David A. Penhale Movies
A smooth-talking confidence trickster makes his way into congress (where the cynical would suggest he'd have plenty of company) in this comedy. Thomas Jefferson Johnson (Eddie Murphy) is a con man from Florida who gets the bright idea that a scam artist could make a tidy sum if he was able to get inside the political arena. When a Florida congressman named Jeff Johnson dies and a special election is held to replace him, Thomas puts his name on the ballot as "Jeff Johnson," and enough confused voters check the ballot for him that he wins the race and is on his way to Washington D.C. Johnson soon finds a mentor in Dick Dodge (Lane Smith), chairman of the Power and Industry Committee, who shows Johnson the ropes on raking in PAC money while the late Mr. Johnson's aide, Reinhardt (Grant Shaud), gives him the inside scoop on how things work in Washington. Johnson's plans are going just as he hoped until he meets Celia Kirby (Victoria Rowell), a volunteer lobbyist and political activist whose uncle is a noted religious leader, The Rev. Elijah Hawkins (Charles S. Dutton). Johnson quickly becomes smitten with Celia, but it's obvious that she's not buying his act, and if he wants to win her heart, he'll have to stop fooling people into thinking he's honest and actually be honest. Joe Don Baker and Sheryl Lee Ralph also co-star. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eddie Murphy, Lane Smith, (more)
Until its last ten minutes or so, this filmed biography of controversial recording star Jerry Lee Lewis plays like a live-action cartoon. As played by Dennis Quaid, "the killer" is a very mixed-up individual: a saintly sinner, a world-wise naïf, a skilled performer with zero sense of discipline, a loving husband who uses his wife for a punching bag. The story takes place during the years 1956 through 1958, as Lewis rises to the top of the charts with such hits as "Crazy Arms," "A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," and the title tune. Along the way, he falls in love with his second cousin, Myra (Winona Ryder), eventually marrying the girl. When it is revealed that Myra is only 13 years old, Lewis is condemned as a molester and pervert by the public (his disastrous tour of England during this crisis is depicted in hilarious Tex Avery fashion). After establishing a brisk, satirical tone through most of the proceedings, the film plummets into heavy dramatics in its final portions, jarring disastrously with all that has gone before. Otherwise, Quaid is terrific as Lewis (expertly lip-synching to the original records,) and Ryder is equally good as the long-suffering Myra. Featured in the cast are Alec Baldwin as Jerry's cousin Jimmy Swaggart (the same!), Michael St. Gerard as Lewis' great rival Elvis, and Steve Allen as himself. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dennis Quaid, Winona Ryder, (more)
- 1986
Kate Jackson had intended to both produce and star in the made-for-TV A Child's Cry, but her busy Scarecrow and Mrs. King schedule forced her to relinquish the leading role to Lindsay Wagner. Wagner plays Joanne Van Buren, a sensitive social worker whose latest charge, young Eric Townsend (Taliesen Jaffe), shows signs of being abused. Running up against several walls of resistance, Joanne nonetheless continues to investigate. She ultimately unearths a shocking truth involving Eric's father, played in image-busting fashion by James Brolin. A Child's Cry debuted February 9, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1985
The Cup A' Joe is a small family diner owned by Patty Dutton (Lisa Denton) and her parents. Secretly in league with crooked land developers, big-time restauranteur Cactus Jack Slater (John Ashton) is pressuring the Duttons to sell him their diner, using tactics ranging from unfair to lethal. The A-Team comes to the rescue by briefly taking over the Cup A' Joe themselves, with Murdock becoming a "different"chef (with different accent!) for each order. The climax involves a hidden bomb and an 18-wheeler that has miraculously returned from the dead! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1983
B.A. (Mr. T) persuades his fellow A-Teamers to help him rescue his pal from Strikersville, a brutal Florida prison farm where sadistic warden (Clifton James) forces the inmates to participate in to-the-death boxing matches--then orders his deputies to hunt down and kill the "winner" like an animal. In addition to the team's efforts to get themselves arrested (it's "Three Stooges" time!), the real fun in this episode arises from their disguises: Hannibal (George Peppard) as a prissy hairdresser, the loquacious B.A. as a deafmute, and the sharkish Face (Dirk Benedict) as mad medico "Dr. Pepper." Former heavyweight boxing champion Ken Norton appears as the aptly named Jackhammer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1982
Fed up with the incessant squabbling between Diane (Shelley Long) and Carla (Rhea Perlman), Sam demands that they try to bury the hatchet. This they do over a couple of drinks...and a couple more and a couple more. By the time the two girls have reached the "best buddy" stage, Carla feels relaxed enough to impart a deep dark secret about her youngest child to the garrulous Diane. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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