Kim Oja Movies

A high profile Hollywood film producer becomes transfixed with a beautiful soap opera character who inexplicably emerges from his television set and beckons him to take one final shot at living life on his own terms. Black Racklin has all the respect, money, and success that one could hope for in life, yet despite all of this he remains emotionally suffocated by the pressures of his job. Each night when he closes his eyes, Black is haunted by dreams of a passing train, and a mysterious traveler who urges him to hop aboard - and each night Black fails to take that decisive leap. The only time that Black is able to find peace is when he's sitting at home and mindlessly channel-surfing, until one night when he comes across a bizarre soap opera. Bewitched by a beautiful character named Katherine, Black is dumbfounded when she magically appears in his living room and the two fall instantly in love. Now faced with the decision to finally leap on that passing train or snap himself back to reality, Black must finally make the decision that will define the rest of his life. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Critics were somewhat amused when this made-for-TV movie first aired over CBS on February 21, 1996. They could understand why someone would want to make a biopic about notorious "Hollywood madam" Heidi Fleiss (here played by Tricia Leigh Fisher)--but of what possible dramatic value was a film about Heidi's father, California consulting pediatrician Paul Fleiss? Well, that question was sufficiently answered throughout the film's 90 minutes, told largely in flashback from the point of view of Dr. Fleiss, portrayed by Michael Gross. According to Karol Ann Hoeffner's teleplay, Fleiss was a good, caring, almost saintly family man, whose misguided liberal sympathies led him to excesses of self-indulgence when it came to raising his children. So far as as the spoiled and pampered Heidi is concerned, Dr. Fleiss doesn't believe in discouraging her on any issue, including sex--and this, coupled with the neurotic attitudes of Heidi's repressed, high-strung mother Elissa (Cindy Pickett) led the girl into her life's work, using sex for profit while remaining coolly detached from her work and using her associates and customers rather than ever allowing them to use her. That Heidi is clearly the villain of the piece is made obvious not only by actress Fisher's vitriolic performance, but also by the dramatic core of the story, in which Dr. Fleiss ends up being charged with fraud when Heidi pressures him into signing a highly suspicious bank loan application. The sweeping inaccuracies in The Good Doctor: The Paul Fleiss Story evidently didn't hurt its ratings, nor did the film lack viewers when it was subsequently rerun on cable TV under the title The Making of a Hollywood Madam. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi