Susanne Reed Movies

Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom made his American movie debut with this romantic comedy, starring Holly Hunter as Renata Bella, an aimless Bostonian thirtysomething who attends a seminar for aspiring condo salespersons. Here she meets hotshot salesman Sam Sharpe (Richard Dreyfuss), who immediately falls in love with her. After the marriage, Sam's well-meaning but obnoxious insistence on insinuating himself into every aspect of Renata's life rubs the rest of her family the wrong way. Though the script occasionally veers into both cliché and sentimentality, Once Around ends up a thoroughly charming experience, thanks to Hallstrom's knowing direction and the marvelous chemistry between Hunter and Dreyfuss. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Poet, novelist and screenwriter Charles Bukowski was famed for offering shockingly dark, nearly pornographic views of modern life. A disturbing independent film that has only been occasionally played at off-beat film festivals and paints a chilling portrait of how easily a slightly disinfranchized but still fairly average guy can be turned into a soulless killer. It all begins when a petty thief meets a former insurance agent in an all-night cafe and asks the agent to join him on a robbery in Beverly Hills. In need of thrills to fill the hollowness he feels inside, the agent agrees. Though he thinks the job will be easy, the agent is mistaken, for the homeowners are inside and have heard the prowlers in their house. The wife comes down the stairs, not realizing that the steps she takes will be her last. What follows are horrific scenes of violence, torture and ultimately cold-blooded murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-television drama, a retired businessman's obsession with the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle increase when his lover and her friends become its next victims. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide