Janet MacLachlan Movies

A woman who has confronted the sour side of success finds love and discovers herself in this made-for-TV drama. Nikka (Vanessa Bell Calloway) is a writer who enjoys unexpected success with her first novel, but her brush with fame and fortune has a serious downside when she's threatened with legal action by the Internal Revenue Service for non-payment of taxes. Turning to her family and friends for help, Nikka's new life begins to fall apart, but she begins to develop a greater sense of herself in the process, and she decides to take a trip to Africa in hopes of coming to terms with her heritage. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this crime drama with comic overtones, Tanya (Lara Flynn Boyle) is a barmaid who works at a sleazy tavern, while her husband Henry (Luca Bercovici), a one-time baseball player sidelined by a knee injury, divides his time between praying at home and praying at a Catholic mission. Henry is supposed to receive an insurance settlement for his injury, but at the moment Tanya's low-pay/high-stress job is the household's sole means of support. When she discovers that Henry has already been sent a $130,000 settlement, which is now sitting in his bank account, he claims that the money is cursed, and he doesn't want her to have any. Predictably, Tanya doesn't share this superstition; when he hits her in the ensuing argument, Tanya walks out. Before long, she meets Benny (Benny O'Malley), a would-be card shark and con man who agrees to help Tanya get some of the money away from Henry. Posing as a representative of the mission, Benny intends to ask Henry to help them pay for some repairs that cost, oh, about $130,000; to reinforce his scheme, he and a friend fabricate a miracle on the mission's grounds involving a tree that grows incredibly fast. The theatrical release of The Big Squeeze ran 98 minutes; the version released on home video added another 7 minutes of footage. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A visitor to the ER (Catherine Lloyd Burns) must make a crucial decision after her boyfriend commits suicide, while novice nun Sister Elizabeth (Amy Ryan) likewise finds herself at an emotional crossroads. Elsewhere, the ER staff (and the viewers) discovers that Carter (Noah Wyle) is from an incredibly wealthy family. Swift (Michael Ironside) becomes increasingly displeased with Greene (Anthony Edwards), who has allowed his domestic troubles to take precedence over his work. Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) is at the end of her rope with Chloe (Kathleen Wilhoite). And the mystery of missing-in-action Dr. Div Cvetic is solved. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Similar to the premise of American Graffiti, this film centers on eight California high school students whose lives intersect over two nights in the hot summer of 1965. As the Watts riots begin, the young people make decisions that will impact their entire lives. Writer-director Floyd Mutrux examines at the graduating class of 1965 of Westwood High School in Los Angeles, which was featured on the cover of Look magazine in 1961. The story is narrated by the class valedictorian, Mary Beth (Lucy Deakins). Kelli Williams plays Sunshine, a prototypical flower child. Characters played by Dermot Mulroney and Rick Schroder and others struggle with decisions about the Vietnam war, aspire to be rock musicians, and take divergent paths on politics while navigating various romantic entanglements. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

Something to Live For: The Alison Gertz Story was one of a myriad of early 1990s TV movies centering around the AIDS issue. Molly Ringwald stars as Alison Gertz, an upscale Manhattanite who thinks she knows her way around. Still, Alison conducts an "unprotected" one-night affair, which results in her contacting the AIDS virus. Despite her alleged smarts, Alison continues to seek out sexual partners and can't understand why they're reluctant to sleep with her, even though she belatedly offers to use contraceptives. Perhaps if it had been made five years earlier, and perhaps if it didn't have its characters speaking fluent pop profundities, Something to Live For might have been one of the truly important made-for-TV AIDS sagas. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Murphy's tough and relentless interview technique has a somewhat negative effect on a corrupt judge (John Capodice), who drops dead right in mid-telecast. Traumatized by this tragedy, Murphy is terrified to conduct any more interviews, meaning that her usefulness to "FYI" may be at an end. To overcome her fear, she begins attending a group therapy session conducted by Dr. Paula Hayes (Janet MacLachlan)--a tough cookie in her own right. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This week's episode opens as a helpful nurse recaps the previous weeks' activities to an ABC executive who'd been in a coma ever since he found out that David (Bruce Willis) and Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) had still not gotten back together! As it happens, David is ruminating over his upcoming "role" in the birth of Maddie's baby. Perhaps David should enroll in a Lamaze class--a solution that (at first glance, anyway) makes a lot more sense than having him "practice" childbirth with his friend Bert Viola (Curtis Armstrong), who has stuffed a pillow in his shirt for the occasion! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Consumed by grief when his father is felled by a heart attack, 11-year-old Obie (Ricky Busker) runs away from his white, upper-class surroundings. He ends up in a particularly dismal Chicago ghetto neighborhood where, after enduring a beating administered by gang members, he is befriended by streetwise black youth Jeremy "Scam" Henderson (Darius McCrary). The two become partners in crime, leading to a deadly situation involving a pair of professional hit men. Just when it seems things can't get any worse, they do. Robert Prosky co-stars as a slimy pawnbroker. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

An officer of the law becomes a wanted man while trailing a killer in this crime drama. Jack Murphy (Charles Bronson) is a police detective who helped to put Joan Freeman (Carrie Snodgress), a psychotic murderer, behind bars ten years ago. However, Joan is now back on the street and determined to get revenge on Jack. She kills Jack's ex-wife and her new husband, and she cleverly frames the detective for the crime. Jack is arrested and taken into custody handcuffed to Arabella McGee (Kathleen Wilhoite), a rough-and-ready young hoodlum picked up for theft. Jack is able to escape, and has to track down Joan in order to clear his name with Arabella as his unwitting accomplice. Murphy's Law also features Lawrence Tierney and Richard Romanus. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This made-for-TV drama was inspired by the real-life Toughlove program, set up to help parents of kids with severe alcohol, drug and behavior problems. Lee Remick and Bruce Dern star as a middle-aged couple who have completely lost control of their teen-aged son Jason Patric. When all else fails, the couple joins Toughlove, adhering to the organization's policy of being cruel (but not abusive) in order to be kind. Their story alternates with the travails of Toughlove member Piper Laurie and her suicidal daughter DeDee Pfeiffer (sister of Michelle). Toughlove was originally telecast October 13, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, 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

Howard E. Rollins stars as martyred civil-rights spokesman Medgar Evers, while Irene Cara co-stars as his wife (and future NAACP leader) Myrlie. The film concentrates on the last years of Evers, an ex-insurance agent turned activist. His home in Jackson, Mississippi is besieged by bigots and he and his family are threatened with dire consequences, but Evers continues to work towards the goal of integrating his racially-polarized state. In June of 1963, the 37-year-old Evers is shot to death in front of his home. This 90 minute drama was adapted from a book co-authored by Mrs. Evers, Ossie Davis and J. Kenneth Rotcop. For Us, the Living was first telecast March 22, 1983 on PBS' American Playhouse. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi