Cloris Leachman Movies

After devoting his career to such horror films as Scream, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Last House on the Left, director Wes Craven makes a dramatic change of pace with this inspiring drama about a teacher who helps change the lives of her students. Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras (Meryl Streep) teaches at an elementary school in Harlem, where discipline is a higher priority than the lively arts. But Roberta believes that studying music will give the children a sense of purpose invaluable in later life. Despite indifference from the school administration and budget cuts that force her to seek outside funding (and even threaten her job), Roberta struggles to teach the violin to her students, instilling a love of classical music in kids who might otherwise never have heard Bach or Mozart, and leading to a student recital at Carnegie Hall. Angela Bassett, Cloris Leachman, and Aidan Quinn highlight the supporting cast, and virtuoso violinists Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, and Mark O'Connor appear as themselves. The Music of the Heart is based on a true story; the real Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras and her students can be seen in the documentary Small Wonders. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

E.Z. Mony (Charles Malik Whitfield), the nasty, avaricious star player of the Salt Lake Saints basketball team, is idolized by 14-year-old Darnell (Jamil Walker Smith), who not only wants to emulate E.Z.'s athletic skill, but also his antisocial behavior. Special Agent Angel Sam (Paul Winfield) is so determined to prevent Darnell from being led down the wrong path that he assigns four Heavenly troubleshooters--Monica (Roma Downey), Tess (Della Reese), Andrew (John Dye) and Ruth (Cloris Leachman)--to this one case. Ultimately, the root cause of E.Z.'s hostile attitude is revealed...and it's quite a surprise for everyone. Real-life NBA stars Alonzo Mourning and Greg Ostertag appear as themselve in this episode, which also serves to introduce Alexis Cruz in the recurring role of streetwise angel Rafael. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this pivotal episode, Monica (Roma Downey) may lose her angelic powers after missing her evaluation-day appointment with her stern and unforgiving Heavenly supervisor Ruth (Cloris Leachman in her first series appearance). In an effort to cover for Monica, Tess ($Della Reese) and Andrew (John Dye) recall her previous triumphs as an angelic caseworker via film-clip flashbacks to earlier episodes. Meanwhile, Monica has a showdown with her longtime nemesis, fallen angel Kathleen--usually played solely by Jasmine Guy, but here portrayed by no fewer than two TV-sitcom favorites. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is a full-length cartoon movie featuring the dim-witted obnoxious loser teens, Beavis and Butt-head. They are obsessed with sex, TV, heavy-metal rock 'n roll, sex, coolness and sex, in that order. The trouble begins when the couch-potato duo's beloved television disappears (they assume it was stolen). In the course of trying to get another TV, they get involved in a major arms-smuggling scheme and are chased all over the U.S. by mobsters and lawmen alike. In one of the movie's highlights, Butt-head tries to get Chelsea Clinton to go to bed with him. Apparently he believes that since they both wear braces, she will naturally want to have sex with him. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This animated feature from Don Bluth is aimed toward very young children. It follows the exploits of Stanley, the nicest troll in Troll Land. Unfortunately, the other trolls do not like too much niceness, and Stanley is banished from his homeland by the nasty Gnorga. He is sent to live in New York City with the hope that the banishment will cure him of his sweetness. Stanley lands in Central, where he puts his special talent for growing pretty flowers to good use. There he meets two sad youngsters whose parents are too busy working to pay attention to them. Stanley becomes their friend. He teaches them to believe in themselves. Stanley is happy. But then, Gnorga suddenly appears and tries to destroy it all. Will she succeed? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This made-for-cable movie features a social anthropology professor (Timothy Busfield) thrown into the role of detective when he discovers that he has unwittingly videotaped the murder of his next-door neighbor. Although he is able to identify the murderer, the professor is unable to solicit the help of the police, and he and a friend set out to solve the case. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Bud Yorkin's comedy stars Jeff Daniels as a former big-leaguer who yearns for romance, but finds himself overwhelmed with the problems of the women in his life. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

This Christmas-oriented TV-movie centers upon two teenaged orphans, Will (Kirk Cameron) and Violet Jenny Robertson. Both would like a family of their own, so Will abducts neglected or abused children in the dark of night. When they awaken, Will tells them they've died and gone to heaven. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

The Little Troll Prince is saved when he discovers God's love. ~ All Movie Guide

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

In this comedy, two rival families stop their feuding long enough to hatch a plot to keep their children from marrying each other. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this lively comedy, an animal behaviorist is out studying wolves and she finds a young man who has been raised by the wild canines. Intrigued, she takes him back to the city to tame him. Later she learns that Bobo, as she calls him, is the long-missing heir to $30 million. His sudden reappearance causes his low-life brother Reggie to have apoplexy and he does everything he can to keep Bobo from becoming civilized and claiming his rightful fortune. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The made-for-TV Facts of Life Down Under was at once a spin-off of the TV sitcom The Facts of Life and a sequel to the 1982 TV movie The Facts of Life Goes to Paris. In Facts of Life Down Under, Cloris Leachman, who'd earlier replaced Facts of Life's Charlotte Rae as "den mother" to a quartet of girl's-school residents, escorts her charges on a vacation to Australia. As ever, the girls are Blair (Lisa Whelchel), Jo (Nancy McKeon), Tootie (Kim Fields) and Natalie (Mindy Cohn), all of whom were getting a bit long in tooth by this time. For non-fans of the series, a subplot involving a jewel thief is tossed into the billabong. In addition, the girls befriend an aborigine (who seems more erudite than they do), while Leachman renews a romance with an old flame. Lensed on location, Facts of Life Down Under debuted February 15, 1987, at a time when the original Facts of Life series was plodding through its eighth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide