Drew Pillsbury Movies
A waitress looking to make good on a series of bad life choices finds her noble quest for redemption stifled when a deeply disturbed ex-boyfriend comes looking to win her back in a dark psychological drama from director Alan White. Hope (Heather Graham) has traveled quite a few darkened roadways in her relatively brief existence, but now the time has come to leave her past behind and realize her dreams of becoming an entertainer. Soon after moving to the big city, Hope makes the acquaintance of Will (Jeremy Sisto). When the pair subsequently gets involved with drugs Hope realizes that in order to truly get her life together she must jettison her enabler once and for all, she cuts off all ties to Will. Unfortunately for Hope, Will is determined to take deadly measures to ensure that he and his true love always remain together - whether in the comforting light of life, or the cold embrace of death. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Heather Graham, Jeremy Sisto, (more)
Sisters Gabrielle C. and Maria Burton direct the independent comedy Manna From Heaven, written by their mother, Gabrielle B. Burton, and produced by their siblings at Five Sisters Productions. In Buffalo, NY, during the '50s, the wind blows in cash money to the tune of 20 thousand dollars. Believing it was a tangible gift from God, Sister Teresa (Ursula Burton) tries to gather up the money and pay it back 30 years later. However, her family members don't want to give up their free money and can't even get along, including card dealer Inez (Wendie Malick) and con artists Bunny (Shirley Jones) and Ed Burns (Frank Gorshin, in his final film role). Also starring Seymour Cassel, Shelley Duvall, Cloris Leachman, Harry Groener, Faye Grant, Jill Eikenberry and Louise Fletcher. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Burton, Ursula Burton, (more)
Following in the vein of (Roger Dodger and In the Company of Men), director Brent Huff presents a crash course on the relationship between sexual and corporate power plays in The 100 Mile Rule. The infamous rule states that one is well within his rights to sexually indulge himself with someone other than his wife or girlfriend, provided that he is more than 100 miles away from home. This so-called rule becomes a topic of hot debate when a couple of Detroit salesmen must attend a business trip. Jerry (David Thornton) is a vocal supporter of the rule, although most of his attempts to utilize it are met with contempt and disregard. Bobby (Jake Weber), however, is a family man who staunchly resists joining his friends in their visits to various escort services, strip joints, and porn shops. Unfortunately for everyone involved, Bobby falters and allows himself a sexual encounter with Monica (Maria Bello), a beautiful cocktail waitress. It turns out, however, that Monica demands payment for her services, and she has videotaped Bobby in bed with her. Although Jerry admits he orchestrated the entire thing due to a high-profile customer he had lost to Bobby, the two salesmen end up seeking advice from their senior manager Howard (Michael McKean), who has seen it all before. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jake Weber, Maria Bello, (more)
- 2002
In the concluding half of NYPD Blue's ninth-season finale, a baffling case involving an apparently murdered 12-year-old child takes yet another twist when a surprising new suspect looms on the horizon. Meanwhile, another homicide case is investigated, this one involving a man named Larry Tyner (Ted Marcoux), who claims to be a serial rapist despite the fact that everyone who knows Larry thinks the world of him. And still reeling from a plethora of personal crises and setbacks, Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) draws up papers to make certain that his son Theo (Austin Majors) will have a legal guardian "just in case." Finally, John Clark Sr. (Joe Spano) admits that he loves his son John Jr. (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) -- to everyone but John Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Simmons
- 2002
In the first half of NYPD Blue's ninth-season finale, no sooner have Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) and Connie McDowell (Charlotte Ross) returned from Disney World than they join the rest of the 15th precinct in a case involving a missing four-year-old boy. At first, it seems as though the youngster has fallen victim to an online sexual predator, but before long, several other possible suspects come to surface. Elsewhere, gay cop John Irvin (Bill Brochtrup) inherits a huge amount of money from his late long-estranged father. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Simmons
- 1999
The life of affluent and well-connected wife and mother Joanna Kendall (Margaret Colin) begins to unravel when, while driving her car on a rainy day, she accidentally strikes down an eight-year-old child. Her first impulse is to leave the scene of the accident and search for medical assistance. When she returns, a crowd has gathered, angrily demanding justice against the "hit and run" driver who left the little girl without coming to her aid. Panicking, Joanna decides not to alert the authorities of her responsibility; nor is she able to tell her husband Doug (Drew Pillsbury), despite a half-hearted effort to confess. Only through the intervention of female police officer Lt. Rico (Lisa Vidal) is there any hope that the truth will out--and that Joanna will be able to redeem herself. During production of this made-for-TV drama, the fate of the young accident victim was not decided upon until the last day of filming, as the producers debated over the extent of audience sympathy they wanted to engender for the guilt-ridden Joanne Kendall. Clearly inspired by Crime and Punishment (as noted by more than one contemporary TV critic), Hit and Run originally aired January 11, 1999 on the Lifetime channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Colin
Welder, and would-be sculptor, Wade Hampton (Drew Pillsbury) has been stuck in a Bakersfield, California factory job for 15 years. One day the introspective Hampton drops his tools, walks out, steals a car, leaves his wife and son, and begins driving toward Jerome, Arizona, a place Hampton saw described on a postcard as an "artists community." Along the way, Hampton picks up hitchhiker Jane (Wendie Malick), who apparently has no true destination. Jane compliments his art, but time passes before the two embrace passionately and make love. Intercut into the narrative are interviews with people from Hampton's past who speculate on why he "snapped and committed murder." The executive producer of this film is the film/TV comedy actor David Spade. Shown at 1998 film fests (Americn Film Institute, Austin, Florida, Melbourne, Sedona, Taos). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Drew Pillsbury, Wendie Malick, (more)
Four men just barely on the right side of the law step into a web of danger and corruption in this drama. In the early 1950s, Max Hoover (Nick Nolte) is a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department who leads what's been dubbed "the hat squad," a group of sharp-dressed cops who are ordered to stamp out organized crime using any means necessary, with legality and delicacy not much of an issue. Hoover and his partners Ellery Coolidge (Chazz Palminteri), Eddie Hall (Michael Madsen), and Arthur Relyea (Chris Penn) are looking into the brutal murder of a young woman named Allison Pond (Jennifer Connelly). In the course of their investigation, they discover that Allison had a lively sexual history, and she possessed explicit films of herself with her lovers, including Gen. Thomas Timms (John Malkovich), leader of the newly-formed Atomic Energy Commission. Timms becomes a key suspect, and he reveals the first of a long trail of troubling secrets, but Hoover has secrets of his own that he's trying to keep covered in the process -- including the fact that he and Allison were once an item. Popular vocalist Aaron Neville has a cameo as a singer at a night spot. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nick Nolte, Melanie Griffith, (more)
- 1994
Once again, Al (Ed O'Neill) shoots off his big mouth, and the result is a grudge match between his alma mater Polk High School and longtime rival Onassis High. Unfortunately, the opposing lineup includes such NFL stars as John S. "Hacksaw" Reynolds, Bubba Snith, Ken "The Snake" Stabler and Lawrence Taylor. As a result, ex-gridiron favorite Al is reduced to the status of tackling dummy--with emphasis on "dummy". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This made-for-TV domestic drama is a follow-up to 1990's Children of the Bride. Rue McClanahan plays a 53-year-old newlywed, the wife of much-younger Ted Shackelford (replacing the earlier film's Patrick Duffy) It's bad enough when McClanahan unexpectedly becomes pregnant. It gets worse when the same thing happens to her unwed teenaged daughter Kristy McNichol. Directed by actor Bill Bixby, Baby of the Bride first aired December 22, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
- PG13
Lisa, a well-crafted, sly, thriller, directed by Gary Sherman tells the story of a young girl who makes telephone calls to a man who she later finds out is a serial killer. Lisa (Stacy Keanan) is a 14-year-old girl whose mother Katherine (Cheryl Ladd), having been herself an unwed mother, forbids her to have dates until she is 16 years old. Katherine has raised Lisa alone and has a good business as a florist, but due to her own past trauma, never dates. Lisa retreats into a fantasy world and finds men, follows them, and begins making enticing telephone calls to them. One of the men turns out to be a handsome restaurant owner, who also likes to kill women, tracking them down very much the same way that Lisa does. This leads to a very exciting conclusion when the killer mistakes Katherine for Lisa. Lisa, well-directed and well-acted, is a fine, satisfying thriller. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cheryl Ladd, D.W. Moffett, (more)
- 1989
- R
This film, loosely-based on the book by Bob Woodward, follows the career of comedian John Belushi (Michael Chiklis) as his spirit is guided through the past by the Angel Velasquez (Ray Sharkey). ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Chiklis, Ray Sharkey, (more)
- 1988
The Blue Moon's latest client is Nora Cooper (Karen Landry), who is looking for the husband to whom she was married for only five days--and who has been missing for ten years. Searching for the absent hubby, David (Bruce Willis) and Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) enter the rarefied world of poolrooms, sharks and hustlers. And as a bonus, the episode offers another "tumble-on" unbilled role for C. Thomas Howell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
I'll Be Home for Christmas has the texture of a Norman Rockwell painting and the ambience of William Saroyan's The Human Comedy. Set in Rockport, Massachusetts (where this TV movie was filmed), the story takes place during World War II. Hal Holbrook and Eva Marie Saint are the parents of three grown children, all of whom are involved in some capacity with the defense program. Oldest son Whip Hubley is a bomber pilot, daughter Nancy Travis is a "Rosie the Rivetter," and younger son Jason Oliver has just enlisted. The film doesn't miss a trick, from the presence of the daughter's soldier-boy sweetheart to the crucial wire from the War Department. Its expected cliches aside, I'll Be Home for Christmas is meticulous in its recreation of the Yuletide of 1944; the film is perfect Christmas Eve TV fare, and never mind that it originally premiered on December 12, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A year after appearing in the box-office sleeper Shanghai Surprise, pop superstar Madonna starred in the screwball comedy Who's That Girl? She plays Nikki Finn, who is being released from prison after serving a four-year sentence for a murder she didn't commit. Meanwhile, wealthy lawyer Loudon (Griffin Dunne) is about to get married that afternoon to the snobby Wendy (Haviland Morris), the daughter of Simon Worthington (John McMartin). Worthington does not approve of the wedding and he wants Nikki out of town as soon as possible, so he sends Loudon to collect Nikki and take her to the bus station. Instead, the flamboyant Nikki seeks her revenge while trying to find out what happened to her friend Johnny, which causes Loudon a lot of trouble. Naturally, wild action ensues -- some of it involving an escaped Cougar belonging to Loudon's boss, the millionaire animal collector Montgomery Bell (John Mills) -- and Loudon having to choose between the prim Wendy and the unpredictable Nikki. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madonna, Griffin Dunne, (more)
