Carey Lowell Movies

Set in the mid-'80s and early '90s, this made-for-cable drama is the true story of Joan Carey Lowell, a 32-year-old teacher at a Tucson school for the blind. In a stroke of tragic irony, Joan loses her own sight in a short three weeks due to accelerated muscular degeneration. The tragedy is compounded five years later when Joan's husband Joe dies of cancer, leaving her to raise their eight-year-old daughter Joy alone. Armed with an inexhaustible supply of resilience and an extremely well-developed sense of humor, Joan carves out a whole new, successful career for herself as a best-selling author and motivational speaker, aided and abetted by her former high school sweetheart (and, ultimately, second husband) Jim Brock (Dylan Walsh). Filmed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, More Than Meets the Eye: The Joan Brock Story first aired June 16, 2003, on the Lifetime network, marking actress Carey Lowell's return to television after a voluntary six-year absence. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Fans of Law & Order -- and there were many, many more than there had been in previous years -- were somewhat surprised that the series entered its eighth season with no changes in the regular cast. detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) were still upholding the "Law" at the behest of their NYPD boss Lt. Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson), while ADAs McCoy (Sam Waterston) and Ross (Carey Lowell) continued to maintain "Order" on behalf of their superior, DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill). In other carryovers from past seasons, the series staged its second crossover with the NBC crime drama Homicide: Life on the Street with the episode "Baby, It's You;" as before, selected Homicide cast members appeared on Law & Order, and vice versa. Also keeping in the tradition of its past, the series took home its third Emmy award for Outstanding Cinematography. In addition, the series continued tackling issues that were very much in the news. For example, the episode "Castoff" addressed the culpability of TV violence in fomenting real-life violence. Much more so than in previous seasons, the series boasted a number of narrative throughlines that enhanced its sense of reality and continuity. McCoy's questionable tactics in prosecuting a drunk driver in "Under the Influence" came back to haunt him in the season finale. Likewise, in that same episode, Cliff Gorman was introduced as a politically ambitious judge named Gary Feldman, who hoped to win the DA's office from Schiff in the upcoming election. Feldman received unexpected support in the form of powerful (and paranoiac) millionaire Carl Anderton (Robert Vaughn), who would not forget being "betrayed" by Schiff in the episode "Burned." Both Feldman and Anderton would converge upon the DA in the aforementioned series finale, which also boasted a subplot involving ADA Jamie Ross. To accommodate the fact that actress Carey Lowell planned to leave the series, Ross decided to retire to private practice so that she could devote her spare time to her second husband -- and to an ongoing child-custody battle with husband number one. And in more glimpses of the characters' private lives, Jennifer Bill appeared in a brace of episodes as Cathy Briscoe, the troubled, estranged daughter of detective Lennie Briscoe. The brevity of Bill's contribution to Law & Order was due to a devastating plot twist which threatened to push Briscoe over the edge and back into the bottle he'd successfully abandoned years earlier. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Law & Order entered its seventh season on a note of uncertainty: Had Assistant DA Claire Kincaid (Jill Hennessy) been killed by that drunk driver at the end of season six? The answer would remain vague until it was determined by the producers that actress Hennessy had no intention of returning to the series; it was at this point that the unfortunate Kincaid was sadly and reverently referred to in the past tense. Her replacement was ADA Jamie Ross (played by Carey Lowell). The idealistic Ross, who struggled to balance her career with her home life as a single mom, proved to be an excellent opposite number for the jaded, unattached Executive ADA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston). In addition to claiming Kincaid, death took its toll on another of the series' characters. Throughout season seven, the never-seen wife of DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill) lay virtually comatose in a hospital bed, tenaciously hanging on to life. The final episode of the season concluded with a grieving Schiff sitting at bedside as the monitor attached to his wife flat-lined. Nor was the brief sojourn to Hollywood taken by detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) fraught with merriment. They had gone to Tinseltown to investigate the brutal murder of a female studio executive, a plot line which necessitated the series' first (and, to this point, only) three-part story. This expanded time frame afforded ample opportunity to probe the private lives of two of the series' principals: Curtis, devoted to his ailing wife (who had earlier been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis), nonetheless briefly drifted from his marital vows with a sexy Hollywoodite, and new ADA Jamie Ross was bedeviled by her ex-husband, scheming defense attorney Neal Gordon (Keith Szarabajka), both in and out of court. After several years worth of Emmy nominations but no wins, Law & Order closed out season seven with two new statuettes, for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Cinematography. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The 1939 Irene Dunne-Charles Boyer romance Love Affair, remade with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in 1957 as An Affair to Remember, became a vehicle for real-life couple Warren Beatty and Annette Bening in this 1994 rendition. The well-worn story remains the same, as a man and a woman, both engaged to other people, fall madly in love while traveling, indulge in a brief but intense affair, then agree to part and sort out their feelings. They are to meet again at the top of the Empire State Building if their feelings persist, but a series of unfortunate circumstances threatens to keep the lovers apart. Despite polished visuals and a time-tested narrative, this variation suffers in comparison to its two predecessors, not to mention the previous year's Sleepless in Seattle, which had drawn on An Affair to Remember for several of its most memorable sequences. It does features Katherine Hepburn's first film appearance in 13 years. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

A rich American playboy falls for a woman in Paris but before tying the knot, he decides to test her true motives by arranging a scheme whereby he temporarily writes off his millions to a business partner. When the gal proves her love is for real, the playboy finds that the partner is out to swindle him out of the bucks, so the two lovers must outsmart him to regain the dough. ~ Rovi

Loosely based on the novel by Alberto Moravia, Me and Him concerns an architect (Griffin Dunne) whose penis begins giving him advice on business and love. It urges him to leave his wife and seduce a series of co-workers and acquaintances. ~ John Bush, Rovi

In this well-wrought, fast-paced caper flick, a naive, good-hearted waitress doesn't think twice about helping her troubled roommate. Unfortunately, her help lands her in Central America fleeing for her life with a grungy mercenary. They are chased because the two are believed to have possession of a priceless religious icon. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This action drama is set in an affluent, conservative neighborhood seeking protection for its high school students. A company known as "The Sentinels" is hired to guarantee security at the school. However, the men in this company are more Nazi than Himmler, and they are soon bullying and abusing the students they were supposed to protect. After the editor of the school paper gets involved in resolving this bad situation, he enlists the help of the former girlfriend of Sentinels leader. The two eventually begin to figure out what needs to be done. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi