Beth Richards Movies

High schooler Angus (Charlie Talbert), a jumbo-sized lad, seems underappreciated in all aspects of his life: he is a standout offensive lineman on the football team, but golden-boy quarterback Rick (James Van der Beek) gets all the accolades for his blood, sweat, and pass-blocking; he is also an outstanding student, but his classmates still regard him as a dork; the girl of his dreams (Arian Richards), Rick's girlfriend, seems to ignore him. Only when Angus musters the courage to put on a maroon tuxedo and head off to the school dance at the urging of his loving, free-spirit mom (Kathy Bates) does he finally get the recognition he deserves (as does Rick, who attempts to publicly humiliate Angus with a cruel prank). While the story is familiar, director Patric Johnson and the entire cast infuse the film with real warmth, making Angus a winner (as does its refreshing attitude toward violence). ~ Jeremy Beday, Rovi

Los Angeles reporter Jessica Matthews (Lee Anne Beaman) has become totally immersed in her investigation of the practices of corrupt politician Mike Florian (Sam Jones), so much so that she has shamelessly neglected her marriage. After Jessica discovers her author husband Greg (Adrian Zmed) is having an affair, she becomes obsessed with his lover, a prostitute named Traci (Jenna Persaud). ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

The two-part, four-hour TV movie Switched at Birth is based on an actual event which began unfolding in Wauchula, Florida in 1978. Brian Kerwin and Judith Hoag play the new parents of a baby girl; a few days later, another couple, played by John M. Jackson and Bonnie Bedelia, have a baby at the same hospital. Kerwin and Hoag's baby is healthy; Jackson and Bedelia's baby has a heart defect. Switched at Birth traces the lives of the two girls over a period of eight years--up to the point of a tragedy which opens the possibility that the girls may not have been given over to the correct parents at the hospital. The four parents involved find themselves in court, battling over custody of the surviving child. This intensely personal problem is bloated into a cause celebre by the press and by parents' rights pressure groups. Edward Asner and Caroline McWilliams appear as the opposing attorneys. Those who'd been following the two-part Switched at Birth during its first telecast in April of 1991 may have found themselves in family conflicts of their own, inasmuch as Part Two was shown opposite the network TV premiere of Die Hard. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi