Fiona Reid Movies

Confronted by his own mortality after being diagnosed with virulent form of cancer, a disillusioned twenty-something rails against the many disappointments in his life by impulsively purchasing a motorcycle and heading out west, instead of taking his doctor's advice to begin immediate treatment. Ben Tyler (Joshua Jackson) has an unfulfilling job as a high school English teacher and a manuscript that's gathering dust after being rejected by every publisher in town. And while Ben is undeniably comfortable in his relationship with faithful fiancée Samantha (Liane Balaban), he can't help but feeling that there's something in their relationship that he has never truly confronted. Informed by his doctor that he is suffering from a highly malignant form of cancer and has only a 10% chance of survival if he begins treatment immediately, Ben rails against his fate by straddling a vintage motorcycle and embarking on a 4,000 kilometer journey from Toronto to Tofino, B.C., meeting a variety of people who help him understand what it truly means to be alive along the way. Later, while hiking in Banff, Ben becomes dangerously sick and desperately lost before an intense encounter with a woman named Tracey (Emm Gryner) convinces him once and for all that he isn't in love with Samantha. In the emotional aftermath of that encounter, Ben terminates his relationship with Tracey and makes a pledge to live a lifetime with each passing day. It isn't long before Ben's condition begins to deteriorate, however, and by the time he finally arrives at mile zero of the Trans-Canada highway, he's fresh out of road and seriously close to death. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Based on the literary property by Mordecai Richler, the animated series Jacob Two Two revolved around a young boy named Jacob, who'd earned his double-digit nickname because he repeated everything twice. As the youngest member of a very large family, Jacob was compelled to speak in this "Two Two" fashion in order to get anyone to pay attention to him. Though teased and maligned by his older siblings Daniel (the music-crazy 16 year old), Marfa (the haughty eldest sister), and Emma and Noah (who'd formed their own highly exclusive "Kid Power" clubhouse and created their own alter egos of Shapiro and Fearless O'Toole), Jacob invariably emerged as the hero of the occasion by thwarting sinister secret agents, evil land despoilers and other such cartoony villains. This he did through the auspices of X. Barnaby Dinglebat, an international spy who posed as a gas-meter reader. Other characters included Jacob's dad Morty, an author of adventure novels; his mom Florence, an archetypal workaholic; his loquacious best friend Buford Orville Gaylord Purghe, who possessed the most embarrassing set of initials ever heard in mixed company; nasty, voracious school principal I.M. Greedyguts and his toadying henchman, Leo Louse the janitor; Renee Ratelle, French-born nemesis of everyone in Jacob's classroom; the Hooded Fang, a vicious-looking but golden-hearted pro wrestler who assisted Jake in his adventures; Miss Sweetie Darlingpie, who may have seemed to be nothing more than a nice little old lady but who was actually the ruthless leader of a vast enemy spy organization; and the standard-issue "dumb cops" Sgt. Law and Cpl. Order. Originating as a series of Canadian-produced home videos (some of which were seen on Canada's YTV network),Jacob Two Two was added to NBC's Saturday-morning children's lineup on September 9, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One woman's rocky road to the altar gets played for laughs in this comedy, adapted from the one-woman off-Broadway show written by and starring Nia Vardalos. Toula (Vardalos) is a Greek-American woman who is in her early thirties and single, with no immediate prospects of changing that status any time soon. This bothers Toula a bit, but not half as much as it distresses her mother (Lainie Kazan) and father (Michael Constantine), who want to send her to Greece in hopes of finding a husband in the old country. Toula isn't interested in leaving the country to find a man, but since she works in the family business -- a Greek restaurant in Chicago called Dancing Zorba's -- she has to hear about it whether she likes it or not. One day, after seeing a handsome stranger in the restaurant and not having the courage to talk to him, Toula decides she needs a bit of self-improvement. Despite her dad's misgivings, Toula signs up for a night-school class studying computers, trades in her glasses for contact lenses, gets a different job at a travel agency, and spruces herself up with a new look and a new attitude. To her very pleasant surprise, she once again encounters the handsome stranger, who soon asks her out on a date. Schoolteacher Ian Miller (John Corbett) is seemingly perfect -- he's tall, handsome, smart, good-natured, and soon in love with Toula -- except for two little things: he's not Greek, and he's a vegetarian, both of which horrify Toula's family. When Ian pops the question (and Toula says yes), the bride-to-be has to negotiate a reasonably peaceful meeting between Ian's upper-class parents and her own working-class extended family. There's also the matter of the wedding, which Toula's mother is planning around the notion that quantity IS quality. My Big Fat Greek Wedding also features Ian Gomez (Vardalos' real-life husband), Louis Mandylor, Andrea Martin, and Joey Fatone (from the pop group *NSYNC). Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson helped produce the film through the auspices of their production company, Playtone. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

One of the most controversial (and widely-reported) stories of the early 1990s is vividly dramatized in this made-for-cable movie. In 1992, Allen Schindler, a navy sailor serving on the USS Belleau Wood, is savagely beaten to death while on leave in Japan. Allen's grieving mother Dorothy Hajdys-Holman (Bonnie Bedelia) becomes even more distraught when the representatives of the United States Navy refuse to provide her with full details on her son's murder. Then comes the ultimate shock: A newspaper reporter informs Dorothy that her son was gay, and that this might have been the reason he was killed. But if the Navy has anything to say about it, the entire matter will be swept under the rug, with Dorothy remaining as much in the dark as the rest of the world: A deal has already been cut with one of Allen's killers, who after a secret court-martial is given what amounts to a legal slap on the wrist. Radicalized by the incident and its aftermath, Dorothy joins forces with a crusading journalist to force the Navy to reveal the whole truth--and she isn't about to let the court-martial of Allen's other assailant to be conducted behind closed doors! The upshot of this high-profile case was the creation of the Service Members' Legal Defense Network, assuring that no branch of the armed services would ever again be able to conspire to cover up a major crime. Its title selected by the real-life Dorothy Hajdys-Holman, who served as the film's technical advisor (not surprisingly, the Navy refused to cooperate at all), Any Mother's Son made its Lifetime cable network debut on August 11, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Johanna (Josette Simon) is a Jamaican woman who emigrates to Canada to escape the crushing poverty of her homeland. She lands a job as a nanny for a yuppie couple and develops a loving relationship with their children. Johanna misses her son David (Richard Mills) and makes plans to fly him up for the Christmas holiday. Her friends try and talk her into letting the boy stay illegally and enlist the help of Gordon (Errol Slue) to falsify the necessary documents. David and Johanna are housed by Adam (Lyman Ward), the school principal who once tried to seduce Johanna after she attended a night class he was teaching. Later, mother and son face deportation, and Adam loses his job for intentionally ignoring David's bogus immigration documents. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Prague and Ontario stand in for 19th century Vienna in Beethoven Lives Upstairs. Young Chris (Illya Woloshin) lives with his none-too-prosperous mother (Fiona Reid) and uncle (Albert Schultz), who are forced to take in a boarder. Enter a fellow named Ludwig (Neil Munro), with a hearing problem, a mass of eccentricities, and a genius for music. This 52-minute character study features renditions of more than 25 Beethoven pieces. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Television flavor-of-the-month Richard Grieco made his feature-film debut in this juvenile spoof of James Bond films. He plays a high-school senior named Michael Corben who has flunked out of his French class, but has the chance to make up his grade on the French Club's summer trip to Europe. On the airplane booked to transport the French Club to France is another man by the name of Michael Corben, and this man happens to be a super-spy. When he is killed, the hapless high-school senior is mistaken for the real spy by British intelligence. He becomes involved in a mad plot by Augustus Steranko (Roger Rees) in which Steranko and his evil assistant Ilsa Grunt (Linda Hunt) plan to dominate the European continent by converting the gold standard to coins that will bear Steranko's likeness. Corben goes along with it when he is provided with a red sports car, a tuxedo, and some high-tech weapons. Along with all the spy accouterments, he latches onto a sexy helper -- Mariska (Gabrielle Anwar). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

After 20 years of marriage, Steve Giardino (Alan Alda) and his wife Jackie (Ann-Margret) agree to a divorce in this situation comedy. The focus is on both of them as they suffer through matchmaking, blind dates, and their new life as eligible singles. Donna (Mary Kay Place) is Jackie's friend, while Mel Arons (Hal Linden) is the confidante of the vain but likeable Steve. Steven worries that he will never find anyone decent to date until he meets the pretty Dr. Kay Hutton (Veronica Hamel). Jackie is enamored with a sculptor (John Shea) before his glaring faults become too much for her. While Jackie's new relationship is on the outs, Steve prepares for a new life with Kay. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The innocent routine of small town is disrupted when the combined weight of ice and snow upon a local arena causes the roof to come crashing down--in the middle of a hockey game. ~ All Movie Guide