Jon Polito Movies

Crime Story was a valiant attempt by Miami Vice producer Michael Mann to present a compelling police drama series in a serialized fashion. Introduced as a two-hour TV movie on September 18, 1986, the weekly, hour-long series was initially set in Chicago in 1963. Dennis Farina, a former cop in real life, starred as Lt. Mike Torello, head of the windy city's Major Crime Unit (MCU), who carried on a blood feud with young, ambitious gangster Ray Luca (Anthony John Denison). Assisting Torello in his efforts was prosecuting attorney David Abrams (Stephen Lang), a mobster's son who had "seen the light" and switched sides. Others on Torello's team included Sgt. Danny Krychek (Bill Smitrovich), and detectives Nate Grossman (Steve Ryan), Joey Indelli (Bill Campbell), and Walter Clemmons (Paul Butler), while Luca was backed up by his faithful but dangerously stupid henchman Paulie Taglia (played by John Santucci, who, in a perverse spin of the Dennis Farina situation, had been a genuine criminal before turning to acting).

Halfway through season one, Luca and Paulie moved to Las Vegas, only to be closely followed by Torello and his men, who had become federal agents. The season ended with literal bang, as Luca and Paulie took refuge in a small house in the Nevada desert that turned out to be smack-dab in the middle of a nuclear testing site. Miraculously, the two gangsters managed to survive an atomic explosion with nary a scratch, and spent the series' second and final season playing a game of hide and seek with the Torello forces. Ultimately, the "good guys" bearded their prey in Mexico. In the course of events, Torello's marriage to his wife, Julie (Darlanne Fluegel, broke up, whereupon he entered into a relationship with Inga Thorson (Patricia Charbonneau). Also, both the cops and the robbers had brief encounters with the mob's "big boys," portrayed by such diverse actors as Joseph Wiseman and Andrew Dice Clay. Although the ratings for Crime Story were mediocre, NBC had faith in the series and kept it alive for two years. Like many other Michael Mann productions, the series was rich with authentic period detail, and came equipped with wall-to-wall vintage music, including the theme tune "Runaway", re-recorded (and recreated) by its original artist, Del Shannon. But for all of NBC's promotional skills and Michael Mann's production expertise, the series never caught on (more's the pity), and last aired on May 10, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Alan J. Pakula does the best anyone can with this complicated tale of what happens when the dream state and the waking state are confused and intermingled. While at home alone one day, Kathy Gardner (Kristy McNichol) defends herself against an intruder by stabbing him in the back. Now when she tries to sleep she keeps on having nightmares about the incident. Enter Michael Hansen (Ben Masters) a dream researcher who postulates that the actions in a dream state can be channeled into real but controlled actions. These real actions then harmlessly release tension or anger or whatever is at issue. The problem is that his research is not thoroughly tested, and Kathy may not be the best subject to use as a guinea pig. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Adapted from the "Destroyer" series of novels and comic books (not exactly the level of Ian Fleming), Remo Williams (Fred Ward) is a New York cop who works for a top-secret government agency accountable directly to the President of the U.S. After his reluctant induction into this agency, Remo is trained in a near-magical Korean martial arts form by Chiun (Joel Grey) in great sequences where walking on water is taken in stride. After his training, Remo goes after a corrupt arms manufacturer with connections in the U.S. military and acquires the necessary help-mate in the form of Major Rayner Fleming (Kate Mulgrew). Antics at the Statue of Liberty and other stunts enliven the action, but cannot make up for comic-book level characters. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

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