Elisabeth Shue Movies
Having journeyed from fresh-scrubbed teen stardom to virtual nonentity and then into a full-bodied critical embrace with her portrayal of a hooker with a heart of gold, the blonde, blue-eyed and impossibly wholesome-looking Elisabeth Shue can truly be said to have had one of Hollywood's more unpredictable careers.The descendent of a blue-blooded, Mayflower-imported East Coast family, Shue was born in Wilmington, Delaware, on October 6, 1963. Raised in the company of three brothers (one of whom, Andrew, would go on to star on Fox's Melrose Place), she excelled in gymnastics, and on the basis of her athletic abilities, she was encouraged by a friend to audition for television commercials. Shue promptly landed a number of jobs pushing everything from Hellmann's Mayonnaise to Burger King, and she managed to keep working as an actor during her college studies at Wellesley and Harvard. In 1984, she won a role on the TV series Call to Glory, and that same year, she made her film debut as Ralph Macchio's girlfriend in the blockbuster The Karate Kid. Starring roles in Adventures in Babysitting (1987) and Cocktail (1988) followed, but Shue quickly found herself being relegated to playing the disposable girlfriend in any number of films. Things went from bad to worse to just flat-out embarrassing, and by the time she was in her late 20s, the actress was in what could charitably be described as the career doldrums.
Fortunately, with her casting in Mike Figgis' 1995 Leaving Las Vegas, Shue's fortunes did a complete about-face. A film that nearly did not get made and that no major Hollywood studio would finance, it was a completely unexpected hit, and Shue's performance as Sera, a used-and-abused prostitute who takes up with a drunk with a death wish (Nicolas Cage), was hailed as one of the finest comebacks in recent memory. The actress earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination -- as well as a host of other honors -- for her portrayal, and almost overnight she found herself on Hollywood's A-list. However, Shue's newfound adulation did not guarantee that her subsequent films would be worthy of her talents, something that was demonstrated all too well with her next three films, The Underneath (1995), The Trigger Effect (1996), and Cousin Bette (1997), which were consecutive flops. The actress fared somewhat better in Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry (1997), garnering a positive reception for her performance as one of Allen's unfortunate conquests.
Following another triple round of potential career disembowelment that assumed the form of The Saint (1997), Palmetto (1998), and Molly (1999), Shue re-emerged with The Hollow Man (2000), a thriller that cast the actress as a scientist who teams up with Kevin Bacon and Josh Brolin to fight an invisible killer. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Teenager Chris Parker (Elisabeth Shue) would rather party with her boyfriend, but when her beau breaks their date she reluctantly accepts a babysitting job. It isn't all TV and icebox-raiding when Chris' best friend Brenda (Penelope Ann Miller) calls her to announce that she's stranded at the bus station. With her youthful charges in tow (one of whom, 15-year-old Brad (Keith Coogan), has a hopeless crush on the babysitter), Chris heads into downtown Chicago to go to Brenda's rescue. Thus begins a roller coaster ride of comic mishaps, unexpected perils and hairbreadth escapes. IN one bit, blues singer Albert Collins refuses to allow Chris and company to leave the nightclub they've wandered into until they agree to sing along with a song borrowed from, of all things the 1939 B-picture Nancy Drew, Reporter! . Screenwriter and Steven Spielberg protégé Chris Columbus made his directorial debut with Adventures in Babysitting. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elisabeth Shue, Maia Brewton, (more)
- 1989
Things have barely settled from the excitement and resolve of the original Back to the Future, when in pops that crazy inventor Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) with news that in order to prevent a series of events that could ruin the McFly name for posterity, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox ) and his girlfriend are whisked into the future to the year 2015, where Marty must tangle with a teen rogue named Griff, who's obviously the descendant of Biff, the first Future film's bully. Marty foils Griff and his group when he jumps on an air-foil skateboard that flies him through town at rakish speeds with the loser bullies beaten again. Marty gets a money-making brainstorm before hopping in the time-traveling DeLorean, and he purchases a sports almanac. He figures that back in 1985 he'll be able to place sure-fire bets using the published sports scores of the games that are yet to happen. Unfortunately for Marty, Dr. Brown disapproves of his betting scheme -- he feels too much messing with time is very dangerous -- and he tosses the almanac. A hidden Biff overhears the discussion about the almanac, sees it get tossed out, and grabs it. Thus begins a time-traveling swirl to make the head spin. Biff swipes the DeLorean, heads back to 1955, and with the help of the unerring almanac, bets his way to power. The now-altered "Biff world" has turned into a nightmarish scene with Biff the mogul, residing in a Vegas-styled pleasure palace and running everything. It's all our hero Marty can do to pull the pieces together this time, as he must jump between three generations of intertwined time travel. The end of Back to the Future, Part 2 introduces its sequel as the zany professor has already time-dashed away to the Wild West of the late 1800s and invites Marty into a new adventure. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, (more)
- 1990
The final installment in the Back to the Future trilogy picks up where the second film left off, but it casts off the dizzying time travel of the first two films for mostly routine comedy set in the Old West. Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) receives a 70-year-old letter from his inventor friend, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), who tells Marty that he has retreated a century in time to live out a relatively quiet life in the Old West. Doc Brown reveals that he hid his DeLorean car/time machine in an abandoned mine outside town, and when Marty does some research and discovers that the Doc died shortly after writing the letter, he decides to find the car, travel back in time, and warn the Doc about his demise. Meanwhile, the Doc, who has fallen in love with a local woman (Mary Steenburgen), realizes he can't hide in the past from the problems he has caused to the time flow in the previous two adventures. He reluctantly decides to return to the present with Marty, but first, they have to find a way to get the DeLorean up to time-travel velocity with a broken fuel line and no gasoline. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, (more)
In this off-beat western, a gunfighter single-handedly takes on a band of ruthless bandits and prevents them from stealing a cache of government silver from a beleaguered little town. The gunslinger (Armand Assante) is not only remarkable for his quick draw and deadly aim, but also for the fact that a Civil War injury left him nearly blind. He carries with him the little baby he vowed to rear and protect after the war. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Armand Assante, Elisabeth Shue, (more)
- 1984
Call to Glory was intended as an ABC miniseries, depicting the turbulent 1960s as seen through the eyes of an Air Force family. A pre-Coach Craig T. Nelson stars as Colonel Raynor Sarnac, with Cindy Pickett as his wife Vanessa and Elizabeth Shue and Gabriel Damon as the Sarnac children. The 2-hour pilot concentrates on the 13 fateful days of the Cuban Missile Crisis in the Fall of 1962. This pilot, and the miniseries itself, was originally slated for telecast in May of 1984, but ABC smelled potential in the project and ordered that it be expanded to a 13-week series. The premiere was moved up to August 13, 1984, with the pilot film unveiled right after ABC's Olympics coverage. Call to Glory was a huge ratings hit at the outset; alas, ABC's decision to move away from the historical aspects of the program to concentrate on the soapish goings-on within the Sarnac family prompted a severe drop-off in viewer interest. The program was finally axed in February of 1985. Later that year, scenes from the untelecast Call to Glory episodes were stitched together into another 2-hour TV "movie", Call to Glory: JFK. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Tom Cruise juggles Martini shakers and ice cubes as the materialistic Brian Flanagan, a bartender who drops out of school to search for the perfect "rich chick" who will bankroll him into luxury. Brian meets up with bar veteran Doug Couglin (Bryan Brown) and they put together a dance-duo bar-tending act, taking five minutes to a mix a drink as they dance and toss gin bottles behind the bar to cutting-edge rock music circa 1988. The patrons, instead of demanding the booze, are dazzled by their antics and cheer them on. As a result, the bartenders become wildly popular -- in particular, Brian, who finds the bar babes falling all over each other to hop into the sack with him. As a result of their bar-tending success, they get hired to tend bar at a swanky disco, but there Brian and Doug have a falling out, and Brian takes off for Jamaica. There he meets vacationing New York City waitress Jordan Mooney (Elisabeth Shue) and the two fall in love. But then Brian meets rich New York fashion executive Bonnie (Lisa Banes) who wants to take Brian back to Manhattan with her to become her drink-mixing stud. When Jordan sees this, the love affair is put on hold. But not for long, as pangs of consciousness begin to filter through Brian's drunken haze. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown, (more)
Acclaimed theater director Des McAnuff made his feature-film directorial debut with this period comedy-drama adapted from Honore de Balzac's novel La Cousine Bette (1846) about a jealous and bitter spinster who attempts to destroy the romance between her niece and a Polish sculptor. In Paris of the 1840s, spinster Bette Fisher (Jessica Lange) steps in to "take care" of her relatives after a decline in the Hulot family fortunes, mainly due to wastrel Hector Hulot (Hugh Laurie). After penniless sculptor Wenceslas Steinbach (Aden Young) marries Hector's daughter, Hortense (Kelly Macdonald), Bette schemes and plots, drawing Hector's mistress, music-hall star Jenny Cadine (Elisabeth Shue), into her web by arranging for wealthy Cesar Crevel (Bob Hoskins) to become Jenny's benefactor. Filmed at locations in and around Bordeaux. Shown at the 1998 Seattle Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jessica Lange, Elisabeth Shue, (more)
Woody Allen wrote, directed, and stars in this very dark comedy about a novelist, Harry Block, who says with admirable honesty, "I'm a guy who can't function well in life, but I can in art." So far, Harry has made his way through six psychiatrists and three marriages (one, conveniently enough, with one of his psychiatrists), and he has precious few friends whom he hasn't alienated or betrayed. Harry uses the chaos of his life as fodder for his writing, angering his friends, lovers, and family, who find thinly veiled (and rarely flattering) portraits of themselves in his work. Drowning his growing misery in pills and sex, Harry finds himself invited to receive an award at a college in upstate New York which he attended, but never graduated from. However, he has a hard time finding anyone who will attend the weekend-long symposium with him: his girlfriend Fay (Elisabeth Shue) has just left him to marry his friend Larry (Billy Crystal); his best friend Richard (Bob Balaban) is afraid he's about to have a heart attack; his former wife/analyst Joan (Kirstie Alley) refuses to let him take their son, and his one-time sister-in-law Lucy (Judy Davis) is literally ready to kill him. Undaunted, Harry hires a hooker, Cookie (Hazelle Goodman), kidnaps his son, forces Richard to come along, and heads upstate, where disaster awaits. A stellar cast appears in small roles and episodes from Harry's stories, including Robin Williams, Demi Moore, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Eric Bogosian, Amy Irving, Richard Benjamin, Mariel Hemingway, and Julie Kavner. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Woody Allen, Kirstie Alley, (more)
- 2009
First time writer/director Jake Goldberger takes the helm for this thriller about a man who returns to his hometown after receiving a letter from his high school sweetheart, who claims to be dying. It's been twenty-five years since Don McKay (Thomas Hayden Church) turned his back on his hometown, and he never imagined he would ever return. But when a letter from his former girlfriend Sonny (Elisabeth Shue) appears in Don's mailbox, he can't resist visiting his old flame one more time, before her light disappears forever. When Don comes home and realizes that his memories of Sonny don't match up with the woman she's become, it quickly becomes apparent that he harbors a shameful secret form years gone by. Meanwhile, Sonny's doctor (James Rebhorn) and caretaker (Melissa Leo) don't warm quickly to the returning visitor, and a chance run-in suddenly compounds Don's buried secret. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thomas Haden Church, Elisabeth Shue, (more)
- 2005
- PG
- Add Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story to QueueAdd Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story to top of Queue
A man and his young daughter face almost impossible odds as they struggle to help an injured horse return to the racetrack in this family-friendly drama. Ben Crane (Kurt Russell) is a horse trainer whose career has gone into a bit of a slump, and after years as his own boss, he's signed on to work for Palmer (David Morse), a breeder whose wealth and success has given him a certain degree of arrogance. While Ben has learned to keep his mouth shut around his boss, he forgets himself when one of his favorite horses, Sonador, breaks its leg during an important race. Palmer insists that the horse should be put down on the spot, but Ben doesn't have the heart to kill the animal, especially since his young daughter, Cale (Dakota Fanning), is in the stands watching. Ben and Palmer have harsh words with one another, and Ben is fired, but is allowed to take Sonador with him when he leaves. Ben has a hard time convincing anyone that the injured horse has any potential, especially his father, Pop (Kris Kristofferson), a fellow trainer who rarely sees eye to eye with his son. But Cale loves the horse, and Ben believes that Sonador can make a comeback with the right care, and together with stable men Balon (Luis Guzman) and Manolin (Freddy Rodriguez), he sets out to put the filly on the road to recovery. As its subtitle suggests, Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story was based on the story of Mariah's Storm, a filly who broke a leg during a race in 1993, but a year later came back to win the Arlington Heights Oaks, and in 1995 won the Turfway Breeder's Cup. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning, (more)
A woman who wanted nothing more in life than to become a mother finds her sanity slipping after the birth of her child in a terrifying look at the horrors of parenthood starring Academy Award nominee Elisabeth Shue. The only thing that seems to be missing from Laura (Shue)'s otherwise perfect life is a child, and when Laura and her husband discover that she has become pregnant it seems that all the pair's dreams are finally coming true. Motherhood is far from the simple and instinctual task that Laura imagined it would be, however, and soon after the birth of her child the confused new parent finds herself struggling with the pains of post-partum depression. Despite her determination to protect her baby at all costs, Laura begins to question her abilities as a parent after moving into a large and isolated new home. Now, as a plague of rats flood into the basement of the home, a mysterious diary is pulled from inside the decrepit walls of the home, and a new nanny is hired to help the distressed mother care for her newborn child, the situation soon descends into a harrowing battle for sanity as the fate of a young child hangs in the balance. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elisabeth Shue, Steven Mackintosh, (more)
Inspired by the real-life events that followed the untimely 1988 death of William Shue (brother of cast members Elisabeth and Andrew Shue and executive producer John Shue) the feel-good sports drama Gracie unfolds in 1978 New Jersey. 15-year-old Gracie Bowen (newcomer Carly Schroeder) is still reeling from the passing of her brother Johnny (Jesse Lee Soffer), a star player on the high-school soccer team. When Gracie defies nearly everyone's wishes by vowing to replace Johnny under the aegis of cantankerous Coach Colasanti (John Doman), it irritates her parents (Elisabeth Shue, Dermot Mulroney) -- who encourage her to stick to activities better-suited to her gender -- and her best friend, Jena (Julia Garro), who warns her that athletic women are often considered "lesbos." The young woman persists, however, and wins the hearts of her most strident detractors, surmounting one obstacle after another and racing toward certain victory. Karen Janszen and Lisa Marie Petersen co-scripted; Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) directs, lacing the soundtrack with pop standards from that era, with Aretha Franklin's "Rock Steady" used as Gracie's training anthem. Dina Goldman created the film's meticulous 1970s production design. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carly Schroeder, Elisabeth Shue, (more)
Steve Coogan stars in the comedy Hamlet 2, which follows a drama teacher who tries to put together a production of "Hamlet 2" to rescue his high-school theater department. Catherine Keener co-stars in the Andrew Fleming-helmed production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, (more)
Director Ron Underwood follows up his crowd-pleasing hit City Slickers (1991) with this likable, feel-good comedy drama about a selfish businessman who discovers that he's permanently being followed by a group of ghosts. In 1959, a bus accident links the spirits of four fatally injured passengers to a newborn baby whose birth is caused by the crash. For 25 years, Milo (Tom Sizemore), Harrison (Charles Grodin), Penny (Alfre Woodard) and Julia (Kyra Sedgwick) remain bound to Thomas Reilly (Robert Downey Jr.), who believes the quartet to be imaginary childhood friends that have long since disappeared. When the four spooks suddenly realize that they are meant to use Thomas as a conduit to bring closure to their unfinished corporeal lives, they reemerge, causing Thomas to think that he's gone insane. As he becomes reattached to his supernatural companions, however, Thomas' innate decency asserts itself and he begins helping them to right the wrongs in their lives, allowing them to possess his body to achieve their goal of settling accounts and moving on into the afterlife. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Downey, Jr., Charles Grodin, (more)
A newly single father discovers his daughter is caught up in a web of evil in this thriller. David Callaway (Robert De Niro) has been left to raise his nine-year-old daughter, Emily (Dakota Fanning), on his own after the unexpected death of his wife. David is at first amused to discover that Emily has created an imaginary friend named "Charlie," but it isn't long before "Charlie" develops a sinister and violent side, and as David struggles with his daughter's growing emotional problems, he comes to the frightening realization that "Charlie" isn't just a figment of Emily's imagination. Hide and Seek also stars Famke Janssen, Dylan Baker, and Amy Irving. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Dakota Fanning, (more)
In this sci-fi thriller, a man and a woman must fend off a killer whom they cannot see. Scientist Sebastian Caine (Kevin Bacon) is working with a secret military research team headed by Dr. Kramer (William Devane), assigned to create new intelligence technology. With the help of his colleagues Linda McKay (Elisabeth Shue) and Matt Kensington (Josh Brolin), Sebastian has been developing a serum that makes people invisible. The formula is new and unstable, but after a risky but successful test on an ape, an impatient Sebastian, under pressure from Kramer, decides to try it on himself. It works, but no one counted on the side effects; unable to reverse the serum's effects, an invisible Sebastian goes insane, and begins pursuing Linda (his former girlfriend) and Matt (Linda's current beau) in a fog of homicidal rage. Directed by Paul Verhoeven, Hollow Man also features Kim Dickens, Mary Randle, Joey Slotnick, and Greg Grunberg. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Bacon, Elisabeth Shue, (more)
Mike Figgis' grim drama documents a romantic triangle of sorts involving prostitute Sera (Elisabeth Shue), failed Hollywood screenwriter Ben (Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage), and the constant flow of booze which he loves more dearly than life itself. Arriving in Las Vegas with the intention of drinking himself to death, Ben meets Sera, and they gradually begin falling for one another. From the outset, however, Ben warns Sera that no matter what, she can never ask him to quit drinking, a condition to which she grudgingly agrees. A darkly comic tragedy, Leaving Las Vegas charts the brief romantic convergence of two desperately needy people who together find a brief flicker of happiness. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue, (more)
A literary drama offering the parallel tales of two wounded souls, director Mehdi Norowzian's tale of redemption and the struggle to find one's place in life finds an ex-convict's correspondence with a young boy offering hope for the future despite the fact that the boy has yet to find his own place in the world. Believing that her husband has been unfaithful, Mary Bloom (Elisabeth Shue) embarks on an affair with a young handyman (Justin Chambers) that results in her pregnancy. Racked with guilt when her husband dies in a car accident shortly thereafter, Mary begins to hate her son, Leo (Davis Sweat), leaving the youngster hungering for affection. Assigned correspondence with a convict for a class project, the withdrawn Leo begins to form a close bond with Stephen (Joseph Fiennes), who increasingly relies on his communication with Leo as a form of cathartic repentance. When Stephen is released from jail, he gets a job at a diner where concerned co-workers Vic (Sam Shepard) and Caroline (Deborah Unger) attempt to help him establish himself on the outside. Simultaneously brutalized by local drunk Horace (Dennis Hopper), Stephen decides to leave the diner and search for the boy whose letters carried him through his darkest days. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Richard Franklin directed this horror film that plays like Jane Goodall in Gaslight. Elisabeth Shue is Jane Chase, a graduate student in zoology who volunteers to help Dr. Steven Phillip (Terence Stamp), a professor at the university, with his animal studies. Arriving at his mansion, she is greeted by Link, a orangutan dressed in a monkey suit. Jane gets to know Link and Dr. Phillip's other chimp charges, Imp and Voodoo. One day Dr. Phillip goes to town, supposedly to sell Voodoo, but instead, Voodoo is found dead at the mansion. Link then proceeds to ignore Jane's commands and starts pushing Imp around. When Dr. Phillip's friend Bailey (Kevin Lloyd) arrives to take Voodoo away, Link becomes aggressive and chases Bailey away from the mansion. Jane later realizes Link is holding her prisoner in the mansion, not allowing her through the door and keeping the telephone away from her. Link is now out for blood, and the blood belongs to Jane. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terence Stamp, Elisabeth Shue, (more)
Elisabeth Shue stars in this drama as Molly McKay, a mentally challenged woman who has suffered from autism since childhood. Institutionalized since the age of three, Molly is released at age 28 into the custody of her brother Buck (Aaron Eckhart), whom she hasn't seen since childhood. While Buck cares for his sister, she is in many ways a stranger to him, and he's having enough problems in his life at the moment. When Buck is told by doctors of a risky experimental surgery that could cure Molly, he gives his consent. The operation is a success, and Molly emerges with the emotional walls of autism removed, revealing her to be a genius. But the autistic personality's intense concentration remains, and Buck finds the new Molly nearly as challenging as the old one. Molly's supporting cast includes D.W. Moffett, Jill Hennessy, and Thomas Jane; it was the first credit for screenwriter Dick Christie. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elisabeth Shue, Aaron Eckhart, (more)
Two young men are haunted by similar events from their past, though the effects manifest themselves in very different ways, in this powerful drama from independent filmmaker Gregg Araki. In the summer of 1981, Brian (George Webster) and Neil (Chase Ellison) are both eight years old and playing on the same little league baseball team in a small Kansas town. One day, after a game, Brian blacks out after getting caught in a rainstorm, and five hours later he finds himself sitting in his basement with his nose bleeding and no memory of what happened to him. Over the years, the event -- particularly the missing five hours -- weigh heavily on his mind, and he becomes convinced that he was kidnapped by space aliens. Teenaged Brian (now played by Brady Corbet) becomes friends with Avalyn Friesen (Mary Lynn Rajskub), a woman who claims to have been abducted by aliens on several occasions, and she urges him to look to his dreams for patterns that might suggest what happened to him. Meanwhile, during the same summer, Neil developed a powerful crush on their little league coach (Bill Sage), who appeared to have also taken a shine to Neil. Neil's mother (Elisabeth Shue), seeing nothing wrong with their friendship, lets the coach look after Neil while she's off on one of her many dates, and before long Neil begins sexually experimenting with the older man. Neil's introduction to sex inspires him to become a hustler when he grows into his teens, and after burning his bridges in his hometown, Neil (now played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his close friend Wendy (Michelle Trachtenberg) move to New York, where he continues to cruise for a living but under significantly more risky circumstances. One day, Neil is contacted by Brian, who after seeing one of their team photos from their days in little league suspects he might have some clues as to what happened to him in 1981. Mysterious Skin was based on the novel by Scott Heim, and marked the first time Gregg Araki made a film that did not originate with one of his own screenplays. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brady Corbet, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (more)
- 2001
Executive produced by Oprah Winfrey, the made-for-TV Oprah Winfrey Presents: Amy & Isabelle was based on the bestselling 1999 novel by Elizabeth Strout. The scene is the mining town of Shirley Falls, ME; the year is 1971. Seeking escape from the iron rule of her domineering, social-climbing single mother, Isabelle (Elisabeth Shue), shy teenager Amy (Hanna R. Hall) falls under the seductive spell of her new math teacher, Mr. Robertson (Martin Donovan). Meanwhile, Isabelle, who may not be as straight-laced as she appears, develops a yearning for her married boss, Avery Clark (James Rebhorn), who barely acknowledges the woman's resistance. The tensions between Amy and Isabelle, already heightened by their separate romantic travails, is exacerbated when the two women find themselves working together in the same accounting office. While the rest of the town buzzes with vicious gossip concerning the two heroines, the story takes on a disturbing new tangent when the body of a young girl is found stuffed into the trunk of an abandoned car. Also known as Amy & Isabelle, this film was first aired by ABC on March 4, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elisabeth Shue, Hanna R. Hall, (more)
When new evidence confirms that he was framed, reporter Harry Barber (Woody Harrelson) is released from prison after serving two years. He then goes on to demonstrate repeatedly that he is the dumbest, most masochistic noir hero since Adam ate the apple. His original plan, to leave Palmetto, is foiled when he runs into his girlfriend Nina (Gina Gershon), a successful sculptor who truly loves him. Unfortunately, he also runs into Rhea Malroux (Elisabeth Shue), a conniving femme fatale and wife of a dying millionaire, who offers him $50,000 for a small part in a phony kidnapping of her stepdaughter Odette (Chloe Sevigny. Feeling that he is owed something for his lost two years, and blinded by Rhea's sexuality, Harry agrees to participate even after he realizes he was set up from the very beginning. Complicating matters for himself, he also accepts an offer from the DA to serve as press liaison on the case. As the kidnapping careens out of control, Harry's involvement follows the same trajectory. His downfall is that he thinks he's clever, but his ability to think rationally is compromised from the start and worsens from there. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Woody Harrelson, Elisabeth Shue, (more)
- 1994
As two brothers fall in love with the same woman they must come to grips with the accidental death of their father in this sensitive drama set in Miami. Matthew is still wracked with guilt about the death of his father one year before. As a lifeguard, he believes he should have been able to save him from drowning. Matthew is slowly retreating into his own world, a world that includes a radio inside his head that keeps changing it's station when things become too difficult. Michael, his older brother, tries to help Matthew by getting him a new job at an advertising agency. Matthew stubbornly refuses and opts to remain at the local pool. Michael throws himself completely into his working leaving his ignored girlfriend Natalie ample time to explore a relationship with Matthew. Though innocent, the relationship makes Matthew feel even more guilty. He becomes more withdrawn and begins imaginary conversations with Jesus who is disguised as a Cuban vagabond. Images of water also continue to haunt him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William McNamara, Elisabeth Shue, (more)
In the comedic farce Soapdish, the behind-the-scenes lives of several soap opera actors are just as melodramatic as those of their television counterparts. Sally Field stars as Celeste Talbert, the star of a declining TV show. To make matters worse, Talbert's career is thrown into turmoil when her rival, Montana Moorehead (Cathy Moriarty), tries to persuade producer David Barnes (Robert Downey Jr.) to write Talbert off the show. Smitten by Moorehead, Barnes comes up with a scheme to get Talbert off the show by hiring her niece Lori (Elisabeth Shue) and then Jeffrey (Kevin Kline), an old flame and cast member who was written out of the show 20 years prior. Soon, mayhem rules on the set as the cast and crew tangle, culminating in a special episode, broadcast live. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sally Field, Kevin Kline, (more)
