Patrick McManus Movies
A twenty-five year old office drone heads back to his hometown and reconnects with a carefree childhood friend in director Theodore Bezaire's existential comedy drama. Adam Stevenson (Mike Stasko) works a mundane job in a mundane office. Crushed by the overwhelming mediocrity of his uneventful life, Adam one day decides to simply pack up his belongings and return to his childhood home. Though Adam's baby boomer parents are casually indifferent to their son's return, hometown clown Mac welcomes his old buddy back with open arms and a mischievous grin. While Adam was toiling away in the office, eccentric Mac has been living it up back home and enjoying life to the fullest. It turns out a little spontaneity can go a long way in helping one maintain their happiness, and as Adam and Mac begin making a list of "things to do" that they had been dreaming about for years it all begins to come together for the aimless young slacker. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mike Stasko, Daniel Wilson, (more)
Set largely in England (but filmed in Canada), Four Minutes is the story of Sir Roger Bannister, doctor by profession and runner by preference -- and the first man to run under a four-minute mile. Played by Jamie Maclachlan, Bannister is accurately depicted as a brilliant Oxford medical student, who in the years following WWII gains a reputation as England's fastest runner, but who regards his sports accomplishments as merely an adjunct to his studies, and thus avoids formal athletic training. Only after he fails to win a medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics does Bannister come to realize how important he has become as a morale-booster for a postwar Britain plagued by shortages, rationing, and unemployment. Shouldering this spiritual responsibility, Bannister submits himself to a grueling (but surprisingly scientific) training regimen imposed by disabled ex-athlete Archie Mason (Christopher Plummer). Originally slated for release in 2004 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Roger Bannister's "great run," Four Minutes was not seen until it was picked by the ESPN2 cable service on October 6, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamie Maclachlan, Christopher Plummer, (more)
- 1995
Leslie Nielsen makes a return appearance as "legendary" Canadian mountie Sgt. Buck Frobisher, as do Alex Carter and Mark Melymick as well-meaning but bumbling FBI agents Ford and Deeter. Frobisher is among a group of singing mounties on board a train bound for an American concert. These redcoated songbirds as hijacked by a group of terrorists, led by Randal Bolt (Kenneth Walsh), who intend to kill everyone on board the train whether their demands are met or not. The climax involves a runaway choo-choo and Frobisher's sudden attack of "excess gas." Drama students will appreciate the character names given the members of the phony movie production crew. First broadcast on Canadian television, this episode made its US debut on April 12, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Gross, David Marciano, (more)
