Diana Scarwid Movies

In this independent coming-of-age story, Nathan (Stephan Bender) is a shy and awkward teenager who has moved to a small town in Louisiana with his father, Harland (Thomas Jay Ryan), and mother, Vivian (Diana Scarwid). Nathan is attracted to other boys, but he's had a hard time coming to terms with his sexuality after years of being sexually abused by his father. Living next door to Nathan is Roy (Max Roeg), who attends the same high school and makes pocket money driving the school bus. Nathan is infatuated with Roy, and one day while they're doing homework together he discovers Roy is also interested in him. Nathan and Roy become lovers, though Roy notices that Nathan seems more familiar with gay sex than his experience would lead him to expect. Roy and two friends from school go camping one weekend, and he invites Nathan to join them; Roy's friends don't know he's gay and aren't especially open-minded, and after spending several hours swapping stories of ghosts and grisly folk tales, they begin to wonder why Roy and Nathan insist on sharing a tent. However, everyone is in for a surprise when the furtive lovers are confronted. Featuring musician Rickie Lee Jones in a supporting role, Dream Boy features an original score from acclaimed singer-songwriter Richard Buckner. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Launched in March 2004 as a mid-season replacement, this supernatural comedy drama suffered a death as quick as its premise was quirky. Thanks in part to a punishing Friday-night time slot, Wonderfalls managed only four episodes before Fox pulled the plug. Less than a year later, however, the offbeat series found new life on DVD, where all 13 completed installments were released to brisk sales and critical acclaim (see Wonderfalls -- The Complete Series). The brainchild of veteran director Todd Holland (Twin Peaks, My So-Called Life) and Dead Like Me creator Bryan Fuller, Wonderfalls chronicles the misadventures of Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas), a Niagara Falls, NY gift-shop employee whose snarky world view gets shaken up when inanimate objects -- a wax lion, a stuffed chameleon -- begin ordering her around. Convinced she's cracking up, Jaye nevertheless follows the animals' instructions and unwittingly helps a broad range of unusual characters: an elementary-school Romeo, a stuttering stalker, a faithless nun, a mysterious housekeeper, etc. Her partners in crime on these assignments include sardonic pal Mahandra (Tracie Thoms), buttoned-up lesbian sister Sharon (Kate Finneran), and overeducated, underachieving brother Aaron (Lee Pace). Though unaware of their daughter's peculiar conversations with stuffed animals, Jaye's stuffy parents Karen (Diana Scarwid) and Darrin (William Sadler) also figure prominently in her adventures. So does Eric (Tyron Leitso), a hot, heartbroken bartender whose honeymoon was recently cut short when he caught his bride servicing the hotel bellhop. As Jaye flirts with Eric, fights with her family, and struggles to maintain her ironic detachment, she comes reluctantly closer to understanding the nature of her unorthodox destiny. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

A jailhouse murder confession raises doubts over the guilt of two other convicts, one of whom died in custody. As the detectives and the D.A.'s office pursue the investigation, it becomes painfully apparent that a former police fingerprint examiner (Diana Scarwid) may have provided false testimony to assure convictions in several court cases. Especially vexing is the fact that police lieutenant Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkeson) earned her promotion thanks to two of these fraudulent convictions. Originally slated to air on October 3, 2001, this episode was bumped forward to November 14 of that year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With her parents on the verge of divorce, young Robin Garr (Evan Rachel Wood)does not any more stress in her life. Unfortunately, while attending summer camp, Robin's best friend, a strangely melancholy girl named Amelia (Katie Booze-Mooney) accidentally drowns, a tragedy for which Robin holds herself responsible. It is while in this emotionally fragile state that Robin befriends a seemingly benign middle-aged lady named Dorothy (Diana Scarwid), who ends up being hired as a nanny by Robin's mother Leah (Meredith Baxter). Soon thereafter, Leah begins to wonder if inviting Dorothy into her household was a good idea: The woman proves to have an obsession about neatness, and her outward gentility masks the soul of a control freak. Slowly but surely, what begins as merely an uncomfortable situation evoles into stark, raw terror--and to make matters worse, there seems to be a sinister connection between Dorothy and the late, lamented Amelia! Made for the CBS TV network, Down Will Come Baby first aired on May 4, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The made-for-TV Before He Wakes is based on the novel by Jerry Bledsoe),which in turn was inspired by the true story of convicted murderer Barbara Stager (who at the time of the film was slated for her first parole hearing in 2006). A small North Carolina town is shocked when popular high school baseball coach Ron Michaels (Timothy Carhart) is killed in his sleep. The killer turns out to be his wife Bridget (Jaclyn Smith), a successful career woman who is widely loved and respected in the community. Bridget insists that she shot her husband by accident, and the police are willing to believe her story--until members of Ron's family, joined with the relatives of Bridget's first husband, raise a number of disturbing questions. Ultimately it is revealed that Bridget has been leading a double life, posing as a pillar of the community while mounting huge debts to maintain her sumptuous lifestyle--and it is determined that Bridget killed her first husband, who died under similar circumstances as the hapless Ron Michaels. All of the character names are changed for various reasons, and a great deal of dramatic license is taken with the sequence of events (in real life, the cops weren't quite as slow on the upstake as they're shown to be here!) Before He Wakes made its first CBS appearance on December 1, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The compilation film If These Walls Could Talk consists of three short films that each deal with the controversial issue of abortion. Although each of the stories is set in a different decade, the unifying element (aside from the subject matter) is that all three transpire in the same house. The first story stars Demi Moore as the widow of a soldier killer in combat. She becomes pregnant and does not feel it would be morally appropriate to have the baby. Because it is the '50s, she must attempt to secure an illegal abortion. The second story, set in the '70s, stars Sissy Spacek as a mother of a struggling family. Having successfully raised four children on a meager income, Spacek's character must now decide if she should seek an abortion after finding out she is expecting a fifth. The final story takes place in the '90s. Anne Heche portrays a grad student who crosses protestors' picket lines in order to consult a doctor (Cher) about having an abortion. The first two parts, "1952" and "1974," were directed by Nancy Savoca, and the last part, "1996," was helmed by Cher, in her directorial debut. If These Walls Could Talk aired originally on HBO. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

"Remake fever" spread in 1991 to the producers of the TV-movie Night of the Hunter. 36 years earlier, writer James Agee, director Charles Laughton and stars Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish combined their considerable talents to create the original Night of the Hunter, a first-rate allegorical suspenser involving stolen funds, a homicidal phony preacher, and two innocent but resilient children. The 1991 remakes stars Richard Chamberlain in the old Mitchum role as Harry Powell, the bogus preacher with the words LOVE and HATE tattooed on his knuckles. In pursuit of stolen money hidden by an old prison cellmate, "Reverend" Powell ingratiates himself with the cellmate's widow (Diana Scarwid), then kills her. The woman's children seem to know where the money is, so Powell pursues them through the woods, nearly catching up with them before they are taken in by a kindly old woman. The 1991 Night of the Hunter couldn't come up with an adequate substitute for Lillian Gish, so the new script altered the ending, thereby diminishing most of the property's inherent value. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A Bunny's Tale is a TV-movie adaptation of Gloria Steinem's experiences as a Playboy bunny. Engaged by a magazine to write an investigative article on publisher Hugh Hefner's nightclub chain, Ms. Steinem (Kirstie Alley) poses as a young girl named "Marie" and enters the Bunny training program at the New York Playboy club. Outfitted with phony ears, fuzzy tail and revealing costume, Gloria learns the proper method of serving drinks (the "bunny dip") and how to fend off customers who ignore Hefner's "look but don't touch" policy. She also concludes that being a sex object, even a chaste one, is depressingly demeaning -- an "awakening" which, according to this film, leads to Steinem's feminist activism of the 1960s and 1970s. By the time it made its February 25, 1985 debut, it was beating a dead rabbit: the glory days of the Playboy Philosophy had long passed, and most of the once-thriving "bunny clubs" had gone out of business. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, an attorney tries to prove that his incarcerated client is indeed innocent of murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Adapted from the once-notorious trilogy of novels by James T. Farrell, the three-part miniseres Studs Lonigan isn't quite as earthy and explicit as its source, but is lot more faithful to the original than the 1960 film version. Set in Chicago and covering the years from 1916 to 1931, this is the story of a brawling, braggadocio young Irish-American lad named Studs Lonigan (played as a child by Dan Shor, and as an adult by Harry Hamlin in his first major TV role). Despite his rough veneer, Studs is sensitive and concerned about his future, though he doesn't want to follow the values set forth by his tradition-bound parents (Charles Durning, Colleen Dewhurst). Hanging around with his childhood buddies, Studs gets into all sorts of scrapes and becomes involved with a number of women, notably the decent, demure Catherine (Diana Scarwid) and the lusty, libidinous Lucy (Lisa Pelikan). Though he grows in age and size, Studs has trouble maturing emotionally, surrounded by the pressures of a rough, prejudice-ridden neighborhood and the increasing hooliganism of his cronies. As the Depression crashes heavily upon the scene, Studs finds himself "trapped" in the very sort of middle-class quagmire that he'd always hoped to avoid. Earning an Emmy Award for art/set direction, the 6-hour Studs Lonigan originally aired March 7, 14 and 21, 1979, as part of NBC's Novels for Television anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Battered concentrates upon three female victims of spousal abuse. Chip Fields is the new wife of struggling young Levar Burton. Joan Blondell is the alcoholic middle-aged spouse of the equally bibilous Howard Duff. And Karen Grassle (who cowrote the screenplay) is married to Ivy leaguer Mike Farrell. While a bit too cut-and-dried, Battered handles the issues at hand with intelligence and an avoidance of sensationalism. Made for television, the film debuted September 26, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An ex-priest helps exorcise the demons that have taken over the residents of an exclusive girls' school in this made-for-TV supernatural thriller. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Accomplished actress Anjelica Huston, daughter of John Huston, made her directorial debut with this absorbing, often wrenching story of child abuse in the 1950s American South. Based on a novel by Dorothy Allison, the film (narrated by Laura Dern) tells the tale of Bone (Jena Malone), a poor white girl so named because she was born right after her mother survived a terrifying car crash. While Bone is still a small child, her single mother, Anney (Jennifer Jason Leigh), meets and marries the sweet Lyle (Dermot Mulroney), and the two add another daughter to the family before Lyle dies in an auto accident. Anney is next courted by the less good-natured Glen (Ron Eldard), who takes out his rage on Bone both physically and sexually, as Bone becomes even more disillusioned at her mother's inability to get away from her monstrous husband. Set in South Carolina in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Bastard Out Of Carolina touches on many aspects of life, family, and hardship amidst the poor white of the South. TNT owner Ted Turner refused to air the film, ostensibly because of its difficult subject matter, but the film goes out of its way to handle its material with as little exploitation as possible. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide