Richard Riehle Movies

Baseball lovers have Bull Durham, football lovers have Friday Night Lights, and now volleyball enthusiasts get a chance to see their favorite sport shine on the silver screen with this tale of a fallen sports star who gets his second shot at greatness. Cameron Day (David Charvet) was a college basketball player whose proficiency on the court came at the sacrifice of his sanity. The mental demands of being a professional athlete were just too much for Cameron to handle, and just he was set to break big in the world of professional sports, the once-promising athlete mysteriously vanished for ten long years. Now that Cameron has learned how to effectively harness his inner anger, the time has come for him to have another go at greatness -- only not on the basketball court but on the pro beach volleyball circuit. Upon arriving in Manhattan Beach, CA, from Manhattan, the wayfaring athlete finds inspiration in Mia (Torrey DeVitto), an artistically inclined beach beauty who has never cared too much for jock types like Cameron. Regardless of her reluctance to date an athlete, however, Mia helps to enlighten Cameron by teaching him about the Green Flash: that fleeting moment when the sun falls over the horizon and all of nature become completely brilliant for a fraction of a second. Despite his early success, Cameron feels as is he has not experienced his own personal Green Flash just yet, though now as he makes it his mission to win the Manhattan Beach Open, he senses that true greatness could finally be within reach. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A moonlit encounter with an urban legend sends the life of an unassuming high school kid spinning out of control. Seventeen year old Jeff Pryce (Kevin G. Schmidt) was driving down a winding country road when he nearly ran over a mysterious beauty walking alone by Resurrection Cemetery. After stopping to see if the girl is injured, Jeff learns that her name is Mary and agrees to give her a ride, all the while sensing a powerful mutual attraction. Later, when Jeff asks Mary to be his date for the Homecoming Dance, his friends begin falling prey to a mysterious killer. The police believe Jeff is the murderer, and if he fails to clear his name soon he could be in a world of trouble. The only person with any real insight into Mary is Jeff's grandmother (Sally Kirkland), though while the information she provides may clear her grandson of any wrongdoing, it will also set him on a frightening collision course with forces far beyond his understanding. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A handful of desperate characters come together unexpectedly one winter evening in this comedy-drama. Lefty (Stephen Baldwin) is a luckless sad sack whose life has been in a tailspin since his wife Heather (Faline England) left him two years ago. Lefty has been struggling to win back the right to visit his daughter, but since losing his job and periodically stumbling in his efforts to give up drinking, he's been so broke he can't afford to pay his rent, let alone hire a lawyer, and after a meeting with Heather's attorney goes badly, he decides he needs to get his hands on a gun. Meanwhile, Lefty's aging mother Eva (K Callan) has fallen into a depression as her health has begun to fail her, and she's decided that Christmas Eve would be as good a time as any to do herself in. Elsewhere, Mary (Mary Thornton) could use some help looking after her son Jacob (Dominic Scott Kay), after her husband Rick (Kevin Downes) suffered a severe head injury during a motorcycle accident a year before with his best friend and riding buddy, Mitch (Mitchell Jarvis). And Mark (Richard Fancy), the pastor at a local church, has been persuaded to take a group of kids out Christmas caroling -- a task he does not relish. Somehow, the fates conspire to bring the principles together with Christmas just around the corner to give them the hope that's been lacking in their lives. Midnight Clear was the first feature film from director Dallas Jenkins, adapted from a short film of the same title he made the previous year. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The rowdy students of Billingsley University arrive in Mexico on a study-abroad trip in this sequel to the collegiate comedy that left viewers in stitches. The Surveyor has left stateside port and set sail for Mexico. Now, as the spring heat flares and the azure waters beacon the ship ashore, the inhibitions and clothes of these randy students are both quickly shed. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

What was supposed to be a relaxing long weekend of trout fishing in the wilderness quickly descends into a bloody battle for survival when a pair of over-stressed urbanites cross a reclusive survivalist looking to elude the law in Virginia's Great Dismal Swamp. All Bill Matherson (William Gregory Lee) and Matt Murphy (Scott Miles) wanted was a chance to break their daily routine and catch a few fish. Between Bill's top-of-the-line gear and Matt's comprehensive knowledge of nature, the pair seemed perfectly poised for a peaceful weekend retreat. Though everything starts out well enough, events quickly take a turn for the worst when their gear and canoe both go missing and the pair is forced to fend for themselves in the vast wilderness. Though under normal circumstances they would likely be well equipped to do so, Bill and Matt are soon faced with a variety of obstacles both otherworldly and manmade. From deep in the forest, a human predator named Croaker Norge (Richard Riehle) watches their every move. A dangerous fugitive whose extensive knowledge of the land allows him to skillfully stalk his prey from afar, Norge is ready and willing to do whatever it takes to remain undetected. When Bill and Matt's worried wives convince police and rangers to launch an extensive search for the pair after sensing that something has gone awry, the two would-be weekend warriors are suddenly thrust into a tense battle of wills that constantly shifts from the physical to the psychological, and seems to pit them against something much more deadly than a simple survivalist. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Palindromes opens with the dedication, "In loving memory of Dawn Wiener," a reference to the lead character in writer/director Todd Solondz' early feature, Welcome to the Dollhouse. Aviva has just attended Dawn's funeral. Dismayed by her older cousin's untimely death, Aviva asks her mother (Ellen Barkin) for assurance that she won't grow up to be like Dawn. Aviva only dreams of one thing -- having babies. Lots and lots of babies. As a teen, while Aviva has no interest in sex, she eagerly loses her virginity to Judah (Robert Agri), the son of a family friend in hopes of getting pregnant. She does, but her mother insists that she have an abortion. Worse yet, due to a complication during the procedure, the doctor is forced to perform a hysterectomy. Unaware of her medical condition, Aviva runs away from home and is picked up by a truck driver (Stephen Adly Guirgis) who has his way with her and then abandons her at a roadside motel. She wanders in the wilderness until she meets up with Jiminy (Tyler Maynard), a friendly boy who lives with the "Sunshine Family," a group of disabled kids cared for by the cheerful Mama Sunshine (Debra Monk). The kids are also a Christian singing group. Aviva is happy until she learns that Mama Sunshine and her husband are virulently anti-abortion and that they are planning to murder a doctor. Solondz cast eight different actors in the lead role, each of whom play Aviva at different points in the story. Matthew Faber reprises the role of Mark Wiener from Welcome to the Dollhouse. Palindromes was shot at Bard College in upstate New York, using many film students as crew. It was selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center for inclusion in the 2004 New York Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Flight 323 has crashed in the Colorado Rockies, killing everyone on board. Was the disaster the result of carelessness, incompetence, malfunctioning equipment--or terrorism? To answer these question, a team of experts from the National Transportation Safety Board, headed by Al Cummings (Mandy Patinkin) painstakingly recreate the events leading up to the tragedy, and also trace the movements of the various passengers in the last hours on earth. As the impatient media and the victims' grieving families demand answers immediately, Cummings and company do their best to remain calm and detached while using a flight simulator and other such devices to try out innumerable scenarios, in the manner of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (and before that, Rashomon). A compelling example of "procedural" drama, with a logical if not altogether satisfying outcome, the made-for-TV NTSB: The Crash of Flight 323 was originally telecast March 22, 2004, by ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The media's tendency to favor youth and cosmetic perfection over experience and intelligence is the gist of this mildly trenchant TV movie. Mel Harris stars as Diana, a top TV news anchor who is summarily dumped from her lofty perch in favor of a younger and prettier journalist named Amber (Julianne Morris). Partly to get even, but mostly to prove something to herself, Diana undergoes plastic surgery, changes her name, and takes an entry-level job in a small TV market, intent upon building her stellar career all over again. Diana's saga is complemented by the story of her middle-aged newsperson colleague Michael (Perry King), who likewise faces competition from an up-and-coming pretty boy. It is somewhat ironic that one of the supporting characters in this film is played by Corey Donaldson, whose chief claim to fame was his participation in Survivor: Australia, one of many TV reality series in which the race is more often won by the good-looking than by the swift. Another Pretty Face debuted November 8, 2002, over the PAX network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Peter Falk returns to the role of Lt. Columbo -- he of the grimy trenchcoat, dumb-like-a-fox interrogations, and the inevitable "Just one more question" -- in this two-hour TV-movie special. British comic actor Billy Connolly guest stars as famed movie composer/conductor Findlay Crawford, who commits murder rather than have the public discover that his Oscar-winning movie scores were ghostwritten by a younger and more talented tunesmith. Although the hard-drinking Crawford does a magnificent job covering his tracks and deflecting suspicion, shabby little Lt. Columbo suspects that there is more to the case than meets the eye. Beyond the usual cat-and-mouse banter between the detective and his prey, the film includes such highlights as a musical duet between Falk and Connelly (who knew that Peter Falk was capable of so stirring a rendition of "That's Amore"?). Reportedly filmed in 1999, Columbo: Murder With Too Many Notes made its ABC network bow on March 12, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Laramie, WY, is a small town which became infamous overnight in the fall of 1998, when Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, was found tied to a fence after being brutally beaten and left to die, setting off a nationwide debate about hate crimes and homophobia. A month after the crime, Moises Kaufman, a writer and director with the New York City theater troupe the Tectonic Theater Project, traveled to Laramie with a handful of actors to interview people who lived in and around Laramie in preparation for an upcoming production; Kaufman's goal was to create a play that focused not on the assault on Matthew Shepard, but on the community where such an attack could happen, and how many of the citizens reacted to the crime. The result was The Laramie Project, which was first performed in early 2000, and was performed in Laramie in the fall of that year, two years after Kaufman and his associates first arrived in the city. The Laramie Project is a film adaptation of Kaufman's play, in which the thoughts and opinions of Laramie residents from all points of the political spectrum are presented alongside re-enacted excerpts from the trials of the two men who attacked Matthew Shepard. Produced for the premium cable network HBO, The Laramie Project was adapted for the screen by Moises Kaufman, who served as both writer and director. The distinguished cast includes Dylan Baker, Steve Buscemi, Peter Fonda, Janeane Garofolo, Laura Linney, Amy Madigan, Camryn Manheim, Christina Ricci, and Frances Sternhagen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Fair Haven is the name of a quaint 18th century Irish village, created in the ship's Holoprogram by crewmen Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) and Kim (Garrett Wang). With the threatened approach of a dangerous neutrino wave weighing heavily upon her, Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) permits herself and her crew to get their minds off their troubles by spending 24 hours in Fair Haven. Fantasy and reality collide head-on when Janeway falls in love with Irish pubkeeper Michael Sullivan (Fintan McKeown), a holocharacter created especially for her. "Fair Haven" originally aired on January 12, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide