Mary Mara Movies

Based on a true story, The Preppie Murder begins on August 26, 1986. This was the day that 18-year-old Jennifer Levin (Lara-Flynn Boyle) was strangled to death in Central Park. The prime suspect, Jennifer's 19-year-old boyfriend Robert Chambers (William Baldwin), confesses to the crime. The well-to-do young man insists that the killing was accidental; he claims that it occurred during a "rough sex" session that Jennifer had inaugurated. The ensuing media frenzy forces the old "she asked for it" defense to rear its ugly head. The Preppie Murder's attempts at fairness caused a great deal of critical turmoil when the film first aired on September 24, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Megan Turner (Jamie Lee Curtis) is a rookie cop who witnesses a robbery in progress on her first night on the job. With her more experienced partner using the men's room, Megan decides to take action on her own. She creeps into the supermarket where a man (Tom Sizemore in a small role) is holding the clerk at gunpoint. Megan gets close enough to shoot the gunman, and calls out for him to drop his weapon. He spins the gun toward her, and she unloads her service revolver into his chest. His gun goes flying, and a bystander, Eugene Hunt (Ron Silver), surreptitiously picks it up and takes it home. Megan's superiors, unable to confirm that the man she shot was armed, suspend her. Eugene, a wealthy commodities broker, becomes obsessed with Megan. He sets up an "accidental" meeting between them and begins dating her, romancing her with fancy restaurants and helicopter rides over Manhattan. He also carves her name into the bullets he uses to gun down strangers in the street. A tough homicide detective, Nick Mann (Clancy Brown of The Shawshank Redemption), gets Megan's gun and badge back so she can help him track down the psycho killer. Eventually, Megan realizes that Eugene is the killer, but he uses his money and influence to elude the law, and he starts coming after Megan's friends and family. Megan's determination to bring Eugene to justice quickly becomes a very personal obsession. This intense cop drama, Blue Steel, was director Kathryn Bigelow's major studio follow-up to her well-received indie vampire flick, Near Dark. Bigelow co-wrote both films with Eric Red (The Hitcher). ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

John Cusack and James Spader play against type in Kevin Wade's morality play, directed by Herbert Ross. Spader plays Tim Gerrity, a well-heeled WASP blueblood, who has dedicated his life to justice and public service. Engaged to Diana Stiles (Imogene Stubbs), the daughter of a powerful senator (Richard Widmark), Tim seems to have a rosy future ahead of him. Enter Peter Burton (John Cusack), Peter's working-class roommate at the University of Virginia. Peter, a ravenous and devouring go-getter, is out to climb the political ladder at any cost. He sees Tim and latches onto him. Their friendship blooms at the university and continues afterwards, with the weak-willed Tim constantly deferring to the antagonistic and aggressive Peter. But they finally come to blows on skis when Tim finds out that Peter has bedded Diana, who has decided to drop Tim for his lack of ambition. When Peter blackmails Senator Stiles to secure a House seat, Tim rouses himself from his lethargy to fight Peter politically. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Comedian Billy Crystal made his directorial debut with this biography of fictional comedian Buddy Young Jr. (portrayed by Crystal himself), whose self-destructive tendencies prevent him from rising to top of the show business ladder during his five-decade career. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

A wealthy older woman is found murdered in her apartment. By the time the police and the D.A.'s office catch up with the likeliest suspect -- the woman's much-younger lover, Steven Gregg (Richard Cox) -- he is fully prepared to accept a plea bargain. But the case proves to be far from cut-and-dried when further investigation reveals that Gregg was lying about the last time he saw the victim alive. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Unable to cope with the pressures of surrogate motherhood, Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) considers giving up her sister Chloe's baby, Suzy, for adoption. Back at the ER, Ross (George Clooney) and Greene (Anthony Edwards) quarrel over subjecting four-year-old AIDS victim Chia-Chia (Joshua Hoon Cho) to a very painful medical procedure. And Benton (Eriq La Salle) takes a personal interest in his patient Vicky Mazovick (Jennifer Tighe), a victim of abuse at the hands of her police-officer husband (Thom Mathews). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Carol (Julianna Marguiles) goes on a fascinating and frightening ride-along with paramedics Shep (Ron Eldard) and Raul (Carlos Gomez). Back at the ER, Weaver (Laura Innes) continues to rub everyone (except the equally contentious Benton [Eriq La Salle]) the wrong way; Ross (George Clooney) treats Byron (Jameson Baltes), a nine-year-old fledgling pyromaniac; and Carter (Noah Wyle) goes to ridiculous lengths to impress Harper Tracy (Christine Elise). And on the domestic front, Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) has her hands full caring for her sister Chloe's baby daughter, Suzy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hoping to put her life back together after an abusive first marriage, mild-mannered Laura Jameson (Mel Harris) weds again, thereby incurring the wrath and resentment of her rebellious teenage daughter Kelly (Nicholle Tom). Still holding Laura responsible for the suicide of her father, Kelly goes completely off the deep end, beginning with an overnight stay in juvenile custody and culminating in an eight months of legal hell in a dizzying progression of courtrooms. Clearly over her head when trying to cope with Kelly (all she can say upon her daughter's release is "Was it awful in jail, honey?"), Laura will ultimately be forced to draw upon reserves of inner strength that she never knew or believed she had. Made for the NBC TV network, What Kind of Mother Are You? was first telecast on November 18, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Unable to cope with losing custody of baby Suzy, Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) begins consulting a therapist, whereupon the events in this episode (directed by series regular Anthony Edwards) are unfolded in flashback form. One of the plot developments involves Carol (Julianna Margulies), who in order to save her paramedic boyfriend, Shep (Ron Eldard), from disciplinary action may be forced to lie on his behalf. Elsewhere, Ross (George Clooney) discovers that his father, Ray, has run out on Karen (Marg Helgenberger) -- and with most of Karen's money. And Carter (Noah Wyle) tries to comfort a young girl named TC (Gabrielle Boni), whose surgery will prevent her from participating in a basketball tournament. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With baby Suzy gone, Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) tries to get over the loss by throwing herself in her work. Meanwhile, Greene (Anthony Edwards) and Weaver (Laura Innes) discuss the possibility of making Lewis chief resident. Elsewhere, paramedic Shep (Ron Eldard), unable to cope with the dearth of his partner, begins to take out his anger on the job. Ross (George Clooney) begins cultivating an interest in his father Ray's girlfriend, Karen (Marg Helgenberger). And Carter (Noah Wyle) finds that his qualifications for graduation are incomplete. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly nearly set the screen on fire in this clever, female-powered twist on the standard Mob caper film. Gershon is Corky, an ex-con renovating the apartment next door to where Tilly's Violet lives. Violet is the moll of psychotic gangster Caesar (Joe Pantoliano), who uses the apartment as an occasional location for meetings and beatings, and also uses Violet as an occasional plaything for his Mob cronies. Violet is attracted to the super-sexy Corky, and the two begin an intense affair. Corky hatches a plot to escape with $2 million that Caesar is planning to give to a Mob boss, and the mayhem escalates from there. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

A woman's body is found stuffed in a wooden box that is oozing a strange liquid. Andy (Jimmy Smits) and Bobby (Jimmy Smits) locate the victim's brother, who seems less concerned about the woman's murder than he is with his favorite soft drink. Elsewhere, Diane (Kim Delaney) wonders if the death of a child was the result of parental neglect, while Greg (Gordon Clapp) and Jill (Andrea Thompson) investigate the shooting of another child whose intensely religious parents are all too willing to forgive the killer. And while off duty, Jill lets Diane know that she knows something she isn't supposed to know. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The crew makes the disturbing discovery that the PeaceKeepers have planted a locator beacon -- or tracking device -- somewhere on the living starship Moya. It is now necessary to perform surgery on the vessel, but the only practical anesthetic is located on a hostile planet that has never experienced extraterrestrial contact. In his efforts to obtain the anesthetic, Crichton realizes anew that he is truly a stranger in a strange land. The second Farscape episode filmed, "I, E.T." was the seventh to be shown, making its broadcast bow on May 7, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide