J.A. Preston Movies

Youthful lawbreaker Jason DeLee (Vicelllous Reon Shannon) is "volunteered" by Monica (Roma Downey) to participate in a program sponsored by Denver Juvenile Services, wherein at-risk teenagers help out with physically disabled youngsters at the Linwood Children's Academy. Despite his initial resistance, Jason manages to form a bond with cerebral palsy victim Kelly (Marisa Velez). Unfortunately, Kelly's mom Anita (a pre-The Practice Camryn Manheim) has a deep and abiding hatred for all "gang-bangers," and she is convinced that Jason is beyond redemption. When originally telecast on April 27, 1997, this episode was introduced by General Colin Powell, who at the time was General Chairman of the President's Summit on America's Future. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this military courtroom drama based on the play by Aaron Sorkin, Navy lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) is assigned to defend two Marines, Pfc. Louden Downey (James Marshall) and Lance Cpl. Harold Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison), who are accused of the murder of fellow leatherneck Pfc. William Santiago (Michael de Lorenzo) at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Kaffee generally plea bargains for his clients rather than bring them to trial, which is probably why he was assigned this potentially embarassing case, but when Lt. Commander JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore) is assigned to assist Kaffee, she is convinced that there's more to the matter than they've been led to believe and convinces her colleague that the case should go to court. Under questioning, Downey and Dawson reveal that Santiago died in the midst of a hazing ritual known as "Code Red" after he threatened to inform higher authorities that Dawson opened fire on a Cuban watchtower. They also state that the "Code Red" was performed under the orders of Lt. Jonathan Kendrick (Kiefer Sutherland). Kendrick's superior, tough-as-nails Col. Nathan Jessup (Jack Nicholson), denies any knowledge of the order to torture Santiago, but when Lt. Col. Matthew Markinson (J.T. Walsh) confides to Kaffee that Jessup demanded the "Code Red" for violating his order of silence, Kaffee and Galloway have to find a way to prove this in court. A Few Good Men also features Kevin Bacon as prosecuting attorney Capt. Jack Ross and Kevin Pollak as Kaffee and Galloway's research assistant, Lt. Sam Weinberg. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

"Curiosity Killed" concerns Dan (Kevin McCarthy) and Cynthia (Margot Kidder), a couple whose marriage is a shadow of its former self. Dan's pal, Billy (J.A. Preston), offers some friendly advice on how to get Cynthia out of his life once and for all; however, Cynthia has plans of her own for Dan. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Aftermath: A Test of Love begins where most TV movies end. Based on fact (as recorded in Gary Kinder's book Victim), the story revolves around the family of Richard Chamberlain, an aloof obstetrician. The family falls victim to a violent, random crime, depicted in gruesome detail. Chamberlain's wife is murdered, and one of his sons is seriously wounded. Surviving this ordeal, Chamberlain must now try to hold his remaining loved ones together emotionally and attempt to reassemble his own battered psyche. The true events which inspired Aftermath: A Test of Love occurred in the 1970s in Ogden, Utah, where this TV movie was partially filmed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Made for the TNT cable network, The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson concentrates on the wartime service of major league baseball's first black player. Robinson (Andre Braugher), a star athlete at UCLA, is drafted during World War II. He hopes that his academic record will assure him entry into Officers Candidate School, but the racism inherent in the military at the time puts several roadblocks in his way. After finally making OCS, Robinson's belief in himself is strengthened tenfold--to the point that he refuses to bow to the "Jim Crow" laws regarding the seating arrangements on an Army bus, and is subsequently threatened with a court martial. Stan Shaw costars as boxing great Joe Louis, likewise a victim of prejudice during the war years (the script intimates that Louis was more willing to roll with the punches than Robinson). Ruby Dee, who played the ballplayer's wife in the 1950 film The Jackie Robinson Story, is here seen as Robinson's mother. The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson premiered on October 15, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Narrow Margin directed by Peter Hyams and loosely based on the classic film noir of the same title, tells the story of a resourceful District Attorney who must return a witness to San Francisco alive so she can testify in a trial. Carol (Anne Archer) is in the bathroom of the hotel room of her blind date when he is murdered by mobsters for stealing money. Knowing she is the only witness, Carol flees to an isolated Canadian mountain home to hide out. She is followed by Caulfield (Gene Hackman) who knows that she is a witness and wants to make her testify. When the mobsters track Caulfield to the cabin, Carol must join him in a run for her life on a Canadian train. This film, while it is somewhat uneven, is a tour de force for director/writer/cinematographer Peter Hyams, who delivers a fast-paced, action-packed chase through the Canadian mountains, stunningly photographed and well acted by both Hackman and Archer. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi

This episode opens with the grave announcement that it has NOT been filmed in 3-D (the glasses didn't show up in the mail). Once this is established, we segue into the curious tale of the Great Kandinski, a famous escape artist who has recently died. Inasmuch as Kandinski had threatened to come back from the grave to get even with his philandering wife (K Callan), David (Bruce Willis) and Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) are engaged to do some "corpse sitting" at the local funeral parlor--but comes the dawn, and the body has disappeared...and even worse, it looks as if Kandinski has carried out his threat. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the second episode of The A-Team's three-part Season Five opener, the Team is betrayed by Vietnam vet Josh Curtis (Sandy McPeak) and forced to stand trial for their lives, accused of killing their former commanding officer Col. Morrison and robbing a Hanoi bank. Curiously, Murdock (Dwight Schultz) is not held for trial, and is thus able to secure the services of defense attorney Benny Conway (Byrne Piven). Alas, as the trial progresses, it is painfully clear that the witnesses are lying and the evidence has been manufactured--but who is behind this travesty of justice? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Hester-Sue (Ketty Lester) is astonished when her ex-husband, Sam Terhune (J.A. Preston), who left her years ago for another woman, suddenly shows up in Walnut Grove. Insisting that he has giving up drinking, gambling, and womanizing, Sam tries to charm his way back into Hester-Sue's heart. Unfortunately, there are a few "details" about Sam's so-called reformation that he has kept secret from his former bride. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This easy-going television movie is about Chris McBride (Michael York), a real-life naturalist who brings his wife and daughter to an African wildlife preserve to join him in a research project. The area has a special meaning to him because he was born there. His wife is not as enthusiastic as he is about leaving their familiar and comfortable world behind but changes her mind when she starts getting involved in the photography part of the project. A chance discovery of a pair of white-hued lion cubs (not albinos) raises disagreements on whether the family should do everything to help them survive, or just leave them alone. Eventually a compromise is reached that bodes well for the family and the fledgling lions and strengthens the family's resolve to fight off a poacher who wants to use the unusual cubs for his own profit. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Taking over for Gary Cooper, Lee Majors stars as Marshal Will Kane in this made-for-TV movie set a year after the original High Noon ends. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Larry Peerce directed this tired disaster movie about a mad sniper loose in a football stadium. At the beginning, the sniper picks off a cyclist for practice and then takes roost in the top tower of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Sent in to stop the terror is Captain Peter Holly (Charlton Heston), who wants to get his hands on the sniper without endangering the lives of the people in the stadium. Unfortunately, there is a second group of law enforcement officers, a tactical commando group, who want to go into the stadium and rush the sniper -- regardless of the danger such an action would cause to the crowd watching the game. The sniper plans to start blasting at the two-minute warning signal of the football game. Holly has to find the sniper before the two-minute warning is given -- not merely to prevent the killings threatened by the sniper but to head off the tactical force before any other unnecessary deaths are incurred by the force's bulldog techniques. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi