Lawrence Pressman Movies

In the days before Yom Kippur (aka the Day of Atonement), Zak Pikler takes his pregnant girlfriend, Delphina, to find his estranged father in the family drama Tickling Leo, written and directed by Jeremy Davidson. When they reach the man's home in the Catskills, Zak finds that his father has turned into a hermit and is suffering from dementia. But the problems in the present only mask those in the past, causing his father to revisit the Holocaust and his escape from Hungary. Produced by actress and director Mary Stuart Masterson, Tickling Leo stars Daniel Sauli, Annie Parisse, Lawrence Pressman, and Eli Wallach. ~ All Movie Guide

A former nun moves into the suburban home of her deceased aunt only to make a shocking discovery concerning a gruesome crime committed thirty years ago in director Kevin Conner's twisting tale of murder, matricide, and injustice. Together, prodigious savants James and Edward Talley's remarkable brilliance was nearly incalculable, but a sudden act of cold-blooded murder would find them forever confined to separate mental health institutions by strict court order. Ordered to spend the rest of his days at the Greenwillow care center for developmentally disabled adults, James Talley is housed in the same facility as ex-nun Christine Bennett (Megan Ward)'s cousin Gene (Matt Lutz). Upon moving into her aunt's former home in a bid to be closer to Gene, Christine becomes transfixed on the details of the Talley case and soon learns that, despite their current status as a danger to society, neither James nor Edward had ever been officially charged with the crime they were committed for. With the future of the Greenwillow care facility on the line, Christine vows to find out what really happened on that tragic night three decades ago, and ensure that her brother Gene and the other innocent souls housed at Greenwillow will always have a place to call home. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A middle-aged man finds a callow twentysomething usurping his professional life and worming his way into his family in this alternately funny and poignant comedy drama. Dan Foreman (Dennis Quaid) is a middle-aged man who has spent 20 years as the head of advertising sales for Sports America, a leading athletics magazine. Dan is happily married to Ann (Marg Helgenberger) and has a college-age daughter, Alex (Scarlett Johansson), whom he dotes on, but Dan's comfortable life is given a major shake-up when a large multimedia firm buys the magazine. Seen as a bit long in the tooth to be truly competitive, Dan is demoted to second in command of advertising, and his position is handed over to Carter Duryea (Topher Grace), a 26-year-old who talks a good game about sales but has no practical experience in the field. Dan's wounded ego makes working with the arrogant Carter an uphill battle, but when he learns that Ann is expecting another baby, Dan is in no position to quit. Before long, Dan becomes aware of Carter's intense insecurities about his new job as the younger man reaches out to him for guidance, but this doesn't make Dan any less angry when Carter begins a romance with Alex after his marriage to Kimberley (Selma Blair) crashes and burns. In Good Company marked the solo directorial debut of Paul Weitz; he previously worked in collaboration with his brother Chris Weitz, who serves as producer on this film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Filmed under the title The Big Dance, this tense, made-for-cable docudrama recreates the events following the devastating terrorist attack on New York City and Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001. The focus is on President George W. Bush, here played by Timothy Bottoms. Inasmuch as the film was assembled by a man avowedly sympathetic to Bush (Hollywood veteran Lionel Chetwynd), there are few ambiguities here: The president acts swiftly, decisively, and dispassionately, and there's no time to raise any questions about judgment, discretion, or diplomatic missteps, past, present, or future. Chetwynd's teleplay utilizes several well-known factoids (the president wanted to return to Washington immediately after the attack, but his advisors wouldn't let him) along with a number of newly unearthed information bites (the crew of Air Force One had to use cell phones to contact the DC airport, out of concern that their radio would alert terrorists to their location). Also dramatized are the efforts by the government to gather evidence against al-Qaida, and the president's inspiring address to the nation ten days after the tragedy. DC 9/11: Time of Crisis debuted September 7, 2003, on the Showtime network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Max (Jessica Alba) unexpectedly gets in touch with her "kinder, gentler" side when she agrees to accompany Logan (Michael Weatherly) to a Cale family wedding. Meanwhile, Max's friends are at the mercy of a hostile art smuggler named Duvalier (Master P), who intends to get revenge for a mix-up at the Jam Pony in which a stolen painting was delivered to the wrong place. This turn of events forces Max to briefly take leave of the wedding and rush to her pal's rescue -- but will she be able to save the day without mussing up her new 6,000-dollar dress? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's said that most American men think about sex once every two or three minutes, but this statistic would seriously underestimate the horniness of Jim (Jason Biggs), a high school senior in suburban Michigan. Jim is thoroughly obsessed with sex, a fact of which his parents become aware when they discover him performing the sin of Onan with a gym sock while watching scrambled pay-per-view porn. Jim's buddies Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas), Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas), and Oz (Chris Klein) are no less anxious to relieve themselves of their virginity, so they all make a pledge: they will go to bed with a woman in the three weeks before senior prom or die trying. Kevin appears to have the advantage, since he already has a girlfriend, Vicky (Tara Reid), but before he ventures into the Final Frontier, Kevin is urged to consult "The Bible," a hand-written how-to manual possessing erotic wisdom passed down through the ages. Oz is a good-looking jock who is actually a nice guy -- which is part of the problem, since he has his heart set on a nice girl, Heather (Mena Suvari), who does not seem the type to leap into bed within 21 days. Finch has no immediate prospects, though Jessica (Natasha Lyonne) is in a position to know if those rumors about him are true. And Jim is a truly hopeless case -- after his attempted seduction of beautiful Czech exchange student Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth) turns out to be a disaster, he ends up going to the prom with Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), an annoyingly chatty band geek who does, however, have a fascinating story about a flute. American Pie was the directorial debut of Paul Weitz, who, along with his brother Chris Weitz (who served as producer), previously wrote several screenplays, including Antz and Madeline (where they presumably worked all their wholesome ideas out of their system). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This 1998 version of Mighty Joe Young begins with a Gorillas in the Mist-type prologue and then jumps forward twelve years to find Bill Paxton leading a safari expedition to capture the legendary giant (two-ton) gorilla, the subject of the film's title. Paxton's intentions are admirable; he wants to remove the majestic beast from the imminent danger of poachers and set him up on a posh nature reserve in California. The x-factor comes in the form of Charlize Theron's beautiful jungle girl, Jill Young. Jill has been Joe's soul mate from birth and is the only human who can communicate with him. She is also the reason Paxton's maverick-on-the-run lingers at the reserve after his task is completed. From there, the plot is spurred on by the nefarious actions of a poacher with an Ahab complex and a battery of money hungry scientists who want to exploit Joe. Naturally, all of this puts a burr under the towering simian's skin, causing him to break free and go ape in L.A.'s concrete jungle. ~ Tom Meek, All Movie Guide

This comedy features TV's Seinfeld regular Michael Richards in his first starring role, opposite Jeff Daniels. Daniels plays Charlie Tuttle, an up-and-coming attorney engaged to Tiffany Whitfield (Alexandra Wentworth), the daughter of the law firm's boss (Lawrence Pressman). His boss sends him to a small Nevada town to represent a down-and-out relative, Benny Gibbs (Rip Torn). Benny has been charged with fraud for bilking people in a mail-order scam. At a bachelor party that Charlie's future father-in-law arranges for him in the small town, Charlie gets plastered. A small-time actor, Richard Rietti (played by Richards), agrees to switch places with Charlie for a simple hearing that day. The judge and prosecutor think he's Tuttle. As the trial begins, Charlie tries to pose as his associate, but the judge won't allow that. Charlie is forced to send signals to Richard during the trial by honking on a car horn in the parking lot. In the meantime, Charlie finds a new kind of happiness with a free-spirited local waitress, Billie Tyler (Charlize Theron). ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Lawrence Pressman guest stars as Tekeny Ghemor, a legendary Cardassian dissident who Kira has always regarded as a surrogate father. Now dying, Ghemor reveals secrets to Kira that she may use against her people's enemies. In the course of this ritualistic soul baring, Kira begins experiencing painful memories of her real father, and of his death at the hands of the Cardassian leaders. Scripted by Robert Hewitt Wolfe from a story by Edmund Newton and Robbin L. Slocum, "Ties of Blood and Water" debuted April 14, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The cast of this made-for-TV melodrama is comprised almost exclusively of popular young TV personalities, virtually all of them cast radically against type. Candace Cameron Bure heads the cast as Melissa Connell, a shy college freshman who accepts an invitation to attended a party held by her brother's fraternity. Admidst the booze, tobacco and sexual intercourse running rampant during the festivities, Melissa is savagely date-raped by one of her brother's frat members, Scott Baker (Paul-Mark Gosselaar). Demanding justice for her humiliation, Melissa runs up against a conspiracy of silence, and can only stand by helplessly as her B.M.O.C. attacker is acquitted by a campus court. Still, she intends to get even with Scott--but first she must accumulate irrefutable evidence of his libidinous behavior. She Cried No made its NBC debut on September 23, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Deep Space Nine's third season finale begins on an upbeat note, as Benjamin Sisko is appointed Captain. Things quickly take a downturn when one of Odo's fellow Changelings tricks Sisko into a course of action that turns out to be a Dominion plot to spark an apocalyptic war in the Alpha Quadrant. Even when Sisko manages to get things under control -- or so it seems -- he must come to grips with the fact that his troubles are just beginning. Originally telecast June 19, 1995, "The Adversary" was written by veteran Deep Space Nine scriveners Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Thanks to an expensive lawyer, Lesniak (Justine Miceli) has trouble prosecuting the man who "flashed" her. Simone (Jimmy Smits) collars a suspected serial killer, only to be trumped by glory-hogging Detective Solomon (Reni Santoni). Vinnie Greco (played by future Sopranos star Joe Pantoliano) tips Lt. Fancy (James McDaniel) off to an upcoming armored car robbery -- and inadvertently exposes high-level corruption at Internal Affairs. And as Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) prepares to propose to Sylvia (Shannon Lawrence), his son Andy Jr. (Michael DeLuise) has a surprise in store. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Kidnapped by the Cardassians, Kira is informed that she is really a Cardassian agent. Arguing that she is a Bajoran through and through, Kira is further informed that her appearance was surgically altered and her memory changed for espionage purposes. As the evidence mounts in the Carassian's favor, Kira continues to resist the notion that her entire existence has been a lie, but that resistance is slowly and surely weakening. First broadcast October 29, 1994 (just in time for Halloween, appropriately enough), "Second Skin" was written by Robert Hewitt Wolfe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide