Renee O'Connor Movies
A former Mickey Mouse Club starlet who has since gone on to craft an impressive career in film and television, Renee O'Connor gained widespread exposure thanks to her small-screen role as Xena's (Lucy Lawless) trusty sidekick, Gabrielle, in the hit television adventure series Xena: Warrior Princess. A Texas native who discovered her love of acting while performing at Houston's Alley Theater at age 12, the aspiring actress attended Taylor High School before refining her skills at the Huston High School of Visual and Performing Arts. After donning various cartoon costumes at Six Flags amusement park, O'Connor made the move to Los Angeles and soon landed a role in the Mickey Mouse Club serial drama Teen Angel (a revival of the original series Spin and Marty). Though a subsequent appearance in an Arnold Schwarzenegger-helmed episode of HBO's Tales From the Crypt ultimately ended up on the cutting room floor, early exposure came soon thereafter with a role in the 1991 television miniseries Changes. Following appearances in a pair of features and made-for-television films, O'Connor caught the eye of producer Rob Tapert during an audition for a role in the 1994 made-for-television adventure Hercules and the Lost Kingdom, and in addition to also casting her in the direct-to-video sequel to partner Sam Raimi's Darkman, the duo agreed that she would make a great addition to a new show they were producing. Her participation in the hit series Xena: Warrior Princess proved invaluable, and O'Connnor and Lawless' chemistry gelled right from the start. Following the cancellation of Xena: Warrior Princess, O'Connor would continue her feature career with the 2000 comedy drama Rubbernecking. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Robert Conrad, William McNamara, and Sharon Farrell star in this crime drama about a police detective assigned to investigate the brutal murders of three children. With few leads but an iron will to put the killer behind bars, the detective is willing to do almost anything, including listening to a woman who claims to have psychic powers and has been visited with visions of the crime. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Conrad, William McNamara, (more)
This eighth adaptation of the timeless Mark Twain novel casts Elijah Wood as Huckleberry Finn, the half-literate son of a drunk who runs away from home and follows the Mississippi River with an escaped slave named Jim (Courtney S. Vance). Along the way, the duo encounter adventures with colorful characters like The King (Jason Robards) and the Duke (Robbie Coltrane), two con men who impersonate British visitors in order to swindle two sisters out of their fortune, and Susan Wilks (Laura Bundy), the spunky 12-year-old girl who gives Huck his first kiss. Jim also re-educates Huck away from the racist views that he has grown up with. Not the most in-depth version of Twain's tale, The Adventures Of Huck Finn is a solid retelling of the classic story. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elijah Wood, Courtney Vance, (more)
- 1993
Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) draws what seems to be the easiest duty of the week: tracking down the Academy Award statuette stolen from a veteran screenwriter. Meanwhile, Sipowicz's colleagues investigate the brutal slaying of a wealthy family, and Janice (Amy Brenneman) is again ordered to infiltrate the Mob. This last turn of events doesn't sit well with Kelly (David Caruso), who has a bitter confrontation with Janice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this made for TV movie based on Danielle Steele's novel, Cheryl Ladd portrays a successful New York television anchorwoman. When she marries a successful surgeon in Los Angeles, romance becomes difficult with their careers on opposite ends of the country. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cheryl Ladd, Michael Nouri, (more)
- 1991
- R
In the early '90s, Brian Bosworth made the seamless transition from football bad boy to onscreen bad ass. In Stone Cold, the Boz plays cop Joe Huff, a brute force specialist. The FBI contracts him to take down a biker gang known as the Brotherhood, who have been implicated in drug trafficking and several murders. Joe assumes the personality of John Stone and goes undercover. His mission seems not to bust the gang but rather to kill with excessive force. Before he can take the law into his own hands, however, he has to get in with the gang's leader, the impressively tough Chains. The Boz doesn't disappoint, and he gets his chance in the final confrontation where he takes on several score of the Brotherhood in the street battle to end all street battles. ~ Brian Whitener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Bosworth, Lance Henriksen, (more)
- 1990
- PG
Waylaid and left for dead by an enemy agent, U.S. intelligence officer Harlan Erickkson (Stacy Keach) awakens with amnesia. Because his assailant had switched clothes and identification with him, Erickkson now believes that he's the enemy spy. The authorities think so too, and lock up Erickkson for nearly 20 years. Upon his release, Erickkson, still suffering from memory loss, is inexorably drawn to his home town. Once we meet his family, we can understand why Erickkson has blocked out his prior existence! The film segues from an espionage melodrama to a "family skeleton" affair straight out of Faulkner. Veronica Cartwright and Genevieve Bujold, cast respectively as Keach's bibulous sister-in-law and a local radio deejay, do what they can with impossibly written roles. False Identity was directed by star Stacy Keach's brother James. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stacy Keach, Geneviève Bujold, (more)
- 1989
- R
Night Game is a sweetly irreverent, low-key comedy which is also an engaging crime thriller. Mike Seaver (Roy Scheider), an ex-ballplayer who's now a homicide detective with the Galveston police, has to solve some vicious grappling-hook murders, somehow linked to hometown-wins by the Houston Astros baseball team. Engaged to cute, young, blonde concession-owner Roxy (Karen Young), Steve must juggle his romance with Roxy while at the same time watching out for her. Roxy is just the type of woman who the murderer stalks, brutally murdering them and leaving their bodies by the boardwalk where Roxy manages her concession with her mother Alma (Carlin Glynn). While the premise of the plot is somewhat hard to believe, the entire cast turns in solid performances as colorful, offbeat characters. The script, by Spencer Eastman and Anthony Palmer is well-written and highly amusing with a level of gallows wit uncommon in a crime thriller. The climax, although obvious to all but the most unsophisticated movie-goer, doesn't spoil the fun of this unusual film which is stylishly staged and sufficiently gripping. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Scheider, Karen Young, (more)
- 1989
Jane Badler, best known as the deceptively beautiful, lizard-swallowing alien in V, is top-billed in Black Snow. The title refers not to the stuff that falls from the sky in wintertime but instead to cocaine. Specifically, $50,000,000 worth of cocaine, stolen in mid-delivery. The mob wants it back, and you know how the mob responds to a "no." Black Snow is a direct-to-cassette offering from American-International Video. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
