Joshua Maurer Movies
Director Lasse Hallström offers a brisk account of the scam that shook the literary community with this semi-comic biographical drama starring Richard Gere as the man who sold a fraudulent biography of Howard Hughes to publishing giant McGraw Hill. The year was 1971; the Vietnam War was raging and protestors filled the streets. Clifford Irving (Gere) was a struggling author with bold ambitions, and the determination needed to see them through. When Irving's attempt to sell his latest novel to McGraw Hill via his in-house publisher, Andrea Tate (Hope Davis), falls through at the last minute, the frustrated author loudly proclaims that his next novel will be "the book of the century." Upon returning to his wife Edith's (Marcia Gay Harden) makeshift studio, the humiliated author catches a glimpse of eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes on a magazine cover. Later, almost jokingly, Irving and his best friend Dick Suskind (Alfred Molina) begin to fantasize about a scenario in which the author convinces his publishers that he has been personally selected by Hughes to pen the billionaire's memoirs. The revenge fantasy becomes a complicated reality, however, when Irving and Suskind approach skeptical McGraw Hill heavy Shelton Fisher (Stanley Tucci) with a series of forged letters presumably written by Hughes himself and offering unwavering support for the project. His credibility continually questioned as the ante is upped at every turn, Irving is forced to maintain the increasingly difficult charade as he strong-arms McGraw Hill to pay "Hughes" an unheard-of one million dollars for the rights to his life story, acquires a the illegally procured documents that will provide the foundation for the book, and works around the clock to meet his publisher's deadline. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Alfred Molina, (more)
It was certainly no coincidence that the made-for-cable historical film The Pentagon Papers was timed for released just when America was poised to wrestle with the question as to whether or not the President had the right to declare war on Iraq without full congressional and/or United Nations approval. The film covers several decades in the life of Harvard graduate Daniel Ellsberg (James Spader), who as a Pentagon official during two presidential administrations regards himself as patriotic as the next fellow. According to the unabashedly slanted teleplay by Jason Horwitch, it is this sense of patriotism that compels Ellsberg to release a 7,000-page classified report to The New York Times and The Washington Post, revealing that the official story of America's "success" in Vietnam was both exaggerated and distorted, and that the public has been egregiously misled for years. As a result of this act, Ellsberg, whose family life has already been destroyed by his devotion to his work, faces charges of treason from the Nixon administration. Ironically, it is Nixon's reaction to Ellsberg's security breach which leads him to create his team of gap-stopping "plumbers" -- who would of course bring about the President's downfall with the Watergate scandal. Surprisingly, The Pentagon Papers premiered March 9, 2003, over the FX network, a cable service owned by the markedly conservative Rupert Murdoch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2003
- Add And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself to QueueAdd And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself to top of Queue
Antonio Banderas plays the title role in this cable-TV reenactment of a little-known chapter in the life of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. The year is 1914: With Villa's war of rebellion against the Huerta forces going badly, he hits upon a brilliant method to finance his crusade. Actually, the idea is brought to him: American filmmakers D.W. Griffith (Colm Feore) and Harry Aiken (Jim Broadbent), then busy at work on The Birth of a Nation, approach Villa with a request that he sell them the movie rights to his revolution. Acting as Griffith and Aiken's representative, junior executive Frank Thayer (Eion Bailey) tags along with Villa as the rebel leader willingly "directs" the film of his campaign, even going so far as to delay mass executions until early morning so that the cameramen won't "lose the sun." Ultimately, Villa's dreams of cinematic glory are dashed when the American public, goaded on by certain special interest groups, turns against Pancho and his noble cause. By turns comic, tragic, gruesome, and ironic, And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself was first telecast by HBO on September 7, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Antonio Banderas, Eion Bailey, (more)
- 1989
Coproduced by Marlo Thomas, the made-for-TV Taken Away was a curiosity: a Valerie Bertinelli film not based on a true story. Bertinelli plays a young, divorced mother, unjustly charged with neglecting her 8-year-old daughter Juliet Sorcey. The motives behind the charge soon become clear: some well-meaning but misguided bureaucrat wants to take Sorcey out of Bertinelli's hands and place the child in the foster-parent pool. With few friends and no money, Bertinelli is nonetheless determined to take on the system and regain custody of Sorcey. Seldom bothering with subtlety, Taken Away hammers away relentlessly at the viewer's tear ducts. The film premiered on November 5, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
By the time Tour of Duty commenced its (extremely belated) second season on CBS, there'd been a considerable personnel turnover in Company B, not to mention a complete change of scenery. Though it's still the Vietnam of 1967, the platoon has been reassigned to the Tan Son Nhut air base, not far from Saigon. Lt. Myron Goldman (Stephen Caffrey) and Sgt. Zeke Anderson (Stephen Caffrey) are still in charge, and troopers Percell (Tony Becker), Johnson (Stan Foster), Taylor (Miguel A. Nunez), and Ruiz (Ramon Franco) are present and accounted for; but Wallace, Horn, Baker, and "Doc" are all gone. New to the landscape are chopper-pilot John McCay (Dan Gauthier), attractive army shrink Dr. Jennifer Seymour (Betsy Brantley), and female news correspondent Alex Devlin (Kim Delaney). The addition of two female regulars not only insured Tour of Duty an increase in viewership but also allowed the scriptwriters to inject some romance in the proceedings: namely, Sgt. Anderson's fling with Dr. Seymour, and Lt. Goldman's liaison with Alex. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1988
The Hill would have made a terrific Samuel Fuller war film. In the absence of Fuller, director Robert Iscove performs yeoman service in bringing the story to life. Terence Knox is among the members of Bravo Company, assigned to capture a strategic hill. Before the company can begin to take on the enemy, the individual soldiers must overcome their own hostilities, both external and internal. Beyond sharing a wartime background, the 1988 The Hill bears no relation to the 1965 POW drama of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
U.S. Army Company B reports for its first Tour of Duty in the Vietnam of 1967. B's spiritual leader, Sgt. Zeke Anderson (Terence Knox), doesn't quite see eye to eye with rules-are-rules Lt. Myron Goldman (Stephen Caffrey), a shave-tail straight out of OSC. New platoon members Roger Horn (Joshua Maurer), Danny Percell (Tony Becker), Alberto Ruiz (Ramon Franco), and Scott Baker (Eric Bruskotter) don't think much of Goldman either, preferring to turn to Anderson in moments of crisis. Also signed for this tour are seasoned troopers Marvin Johnson (Stan Foster) and Marcus Taylor (Miguel A. Nunez Jr.), and company commander Captain Wallace (Kevin Conroy). Before the season has run its course, both Wallace and company medic "Doc" Matsuda (Steve Akahoshi) will have fallen in battle. ~ All Movie Guide
