Ryan MacDonald Movies

An attempt to overthrow the President of the United States is the subject of this made-for-cable conspiracy-thriller. Forest Whitaker stars as Colonel Mackenzie Casey, a loyal member of President Foster's (Sam Waterston) inner circle. When Casey discovers a plot by his superior (Jason Robards) to stage a coup during military exercises, he teams up with Foster to thwart the plans before it's too late. The story was based on a novel by Charles W. Bailey and Fletcher Knebel, and Whitaker was nominated for a SAG Award for his lead performance. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi

Thursday's Child is full of woe in this made-for-TV drama. Rob Lowe was given "and introducing" billing in the role of a teenaged athlete in dire need of a heart transplant. As Rob's parents Gene Rowlands and Don Murray prepare to face the possibility that they may lose their son, his aunt Jessica Walter remains relentlessly optimistic and cheerful. For various reasons, the debut of Thursday's Child was twice postponed. The film finally aired February 1, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Quincy (Jack Klugman) is outraged to discover that an accident victim had died when he was refused admittance to the hospital run by Dr. Chet Rawlins (James Karen). Investigating, Quincy finds out that Rawlins' hospital regularly turns away emergency cases if they are unable to pay for treatment--and that this isn't the first time that someone has died unnecessarily because of this discriminatory policy. It now falls to Quincy to prevent Rawlins from purchasing another hospital and causing future tragedies with his greed and callousness. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this pilot film for the NBC TV series Medical Story, idealistic young intern Dr. Steve Drucker (Beau Bridges) clashes with three of his superiors over whether a prominent actress should have a hysterectomy. The woman in question is played by Harriet Karr, who had undergone a similar experience in real life. In fact, Karr's ordeal was the inspiration for this film, which was produced and written by her husband, Abby Mann (who also partially adapted the script from an unrelated novel by Dr. Howard A. Oglin). Medical Story first aired on September 4, 1975; the series itself was broadcast weekly until January 8, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A Texas housewife plots hire a hit man to kill the girl who beat out her daughter for a place on the cheerleading squad in this made-for-cable satire based on a true story. Holly Hunter stars as Wanda Holloway, a twice-married Baptist mother of two who becomes obsessed when her daughter, Shanna (Frankie Ingrassia), gets disqualified from the election for the eighth-grade cheerleading squad because of overly manipulative campaign tactics (i.e. handing out free rulers imprinted with her name). Looking down her nose at neighbor Verna Heath (Elizabeth Ruscio), whose daughter, Amber (Megan Berwick), made the squad, Wanda becomes convinced that there's a conspiracy afoot and decides to do something about it. Getting in touch with her ex-husband's brother, Terry Harper (Beau Bridges) -- a lowlife with a liquor and drug habit and a wife (Swoosie Kurtz) who sees imaginary creatures on the floor -- Wanda all but orders him to find her an assassin on the cheap. Terry chickens out, contacts the police, and helps get the goods on his former sister-in-law before she can do any actual damage. A media circus soon engulfs the participants' small Texas town as Wanda heads to court and tries to prove she was the victim of a setup. Set against the backdrop of the Gulf War and the fall of communism, The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom was filmed for HBO by Bad News Bears and Smile director Michael Ritchie. In adapting the Wanda Holloway story for the small screen, the film followed Willing to Kill: The Texas Cheerleader Story, a 1992 ABC TV movie starring Lesley Ann Warren. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

The November 22, 1963, assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy shocked the nation and the world. The brisk investigation of that murder conducted under the guidance of Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren distressed many observers, even though subsequent careful investigations have been unable to find much fault with the conclusions his commission drew, the central one of which was that the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, acted alone. Instead of satisfying the public, one result of the Warren Commission Report was that an unimaginable number of plausible conspiracy theories were bruited about, and these have supported a sizeable publishing mini-industry ever since. In making this movie, director Oliver Stone had his pick of supposed or real investigative flaws to draw from and has constructed what some reviewers felt was one of the most compelling (and controversial) political detective thrillers ever to emerge from American cinema. Long before filming was completed, Stone was fending off heated accusations of artistic and historical irresponsibility, and these only intensified after the film was released. In the story, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) is convinced that there are some big flaws in the investigation of Oswald (Gary Oldman), and he sets out to recreate the events leading up to the assassination. Along the way, he stumbles across evidence that a great many people had reason to want to see the president killed, and he is convinced that some of them worked in concert to frame Oswald as the killer. Among the suspects are Lyndon Baines Johnson (the next president), the CIA, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Mafia. Over the course of gathering what he believes to be evidence of a conspiracy, Garrison unveils some of the grittier aspects of New Orleans society, focusing on the shady activities of local businessman Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones). Garrison's investigations culminate in his conducting a show trial that he knows he will lose and which he is sure will ruin his career in order to get his evidence into the public record where it can't be buried again. This movie won two of the many Academy Awards for which it was nominated: one for Best Photography (Robert Richardson) and the other for Editing (Joe Hutshing). ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this 3-D animated cross between Star Wars and the Knights of the Round Table, young Orin (voice by Joe Colligan) lives in an oppressed, underground world in which humans have become the slaves of robots. One day the hero finds the handle of a sword and in a vision is told that if he can locate the blade, he will be able to overthrow the robots. Off he goes on his quest, up to the surface world where he meets and teams up with Dagg (voice by Carmen Argenziano) to face the evil empire in a series of daring battles. Along the way, Orin and Dagg have their own love interests, and a bit of swarthy language occasionally peppers their conversation as well. Parents should be advised of these two excursions into a more adult world, otherwise, most moppets would enjoy the fast-paced tale of heroism and adventure. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi