David Burton Morris Movies

The life of one of the most famous American women of the last half of the 20th century receives yet another retelling in this made-for-TV drama. Raised by a harsh, domineering mother (Frances Fisher) and a charming but unfaithful (and alcoholic) father (Fred Ward), Jacqueline Bouvier (Joanne Whalley) is born into privileged circumstances but learns early on that wealth and power do not guarantee happiness. Jackie falls in love with John F. Kennedy (Tim Matheson), the son of a family even richer and more influential than her own, and is by his side as he becomes President of the United States -- though she soon discovers that, like her father, his charm and position make him very attractive to other women, a temptation he does little to resist. After the assassination of Kennedy in 1963, Jackie becomes America's best-known widow, and is forced to struggle through her mourning in the glare of the public eye. Alone and with expensive tastes, Jackie eventually becomes the trophy wife of Aristotle Onassis (Philip Baker Hall), yet another wealthy and flamboyant man. Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was first aired in two parts on November 5 and 8, 2000, by the CBS television network. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Like many other made-for-TV biopics inspired by popular television series of yore, Come on Get Happy: The Partridge Family Story offers the spectacle of actors playing other actors playing different characters--and as such, those "characters" come off as more interesting than the "real" actors. Focusing exclusively on the five years (1970-1974) that The Partridge Family was in production, the story is told from the viewpoint of Danny Bonaduce (played by a pre-Desperate Housewives) Shawn Pyfrom), and accordingly is colored by the sentiments so often expressed by the real, irrepressibly outspoken Bonaduce. Upon landing the coveted role of Danny Partridge, young Bonaduce must contend with the jealousy of his abusive father Joseph (William Russ); all the while, Danny is a sidelines observer of the effect that overnight stardom has on his coworker David Cassidy (Keith Partridge), who (it says here) despises all the idolatry and yearns for a normal life. Rather touchingly, the film recounts the surrogate son-surrogate father relationship between Danny and actor Dave Madden (Michael Chieffo), who was genuinely fond of his younger costars despite the kid-hating irascibility of his "Reuben Kincaid" character. The film's highlight, which would be impossible to belief if it wasn't corroborated by witnesses, is the episode wherein Cassidy impulsively "kidnaps" Danny, whereupon both boys head off on a short journey of self-discovery; less easy to swallow is the scene which contrives a feud between the "Partridge" cast and the actors on the rival series The Brady Bunch (who are, interestingly enough, identified only by their character names and not their real names). Come on Get Happy: The Partridge Family Story made its ABC network bow on November 13, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Country singer Clint Black and his actress wife Lisa Hartman Black doubled as stars and producers in this fact-based TV movie. The career of champion rodeo cowboy Cadillac Jack Favor (Clint Black) comes to sudden and screeching halt when he is accused of a double homicide. As Jack languishes in prison, his loyal wife Ponder (Lisa Hartman Black), convinced of her husband's innocence, all but moves Heaven and Earth to clear his name and secure his freedom. But even if he is released, will Jack be the same man that Ponder married? Still Holding On: Legend of Cadillac Jack originally aired April 28, 1998, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this intriguing drama, a woman develops an interesting mechanism for dealing with high-stress situations; she simply develops amnesia and moves to a new location. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The made-for-TV Pretty Poison is a remake of the 1968 "cult" film of the same name, which starred Anthony Perkins and Tuesday Weld. Fresh out of a mental institution, the charming but delusional Dennis Pitt (Grant Show) cannot cope with the harsh realities of life and creates a dream world of his own, in which he is a daring government agent. In the course of his travels, Dennis meets a high school girl named Sue Ann Stepanek (Wendy Benson), who seems to swallow his tall tales about being an FBI man hook, line and sinker. As it turns out, however, Sue Ann has got a few problems of her own--chief of which is her deadly hatred for her domineering mother (Michelle Phillips). Inevitably, Mom is murdered and Dennis and Sue Ann hit the road together--and the question becomes not "When will they get caught?" but "Who exactly is manipulating whom?" Set in New England (but filmed in Montreal) and originally telecast by the Fox network on September 24, 1996, Pretty Poison was like its predecessor based on Stephen Geller's novel She Let Him Continue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A pre-Twister Jami Gertz heads the cast in the independently produced Jersey Girl. Born and bred in the Garden State, Gertz is overwhelmed by a desire to taste life in the Big City across the river. Once she lands in New York City, Gertz instantly meets Dylan McDermott, the man of her dreams-nearly totalling his Mercedes in the process. Likewise a refugee from New Jersey, the well-heeled McDermott feels both gratified and uncomfortable by Gertz's attentions; after all, she represents everything that he's fought long and hard to forget. Your enjoyment of Jersey Girl is utterly dependent upon your feelings towards Jami Gertz, since she's pretty much the whole show in this unpretentious PG-rated romance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lou Diamond Phillips stars in this contrived but entertaining thriller (which he also wrote) as Mitchell Osgood, an aspiring writer who runs a Los Angeles bookstore. When a heartfelt book about his father Haing S. Ngor fails to win him a publishing deal, Osgood decides to write something more eye-catching -- a book about recently-released serial killer Albert Merrick Clancy Brown. The media beats him to it, so the ruthlessly ambitious Osgood decides to spur Merrick to commit more crimes, hiring him to work at the bookstore and playing cruel mind games in hopes of setting Merrick off. He does, but the results are quite different from what Osgood had anticipated. Phillips' performance is weak, and the screenplay is predictably bland, but the film remains worthwhile thanks to a terrific job by Brown as the killer. Brown has turned in a number of fine psycho performances, but he has rarely been better than he is here, building from understated diffidence to full-blown psychosis in expert fashion. Grace Zabriskie and Willard E. Pugh co-star with Cecilia Peck. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

This is an adaptation of a popular, violent Marvel Comics series about a character who's a frontier-style vigilante in modern-day urban America. Dolph Lundgren stars as Frank Castle, once a crusading police officer whose family was murdered by a car bomb planted by the Mob. Believed to be killed in the explosion, Castle has gone underground, building a subterranean lair in the sewer system and vengefully assassinating various criminals, wracking up an impressive body count of 125 slain in five years. Castle's former partner, Jake Berkowitz (Louis Gossett, Jr.) rightly suspects that he knows the true identity of the motorcycle-riding avenger dubbed "the Punisher." Meanwhile, Castle's bloody campaign has had the intended effect of weakening organized crime, creating an opportunity to consolidate power for the ambitious Gianni Franco (Jeroen Krabbe), the man responsible for the Castle family hit. Sensing an opportunity to muscle in on new lucrative turf, foreign competitors threaten Franco's empire. When the Japanese yakuza has the crime boss' innocent son kidnapped, Castle finds himself in the ironic position of helping a man he'd like to kill. Filmed in Australia, this low-budget action thriller did not get a theatrical release in the U.S., instead going directly to video. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

A macho misogynist meets his match in this independent comedy-drama. Shortly before Christmas, Eddie Jenks (John Jenkins) gets a call from his old friend Billy Regis (Chris Mulkey). Billy has just learned that his girlfriend Patti Rocks (Karen Landry) is pregnant; Patti doesn't know that Billy already has a wife and two kids, and Billy wants Eddie to lend moral support for what he expects to be an ugly scene when he breaks the news to her. Over the course of a long drive, Billy regales Eddie at great length with his low opinion of women in general and Patti in particular, but when Eddie finally encounters Patti in the flesh, he discovers an intelligent, down-to-earth woman rather than the slatternly slob he'd been led to expect. As it turns out, Patti already figured out that Billy was married, wants no help from him in raising the child (which she intends to keep), and refuses to be apologetic about pursuing sex when she wants it, the same way a man would. Chris Mulkey and John Jenkins previously appeared as Billy and Eddie in David Burton Morris's 1975 feature Loose Ends. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this low-budget drama, Eddie (John Jenkins) and Billy (Chris Mulkey) are two regular-guy mechanics whose ambitions in life don't go far beyond drinking a few beers and shooting a few rounds of pool. However, both sometimes think that something is missing from their existence, and they occasionally talk about leaving their old lives behind and starting over. One night, Eddie buys a Great Dane as a pet for his young son, which sparks an argument with his wife; Eddie packs a bag and decides to stay with Billy for a while, and before long, the two decide that they should pull up stakes and move to another town. Loose Ends began as a student film co-directed by David Burton Morris and Victoria Wozniak, both of whom went on to careers working in television; Morris also directed the well-regarded independent film Purple Haze. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide