Jennifer Beals

Unresolved romances and a long-simmering film project finally bear fruit in the fifth season. Dreams come true and new life paths are forged for many of the series’ characters this year, but not without the L Word’s trademark provocative storylines, sizzling sexuality, and heartrending emotion.

An FBI agent (Jennifer Beals) seeks to reveal the identity of a fearless kidnapper who has abducted the child of a prominent multi-millionaire in a tense, independent thriller that explores the tragedy of every parent's worst nightmare. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

THE L WORD is about a group of friends – both gay and straight – whose fascinating personalities draw you into their intimate stories of career, family, inner struggle, friendship and romantic relationships.

A woman hounded by jealousy, doubt, and guilt commits a shocking crime and suffers unexpected consequences in this psychological thriller. Laurel (Helene Joy) is a fortysomething artist living in rural Canada with her husband, Michael (Ian Tracey), but their relationship is hardly ideal -- he's often sullen and uncommunicative, and his work takes him away from home on a regular basis. Laurel is initially happy when an old friend, Elizabeth (Jennifer Beals), comes by to visit, but things become unexpectedly tense after a spell, and when Michael heads out on another assignment, Elizabeth shares a shocking secret with Laurel -- she and Michael have been having an affair. An argument follows which turns physical with disastrous results as Elizabeth dies after a high fall from a rooftop deck. Turning to one of her few friends in town, a troubled man with a dark past named Benny (Lothaire Bluteau), Laurel and Benny bury Elizabeth's body and attempt to cover their tracks. However, Doug (Ed Begley Jr.) begins to suspect that something is wrong and starts snooping around Laurel's house; at the same time, she finds herself slowly taking on the personality of the late friend who betrayed her. Desolation Sound received its premiere at the 2005 Vancouver Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Bart Freundlich directs Catch That Kid, a Fox-financed U.S. remake of the Danish family action film Klatretøsen (2002). Adventurous 12-year-old Maddy Phillips (Kristen Stewart) is an excellent mountain climber. Unfortunately, her father, Tom (Sam Robards), was severely injured on Mount Everest and requires a costly surgery to repair his spine. With the help of her friends (Max Thieriot and Corbin Bleu) and her climbing skills, Maddy develops a plan to rob a bank in order to finance her father's medical bills. Also starring Jennifer Beals as Maddy's mother, Molly, who happens to be the security chief at the bank. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

A talented character actor with an undeniable presence on the screen but an uncanny track record of losing roles to more marketable "name" actors decides to take matters into his own hands after losing out on one too many roles in director Monika Mitchell's blood-soaked showbiz satire. Max Matteo (John Cassini) knows that he has what it takes to make it as an actor, but it always seems like there's a producer's nephew just waiting in the wings to snatch the role just out from under him. Now, with nothing left to lose but the role that will most certainly be offered to someone else before the cameras start to role, Max decides to take his fate - as well as various blunt objects - in his hands to ensure a long and rewarding career in a business where there's truly no room for the weak. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Writer/director Dylan Kidd got a chance to make his script for Roger Dodger into a feature film when he boldly approached Campbell Scott in a café in Greenwich Village and made his pitch. Eventually, Scott would agree to executive produce and star in the film, and was responsible for bringing Jennifer Beals and Isabella Rossellini onboard. Scott stars as the eponymous Roger, a successful New York ad man and self-proclaimed master of reading and manipulating women. The film begins with Roger out for drinks with his co-workers and demonstrating his verbal gifts. "Words are my stock in trade," he explains as he expounds. But he soon learns that his boss, Joyce (Rossellini), wants to end their clandestine sexual relationship. Roger gets another shock when his teenaged nephew, Nick (Jesse Eisenberg of TV's Get Real), shows up unannounced the next day at his job. Nick explains that he's in town for an interview at Columbia and soon admits that he wants Roger to take him out and give him a crash course on women. Soon the pair is out carousing, but when they run into the lovely Andrea (Elizabeth Berkley) and her friend, Sophie (Jennifer Beals), Roger discovers that despite Nick's sexual desperation, the teen is temperamentally unsuited to Roger's transparent womanizing mode of operation. In short, Nick is a sweet, open, and sensitive boy, while Roger proves himself to be a misogynist pig. Their differences grow even starker when Roger decides to crash a party Joyce is throwing that night, and brings Nick along. Roger Dodger was named the Best Narrative Feature in competition at the 2002 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

A beautiful parole officer falls for a seductive ex-con with predictably tragic results in this thriller from director Johanna Demetrakas. Sworn to uphold the law and never let personal issues take priority, Jenny (Jennifer Beals) walks a fine line between desire and duty when her relationship with an ex-con takes a dangerous turn. Despite Jenny's better judgment, she allows herself to become intimately involved with the ex-con whose all-consuming vendetta drives him to one again break the law and go on the lam. With Jenny in tow and the police hot on their trail, the renegade parole officer and her lawless lover must stay one step ahead of the law to keep their love alive. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Based on a story by Anne Rice, this made-for-cable miniseries explores the little-known phenomenon of the "Gens de Couleur Libres," or "Free People of Color," who lived in Louisiana at a time when slavery still held a stranglehold on much of the South. In 1822, it was not at all uncommon for attractive women of color to be retained as a "placage," a sort of "kept woman" who served the wishes of wealthy landowners, and after Philippe Ferronnaire (Peter Gallagher) enters into a loveless arranged marriage with Aglae (Jenny Levine) in order to curry the favor of her elderly (and very well-to-do) father Magloire Dazincourt (John Gilbert), he soon finds himself the father of two families -- one raised by Aglae, and another raised by his "placage" Cecile Ste. Marie (Gloria Reuben), a lovely bi-racial woman from Haiti. Philippe's son with Cecile, Marcel Ste. Marie (Robert Richard), is raised with the promise that, even though Philippe cannot officially acknowledge his parenthood, he will receive a first-class education in Europe, and Marcel finds himself travelling between the worlds of wealthy whites and economically disadvantaged Creoles in New Orleans. In time, Marcel falls in love with a girl of similar circumstances, Anna Bella (Bianca Lawson), but as fate would have it, her guardian, Elsie Claviere (Ruby Dee), has already arranged for the girl to enter into a "placage" with Vincent Dazincourt (Alec McClure), who happens to be Philippe's brother-in-law. Directed by Peter Medak, Feast of All Saints also features Ben Vereen and Ossie Davis. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This historical drama, based on a true story, is set in Georgia in the mid-1800s. David Dickson (Sam Waterston) owns a large plantation, as well as a number of slaves who do the labor required to run it. Dickson finds himself attracted to one of his new slaves, a bright and willful teenager named Julia (Lisa Gay Hamilton); Dickson rapes Julia, and nine months later she gives birth to a daughter, Amanda. Amanda is fair-skinned and can pass for white, so Dickson raises her as his daughter without acknowledging Julia as the mother, fabricating a story that Amanda's mother died in childbirth. After Amanda (now played by Jennifer Beals) has grown to adulthood, Dickson dies, leaving his entire estate to her. However, Henry (Ron White), Dickson's younger brother, knows the truth about Amanda's heritage and questions the will in court; a high-minded lawyer named Charles Dubose (Tim Daly) agrees to represent Amanda in court as the sordid secrets of the Dickson family air in a public courtroom. Sam Waterston served as co-producer as well as male lead for A House Divided, which was produced for (and first aired by) the Showtime premium cable network. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Two men try to cover up an accident with a lie and find that the lie makes the accident seem that much worse in this tense drama. Paul Venters (Craig Sheffer) is a self-centered plastic surgeon who is soon to be married to beautiful Susan (Gabrielle Anwar), but doesn't get along very well with his fiancée's family, particularly Susan's brother Marty (Corey Haim), an ex-con who is trying to stay clean after beating a nasty drug habit. To appease his future wife, Paul tries to mend fences with Marty by inviting him along for a camping trip in the Canadian wilderness. While looking for elk, Paul sees a large bear that's heading towards Marty; thinking the animal is about to attack, Paul fires several shots at the bear, but one of them manages to kill a nearby forest ranger on patrol. Afraid that no one will believe the truth -- especially given Marty's past arrest record -- Paul and Marty cook up a fraudulent story to explain the ranger's death, but when park warden Samantha Wilkes (Jennifer Beals) looks into the case, their web of lies begins to unravel, with dangerous consequences. Filmed on location in Canada, Without Malice also features Ian Black and Blaine Hart. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this romantic comedy, two guys who've discovered Age 30 in their rear-view mirror try to unravel the mysteries of life and love in beautiful Saskatchewan. Sam (Michael Goorjian) is a guy in his late 20s who is looking for the woman of his dreams but isn't having much luck. His best friend Jim (David Lovgren) isn't nearly as fussy as Sam; he'll take a chance on any woman that seems moderately attractive, especially ones that Sam has expressed an interest in. Sam likes to pass himself off as a moody intellectual, but this act doesn't get him very far with Kelly (Chandra West), an insurance investigator who seems a bit flaky on the surface but soon works her way into Sam's heart. However, Jim, true to form, has to make a play for her as well. Jennifer Beals appears in a supporting role as a waitress who gives Sam lessons in how to sound deep and pretentious. Something More was shot in 1997, but it didn't emerge from the editing room until 1999 for its initial Canadian release. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Former boxing great Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini brings years of experience in the ring to his role in this drama. Charlie (Mancini) is an up-and-coming boxer who decides he needs to move to the big city if he wants to be a contender. With his best friend and manager Tiny (Michael Chiklis) in tow, Charlie heads to Reno; en route, Charlie falls for Gina (Jennifer Beals), an attractive hitchhiker, though Tiny is certain she's up to no good. In Reno, Charlie's skills as a fighter attract the attention of Johnny (Rod Steiger), a veteran trainer who thinks Charlie has what it takes to be a champ. Johnny is able to arrange a meeting for Charlie and Tiny with Dumas (Joe Mantegna), a boxing promoter who controlls the fight game in Reno. Charlie soon learns that fame and fortune could be his for the asking, but is he willing to give up his principles and betray the people he cares about in exchange for a shot at the big time? Body and Soul is a loose adaptation of the 1947 classic starring John Garfield, though beyond the fact the lead characters are boxers named Charlie, the two films have little in common. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide