Alan Sader Movies
- 1994
Bigotry and values are questioned when a Black West Point cadet is singled out and harassed by fellow cadets and senior officers. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1994
Steve Austin (Lee Majors) and Jaime Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) reunite for another go around as the popular 1970s bionic duo. In this two-hour TV-movie, the couple's long overdue wedding is put in jeopardy when Jaime suffers from a virus. Richard Anderson and Martin E. Brooks reprise their TV-roles as mentor Oscar Goldman and bionic-specialist Dr. Rudy Wells, respectively. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
Barbra Streisand directed and stars in this love story about two people of dissimilar backgrounds who form a connection based on their unhappy experiences. Adapted from the novel by Pat Conroy, the story concerns Tom Wingo (Nick Nolte), a rudderless, unemployed football coach. Stuck in a loveless marriage with a wife (Blythe Danner) who feels nothing for him, and unable to move forward with his life, he is suddenly jarred out of his lethargy when he travels to New York because his twin sister (Melinda Dillon) has just tried to kill herself. In New York, he meets her psychiatrist, Susan Lowenstein (Barbra Streisand), who is married to a snobbish husband (Jeroen Krabbe). Susan and Tom become attracted to each other out of their loneliness. As his relationship with Susan blossoms, Tom learns to deal with his mother Lila (Kate Nelligan), who is the sole emotional center of his life. In the past, Lila was married to an abusive alcoholic. When she left her first husband, she married a rich man whose abuse was mental rather than physical. Tom hates Lila, but he can't free himself of his attachment to her. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nick Nolte, Barbra Streisand, (more)
- 1991
Nightmare in Columbia County was inspired by a true-life crime which occurred in South Carolina in the 1980s. An elusive psychopath is stalking a beauty contest winner. He kidnaps the girl's sister, then murders several people to cover his tracks. The police are at a loss to find the maniac, who remains in contact with the beauty queen via short, untraceable phone calls. William Devane plays the obsessed police detective who burns the midnight oil to put the clues together. Nightmare in Columbia County refuses to insult the intelligence of its audience with a sugarcoating of the events or with any tacked-on happy endings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Devane, Jeri Ryan, (more)
- 1990
Unspeakable Acts is the all-too-true story of a 1984 Dade County (Florida) sexual abuse case. Frank and Ilana Fuster (Gregory Sierra and Bess Meyer), who operate an upper-class day care center in a Florida suburb, are accused of committing appalling acts upon their young charges. The prosecution's case hinges on the testimony of one emotionally scarred child. Jill Clayburgh and Brad Davis play Lauri and Joseph Braga, the husband-and-wife child development specialists who must convince the abused youngster to testify without causing additional damage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Originally telecast in two parts on March 27 and 28 of 1988, Lincoln was adapted from the bestselling "factual fiction" by Gore Vidal. Sam Waterston stars as Abraham Lincoln, with Mary Tyler Moore frighteningly convincing as the tragic Mary Todd Lincoln. Predictably, Part One of Lincoln deals with the inauguration, the outbreak of War, and the president's tiltings with his cabinet, while Part Two includes the Emancipation Proclamation, the appointment of General Grant (James Gammon), and the assassination. The throughline of the script is the deteriorating mental condition of Mary Lincoln, not to mention her injurious impulsiveness: at one point, Honest Abe must cover up the fact that Mary has stolen a copy of his inaugural speech and sold it. Evidently, the name of Gore Vidal was not considered enough of a drawing card by the NBC publicists, who insisted upon advertising Lincoln as the second coming of Gone With the Wind, adding the teaser tagline "The Untold Story." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Ryan White was the teenaged hemophiliac who contacted AIDS through a blood transfusion, then was barred from attending school in Kokomo, Indiana. All but ostracized by the community, Ryan's mother (Judith Light) engages the services of a high-powered attorney (George C. Scott) to win back her son's basic rights. While the film ends with Ryan triumphing over his human adversaries, no effort is made to sugarcoat the situation. Even after he has been welcomed by another school, we see how the boy is shunned by certain students and their parents; nor is there any glossing over the fact that Ryan's days are numbered, despite the boy's enthusiastic plans for the time he has left (young White died shortly after this TV movie was first telecast in 1989). Despite its inherent sadness, The Ryan White Story is a celebration of an exceptional young human being whose short life touched so many others in a positive, uplifting manner. While Lukas Haas portrays the title character, the real Ryan White appears in the small role of Chad, another hemophiliac AIDS victim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Pandering über-producer Dino De Laurentiis followed his unnecessary 1976 remake of King Kong with this even more pointless sequel ten years later. Though the colossal ape Kong took a half-gainer off the World Trade Center for Jessica Lange at the previous film's climax, we are told at the sequel's outset that Kong survived and is being kept alive through artificial means by a secret scientific team (headed by Linda Hamilton in her pre-action-heroine days) dedicated to designing a synthetic replacement heart. When the hilariously huge device is deemed ready for implant, the scientists seek out the only known donor for the requisite blood transfusion: a female Kong, recently captured in Borneo by adventurer Brian Kerwin. Kong's luck turns out to be twofold: not only is the implant a success, the big lug now has a potential mate who's more his type. After Kong rescues his fellow captive, the amorous behemoths eventually thunder off to the mountains to make a great big baby. Director John Guillermin (who helmed the previous film) plays the unbelievably silly premise absolutely straight, including a hilarious heart-transplant scene featuring surgical tools the size of freeway signs, leading viewers to believe that the joke's on them for sitting through this inane exercise. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Kerwin, Peter Anthony Elliott, (more)
- 1985
- PG13
Based on a true story, this drama stars Sissy Spacek as Marie Ragghianti, a Tennessee housewife stuck in a bad marriage with an abusive husband and caring for a child with long-term health problems. Determined to turn her life around, Marie leaves her husband and goes back to school. Against long odds, she completes her college degree and is able to land a job with the Tennessee State Government. Thanks to hard work and being in the right place at the right time, Marie moves up the ladder to become the head of the Tennessee Parole Board. However, the more authority Marie gains, the more corruption she sees, reaching to the highest offices in the state -- Eddie Sisk (Jeff Daniels), special assistant to the governor, has worked out a system by which he can collect bribes on behalf of the governor in exchange for political favors, without the governor himself being directly implicated. An angry Marie decides that it's time she did something about the graft and dirty dealing in the parole department, but she soon discovers that the governor has many powerful friends who can easily discredit her in the press. The supporting cast includes Morgan Freeman and Trey Wilson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sissy Spacek, Jeff Daniels, (more)
