Sam McMurray Movies
Dark-haired character actor Sam McMurray has made a career of playing gaseous windbags of low moral fiber, often adding a salacious sneer to heighten the effect. However, his comic persona also sometimes slants toward lovable obliviousness, making McMurray a desired commodity in broad comedy, as well as a sitcom mainstay.The New York native got his start in acting with bit parts on television and in the movies in the late '70s and early '80s. In 1987, McMurray had a breakout year of sorts, appearing as a regular on The Tracey Ullman Show (which led to vocal work in the early seasons of The Simpsons) and snagging the film role for which he is best known. In Joel and Ethan Coen's Raising Arizona, McMurray was cast as Glen, Nicolas Cage's factory foreman boss, who runs afoul of Cage's H.I. McDonnough after he proposes swapping wives. In only a handful of scenes, McMurray creates an indelible and hilarious image of a loud, crass, humor-impaired buffoon who resides over a brood of ill-mannered children, but wants to add at least one more to the mix.
Raising Arizona paved the way for supporting work in a number of high-profile comedies in the ensuing years, including National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), L.A. Story (1991), and Addams Family Values (1993). In 1991, he voiced a character in the Disney/ABC live-action TV show Dinosaurs; he would later also provide vocal work for the animated Disney program Recess (1997). Television has provided McMurray with his most regular paychecks, most often in the capacity of a guest performer, both in dramas and sitcoms. He guested as Chandler's boss on several episodes of Friends in 1997, and also made repeat appearances in such shows as The King of Queens, Freaks and Geeks, and Chicago Hope. His recent film work has included a shady detective in The Mod Squad (1999) and a scoundrel cheerleader dad in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999). ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Mickey Rooney (B.J. Lang Presents, Curse of the Red Baron) and Gary Coleman (Diff'rent Strokes) co-star in the family-oriented, direct-to-video holiday comedy A Christmas Too Many (2005). This farce concerns an aging Hollywood actress who invites her eccentric and nutty family to stay with her over the Christmas holiday - with chaotic and disastrous consequences. Marla Maples co-stars. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Adam: His Song Continues is a sequel to the highly regarded fact-based 1983 TV movie Adam. The first film was the heartrending story of Floridians John and Reve Walsh (Daniel J. Travanti, JoBeth Williams) whose six-year-old son Adam was kidnapped and murdered in 1981, whereupon the Walshes lobbied for creation of the Federal Missing Child Act, which allowed public access to FBI files of other lost youngsters. The sequel, also starring Travanti and Williams, doesn't have the emotional drive of the original, but is still absorbing in its chronicling of John Walsh's efforts to create a advocacy service for missing kids--and the pressures brought to bear on Reve, who is expecting another baby. Both Adam films end with a roll call of missing children, with His Song Continues listing those children who'd been found since the first movie. The real-life John Walsh later became the host of a Fox "reality" series America's Most Wanted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The ghoulish cartoon family created by Charles Addams returns for a second big-screen outing darker and nastier than the first. When Morticia Addams (Anjelica Huston) gives birth to new baby boy Pubert, the other Addams children, Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) and Wednesday (Christina Ricci), devise any number of ways to kill off their new sibling. This leads Morticia and her husband, Gomez Raul Julia, to hire a nanny (Joan Cusack) to oversee all three children. But the nanny has an agenda of her own, packing the Addams children off to a horrid parody of summer camp and setting out to seduce Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd), all with the goal of getting her hands on the Addams family fortune. Of course, the Addams eventually triumph, with this blacker-than-most satire extolling the virtues of eccentricity and non-conformity above all. It was followed by 1999's direct-to-video Addams Family Reunion, with Darryl Hannah and Tim Curry replacing Huston and the late Julia. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, (more)
In the early 1960s, two very different New Jersey high schoolers share their first love in this bittersweet romantic drama, an early feature by writer/director John Sayles. Jill Rosen (Rosanna Arquette) is a sweet, overachieving Jewish girl heading for college to become an actor; "Sheik" Capodilupo (Vincent Spano) is a mysterious, confident Italian guy who pushes his way into Jill's already busy life. Sheik successfully woos Jill, and the story follows their ups and downs as teenage romantics. While that introduction is lighter fare than most Sayles material, the film trails off into some unexpected plot developments, providing an original take on the "different sides of the track" genre. Sayles directs the high school scenes with a combination of reminiscence and reality, balancing the excitement of cars and the prom with the heartache, anxiety, and classwork that goes along with it. The movie is injected with a mostly 1960s soundtrack, yet the videocassette lists that "some music has been changed" for home video -- the note apparently refers to four Bruce Springsteen cuts. Matthew Modine and Tracy Pollan appear in small parts, and Robert Downey Jr. also has a tiny role. This was the fiercely independent Sayles' first film to be made with a major studio (Paramount), and he claims it will be his last, as he lost final editing control. ~ Norm Schrager, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosanna Arquette, Vincent Spano, (more)
People are disappearing all over the Big Apple. Nobody cares, though, because most of the missing are homeless. But when investigative reporter Murphy (J.C. Quinn) tips off principled photographer George Cooper (John Heard) to a government conspiracy involving the dumping of nuclear waste beneath the streets, Cooper decides to dig a little deeper. Soon he discovers the existence of C.H.U.D.s, or "Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers," derelicts who have become grotesque monsters after being exposed to the mountains of hazardous waste. Meanwhile, Captain Bosch (Christopher Curry), a cop whose wife is among the missing, forms an unlikely alliance with the Reverend (Daniel Stern), a leftist soup-kitchen cook who knows the score. Murphy, Cooper, Bosch, and the Reverend soon run up against the stonewalling tactics of Wilson (George Martin), a government toadie. As the titular monsters begin to tire of their underground habitat, the protagonists -- including Cooper's wife, beautiful model Lauren Daniels (Kim Greist) -- face a race against time to defeat not only the C.H.U.D.s, but the government's cover-up. The debut, and only film, from writer Parnell Hall and director Douglas Cheek, C.H.U.D. was followed by 1989's C.H.U.D. 2: Bud the C.H.U.D. Co-stars Stern and Heard would later appear together in the first two Home Alone pictures, while Curry would appear in the third. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Heard, Kim Greist, (more)
- 1991
- PG13
Kid N' Play (Christopher Reid and Christopher Martin) star in this role-reversal comedy that plays like a badly done sitcom without the laughs. The switcheroo occurs when two inner-city high school students -- one a straight-A whiz-kid and the other an angry criminal type -- have to switch identities and are forced to live each other's lives. Christopher Reid is Duncan Pinderhughes, a student with perfect grades but who can't graduate high school unless he passes gym. Christopher Martin plays Blade Brown, whose probation officer gives him an ultimatum -- graduate high school or go to jail. Due to a mix-up in their high school records, Pinderhughes and Brown are forced to take over each other's lives. Brown ends up in a class for gifted students, and Pinderhughes finds himself skulking behind the school building to a shotgun shack that houses all the high school's troublemakers. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher "Kid" Reid, Christopher "Play" Martin, (more)
So how far would you go to win a beauty pageant? That's the burning question of Drop Dead Gorgeous, in which the citizens of Mount Rose, Minnesota gear up for the year's biggest event, the Sarah Rose Miss Teen Princess America Pageant, in which Becky Leeman (Denise Richards) and Amber Atkins (Kirsten Dunst) are the contestants to beat. Becky's mother Gladys (Kirstie Alley), a former beauty queen herself, has instilled in her daughter a drive to succeed at any cost. And Gladys will do anything to help Becky's chances of success. Amber's mother Annette (Ellen Barkin) is devoted to her daughter but drinks, smokes, and swears like a sailor. And while Amber is ambitious and a skilled beautician (a talent that she uses in her part-time job at the local mortuary), her view of the pageant is pragmatic: while boys can get sports scholarships, this pageant may be her only ticket out of town. However, Amber and the other contestants may have underestimated just how badly Becky wants to win -- or just how good she is with a gun. Drop Dead Gorgeous was directed by Michael Patrick Jann, a founding member of the sketch comedy group The State (who had their own series on MTV), and written by Lorna Williams, a veteran of the beauty pageant circuit who claims that nearly everything in the film is based on an actual incident. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirsten Dunst, Ellen Barkin, (more)
- 1984
- PG
In yet another rubber-stamped, mid-'80s teen dancing film, hot on the success of Flashdance, a group of high schoolers called the "Adventurers Eight" from Sandusky, Ohio (known by Midwest teens for its large amusement park), decide to undertake a journey to New York City to enter the Big Showdown, a dance competition with corporate sponsors. As though Sandusky were somehow insulated from the teen culture that otherwise spreads new trends like wildfire, these teens are not aware of the latest dance crazes on the streets of New York, something they pick up while in the city. But misfortune strikes, and they lose their one connection to entering the big contest. They then have to survive the usual con artists or worse -- look for another way to get into the competition. If this script had been rehauled by teens familiar with their real language and attitudes, then the title Fast Forward would apply more to the action in the movie than the remote control. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Scott Clough, Don Franklin, (more)
- 1999
Monica (Courteney Cox) is turned off by Chandler's (Matthew Perry) phony "work laugh," figuring that anyone who has to work that hard to pretend that he thinks something is funny is nothing more than a suck-up at the office. Meanwhile, Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) pretends that she knows nothing about Monica and Chandler's relationship. And Ross (David Schwimmer) tries to console himself over the impending marriage of his ex-wife Emily by going out with the annoying Janice (Maggie Wheeler) -- who by now is less annoying than annoyed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Pete (Jon Favreau) enters a grueling "ultimate fight," leading to a lot of hurt and a fateful decision by Monica (Courteney Cox). Ross' (David Schwimmer) new date Bonnie (Christine Taylor) once had a hair problem -- mainly, she didn't have any. Chandler's (Matthew Perry) new boss gives a whole new meaning to the word forceful. And yes, those two guys in the park are just who you think they are. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A criminal trying to reform is forced to endure the most humiliating punishment of all -- hanging out with his son -- in this family comedy. Ray Gleason (Ted Danson) is a thief whose ambitions far outstrip both his skill and his intelligence; Ray is just bright enough to have realized this, and he's decided to go straight and open a bake shop (he learned how to decorate cakes during his last stay in prison). However, Ray needs to raise some working capital, so in association with his buddies Bobby (Saul Rubinek) and Carl (Gailard Sartain) he is planning his last heist, in which they hope to walk away with a highly valuable collection of rare coins. Ray also happens to have an 11-year-old son, Timmy (Macaulay Culkin), whose mother died several years ago; Timmy has been living with his aunt, but when she gets married and goes away on her honeymoon, Timmy ends up staying with Ray. Timmy is a lot smarter than his dad and quickly figures out what Ray and his cronies have been up to; he's long felt a great deal of resentment toward his father for not being around when he needed him, so Timmy steals the loot from the robbery and uses it to blackmail Ray into spending some quality time with him. Timmy also thinks that it's high time Ray settled down, so when he notices that Theresa (Glenne Headly), an undercover cop, has been following Ray's trail, Timmy tries to play matchmaker and bring them together. Getting Even with Dad would prove to be the next-to-last screen appearance for former pre-teen superstar Macaulay Culkin; he was 14 when this film was released, and within five years he was a married man attending the Rhode Island School of Design. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Macaulay Culkin, Ted Danson, (more)
- 1987
Hands of a Stranger was adapted by playwright Arthur Kopit from the best-selling novel by Robert Daley. Armand Assante plays a New York City narcotics officer who aids DA Blair Brown in her investigation of a rape case in which drugs were involved. In the subsequent days, Assante becomes something of an expert in rape evidence. Thus, when his wife Beverly D'Angelo is sexually assaulted while en route to a rendezvous with her lover, Assante suspects something even though D'Angelo remains mum about the incident. Conducting his own investigation, Assante determines the rapist's identity while wiretapping a phoned-in attempt to blackmail his wife. Will Assante forget everything he's learned about police procedure and attempt to take the law into his own hands? Co-starring in Hands of a Stranger is Arliss Howard as the scummy rapist. Preceded by a warning that the film contained scenes of a violent and graphic nature, Hands of a Stranger was originally broadcast in two parts, on May 10 and 11, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2004
Superman's cousin, Supergirl (aka Kara), has been having weird nightmares in which she appears to be cast in the role of an assassin. When J'onn J'onnz is unable to telepathically decipher these dreams, Green Arrow and The Question try to help Supergirl -- who soon tumbles to the possibility that she might not be dreaming at all. Fans of The Manchurian Candidate will enjoy the plot twists in this episode, which establishes a plot strand that will be explored in further chilling detail in the later episode "Ultimatum." ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicholle Tom, Kin Shriner, (more)
Eighteen years after making his feature directorial debut with the satanic telephone shocker 976-Evil, screen legend Robert England steps back behind the camera to call the shots for this story of a Hollywood Hills home with a particularly dark past. When three best friends score a big insurance claim, they decide that it's time to purchase their own place and finally fly away from the nest. Though rumors persist that they may be getting more than they bargained for, youthful enthusiasm wins out over good judgment and their initial excitement soon gives way to inescapable terror. Daniel Franzese, Eric Jungman, and Shane McRae star in a film featuring Joey Lawrence, Andy Milonakis, and Lin Shaye. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Franzese, Eric Jungmann, (more)
- 1976
Maria Schell guest stars as a East European nun who arrives in New York accompanied by a countryman named Toza (Herb Edelman). In truth, the "nun" is a Yugoslavian princess named Viva Dushan, and Toza is her faithful general factotum. The two emigres are determined to recover a fortune in jewels stolen from the Princess during WW2, and they are convinced that the gems are in the possession of big-time mobster Vitto Colletti (Harry Goz). Inevitably, Kojak (Telly Savalas) must see to it that justice is done through the proper channels--and that the Princess survives the intrigue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Steve Martin wrote and stars in this look at the promise and dreamtime of Los Angeles culture. Martin stars as Harris K. Telemacher, a light-hearted television weatherman who does wacky comedy in lieu of reports since, being in L.A., he has very little weather to report. He spends his time roller-skating through museums and spending time with California's beautiful people. But Telemacher is fired and discovers that his girlfriend Trudi (Marilu Henner) is having an affair. He walks away from the relationship and re-evaluates his life, getting advice from a friendly electronic highway road sign. The sign suggests that he call SanDeE (Sarah Jessica Parker), a sprightly and attractive Valley Girl he met in a clothing store. With SanDeE he experiences a liberating and carefree spirit. But Telemacher comes to realize that he has actually fallen in love with Sara (Victoria Tennant), a tuba-playing British journalist who is in California to do a feature on Los Angeles lifestyles. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Victoria Tennant, (more)
The serine waters of Lake Placid stir once again in this sequel that finds laid-back Sheriff James Riley (John Schneider) teaming with an inquisitive Fish and Wildlife Agent (Sarah LaFleur), a quick-triggered big game hunter (Sam McMurray), and his intuitive guide (Joe Holt) to investigate suspicions that another killer crock may be on the loose in the rural community. Two years ago, a pair of thirty foot-long prehistoric crocodiles terrorized the residents of Lake Placid. While most of the locals assumed that the nightmare had ended when the murderous creatures were killed, local crocodile lover Sadie (Cloris Leachman) knows that the truth is far more terrifying. Beneath the surface of Lake Placid, the remaining predators have been quietly reproducing, awaiting the moment they will emerge from the water and cement their status on the top of the food chain. Now, as Sheriff Riley's rebellious teenage son (Shad Collins) departs for a relaxing lakeside camping trip, the desperate father realizes the danger that lies beneath the surface and races to confront a prehistoric predator that won't stop until it's consumed every last local. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Schneider, Cloris Leachman, (more)
While lots of people dream of winning the lottery, one man hatches a more ambitious plan than just buying a ticket and hoping for the best in this satiric comedy. Russ Richards (John Travolta), a weatherman on a local TV station in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, sells snowmobiles on the side, but both careers are in a rut thanks to an unusually warm winter. Russ's girlfriend Crystal (Lisa Kudrow) appears on the State Lottery's weekly televised drawing, pulling the numbered balls out of the rotating bin. With the help of a few of his less scrupulous friends - among them sleazy strip joint proprietor Gig (Tim Roth), small time hood Dale The Thug (Michael Rappaport), and Crystal's sleazy cousin Walter (Michael Moore) - Russ figures out a way to rig the drawing and have Crystal pull numbers that they happen to own. However, Russ discovers that making the scheme work and keeping everyone quiet about it is more trouble than it's worth. The supporting cast includes Chris Kattan, Ed O'Neill, and Bill Pullman; Nora Ephron, who previously worked with Travolta on the comedy hit Michael, directed. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Lisa Kudrow, (more)
- 1990
Peg (Katey Sagal) starts going to Marcy's (Amanda Bearse) dance hall, where her perennial partner is a handsome and elegant gentleman named Andy (Sam McMurray). Though Peg's hubby Al is cool with this, he doesn't quite know what to make of the news that Andy is married--to a "husband" named Pete! The latter character is played by Dan Castellaneta, one year into his long run as the voice of Homer Simpson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Mary Kay Place stars in this Emmy-winning ABC Afterschool Special, which was based on a true story. Fed up with her lazy husband and her ungrateful children, housewife Ellie Skinner (Mary Kay Place) plants a sign on her front lawn declaring herself to be "on strike." Pitching a tent on the lawn and walking a daily picket line, Ellie becomes a local celebrity and a heroine to beleaguered mothers everywhere -- while her hubby and kids must fend for themselves for the first time in their lives. Ellie's daughter, Jenny, who also serves as narrator, is played by Yeardley Smith, soon to game fame as the voice of Lisa Simpson; also in the cast is future Oscar winner Mercedes Ruehl. Mom's on Strike was remade (more or less) as a full-length TV movie in 2002. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Kay Place, Stephen Keep, (more)
- 1987
In the first episode of a four-part story arc, detective David Addison (Bruce Willis) briefly curbs his flippancy to find out why his partner Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd) is so unhappy of late. Following Maddie around town, David ends up trailing the wrong woman--and "wrong" hardly begins to cover the situation. Mark Harmon makes his first series appearance as Maddie's yuppie inamorata Sam Crawford, while Donna Dixon shows up as the "other" blonde--and listen for that "Three Stooges" reference, courtesy of the versatile Robert Wuhl. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
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The made for television movie Munster's Scary Little Christmas, created three decades after the demise of the original series, concerns son Eddie missing his home in Transylvania. Soon the entire family bands together to teach the young boy everything great about the holiday season. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam McMurray, Ann Magnuson, (more)
- 1989
- PG13
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Chevy Chase, star of National Lampoon's Vacation and its sequel, is back as the paterfamilias of the Griswold family (including Beverly D'Angelo as his missus) to skewer the Yuletide season. Chevy mugs, trips, falls, mashes his fingers and stubs his toes as he prepares to invite numerous dysfunctional relatives to his household to celebrate Christmas. Amidst the more outrageous sight gags (including the electrocution of a cat as the Christmas tree is lit) the film betrays a sentimental streak, with old wounds healing and long-estranged relatives reuniting in the Griswold living room. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation was still capable of attracting an audience five years after its release: It was one of the top-rated seasonal TV specials of 1994, outrating even the first network telecast of It's a Wonderful Life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, (more)
Combining influences from Tex Avery cartoons to Sam Raimi horror movies to 1940s B-movies, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen followed up the stylish film noir of their debut, Blood Simple (1984), with this frantic screwball comedy. H.I. "Hi" McDonnough (Nicholas Cage) is a philosophical but slightly dim career criminal who has been arrested so often that he gets to know "Ed," short for Edwina (Holly Hunter), the officer who takes his mug shots. Hi takes a shine to Ed and promises to go straight if she marries him. She accepts, and they move to the Arizona desert, where Hi holds down a factory job and blissfully watches the sunsets with Ed. Their serenity is shattered when the couple decides that they want a child and discover that, as Hi puts it, "Ed's womb was a rocky place where my seed could find no purchase." (One of the film's many delights is Hi's unexpectedly flowery dime-novel narration.) Ed goes into a severe depression until she sees an item in the news. Nathan Arizona (Trey Wilson), owner of a chain of unpainted furniture stores, has become the father of quintuplets, and he and his wife joke that they now have more children than they know what to do with. In what seems like a perfect "helps you, helps me" situation, Hi and Ed kidnap one of the Arizona infants, figuring that they'll have a baby and the Arizonas will have less of a burden. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, (more)
- 1995
- R
In this imaginative sci-fi thriller, rancher Alex Verne loses his loving wife and family at the ruthless hands of computer magnate Burrough's shot-gun wielding hitmen. They think they hit Alex too, but he is merely in a coma. He remains so until he hears a far-off version of "Amazing Grace" his wife's favorite song. Staggering across the desert, he ends up in a mystical cave where ancient immortals explain Burroughs' evil scheme. It seems the techno-tycoon discovered the remains of an ancient computer, one that predates the coming of homo-sapiens. The highly evolved original operators used their technology to change apes into humans. The newly created beings were then the servants of the ancients who eventually became so evolved that they zapped themselves into the realm of virtual reality. Burroughs wants to do the same, and Verne's land plays a key role in the old computer's operation. The ancients therefore transform Verne into a Cro-Magnon man with superhuman strength and assign him to crush Burroughs before he can use the computer and make a mistake that could destroy all humanity. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivier Gruner, Luke Askew, (more)
