David Margulies Movies
Fresh out of CCNY, David Margulies made his off-Broadway bow in Golden 6 (1958). Margulies made his first film, A New Leaf, in 1971, and two years later first appeared on Broadway in The Iceman Cometh. Shuttling between plays, movies and TV in the 1980s and 1990s, Margulies was most often cast as doctors, lawyers and rabbis. In Ghostbusters II (1989), David Margulies has several good scenes as the Mayor of New York. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Love at first sight has some interesting repercussions a few months down the line in this offbeat romantic comedy. Ira Black (Chris Messina) is a wildly neurotic thirtysomething who can't get his life in gear -- the son of a pair of therapists, Arlene (Judith Light) and Seymour (Robert Klein), Ira still hasn't finished his grad school dissertation, he's been in therapy for 12 years, and can't bring himself to settle down with his longtime girlfriend Lea (Maddie Corman). When both Lea and his analyst inform Ira that they don't want to see him anymore, he decides he needs to make some changes. Ira joins a health club, where he meets Abby Willoughby (Jennifer Westfeldt), who is supposed to sell memberships to the gym but is much better at listening to people's problems. The two discover they have a strong and immediate rapport, and Ira asks Abby to marry him only a few hours later. Abby says yes, and soon the couple are wed. However, it isn't until after they've been married for a few weeks that Ira discovers Abby has been divorced twice already, and it makes him very uneasy about their relationship. Despite more therapy, Ira asks Abby for a divorce, and it sends shock waves through their families -- Arlene begins having an affair with Michael (Fred Willard), Abby's free-spirited father, while Seymour commiserates with Abby's mother Lynne (Frances Conroy), and eventually parents and children are all meeting together in group therapy for couples. Ira and Abby was written by leading lady Jennifer Westfeldt, who was also screenwriter and star for the independent hit Kissing Jessica Stein. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Messina, Jennifer Westfeldt, (more)
Drawing inspiration from the intervention of a well-known American playwright, director Peter Masterson's adaptation of the stage play by JoAnn Tedesco (who also wrote the screenplay) takes viewers on an emotional rollercoaster ride as one man's support system struggle to save their friend from his own worst enemy - himself. Leopold De Angeli is a highly intelligent playwright who is personable, intuitive, and sharp as a tack when he's sober. But these days sobriety doesn't come often to Leopold, and his friends are getting concerned. Everyone can sense the disaster that's looming just over the horizon, yet by confronting their friend about his alcoholism, everyone in this well-meaning group will have to face up to their own inner demons as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Swanson, Olympia Dukakis, (more)
Writer-director Loren Marsh's black comedy Invitation to a Suicide - an official selection at the AFI Fest and HBO Comedy Festival - concerns the plight of Kaz Malek, a witless young man raised in a Polish enclave of Brooklyn. In a (very) misguided attempt to escape from his dead-end life as a baker's son, Kaz slyly lifts $10,000 from a Russian mobster, but is promptly caught. The mobster threatens to kill Kaz's father if he can't come up with the payola. To escape from this plight, Kaz devises a wild yet workable scheme: he'll publicly hang himself and sell tickets for the show, thus raising the money to pay off his creditor but dying in honor instead of living in shame over his father's death. To his utter shock, everyone - his father and the Mafioso included - wholeheartedly applauds the idea. But it remains unclear whether Kaz will follow through and off himself. Marsh pulled influence for the film from such classic films as Harold and Maude and King of Hearts. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 2003
Directed by Michael Tolajian, Bought & Sold is set in New Jersey, where aspiring deejay Ray Ray (Rafael Sardina) agrees to spy on a pawnshop proprietor who supposedly owes his new boss, "Chunks" (Joe Grifasi), money. They get more than they bargain for, however, when the proprietor, Kutty (David Margulies), reveals himself as a Holocaust survivor who isn't about to cave into Chunks' demands. Ray Ray, meanwhile, becomes a pawnshop regular and eventually falls for Kutty's niece, Ruby (Marjan Neshat). ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rafael Sardina, David Margulies, (more)
- 2001
Devoutly Jewish Sam Silverstein (David Margulies) is heartbroken when his daughter Rachel (Meredith Scott Lynn), a cartoonist for the "Portland Daily News", turns her back on her faith and gains popularity by creating an anti-Jewish comic strip titled "Chutzpah." In their efforts to bring hope and redemption to Sam and Rachel (if that is indeed their current mission), Monica (Roma Downey) and her fellow angels uncover the childhood trauma that has so alienated Rachel from her father. But even if Rachel can be made to see the error of her ways, it might be too late for Sam, who disowns his daughter and spearheads a grass-roots effort to have "Chutzpah"--and Rachel--banished from the "Daily News." In a bizarre turn of events, a bigoted skinhead plays a key role in the resolution of this crisis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Johnny Twenties (Gibson Frazier) is a man who lives up to his name; from his snazzy suits to his snappy lingo, Johnny is a walking embodiment of the era when liquor was illegal, swing was being born, and the movies were just learning to talk. There's just one problem -- Johnny is living in New York City in the late 1990s, and he seems to have no idea that he's a man out of his era. When not courting his girlfriend Samantha (Susan Egan), who's not sure what to make of her beau's time-warp personality, Johnny does battle with a vicious gangster and his thugs. Man of the Century was written by leading man Gibson Frazier and director Adam Abraham, and features supporting performances from comic/impressionist Frank Gorshin and jazz pianist Bobby Short. The film was shown at the 1999 Slamdance and South by Southwest film festivals. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gibson Frazier, Susan Egan, (more)
- 1999
Co-writer director Martin Davidson, who previously made a name for himself in rock-fuelled features such as The Lords of Flatbush (1974) and Eddie and the Cruisers (1983), creates this wistful melodrama about a middle-aged widower looking back with tinges of regret at his abandoned musical career. Armand Assante stars as Vince, a former neighborhood idol and lead singer in his moderately successful doo-wop band. But instead of pursuing stardom, he married and got a job as a bartender in order to support his three kids; his eldest son is a cop with a family of his own, his middle child is a 20-something trying to start out with his band, and his youngest, Tina, spends her days in and out of hospitals suffering from leukemia. Though Vince has not dated since his wife died of cancer, he finds himself attracted to motor mouth nurse Joanne (Diane Venora). Later, Vince and his old friends from his defunct group visit the glitz and glamour of Atlantic City and reminisce about old times. Looking for an Echo was screened at the 1999 Mill Valley Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Armand Assante, Diane Venora, (more)
Luke Perry stars in this surprisingly moving adult drama about a devoted husband whose wife (Francie Swift) is dying of cystic fibrosis. Because of her rare blood type, she can't get new lungs, so Perry begins a frantic search to find a donor. Eventually, he becomes so desperate that he starts having an affair with a real-estate agent (Gia Carides) whom he plans to murder because she's a match with Swift and has signed her donor card. Director P.J. Posner shows a surprising amount of sensitivity and character development in what was obviously designed to be no more than a cheap erotic thriller. Perry and Swift are believable and sympathetic, and the portrait of Swift's degenerating condition and Perry's desperation is moving and poignant. Only a cliched scene tacked on at the end gives the film's intentions away despite its frequent sexual situations and nudity. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Luke Perry, Francie Swift, (more)
- 1997
This comedy-drama is the feature theatrical debut of TV director Nell Cox. Manhattan lawyer Laura (Rya Kihlstedt) is on edge about her promotion to partner at her law firm, while husband Jeff (Robert Stanton) is tired of the grind producing TV commercials. They head upstate for a weekend with Laura's mother, sculptor Julia (Lois Smith), hoping to resolve their marital conflicts. Shown at the 1997 Mill Valley Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rya Kihlstedt, Robert Stanton, (more)
- 1996
When Simone (Jimmy Smits) and Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) reopen a old case in which a man may have wrongly been sent to prison, the detective who originally worked the case isn't too happy. Martinez (Nicholas Turturro) runs against Gotelli (Carmine Caridi) in the union-delegate election. Simone probes further into the murder committed in the building he inherited, and again contends with the resentment of Henry Coffield (Willie Garson). And it looks like Medavoy (Gordon Clapp) has a slight edge over Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) in the "battle of the bulge." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
A woman under the care of fertility doctor Jordan Delbert (David Margulies) dies under suspicious circumstances. An investigation reveals that Delbert has illegally donated his own sperm to expedite at least 31 pregnancies. In trying to prosecute Delbert, the D.A.'s office is stymied by the laws of confidentiality -- not to mention the fiercely self-protective "don't ask, don't tell" stance taken by the doctor's past patients. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
- PG13
When your dog, bird, or water-dwelling mammal disappears, who do you call? Ace Ventura (Jim Carrey) is a low-rent private eye who specializes in recovering lost animals, so when Snowflake, the Miami Dolphins' aquatic mascot, is kidnapped, team representative Melissa Robinson (Courtney Cox) puts Ace on the case. However, Snowflake isn't the only Miami Dolphin who has gone missing; several key members of the team also disappear, including quarterback Dan Marino (who plays himself), who is spirited away while filming a TV commercial. With the Super Bowl only two weeks away, will Ace be able to find Snowflake and the missing athletes in time to salvage the big game? Ace Ventura: Pet Detective was a surprise box office smash and catapulted manic comedian Jim Carrey to stardom. The supporting cast includes Sean Young as ill-tempered Lois Einhorn, Udo Kier as the sinister Ronald Camp, and rapper Tone Loc as Ace's detective pal Emilio (Loc also wrote and performed a song for the closing credits). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Carrey, Courteney Cox Arquette, (more)
- 1993
A man who was about to blow the whistle on a widespread credit-card scam is murdered. It does not take long for the police to round up the killer, a Romanian immigrant named Leon Iliescu (Morgan Weisser). The D.A.'s office is confident of a conviction -- until the accused man's lawyer, Jonathan Shapiro (Alan King), declares that his client is "not guilty due to cultural insanity," a helpless victim of the ongoing violence in Romania. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
When a Jewish jeweler is found dead and his store is missing more than one million dollars in diamonds, a New York police detective (Melanie Griffith) goes undercover in a community of Hasidic Jews to find the criminal. Once she is immersed in the community, she falls in love with one of the most devout members, who helps her find the criminal. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melanie Griffith, Eric Thal, (more)
- 1992
A man trying to help out his sister finds himself chin-deep in hot water in this screwball comedy. Yuppie businessman Bill Campbell (Matthew Broderick) is close to sealing a $140 million business deal when he gets a phone call from his little sister Marci (Courtney Peldon), who is convinced that her new stepfather, Peter Van Der Haven (Jeffrey Jones), the mayor of the city of Buzzsaw, California, is up to no good. Though understandably wary, Bill heads to Buzzsaw, where he promptly loses his paperwork on the deal in progress and is confronted by the city's remarkable collection of eccentrics, including the crazed fugitive Sally (Heidi Kling), the subnormal Jim Jr. and Jim Sr. (John C. Reilly and Michael Monks), and Ann (Marian Mercer), the mayor's loopy wife. It turns out that Marci wasn't entirely wrong; year's ago, Peter's diabolical twin brother Matt (also played by Jones) was sent to jail in his brother's place on criminal charges, and now Matt has violent revenge on his mind. Out on a Limb features an original score by noted composer and arranger Van Dyke Parks. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Broderick, Jeffrey Jones, (more)
- 1992
- PG
Set in 1969 Los Angeles, this movie aims at nostalgia but really is more a depiction of the tragedy of a dysfunctional family. Young Andrew, a 13-year-old male on the brink of manhood, is saddled with a Father who is a compulsive gambler and a Mother who is immersed in constant battle with him because of it. Often desperate for money, their dependence on Andrew's older sister for money is one more cause of tension and anxiety in an already unhappy household. As Andrew cares for himself and his younger sister, the symbol of his coming of age--his approaching bar-mitzvah--comes to symbolize more than just a rite of passage. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Mantegna, Anne Archer, (more)
- 1991
Detectives Greevey (George Dzundza) and Logan (Chris Noth) seek out Brutus Walker (Jerome Preston Bates), the chief suspect in the rooftop murder of a cop. Even while the detectives put out a dragnet for Walker, the fugitive's lawyer, Simpson (David Margulies), tries to cut a deal with prosecutors Stone (Michael Moriarty) and Robinette (Richard Brooks). The key to the outcome of this perplexing case may be in the hands of the dead cop's guilt-ridden partner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
In this fact-based made-for-cable docudrama, Leonard Nimoy stars as Mel Mermelstein, a Nazi death camp survivor who wages a court battle against the revisionist Institute for Historical Review over their claims that the Holocaust never occurred. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leonard Nimoy, Dabney Coleman, (more)
The once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between star Gene Wilder and director Leonard Nimoy resulted in the charmingly haphazard and anachronistic Funny About Love. Wilder plays political cartoonist Duffy Bergman, who falls in love with much-younger Meg (Christine Lahti) during a book-signing session. Once married, the old "clash of careers" bugaboo arises: Meg wants to continue working as a chef in a fancy New York restaurant, while Duffy would prefer that she think about starting a family. When it seems as though Meg may be incapable of bearing children, the self-involved Duffy impregnates earthy college coed Daphne (Mary Stuart Masterson). How a happy ending can grow from this complication is a puzzlement. Funny About Love was based--extremely loosely--on a speech once delivered by Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene. The laughs tend to be sporadic, though Stephen Toblowsky scores high marks as a jocular fertility doctor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Wilder, Christine Lahti, (more)
- 1989
- PG
Ivan Reitman's sequel to the phenomenally successful Ghostbusters is looser and more self-assured than the original. The film opens with a title reading "Five Years Later" and finds the ghostbusters living in hard times. A restraining order has forbidden the boys to partake in paranormal warfare, and as a result they have had to seek other lines of work. Ray (Dan Aykroyd) and Winston (Ernie Hudson) spend their time performing at children's' birthday parties, and Egon (Harold Ramis) is busy conducting experiments investigating the effect of human emotions on the environment, leaving ghostbusting behind. Venkman (Bill Murray) and Dana (Sigourney Weaver) have split up. Venkman now hosts a local cable show called "The World of the Psychic." Dana, now divorced and the mother of a little baby named Oscar, works as an art restorer in a museum -- and this is where the plot kicks in. While Dana is restoring a portrait of a 16th-century tyrant by the name of Vigo the Carpathian, the portrait becomes hexed. The evil Vigo wants to return to life by taking over the body of Dana's little child. Vigo has enlisted Dana's boss, Janosz Poha (Peter MacNicol), to compel Dana to cooperate. Soon dirty sludge and slime flow through the streets of Manhattan, and the ghostbusters have to reunite to save the city from a funky paranormal evil. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, (more)
- 1989
This TV film was the 2-hour pilot for the Gideon Oliver series. Louis Gossett Jr. stars as Oliver, an anthropology professor who uses his knowledge of other cultures to solve mysteries. In the opener, Professor Oliver tackles the murder of an ex-lover, who'd been investigating a cult of satanists. The storyline takes side trips into the porn industry and "snuff" films, but Gossett emerges with his dignity and reputation unsullied. Gideon Oliver was one of three rotating series telecast in 1988-89 under the umbrella title The ABC Monday Mystery Movie; the other components were B.L. Stryker and old reliable Columbo. When Mystery Movie was picked up for a second season, Gideon Oliver was not retained. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Perfect Witness is New York restaurant owner Aidan Quinn. After witnessing a mob murder, Quinn does his civic duty by reporting the incident to the authorities. This plunks Quinn into the middle of a power play between the DA and ambitious US attorney Brian Dennehy, who won't let up on the case until he can prove that the murder is part of a larger conspiracy. When mob thugs injure Quinn's son, he asks to be allowed not to testify, whereupon Dennehy jails the poor fellow for obstructing justice. Perfect Witness was first telecast October 28, 1989, over the HBO cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Dennehy, Aidan Quinn, (more)
- 1989
Kojak is sidetracked by a lovely girl while investigating the activities of a corrupt drug lord. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Telly Savalas
In this family drama from director Sidney Lumet, Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti play Arthur and Annie Pope, a pair of '60s radicals who have eluded the FBI for 16 years after bombing a napalm laboratory as a Vietnam War protest. This lifestyle involves continually moving their base of operations and establishing new identities, which is especially hard on their children, 18-year-old Danny (River Phoenix) and 10-year-old Harry (Jonas Abry), who can never amass a group of friends or an academic record. This last problem comes to the fore when they arrive in a New Jersey town where the high school music teacher (Ed Crowley) takes an interest in Danny's piano playing, encouraging him to apply early admission to Juilliard. Danny yearns to follow this dream, but knows that separating from his parents would be a permanent break -- the aging hippies rarely even see their own parents, and can never inform anyone where they've moved. Arthur can't stand the idea of breaking up the family unit, which has provided the support that's allowed him to tolerate life on the move, but Annie sees her own sacrificed dreams in her son's prodigious musical talents, and begins pressuring Arthur to grant the boy his independence. Complicating factors, Danny has fallen in love with the daughter of his music teacher (Martha Plimpton), but can't allow himself to get too close to her, because he may have to leave again at any moment. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christine Lahti, River Phoenix, (more)
- 1988
This docudrama reenacts the famous 1987 trial of New York vigilante Bernhard Goetz who was tried for shooting four young African-American men on a subway train. Though the trial is enacted by actors, the dialogue was taken verbatim from the actual court transcripts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
