Ellie Raab Movies
- 1988
- R
Nine-year-old Thelma (Cassie Barasch) is the sweet little girl next door who engages in blackmail, robbery, and murder in this amoral melodrama. Neighbor Robert (John Hurt) is a bank employee who leaves his wife for Delores (Karen Young) after he embezzles money from work. He tries to bribe Thelma with the gift of a camera, but she uses it to photograph evidence and pin the murder of a child on him. When little Elizabeth (Ellie Raab) is shot and killed by Thelma with a gun she steals from John, he is charged with her kidnapping and murder. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hurt, Karen Young, (more)
Real-life siblings Beau and Jeff Bridges star as the eponymous Fabulous Baker Boys. Musical prodigies both, the Bakers have long been teamed as a twin-piano act, with the less talented Frank (Beau Bridges) coasting on the skills of his brilliant younger brother Jack (Jeff Bridges). Their career dwindling to nickel-and-dime dates in second-rate clubs, the Bakers decide that they need a female vocalist to boost their popularity. They select auditioner Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer), who in addition to being a gifted songstress is drop-dead gorgeous. The newly renovated Baker Boys act scores a success, which is inevitably threatened by Susie's growing popularity and by Jack's insistence upon pursuing an affair with the girl. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Bridges, Michelle Pfeiffer, (more)
- 1990
Filmed in semidocumentary fashion, Extreme Close-up features Morgan Weisser as a 16-year-old boy grieving the death of his mother (Blair Brown). Trying to assuage his grief, Weisser runs family videotapes of his mother. It becomes increasingly clear that the woman was falling apart emotionally in the months before her death, and Weisser wants to know why. Looking for answers, he begins taping new videos of his turbulent home life -- which slowly mirror the disintegration of his mother. Made for television, Extreme Close-up was written by thirtysomething veterans Marshall Herkovitz and Edward Zwick; its director was Peter Horton, who'd played Gary on thirtysomething. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Blair Brown, Craig T. Nelson, (more)
Both enemies and a very special friend follow a young girl and her father in flight from ruthless criminals in this drama. Bobby Allen (John Travolta) is a small-time crook working as a bagman for the mob in Chicago. When circumstances force Bobby to turn against his brother-in-law -- a high-ranking mobster -- he realizes Chicago is no longer a safe place for him or his young daughter, and soon they're on the run to California. A crew of mob enforcers are trailing after Bobby and his little girl before long, but there's someone else looking for them as well -- the girl took in a wounded Doberman who had been used for illegal dogfights and nursed him back to health, and when the dog is left behind, the loyal pooch sets out on a cross-country journey to find his best friend. Filmed in 1991, Eyes of an Angel was not released until 1994, when John Travolta's career enjoyed a resurgence after the success of Pulp Fiction and the film was made available on home video. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Ellie Raab, (more)
Screenwriter/electrician Abbe Wool makes her directorial debut with the offbeat road movie Roadside Prophets. Brooding factory worker Joe (X front man John Doe) takes a road trip in order to scatter the ashes of his co-worker Dave Coleman (David Anthony Marshall). Riding his vintage Harley Davidson, Joe leaves Los Angeles and heads for a small Nevada town called El Dorado to fulfill Dave's final wish. His journey is complicated by a small fry named Sam (the Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz), a wannabe biker who continually lights off fireworks and nurtures an odd obsession with Motel 9. Joe also has to cope with making daily phone calls to Angie (voice of Sonna Chavez), his co-worker back in L.A. who is giving him sick days in exchange for the promise of a hot date. While traveling through the desert, Joe and Sam meet various eccentric characters played by the likes of David Carradine, John Cusack, Timothy Leary, and Arlo Guthrie. They eventually end up at their destination, which turns out to be a washed-up gambling town called Jackpot. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Doe, Adam Horowitz, (more)
Caroline and Lloyd (Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey) are a married couple constantly at each other's throats, masters at crafting acid-tongued barbs at the other's expense. Indeed, they are so obsessed with belittling each other that they never stop -- not even at gunpoint. Such is the premise of the acerbic comedy The Ref, which shows what happens when this quarrelsome duo is taken hostage. The gunman is Gus (Denis Leary), a thief on the run from the police, who kidnaps the couple as an insurance policy, planning to use their home as a hideout. But their incessant bickering proves more than Gus bargained for, forcing him -- for the sake of his own sanity -- into the unenviable role of peacemaker. To make things even worse for Gus, he discovers that he has taken the couple hostage the night of their big Christmas party, and the guests are already on the way. Not wanting to leave Lloyd and Caroline unattended, Gus opts to attend the party, pretending to be the couple's marriage counselor. This naturally leads to a series of comic confusions, as the hostage crisis and marital tensions head towards their inevitable conclusion. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denis Leary, Judy Davis, (more)
