Andrew Johnston
- 2005
A beautiful young woman finds her storybook marriage may not have such a happy ending in this thriller starring Sarah Lancaster and Mark Humphrey. When Allison met wealthy software billionaire Phillip it seemed as if all the elements were in place for the perfect union. Before long, the couple was married and well on their way to a loving and committed future together. When Allison reluctantly begins to suspect that Phillip may have played a pivotal role in the death of his first wife, however, the cracks in their foundation begin to show as she begins to follow an ominous trail of clues left behind by Phillips' ill-fated former spouse. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2004
Falling victim to a glib con artist named Michael (Stewart Bick), Texas housewife Diane (Peta Wilson) loses all her money, a disaster that drives her husband Randal (Anthony Lemke) to suicide. Unable to get justice through the official channels, Diane mounts her own plan of revenge. This involves assuming a new identity, trading in her blonde tresses for a redheaded "do", moving to a small town, and systematically seducing the man who ruined her life. One of six "no frills" TV movies produced in Canada for the Lifetime cable network at a flat cost of $2 million each, False Pretenses originally aired October 25, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Australian filmmaker Paul Goldman directs the comedy The Night We Called It a Day, based on the actual events during Frank Sinatra's 1974 tour stop in Sydney. Joel Edgerton plays Rod Blue, a long-haired rock promoter in Australia during the '70s. He hopes to save his floundering career by spending all his money booking Frank Sinatra (Dennis Hopper). But when Sinatra arrives with his girlfriend Barbara Marx (Melanie Griffith), he insults the locals by calling reporter Hilary Hunter (Portia de Rossi) "a two-dollar whore." Union leader and future Australian prime minister Bob Hawke (David Field) tries to cancel the tour unless he apologizes, and it's up to Rod and his assistant Audrey (Rose Byrne) to step in and save the tour. Tom Burlinson performs Sinatra's vocal parts. The Night We Called It a Day was shown at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Hopper, Melanie Griffith, (more)
- 2001
The Kents' former hired hand Earl Jenkins (Tony Todd) comes back to Smallville with an uncontrollable case of "the jitters." Exposed to the kryptonite held in storage at LutherCorp, Earl has not only developed a devastating nervous disorder, but has also killed a man in Metropolis. Things get worse when Earl overpowers a group of police officers at a local hospital -- seriously injuring young Clark Kent (Tom Welling) in the process. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
When popular hockey player Matt Clerk dies before his time, he is promptly reincarnated as an Olympic-level figure skater. Only one problem: In his new incarnation, "he" has become a "she" -- Sarah Bryan by name. Retaining his macho-masculine sensibilities despite his curvaceous female frame, the hero (heroine?) has a lot of maturing to do before he's able to go for the gold. Aaron Smolinski plays the protagonist before the metamorphosis, while Nicholle Tom is seen as the "reborn" Sarah. Also in the cast are real-life skating stars Tara Lipinski and Nancy Kerrigan (and please note how no cracks are being made about broken limbs). Made for cable, Ice Angel was first telecast by the Family Channel on March 5, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicholle Tom, Tara Lipinski, (more)
Adam Sandler's second popular starring vehicle after Billy Madison is a goofy lowbrow paean to golf, hockey, and the comic hysterics of its childlike star. In Happy Gilmore, Sandler plays the title character, a raw, determined, but ultimately untalented hockey player who keeps trying out for the pros. When Happy discovers his grandmother (Frances Bay) will lose her home if she doesn't fork over 270,000 dollars to the IRS, he tries to figure out how he can possibly scrounge up the cash. An idea strikes during a game of one-upmanship with a couple furniture movers stripping his grandmother's home: On his first-ever swing, he drives a golf ball farther than the movers have ever seen. Before long, he has transplanted the foul-mouthed, aggressive persona of the hockey rink to the links, winning an amateur tourney that earns him a spot on the pro tour. Throttling everyone from a helpless caddy to game show host Bob Barker during the course of his 90-day quest to amass prize money, Happy also wins the sport a legion of new fans with his in-your-face style. Guiding him on his quest is a whimsical retired pro who lost his hand to an alligator (Carl Weathers) and an attractive public relations woman charmed by Happy's antics (Julie Bowen). Opposing him, however, is sneering hotshot Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald), who will do anything to win his championship jacket and see Happy fail. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald, (more)
- 1994
In this unofficial remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice, an ex-con gets a job at a run-down roadside diner owned by a blind former prison guard. He commences an affair with the owner's wife, and they both plan to kill him and find a hidden treasure. Their plan starts to unravel, however, and a deputy sheriff and another ex-con start to cause problems for the couple. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- C. Thomas Howell, Joan Severance, (more)
- 1994
Helmed by Anthony Harvey, director of the early-70s cult classic They Might Be Giants, this made-for-television romantic drama stars Anthony Quinn and Katherine Hepburn. The pair of aging movie stars appropriately play a pair of aging movie stars named Michael Reyman and Marion Bennett. For decades the two held intense animosity toward one another, but in their golden years they begin to realize that perhaps they've simply been trying to mask their feelings of love. Jason Bateman and Jami Gertz head up the supporting cast. The film was originally broadcast on CBS, March 13, 1994. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katharine Hepburn, Anthony Quinn, (more)
- 1992
- R
Meg Tilly and Christine Lahti star in this female buddy story that recalls the earlier Thelma and Louise. Marianne (Meg Tilly) is a quiet waif who has just walked out on her abusive husband. Darly (Christine Lahti) is a brassy waitress who was a ballsy stripper using the stage name Pillow Talk. Darly is on her way to Alaska to claim a home being built for her and return to the family she abandoned eighteen years earlier. The two women run into each other and Darly allows Marianne to tag along as they journey to Alaska. On the way, they met a collection of colorful characters, including a strange-talking waitress named 66 (Patrika Darbo), and Walt (James Gammon), a road guy who recognizes Darly as the former Pillow Talk and wants to pay her big money for sex. The women finally make it to Alaska, where Darly finds that the house she was expecting to find has never been built. The two set up in a house trailer and, with the Alaskian wilderness as a backdrop, they begin to reevaluate their lives. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christine Lahti, Meg Tilly, (more)
- 1990
Falling Over Backwards was filmed in Quebec through the good graces of the National Film Board of Canada. Saul Rubinek plays a high school teacher, currently in the doldrums over his divorce. Ignoring advice of Thomas Wolfe, Rubinek decides to "go home again" to forget his troubles. With his aged, infirm father in tow, the teacher rents a room in his old neighborhood. Romance blossoms between Rubinek and his landlady Julie St-Pierre. This low-key, rambling, intensely personal effort is virtually as textbook example of a "Canadian Indie". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Saul Rubinek, Paul Soles, (more)
Set in contemporary Australia, this hallucinatory drama is predicated on time displacement. University student Jackie Grenville (Tracey Tainsh), motoring through the rural region, suddenly finds herself in 1944. She witnesses a horrible murder, then is zapped back to the present. Retracing her steps, Jackie and her boyfriend Barry Norden (David Reyne) try to solve the mystery. They unearth an unexpected fortune--and a highly expected (to the audience, at any rate) crazed killer. Adding to the film's catalog of horror cliches is the local constabulary, who refuse to believe Jackie's story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tracey Tanish, David Reyne, (more)
In this exciting action thriller, an artistic widow fights to stay alive after her husband, a Marine who had discovered that the military was well aware that it was placing defective parts in its helicopters, is mysteriously murdered. Believing that the widow, a metal sculptress, has the damning evidence, the killers take off after her and her little son. None of them realizes that she too was a Marine and is more than capable of defending herself. The film is also known as Fatal Chase. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amy Madigan, Daniel Hugh Kelly, (more)
- 1986
Robert Conrad stars in One Police Plaza as a New York homicide detective. A case on which he's working, involving the murder of a beautiful woman, is ordered closed by Conrad's superiors. Refusing to give up, the detective probes deeper, and unearths a hotbed of crooked cops, dirty "brass" and illegal weapons. Made for television, One Police Plaza was initially telecast on November 29, 1986, easily outrating a Jack Paar "comeback" special. The film was based on the bestselling novel by William J. Caunitz. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
