, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dominic West, Clarke Peters, (more)
- 2004
Season Three of The Wire opens with the demolition of Baltimore's notorious Franklin Terrace towers, the home base of Avon Barksdale's (Wood Harris) crew, currently under the supervision of Stringer Bell (Idris Elba). Rather than worry about expanding his control, through violence and intimidation, of the corners of West Baltimore, Stringer explains to his lieutenants that he plans to make money by offering the other gangs in on their New York drug supply, and sharing the corners with them. Lieutenant Daniels (Lance Reddick) and his unit are doing surveillance on Cheese (Method Man), one of Proposition Joe's dealers, and begin to realize that the phones that the street dealers use never reach the higher-ups in the organization. They have a wire up on one talkative dealer, who happens to be Prop Joe's nephew, and they decide to bust someone higher on the food chain in hopes that Prop Joe will promote the talker. "What makes you think they'll promote the wrong man?" asks Commissioner Burrell (Frankie Faison), to which Daniels responds, "We do it all the time." Daniels also finds out that Mayor Royce (Glynn Turman) is holding up his promotion because his wife, Marla (Maria Broom) is planning to run for the city council against one of the mayor's cronies. An ambitious councilman, Tommy Carcetti (Aidan Gillen) notices an uptick in violent crimes in the city, and decides to go after the mayor, inviting the media to watch him criticize Burrell at a hearing. This leads Burrell and Rawls to pressure their majors, including Bunny Colvin (Robert Wisdom) who is approaching his thirty year pension, to bring the murder rate down. Cutty (Chad L. Coleman), a former drug soldier, gets out of prison after fourteen years, and gets a handout from Avon, who plans to get out soon himself. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- 2003
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
Setting the tone for all seasons to come, season one of HBO's The Wire divides its attention equally between cops and dealers, offering a fascinatingly objective overview of the Baltimore drug scene. The weekly, hour-long series also pays homage to its spiritual predecessor, Homicide: Life on the Street (both series were created by Tom Fontana), by basing its debut episode (originally telecast June 2, 2002) on the same book (by David Simon) that inspired the earlier program. After drug dealer D'Angelo Barksdale (Larry Gilliard Jr.) beats a murder rap, Detective James McNulty (Dominic West) vows never to let D'Angelo out of his sight, hoping that the criminal will lead him to an even bigger fish -- namely, D'Angelo's uncle, drug kingpin Avon Barksdale (Wood Harris). McNulty's task is complicated by a variety of things, including the corruption and dissension within the police department -- which in turn hampers the effectiveness of the man leading the investigation of the Barksdale empire, Lt. Cedric Daniels (Lance Reddick). Meanwhile, Avon Barksdale and his second-in-command, Stringer Bell (Idris Elba), are likewise bedeviled with their own personal and professional problems as they gear up to do battle against their underworld rivals. Throughout the series' first 13 episodes, police officers and criminals alike are seen to possess their own curious codes of honor and rules of conduct, allowing viewers to empathize with both the hunter and the hunted (without, of course, ever completely siding with the "bad guys"). And though the season finale is titled "Sentencing," it is clear that the story is far from over. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Dominic West, Larry Gilliard, Jr., (more)
This made-for-TV miniseries recounts the muddled criminal investigation of the JonBenet Ramsey murder -- one of the most luridly publicized crimes in recent memory. As the crime unfolds, the Boulder police squad grow increasingly swamped by the elusive details of the crime and the unprecedented media attention. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kris Kristofferson, Marg Helgenberger, (more)
- 1997
Amazingly, Season Eight of Law & Order begins with the cast from Season Seven intact, with no additions or deletions. The case at hand: the murder of a pizza delivery man, which the detectives believe was deliberate and not a random shooting. As it turns out, the dead man was the victim of a thrill killing committed by a pair of teenagers (Rob McElhenney, Michael Marrona). Complications: Each teen blames the other for the murder, an eyewitness saw only one of the boys pulling the trigger, and the key clue is the recording of a Confessional -- which cannot be admitted as evidence. In the course of events, detective Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) receives some bad news. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1994
A midtown auto accident leaves two people dead. The subsequent investigation reveals that one of the "victims," a woman, was placed in the driver's seat after the accident -- and that she was raped before she died. Ultimately, city councilman Spencer Talbot (Anthony Heald) is charged with the crime. He manages to beat the rap, but tireless Assistant D.A. Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) has another ace -- and another charge -- up his sleeve. This episode represents a reunion between former I'll Fly Away co-stars Sam Waterston and Regina Taylor. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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