Herb Williams Movies
In this comedy, a basketball fan figures she could be a better coach than the guy getting paid millions to do the job -- and then gets the chance to prove it. Edwina "Eddie" Franklin (Whoopi Goldberg) is a limousine dispatcher and sometime driver who is a passionate New York Knicks fan; she loyally follows their every move, attending as many home games as possible from the cheap seats and radioing game updates to her drivers when they play during her working hours. The Knicks are purchased by eccentric Southern millionaire Wild Bill Burgess (Frank Langella) in the middle of a long losing streak; when Wild Bill calls for a limo, Eddie arranges to drive him herself, and gives him a piece of her mind about the sad state of the team. Impressed, Wild Bill makes Eddie an honorary coach for the night, and her spitfire attitude and encouragement of the players impresses her. However, Wild Bill thinks putting on a show to boost attendance is more important than having a winning team, and eventually Knicks coach Bailey (Dennis Farina) quits in disgust. Wild Bill gets the bright idea of hiring Eddie as the team's new head coach; she considers it an honor, and at only $50,000 a year, he considers it a bargain. While Eddie is hardly an experienced leader, she soon learns how to motivate her team, and against all odds she helps pull the Knicks out of their losing streak -- but now has to face Wild Bill, who is losing interest in the team and wants to sell. Several real-life NBA stars make cameo appearances, including Dennis Rodman, John Salley, Rick Fox, and Mark Jackson, while prominent New Yorkers David Letterman and Donald Trump play themselves. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Whoopi Goldberg, Frank Langella, (more)
Opening within one month from each other in 1994, Blown Away invited many comparisons to Speed. Both are pyrotechnical displays involving mad bombers and a multitude of flying building debris and body parts. The cop and the mad bomber in this one are Jimmy Dove (Jeff Bridges), a veteran of the Boston Bomb Squad planning to retire from the force, and Ryan Gaerity (Tommy Lee Jones), a revenge-crazed explosives expert who has recently escaped from a detention center in Northern Ireland. It seems that Gaerity is out to get Jimmy and has been nursing his grudge for the past twenty years. Back in his Irish past, Jimmy, then known as Liam, was a student of Gaerity, who constructed bombing devices for the IRA. But when Gaerity's bombing plans included the killing of innocent civilians, Liam opposed him and thwarted his efforts. As a result, Liam escaped to the United States to become Jimmy, and Gaerity was arrested and sent to prison. But now that Gaerity is out of jail, he is traveling to Boston to wreak havoc upon the city in revenge for what Jimmy has done to him. His plan is to create so many bombings in Boston that the bomb squad's strength will be depleted, allowing him to get to Jimmy and his family. The goal? Blowing up Jimmy's wife (Suzy Amis) and stepdaughter at a Boston Pops concert. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Bridges, Tommy Lee Jones, (more)
