Della Reese Movies

An apathetic pastor gets a new perspective on life after making a wish that allows him to walk a mile in the shoes of the people who surround him in this faith-based fantasy officially endorsed by The Dove Foundation. Rich Chaplin (David A.R. White) is frustrated. Once a devoted family man and the leader of a loyal church congregation, he's lost his sense of perspective, and lately his lethargy has grown contagious. Impulsively, Rich wishes aloud that he could for once just experience life from another vantage point. The next thing Rich knows, he's gazing into a mirror and seeing another man's face. Now, each time Rich awakens in a new body, he learns a bit more about himself, and the effect his scorn has had on everyone in his life. By seeing the world though the eyes of his wife (Ali Landry), his cruel boss, and even a gorgeous fashion model (Logan White), Rich learns that he's passing up his one big chance to make a difference in the lives of the people he loves most, and vows never again to take his life for granted. Now if he can just get back in the right body, he might just get a second shot at reclaiming his old life. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

There's quite a lot of celestial activity on planet Earth as Touched By an Angel begins its ninth and final season. Roma Downey returns as heavenly caseworker Monica, whose job it is to seek out mortals in need of redemption, salvation and self-forgiveness. As before, Monica is assisted by her angelic supervisor Tess (Della Reese), former Angel of Death and current co-caseworker Andrew (John Dye), and apprentice angel Gloria (Valerie Bertinelli). Season highlights include "Jump!," featuring Daniel Baldwin as a radio "shock jock" who learns that there is more to life than a big ratings share; "Private Eyes," in which Monica poses as a film noir femme fatale to bring redeption to a hard-boiled detective (Stacy Keach); and "As It Is in Heaven," wherein Monica and Tess have quite a time on their 200th assignnment together. The two-part series finale finds Monica being put to the test for a possible promotion to Heavenly supervisor. This requires her to instinctively provide the proper assistance to a mysterious-looking drifter. Much to Monica's surprise (and professional gratification), the man in need turns out to be the Son of Man. ~ Rovi

Walt Disney Pictures redefined computer animation with this technically accomplished fantasy of prehistoric life, combining live-action backgrounds with computer-generated animals. After a pterodactyl snatches a dinosaur's egg and accidentally drops it while flying away, the egg is rescued by a family of lemurs, who keep it warm until it hatches. They raise the baby dinosaur, named Aladar, as one of their own, and as he grows to adulthood, Aladar protects the primates that he has come to regard as his family. When a giant meteor appears in the sky, packs of dinosaurs have no idea what to make of the strange fiery light, but Aladar and the lemurs are convinced that they must escape to a safer place before the huge flaming stone destroys their home, leading Aladar to encounter his own kind for the first time. D.B. Sweeney provides the voice of Aladar; other actors in the voice cast include Joan Plowright, Julianna Margulies, Alfre Woodard, and Ossie Davis. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Heavenly caseworker Monica (Roma Downey) continues to work hand in glove with her celestial supervisor Tess (Della Reese) and gentle Angel of Death Andrew (John Dye) to save the souls of earthly mortals, or at the very least to change their lives for the better, as Touched by an Angel begins its seventh season. New to the proceedings is novice angel Gloria (Valerie Bertinelli), who joins the cast in an episode originally telecast on May 6, 2001. Just as Tess has been providing wisdom, guidance and moral support to Monica during the past six seasons, so too does Monica become the mentor of the shy and somewhat awkward Gloria as she tries to do Heaven's work on Earth. Making return appearances this year are streetwise angel Rafael (Alexis Cruz), as well as Adam (Charles Rocket), the Angel of Death whom Andrew effectively replaced at the beginning of season two. Also, actor Ray Walston makes his final TV guest appearance in the season opener "The Face on the Barroom Floor," telecast three months before his death. Other prominent performers appearing guest roles this season include Robert Loggia, as a 102-year-old movie director in "Restoration;" Bonnie Franklin (who coincidentally played the mother of Valerie Bertinelli on TV's One Day at a Time) as a harried foreperson of a murder-trial jury in "Reasonable Doubt;" onetime juvenile actor Scott Baio as a hardnosed narcotics cop in "A Death in the Family;" and Mandy Patinkin as an enigmatic motorist in "Netherlands." Season seven concludes with the two-part "Shallow Water," in which Monica, having passed an important milestone in her celestial career, is awarded by god with a special gift: to see humans "from the inside out," enabling her to instantly realize how everything in those persons' lives -- good or bad -- has profoundly altered their present. ~ Rovi

Virtually the quintessential "CBS Sunday Night Movie" (especially during the traditional "fall sweeps"), Anya's Bell is set in 1949, a time when handicapped people were feared, pitied, scorned, shunted away, but seldom treated as "worthwhile" human beings by so-called normal society. Della Reese stars as Anya Herpick, a middle-aged blind woman who has been cared for since birth by her elderly mother. Having seldom ventured outside her house, Anya has compensated for her loneliness by amassing a collection of small bells. When her mother suddenly dies, Anya is truly alone, and she is paralyzed with fear at the prospect. Enter 12-year-old delivery boy Scott Rhymes (Mason Gamble), whom has been written off by his parents as "slow" because he has never learned to read. At first wary of one another, Anya and Scott soon become the closest of friends. It is eventually revealed that Scott suffers from dyslexia (an all-but-unknown affliction back in 1949), for which Anya compensates by teaching him how to read the Braille alphabet, which turns out to be easier to comprehend than printed words. At the same time, Scott helps Anya to become more independent and self-reliant. The changes wrought on the two protagonists are both dramatic and heartwarming, clearing the path for a happy ending (relevant to the film's title) despite the death of one of the two. Filmed on location in Salt Lake City, Anya's Bell was first telecast on October 31, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A young girl stuck in a horrific cycle of familial violence finds the power to build her own future from the place she least suspected in an inspiring tale of friendship and devotion starring Ossie Davis and Della Reese, and directed by Bruce Pittman. For years Jo Ann Foley (Madeline Zima) has suffered under the cruel hand of her ruthless grandfather. A chance meeting with kindly neighbors Honey (Reese) and her husband Too Tall (Davis) finds things looking up, however, as the nurturing couple provides Jo Ann with the support needed to break free of her grandfather's tyrannical grip. As the future lies before her ready to be molded however she sees fit, Jo Ann must now find the courage to let go of the past and seek the redemption needed to start life anew. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Season six of Touched By an Angel finds heavenly caseworker Monica (Roma Downey) persisting in her earthly mission to rescue and redeem lost souls in order to facilitate their entry into Paradise. As before, Monica is assisted by her warm-hearted but no-nonsense supervisor Tess (Della Reese); and whenever the mortal in question is closer to his maker than usual, Monica and Tess are aided by Andrew (John Dye), the unfailingly polite and compassionate Angel of Death. Missing from this season's episodes is the recurring character of Special Agent Angel Sam, played in previous seasons by Paul Winfield. As in previous years, the sixth season of Touched By an Angel shows the main characters performing their good works in a variety of time periods, from the present to the past (the ear's second episode occurs in 1944, one month after D-day). In other installments, the angels try to straighten out a suicidal man suffering from multiple-personality syndrome; the disillusioned owner of a run-down candy factory comes to realize the value of what he has in an extremely roundabout fashion; and the venerable husband-and-wife acting team of Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee portrays a homeless man and an embittered widow who, with the angels' intervention, finds a new lease on life on Christmas Eve. The season ends with an episode wherein an oldster who clings on to the distant past is made to realize that, warts and all, the Present and the Future are wonderful gifts from god. ~ Rovi

This two-hour TV entertainment special takes a surface skim (95 minutes minus commercials and promos) over the history of CBS, quickly skipping past decades of CBS radio to concentrate on CBS television from the late '40s to the present. It features more than a dozen hosts (Adam Arkin, Ed Bradley, Carol Burnett, David Copperfield, Roma Downey, Fran Drescher, Don Johnson, Angela Lansbury, David Letterman, Cheech Marin, Mary Tyler Moore, Dan Rather, Della Reese, Ray Romano, Jane Seymour) introducing a parade of primetime clips covering a variety of shows, events, and people -- Ed Sullivan, The Carol Burnette Show, 60 Minutes (Mike Wallace interviewing Barbra Streisand), Gunsmoke, The Honeymooners, Edward R. Murrow (his oft-seen editorial on Joe McCarthy), I Love Lucy, The Twilight Zone, The Waltons, Dan Rather reporting from Vietnam, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Green Acres, Dallas, Petticoat Junction, The Beverly Hillbillies, M*A*S*H, The Andy Griffith Show, Murphy Brown, the JFK assassination, and more -- with reminiscences from Tom and Dick Smothers, David Letterman (on Ed Sullivan), Larry Hagman (on "Who shot J.R.?"), Alan Alda, Ron Howard, Walter Cronkite, and others. At 95 minutes, these nostalgic nods, truncated tributes, and familiar faces might leave many viewers yearning for an archeological dig through the little-seen rarities and antiquities buried in the Museum of Television & Radio collection while waiting for the major networks to cover broadcasting history in depth. Premiered May 20, 1998 on CBS. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Director Peter Werner teams with screenwriters David Stevens and Carol Schreder to adapt author Alex Haley's sprawling novel centering on the struggles of an African American family contending with racism and strife while living in the rural south. Set in the early-20th Century, the film follows aging widow Flora as she sets her sights north following the death of her husband. Though the determined matriarch had hoped to start a new life for her family away from the prejudice that gripped the American south, she discovers that their struggle is far from over when the country is plunged into the Great Depression, and the entire globe is rocked by two world wars. Later, brave black leaders fight for social change in the Civil Rights Movement, and the Black Panthers emerge as a force to be reckoned with. Through it all, Flora never loses the will to give her children the best life possible. Queen Latifah, Mario Van Peebles, Cicely Tyson, and Blair Underwood star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

When Wanda (Patricia Heaton) and Sarah's (Meredith Baxter) mother dies and the estranged sisters inherit the family pecan grove, their conflicting plans for the future of the property are complicated by the appearance of a stranger claiming the land as her own in Arthur Allan Seidelman's tear-jerking drama. Despite Sarah's best efforts to keep the pecan grove in the family, a dark secret drives Wanda to pursue the prospect of selling the land. As the conflicted sisters struggle to find a common ground, the discovery of an elderly woman named Lilly Cooper (Della Reese) who claims the land prompts the curiosity of Sarah's teenage daughter (Anna Chlumsky), who becomes determined to learn the secret of the mysterious squatter's past. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Season three of Touched By an Angel offers another cluster of heartwarming and inspiring stories of forgiveness and redemption as celestial caseworker Monica (Roma Downey), her heavenly supervisor Tess (Della Reese), and on occasion the gentle Angel of Death Andrew (John Dye) travel the length and breadth of the country in order to inspire ordinary mortals to turn their lives around. In those instances when the input of the three series regulars isn't quite enough to finish the job, Special Agent Angel Sam (Paul Winfield) flutters down to tie up loose ends. The season gets under way with a special episode introducing laid-off factory worker Russell Greene (Gerald McRaney), his wife Claire (Wendy Phillips), his children Joshua (Austin O'Brien) and Dinah (Sarah Schaub), his nephew Daniel (Wendy Phillips), and his own mom Hattie (Celeste Holm). After being saved from a drastic act that would have ruined not only his life but those of his loved ones, Russell is asked by Monica and Tess to be their earthly representative, driving throughout the country in his dilapidated trailer to "redefine what it meant to be a good neighbor and recapture the American dream." Thus is the Greene family launched into its own spin-off series, Promised Land. The Greene family would make a return appearance in a pair of two-part crossovers between Promised Land and Touched By an Angel, titled "The Homecoming" and "Amazing Grace." In other episodes, Monica heads to Death Row to break a vicious cycle of violence, frets over the iniquities of life when an "insignificant" man is unable to find a kidney donor, and finds her angel status in jeopardy because of a "lie of omission." Elsewhere, a flashback episode taking place around the "War of the Worlds" broadcast of 1938 offers an object lesson for a present-day mortal; and an elderly couple is prevented from going through with a suicide pact; an estranged mother and daughter are reunited despite the mother's irrevocable memory loss; Monica briefly tutors a nervous apprentice angel named Celeste (Hudson Leick); and all three angels form a united front against Big Tobacco. As bonuses, the episode "At Risk," a paean to voluntarism, is introduced by General Colin Powell, while the season's final episode, "A Delicate Balance," features cameos by Olympic champs Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner. ~ Rovi

At first written off as a distaff version of the old Michael Landon series Highway to Heaven, the weekly, hour-long CBS drama series Touched By an Angel gradually superseded its "inspiration" in both popularity and longevity, ending its nine-season run as one of the most popular fantasy shows of all time. Irish actress Roma Downey starred as Monica, an apprentice angel who in the first episode was promoted to Heavenly caseworker. Monica was then dispatched to Earth, assigned to help people who had reached a crucial crossroads in their lives find Divine inspiration, and -- it was hoped -- make the right decisions for the future. To do this, Monica assumed a variety of mortal disguises, seldom revealing her true identity until the very end of the episode. It must be admitted that, dedicated and sincere though she was, Monica had a habit of letting her personal feelings and preconceived notions get in the way of her job performance. In order to keep our heroine "on task," her celestial supervisor Tess (Della Reese), a pragmatic, no-nonsense woman with the proverbial heart of gold, accompanied Monica on most of her assignments, sharing space in the vintage Cadillac in which the angels traveled around the country. In some instances, Monica and Tess arrived at the scene just before their latest client was about to pass over from this world to the next. On those occasions, the angels' good friend and confidant, kindly Angel of Death Andrew (John Dye) stepped in to complete the assignment. (During the series' first season, Andrew appeared only sporadically and never to Monica; his function was largely fulfilled by another Angel of Death named Adam, played by Charles Rocket).

Also, there were times that Tess herself was unable to fulfill her assignment due to personal problems, at which point Special Agent Angel Sam (Paul Winfield) took over. Except for a brief and uncomfortable period in which co-star Della Reese threatened to walk off the show over a salary dispute, the cast of Touched By an Angel remained fairly constant, with but two exceptions. During season four, the principal characters were assisted by a streetwise angel named Rafael, played by Alexis Cruz; and from the middle of season seven onward, Monica found herself in the position of mentor to nervous, well-meaning apprentice angel Gloria, played by Valerie Bertinelli. Mention should also be made of the itinerant Green family, who was introduced at the outset of season three as the angels' mortal assistants. These characters were promptly spun off into their own series, Promised Land. As originally conceived, Touched By an Angel was supposed to have chronicled Monica's activities with "Destiny Tots," youngsters who were destined to change the world for the better if only they could be straightened out spiritually before reaching adulthood. By expanding Monica's clientele to grownups, the series' producers avoided the trap of dealing with precocious child actors week after week -- and, in the process, greatly broadened the show's appeal. First telecast September 21, 1994, Touched By an Angel remained on CBS until April 27, 2003. In the final episode, Monica herself became a supervisor angel after performing a selfless act on behalf of a mysterious but very familiar-looking drifter. Since its cancellation, the series has been rebroadcast on the PAX network. ~ Rovi