Jeff Olson Movies
- 2006
A blue-collar truck driver who has been handed his walking papers finds financial assistance coming from the most unlikely of places in director Loki Mulholland's stinging small town satire. Adam Pendon (Larry Bagby) is a steel mill truck driver who earns a modest living for himself and his family. When the mill closes without notice and Adam is suddenly rendered unemployed, worries about how he will feed his wife and children soon begin to consume his every thought. Help soon arrives however in the form of slick, well-dressed salesman Mark Fuller (Lincoln Hoppe). A ceaselessly confident representative of Believe Industries, Mark quickly draws Adam into a surreal world of multi-level marketing that could hold the key to solving all of his financial woes. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry Bagby III, Lincoln Hoppe, (more)
High spiritual ideals don't quite mesh with the spirit of competition in this sports comedy. In the 1920s, the leaders of the Church of Latter Day Saints began encouraging their congregations to form basketball teams and church leagues as a way to promote fitness, wholesome fun, and teamwork among Mormon youth. However, the downside of this plan was the rise of wildly competitive teams who were a lot more interested in winning at all costs than good sportsmanship. In the 1970s, Bishop Linderman (Fred Willard) has been watching his Mud Lake basketball team get trounced in the Church League championships for nearly two decades, which doesn't sit well with him. Linderman used to be Mud Lake's coach before we was banned from the game for fighting, and with the team facing another losing season, he appoints a new man, Dennis Buckstead (Andrew Wilson), to lead Mud Lake on the court. When LDS elders announce that they're putting an end to church ball and the upcoming season will be the last, the pressure is on Buckstead to bring home a championship for Mud Lake's final season. But with a team comprised of myopic clerk Gene (Clint Howard), rotund Don (Chad Long), timid Thurman (Steve Anderson), half-pint car salesman Charles (Gary Coleman), short-tempered Mickey (Ross Brockley), and Borat (Sina Amedson), an immigrant who knows soccer far better than basketball, Buckstead's prospects are not very good. Not wanting to disappoint Linderman, Buckstead tries to recruit a pair of ringers for the Mud Lake team -- Moses Mahoney (Thurl Bailey), a seven-foot-tall prodigy who teaches sports to underprivileged kids, and Jeremiah Jones (Stan Ellsworth), a fierce player who may be just a bit too competitive. Church Ball was directed by Kurt Hale and released through Halestorm Entertainment, a leading producer of LDS-oriented films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Willard, Andrew Wilson, (more)
Directed by Joe Camp, Benji: Off the Leash! follows the plight of three underdogs: Benji, who is literally a dog; the funny but none-too-bright Sheldon; and Colby, a 14-year-old facing some real problems. The unlikely trio is brought together by the nefarious efforts of an ill-intentioned puppy breeder who wants to use Benji's mother in an irresponsible backyard puppy mill. The film serves as a prequel of sorts to the Benji franchise, and features Chris Kendrick, Nick Whitaker, Duane Stephens, Randall Newsome, and, of course, Benji the Dog. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benji, Nick Whitaker, (more)
- 2001
Jeff McHenry (Zachery Ty Bryan), the arrogant star player of his prep-school hockey team, thinks he's a shoe-in to continue his hockey career at Harvard. But when his dad Jack (Eric Pierpont) declares bankruptcy, Jeff is forced to drop out of St. Crispin's Preparatory and enroll at lowly Eastside High, where Monica (Roma Downey) is temporary hockey coach. At first angrily resistant at the notion of joining the cellar-dwelling Eastside team, Jeff is inspired by the words of his former prep-school English teacher Andrew (John Dye), who has been using Shakespeare's "Henry V" as an object lesson in power through humility. Ultimately and ironically, Jeff finds himself leading the Eastside hockey team against St. Crispin's in hopes of landing an athletic scholarship--but he still has a few important life lessons ahead of him! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1999
It takes quite a while to determine who the real villain is in the made-for-TV melodrama A Crime of Passion--but once the truth is revealed, it's a terror-inducing ride to a horrifying conclusion. Kindly Dr. Ben Pierce (Powers Boothe) incurs the wrath of his grown daughters Alyssa (Tracey Gold) and Natalie (essie Gold) when he comes home with his new young trophy wife--an ex-stripped named Marci Elias (Kelly Rowan). Since Marci's love for Ben seems sincere, the hostility is all on the side of his daughters, especially Alyssa, who is already on the outs with her dad because of her poor grades in medical school. A series of unfortunate misunderstandings and bad choices causes a serious rift between Ben and Marci--and before long, Ben is found murdered. Normally, Marci would be the primary suspect, but the evidence compels the police to accuse Alyssa of the crime. That is to say, the evidence as it has been carefully and meticulously pre-arranged... A rather gaudy example of the "Smiler With the Knife" school of filmmaking, A Crime of Passion was originally telecast by CBS on December 15, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tracey Gold, Powers Boothe, (more)
- 1997
Reminiscent of the "best" of David Lynch, the two-part TV movie Night Sins uses a mysterious abduction as catalyst for a progressively bizarre and disturbing expose of small-town corruption, hypocrisy and perversion. When the 8-year-old son of a doctor is kidnapped from his home in the rural Washington town of Deer Lake, government agent Megan O'Malley (Valerie Bertinelli) arrives to investigate. It soon becomes apparent that this most recent abduction is tied in to a string of kidnappings and murders that have occurred in the region over the past twenty years. As Megan pursues her investigation with the help of friendly local cop Mitch Holt (Harry Hamlin)--to whom she grows extremely close--innumerable local skeletons are dredged out of innumerable local closets. In fact, it seems that everyone concerned with the story is harboring a dark, unsavory secret--including Megan. If nothing else, this offbeat melodrama may well be the only TV movie to feature an evil chess club! Originally telecast on CBS, Night Sins was first seen on February 23 and 25, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Long before she became a two-time Oscar winner, Hilary Swank paid her dues in such hard-hitting TV movies as Terror in the Family. The actress is cast as Deena Martin, a profoundly troubled 15-year-old with a history of wild and abusive behavior. An argument over a boy Deena has been seeing without permission erupts into all-out violence as the girl assaults her parents and threatens them with a knife. Removed to the custody of her Aunt Judith (Kathleen Wilhoite), Deena struggles to get her life under control, but the film's script makes it abundantly clear that the problem isn't hers alone. Both her mother, Cynthia (Joanna Kerns), and her brother, Adam (Adam Hendershott), are alcoholics, and her distant, self-absorbed father, Todd (Dan Lauria), would have been just as happy if neither of his children had never been born. Filmed in Utah, Terror in the Family made its Fox network debut on April 16, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joanna Kerns, Dan Lauria, (more)
- 1996
Without permission, Monica (Roma Downey) impulsively uses her angelic powers to help Scott Walden (Robert Hays), a "solid citizen" whose sordid past comes to light when he is charged with murder, escape from police custody. Even worse, Monica lies about her complicity in Walden's escape. Enter Special Angel Agent Sam (Paul Winfield), who grimly informs Monica that her future as a Heavenly case worker is in dire jeopardy. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Scott is not guilty as charged--but he is still far from "innocent", and must undergo a harrowing out-of-body experience to face the consequences of his actions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
