Andrew McFarlane Movies

The strain of juggling her responsibilities as wife, mother, and successful paralegal have worn Emma Burke (Virginia Madsen) out. Thus it is that Emma welcomes the opportunity to briefly take leave of her Boston home and head for sunny Hawaii. It is not, however, a pleasure trip: Having promised to honor the dying wishes of her Hawaiian-born surrogate mother, Emma had agreed to transport the woman's ashes to the Islands for a traditional burial ceremony. Leaving her husband, Mike (Andrew McFarlane), behind to care for their two children, Emma arrives in Hawaii for the first time since childhood, where she is reunited with her childhood friend Kala (Jason Momoa), the handsome son of her late surrogate parent. Against her better judgment, Emma falls in love with Kala, and he with her. Complications arise when Mike and the kids show up in the Islands, a the obligatory evil land developer rears his ugly head, and Emma learns the shocking truth about her biological mother. The made-for-cable Tempted premiered March 10, 2003, on the Lifetime network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Alan Young guest stars as Archie Mellonston, a nursing-home patient who raises a ruckus in the ER when he flashes back to a traumatic incident during the Korean War. Other developments: blacklisted throughout Chicago by the vengeful Romano (Paul McCrane), the unemployed Benton (Eriq La Salle) is saddled with additional problems courtesy of his pugnacious nephew Jesse (Andrew McFarlane); Greene (Anthony Edwards) treats a beauty contestant who was injured in a freak "cosmetic" accident; and Chen (Ming-Na) takes care of a terminal patient whose mother is in a state of denial. All this, plus a shoot-out in the ER -- and a mugging in which Kovac (Goran Visnjic) ends up killing his attacker. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This is the sort of comedy which the media tags with the label "high-concept." That means that the gimmick the movie hangs on is more important than the story, etc. In this case, the filmmakers are spoofing hospital soap operas, and the gimmick is that children are playing the authority figures (doctors and nurses), while adults are the helpless and victimized patients. Even high-concept notions sometimes succeed, but in this instance the concept is not treated with any particular integrity, and confusion about child/adult roles reigns supreme. Despite its flaws, reviewers found that this comedy contains a number of good and funny scenes spread (if rather too thinly) throughout. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This Australian drama, set in 1915, follows a restless ex-soldier's journey through self discovery. He is currently the editor of a small town newspaper. Though once a thriving gold-mining town, his home is now rundown and sleepy. The editor lives with his pregnant wife. He walks with a limp as he was crippled while serving in the Australian army. He was part of the Gallipoli landings in 1915. His disability is the source of his difficulties at home and in the community. He seldom talks meaningfully to his wife. Instead, he prefers to hobble off to the river every morning before work. There he remembers his childhood. At the river he meets a beautiful painter; they soon become involved. He goes to a picnic with her and her urban pals, but he feels intimidated by them. He gets drunk and stumps off sans cane. He falls into an old mine shaft, and there, relives Gallipoli. He remembers that he crippled himself, and he also sees that the painter can live without him. He therefore, comes to a certain peace and returns to his normal life. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi