Patti LuPone Movies

Broadway's Lost Treasures II contains 90 minutes of memorable moments and performances from the various Tony-award telecasts throughout the years. Included on this edition are performances from such famous productions as Man of La Mancha, Chicago, Guys and Dolls, and Anything Goes. Such notables as Gregory Hines, Patti LuPone, Michael Jeter, Nathan Lane, and Jerry Orbach take part in the proceedings. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Ill-tempered Alice DuPree (Patti LuPone) is dead set on prosecuting 11-year-old Corey (Robert Paul Santiago) to the full limit of the law after the boy steals her locket. Even though police officer Monica (Roma Downey) has informed her that Corey has a terminal heart condition, Alice refuses to drop the charges. Nor is she receptive to Monica's admonitions about "trusting" that Corey has reformed, regarding trust as something that invariably leads to heartbreak and disillusionment. The motivation for Alice's hostility can be found within the picture in her locket...and the outcome of the story hinges on the power of prayer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This made-for-TV drama is based on the autobiography of one of the most notorious figures in American organized crime, Joseph Bonanno. Bonanno (played by Bruce Ramsay) left Sicily as a young man, eager to escape the tyranny of Benito Mussolini, but when he arrived in America, fate led him to a career on the wrong side of the law with the Castellamarese crime family. After his mentor was killed in a bloody feud with cadres of the Gambino family, Bonanno became the youngest man to lead a major crime syndicate in America. Bonanno's battles with Lucky Luciano (Vince Corazza) and his secret dealings with Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Matt Norklun) helped cement Bonanno's reputation as one of the most powerful criminals in the world. It didn't take long, however, for the gangster kingpin to discover that power breeds treachery, and as the years passed, Bonanno (now played by Tony Nardi) learned that both the FBI and some of his most loyal allies were working to put him out of business. Martin Landau plays the elderly Bonanno, who tells much of his life story in flashback as he visits his hometown in Sicily for the first time in many years. The supporting cast includes Robert Loggia, Costas Mandylor, Patti LuPone, and Edward James Olmos. Bonanno: A Godfather's Story was originally produced as a two-part miniseries for the Showtime premium cable network, but was later edited down to 139 minutes for release on home video. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The detectives and the lawyers again run up against the brick wall of military jurisprudence while investigating the death of a Navy pilot. McCoy finally narrows the suspects down to the dead man's lover, also a pilot. Unfortunately, the Navy and the Judge Advocate General form a united front to block further investigation -- and, perhaps, to prevent justice from prevailing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Forced into drug rehab by her mother Joanna (Patti LuPone), rebellious teenager Alex Saxen (Kellie Martin) shows few signs of being cured upon her release, and quickly goes back to her wild and uninhibited lifestyle. Thus, when Alex's boyfriend turns up murdered after a party, the police tag her as the most likely suspect. But despite Alex's sordid history with booze and pills and her uncontrollable behavior, her counselor Leslie (Jenna Elfman) is unconvinced of the girl's guilt. Reuniting Life Goes On stars Kellie Martin and Patti LuPone, the made-for-TV Her Last Chance initially aired April 8, 1996 on NBC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A Depression-era inventor finds a way of revolutionizing manufacturing technology and then discovers that this invention has its dark side as well. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

It's December of 1941, and the people of California are in varying states of unease, ranging from a sincere desire to defend the country to virtual blind panic in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Thus begin several story threads that comprise the "plot" of this strange period comedy, a sort of satirical disaster movie, from Steven Spielberg. The stories and story threads involve lusty young men, officers (Tim Matheson) and civilians (Bobby Di Cicco) alike, eager to bed the young ladies of their dreams; Wild Bill Kelso, a nutty fighter pilot (John Belushi) following what he thinks is a squadron of Japanese fighters along the California coast; a well-meaning but clumsy tank crew (including John Candy) led by straight-arrow, by-the-book Sgt. Tree (Dan Aykroyd), who doesn't recognize the thug (Treat Williams) in his command; and homeowner Ward Douglas (Ned Beatty), who is eager to do his part for the nation's defense and, despite the misgivings of his wife (Lorraine Gary), doesn't mind his front yard overlooking the ocean being chosen to house a 40 mm anti-aircraft gun. There is also a pair of grotesquely inept airplane spotters (Murray Hamilton, Eddie Deezen) who are doing their job from atop a ferris wheel at a beachfront amusement park; a paranoid army colonel (Warren Oates) positive that the Japanese are infiltrating from the hills; a big dance being held on behalf of servicemen, being attended by a lusty young woman of size (Wendie Jo Sperber) eager to land a man in uniform; and General Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell (Robert Stack), in charge of the defense of the West Coast, who can't seem to get anyone to listen to him when he says to keep calm. And, oh yes, there's also a real Japanese submarine that has gotten all the way to the California coast under the command of its captain (Toshiro Mifune) and a German officer observer (Christopher Lee), only to find itself without a working compass or usable maps. Its captain won't leave until the sub has attacked a militarily significant, honorable target, and the only one that anyone aboard ship knows of in California is Hollywood. By New Year's Eve, all of these characters are going to cross paths, directly or once-removed, in a comedy of errors and destruction strongly reminiscent of the finale to National Lampoon's Animal House (as well as several disaster movies from the same studio), but on a much larger and more impressive scale. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

A man struggling to come to terms with the sins of his father makes the terrible discovery that his own son has fallen into a life of crime in a drama based on a true story. Vincent LaMarca (Robert DeNiro) is a dedicated and well-respected New York City police detective who has gone to great lengths to distance himself from his past; four decades earlier, Vincent's father Angelo killed a young child, and since then Vincent has carried emotional scars from this incident that he refuses to show to the world. Vincent lives alone in a small apartment building, though he has nurtured a close if tentative relationship with his downstairs neighbor, Michelle (Frances McDormand). One day, Vincent and his partner, Reg Duffy (George Dzundza), are assigned to investigate a murder when the body of a young man is found dead in a dumpster. It turns out the body was that of a drug dealer, and the dealer's partner in crime, Spyder (William Forsythe), believes the killer was one of his regular customers -- a junkie would-be musician who calls himself Snake (Brian Tarantina). City By the Sea was adapted from a piece by journalist Mike McAlary which first appeared in Esquire magazine; the cast also includes Eliza Dushku and Anson Mount. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Echoing the themes of Living in Oblivion and Irma Vep, David Mamet's seventh feature centers on the havoc wrought on the inhabitants of a small town by a troubled film production. After its leading man's propensity for teenage girls gets them banished from their New Hampshire location, a film crew relocates to the small town of Waterford, VT, to finish shooting "The Old Mill." As its title suggests, the film depends on the presence of a genuine mill, something the town is reported to possess. Unfortunately, with only days before principal photography begins, it becomes apparent that the mill in fact burned down decades ago. Unfazed, the film's director, Walt Price (William H. Macy), places his faith in the ability of first-time screenwriter Joseph Turner White (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to alter the script; what he doesn't count on is White's apparently bottomless reserve of angst-fueled writer's block. The film's leading lady (Sarah Jessica Parker) refuses to do her contracted nude scene unless she's give an ungodly sum of cash, while a foreign cinematographer offends the locals by messing with an historic firehouse, and the leading man, Bob Barrenger (Alec Baldwin), dallies with Carla (Julia Stiles), a crafty local teen. Everything comes to a head after Barrenger and Carla are injured in a car accident, which leads White to another emotional quandary and into the arms of Ann Black (Rebecca Pidgeon). ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

In the summer of 1977, a serial killer who called himself Son of Sam (real name David Berkowitz) held New York City in terror as he went on a killing spree, periodically writing letters to New York's media in which he took full responsibility for the murders and made clear that he intended to kill again. Spike Lee's Summer of Sam deals in part with this crime spree, but it mostly looks back at the fearful impact of his crimes on New York's collective consciousness. Vinny and Dionna (John Leguizamo and Mira Sorvino) are an unhappy young married couple living in the Bronx; Vinny often cheats on Dionna but is wracked with guilt about it, while Dionna fears she lacks the looks or allure to hold onto a man. Ritchie (Adrien Brody) is a neighborhood kid turned punk rocker (complete with a fake British accent); he has a band and a girlfriend (Jennifer Esposito) but also makes money as an exotic dancer at a gay club. And Luigi (Ben Gazzara), a longtime leader of organized crime in the Bronx, is approached by the police, with whom he generally has a less cordial relationship, to help them find the killer, as the citizens of some neighborhoods barricade their streets in fear that he will strike there next. Meanwhile, a tortured psychopath named David Berkowitz (Michael Badalucco) seethes with rage in his gloomy apartment and receives messages from a demonic dog who commands him to kill and kill again. Spike Lee's first film without a primarily African-American cast (though bearing the unmistakable New York stamp that's one of his hallmarks), Summer of Sam was shown as part of the Directors Fortnight series at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A wacky screwball sex comedy for the kids and grandpa too? Seinfeld's Jason Alexander makes his directorial debut with this gentle but funny coming-of-age story set in 1955 about Lenny (Ryan Merriman), a 14-year-old from the Bronx who is dedicated to witnessing a copulating couple. His early attempts at spying on his mom and her new corpulent husband Polinsky are thwarted when he is sent to live with his aunt Norma and uncle Phil in Queens for the summer. He soon learns that Norma is pregnant. No sex. All looks lost until he meets Hedy (Gretchen Mol), a fetching though lovelorn night nurse. Lenny also befriends the equally randy John, who informs him that he has started a sex club with a couple of neighborhood gals. Though the club is all talk, they all discuss the mechanics of coital engagement with language that is equal parts gutter and sex-ed. Meanwhile, as Lenny spies on Hedy, he inadvertently befriends her. Together they muse about the complexities of love and wistfully remember their respective dead fathers. Just Looking is a sweet-minded film about the great mystery of the teenaged years. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide