Michael Adler Movies
- 2002
A letter confirming the death of Mark Greene is delivered to the ER. While the tragic news sinks in, a grieving Carter (Noah Wyle) confronts Abby (Maura Tierney), and Weaver (Laura Innes) begins to worry about her own health -- and her future life outside of medicine. And having resolved the problems with Chloe and Suzy in New York, Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) prepares to return to Chicago. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Worn out after his first night shift since returning to the ER, Carter (Noah Wyle) is summoned back to assist in Chen's (Ming-Na) delivery. Meanwhile, the people who want to adopt Chen's baby have reason to suspect that she'll renege on the agreement. Later, Abby (Maura Tierney) and Carter share their experiences with substance abuse after he toys with the notion of using a stimulant to stay awake. And in other developments, Greene (Anthony Edwards) is in New York, hoping to find someone that can treat his brain tumor; Kynesha (Toy Connor) continues hiding out from her would-be assassin with the help of Benton (Eriq La Salle) and Finch (Michael Michele); and Weaver (Laura Innes) is startled by a spontaneous act of affection -- from another woman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Partly based on Charlie Chaplin's My Autobiography, this humorous and dramatic biopic features an all-star cast including Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr., Dan Aykroyd, Anthony Hopkins, Kevin Kline, Diane Lane, and Chaplin's real-life daughter, Geraldine Chaplin, who portrays his mentally ill mother. With the use of flashback, an elderly Chaplin discusses his autobiography with his editor (Hopkins), who urges him to be more vulnerable and emotionally honest with his memoirs while journeying through his poverty-stricken childhood, closest friendships, many marriages, merciless pursuit by J. Edgar Hoover (Kevin Dunn), and ingenious invention of "The Little Tramp." Highlighted works such as The Gold Rush (1925) and The Great Dictator (1940) illustrate significant turning points in Chaplin's prolific filmography. Director Richard Attenborough's film also explores the circumstances surrounding Chaplin's exile from America and his eventual return to receive an honorary Academy Award. ~ Lisa Kropiewnicki, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Downey, Jr., Dan Aykroyd, (more)
- 1991
- PG
It probably takes an intimate acquaintance with East Germany's famously awful car, a smoky, noisy two-cylinder lawnmower on wheels, the Trabant 601, to fully appreciate the jokes in this extremely popular, celebrity-filled comedy. In the story, Gunther (German television star Thomas Gotttschalk) is an East German inventor who has journeyed with his homely car to an inventor's convention in Hollywood: he has figured out a way to get his Trabbi to run on turnip juice and zoom like a sports car. When his odd car is stolen, he tries to get it back, but L.A. and it's culture are alien to him and he is very much a fish out of water, despite the friendly advice he receives from Billy Dee Williams as a knowledgeable parking-lot attendant. Look for cameos by Milton Berle and Dom DeLuise, among others. This Trabbi film is a sequel to the enormously popular comedy Go, Trabi, Go. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thomas Gottschalk, Billy Dee Williams, (more)
Based on a best-selling novel from Danielle Steele, this made-for-television melodrama tells the sad story of a highly successful businessman whose idyllic life is destroyed when his new bride dies of cancer, leaving him with her daughter. To make matters worse, his late wife's ex-husband shows up demanding custody of the child. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Action star Steven Seagal crosses Rip Van Winkle with Clint Eastwood in this belabored revenge odyssey. Seagal plays L.A. Detective Mason Storm and, over the opening credits, Storm is seen busily eavesdropping on crooked politician Vernon Trent (William Sadler). Once he has the goods on Trent, Storm phones his partner Kevin O'Malley (Frederick Coffin) to report on his progress. Unfortunately, crooked cops in the same room pick up the extension phone and listen in, thereby dooming Storm. Soon killers show up at Storm's home and blow away Storm's wife Felicia (Bonnie Burroughs) and their young son. Storm himself is also assumed dead, but when he is taken to the hospital, he lapses into a coma. O'Malley spirits him away, and everyone else, for all intents and purposes, thinks Storm has died. Seven years later, under the tutelage of incredibly beautiful nurse Andy Stewart (Kelly LeBrock), Storm rises from his coma and plots his revenge. With the able assistance of Andy, Storm heads off on a killing spree, becoming (as one character describes him), "the most unstoppable sonuvabitch I ever met." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Seagal, Kelly LeBrock, (more)
Divorce lawyer Danny De Vito warns his prospective client that the story he's about to tell isn't a pretty one, but the client listens with eager intensity -- as do the folks out there in the movie in the audience. The War of the Roses can best be described as a slapstick tragedy concerning the decline and literal fall of a marriage. After 17 years, Oliver (Michael Douglas) and Barbara (Kathleen Turner) Rose want a divorce. Not for this couple is there anything resembling a "civilized understanding": Barbara wants their opulent house, and Oliver isn't about to part with the domicile. Barbara nails the basement door shut while Oliver is downstairs, Oliver disrupts Barbara's fancy party by taking aim at the catered dinner, Barbara lays waste to Oliver's sports car....and so it goes, culminating in a disastrous showdown around, about and under the living room's fancy chandelier. DeVito and screenwriter Michael Leeson never let us forget that the couple's self-indulgent imbroglio exacts an awful price upon their children (Sean Astin and Heather Fairfield). The War of the Roses was adapted from the novel by Warren Adler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, (more)
Edward James Olmos portrays the real-life Jaime Escalante, a no-nonsense mathematic teacher in a tough East LA high school. Handed a classroom full of "losers" and "unteachables," Escalante is determined to turn his young charges' lives around. Drawing from his own cultural heritage, Escalante forms a bond with his largely Hispanic student body, evoking the names of famous Spaniards and Latin Americans whose great accomplishments were predicated on their ability to learn. The students gradually come to realize that the only way they'll escape their own poverty-stricken barrio is to improve themselves intellectually. As a result, the class' academic achievements soar dramatically -- too dramatically for the Educational Testing Service, which is convinced that the class' high test scores are the results of cheating. The triumphant exoneration of Escalante's students provides Stand and Deliver with its rousingly upbeat conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward James Olmos, Lou Diamond Phillips, (more)
