Marty Kaplan Movies
Michael Frayn's frantic West End and Broadway farce makes a literal transformation to the screen in Peter Bogdanoch's faithful adaptation, which is transplanted from the London suburbs to Des Moines, Iowa to accommodate the (mostly) American cast. Michael Caine stars as director Lloyd Fellowes, assigned to bring the successful British sex farce "Nothing On" to the boards in America. In an intricate technical rehearsal, Lloyd puts his cast through their paces -- Garry Lejuene (John Ritter), an obliging feature actor; Dotty Otley (Carol Burnett), a fading theatrical star; Frederick Dallas (Christopher Reeve), a handsome leading man who demands to know the motivation behind every scene; Brooke Ashton (Nicollette Sheridan), the sexy leading lady; Belinda Blair (Marilu Henner), the seen-it-all second female lead; and Seldson Mawbray (Denholm Elliot), the inebriated character actor. The technical rehearsal goes off without a hitch, but as the play travels the country in pre-Broadway performances, the eccentricities of the cast come to the fore and the performances in Des Moines and Cleveland are complete disasters. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Carol Burnett, Michael Caine, (more)
A smooth-talking confidence trickster makes his way into congress (where the cynical would suggest he'd have plenty of company) in this comedy. Thomas Jefferson Johnson (Eddie Murphy) is a con man from Florida who gets the bright idea that a scam artist could make a tidy sum if he was able to get inside the political arena. When a Florida congressman named Jeff Johnson dies and a special election is held to replace him, Thomas puts his name on the ballot as "Jeff Johnson," and enough confused voters check the ballot for him that he wins the race and is on his way to Washington D.C. Johnson soon finds a mentor in Dick Dodge (Lane Smith), chairman of the Power and Industry Committee, who shows Johnson the ropes on raking in PAC money while the late Mr. Johnson's aide, Reinhardt (Grant Shaud), gives him the inside scoop on how things work in Washington. Johnson's plans are going just as he hoped until he meets Celia Kirby (Victoria Rowell), a volunteer lobbyist and political activist whose uncle is a noted religious leader, The Rev. Elijah Hawkins (Charles S. Dutton). Johnson quickly becomes smitten with Celia, but it's obvious that she's not buying his act, and if he wants to win her heart, he'll have to stop fooling people into thinking he's honest and actually be honest. Joe Don Baker and Sheryl Lee Ralph also co-star. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eddie Murphy, Lane Smith, (more)
A maverick Pittsburgh policeman loses his job after he shares his suspicion that one of his colleagues is a serial killer. This thriller centers on his hunt to prove his point, a search that becomes more desperate when the killer begins killing the cop's female associates. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Sarah Jessica Parker, (more)
- 1998
Essentially an updating of Apollo 13, this taut made-for-TV thriller follows the courageous collaborative effort between NASA's Mission control, a space shuttle crew, and their families after an in-space accident endangers their latest mission and forces them to somehow make it back to Earth for an emergency landing. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bill Campbell, Paget Brewster, (more)
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