Ben Slack Movies
- 1997
Two roommates, both strippers, are murdered, sending Simone (Jimmy Smits) and Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) off on another trail of contrary clues. Tipped to a possible assassination by ex-cop Sheedy (Jason Andrews), Medavoy (Gordon Clapp) wants to pose as a hitman to catch the perp, but it is determined that Martinez (Nicholas Turturro) would be better casting. Jill (Andrea Thompson) and Diane (Kim Delaney) deal with a possible diamond necklace robbery. And Diane is more convinced than ever that a baby is on the way. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Drew (Drew Carey) finally manages to halt Mr. Wick's ruthless firing spree by proposing a more humane downsizing plan. Unfortunately, Drew's strategy results in the dismissal of a guy named Trent (Mark Benninghoffen), who happens to be the fiancee of Drew's former girlfriend Lisa (Katey Selverstone, in her final series appearance)--who in turns jumps to the conclusion that Drew is merely trying to get even with her. Elsewhere, Lewis (Ryan Stiles) and Oswald (Diedrich Bader) pad their incomes by taking temp jobs as elves for a drunken and abusive department-store Santa (Ben Slack), who saves his most obstreperous behavior until the very end (HIS very end, that is). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Sketch artist Jeff Fahey returns in this made-for-television sequel. Jack Whitfield stars as Fahey, a police artist whose latest job is to help blind rape victim Emmy O'Connor (Courtney Cox) come up with a description of her attacker. The rapist is also a serial murderer and Emmy is the only one to survive after one of his attacks -- but the murderer isn't through with her yet. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
This shocking prison drama was inspired by a true story. In 1938, Henri Young (Kevin Bacon), sentenced to Alcatraz for stealing $5, attempted to escape from prison with three other prisoners. One of the escapees was captured, and to curry favor with Warden Glenn (Gary Oldman), he informed on the others. Young was soon brought back to custody, and was to be punished by spending 19 days in solitary confinement. Nineteen days stretched into three years, in which Young was kept in a pit with no light, no toilet, no furniture, and nothing to read. Young emerged from solitary a vengeful madman, and he quickly murdered the convict who turned him in. Young was put on trial for the killing, and assigned a first-time public defender, James Stamphill (Christian Slater). Stamphill was horrified by Young's tales of the conditions at Alcatraz, and he used them as the basis of his defense for his client, believing that anyone would be driven to madness and murder if they had been treated the same way as Young. Murder in the First also features Embeth Davidtz, William H. Macy, Brad Dourif, and R. Lee Ermey. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christian Slater, Kevin Bacon, (more)
- 1994
Dan Breen (Peter Boyle), Sipowicz's AA sponsor, is beaten up by his own son (Enrico Colantoni). Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) and Simone (Jimmy Smits) follow the slimmest of clues when the charred body of a pregnant prostitute is found. And Martinez (Nicholas Turturro) and Medavoy (Gordon Clapp) aren't altogether convinced when a two-bit con man (Paul Ben-Victor) insists that he was the brains behind a pawnshop robbery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Embracing the supposed nihilism and cynicism of the "slacker" generation, S.F.W. (1995) caused nary a blip on the media-saturated cultural radar screen that it criticized. Stephen Dorff stars as Cliff Spab, an aimless, hard-drinking youth. Spab becomes a national hero when he is one of several people held hostage by gun-toting terrorists in a convenience store. He doesn't care much about his own life or anything else, and his attitude of "So f---ing what?" translates into debates with his terrorist captors and gloomy pronouncements that charm viewers. After a month-long siege, a crisis erupts when the store runs out of beer and junk food, so Cliff finds himself a free man whose celebrity image is emblazoned on t-shirts and whose presence is requested at a rock concert where he is required to do nothing other than appear. In the meantime, Spab's girlfriend Wendy (Reese Witherspoon) becomes a ubiquitous talk show guest. Ostensibly a satire of the celebrity-obsessed culture of the 1990s, the film was withheld from distribution for a year because of thematic similarities to Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers (1994). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Dorff, Reese Witherspoon, (more)
- 1993
This NBC-TV movie, which premiered around the time of the issuance of the famous Elvis Presley postage stamp, chronicles the relationship between Elvis and his manager, "Colonel" Tom Parker (Beau Bridges). Contrary to the prevailing view of Col. Parker, this film does not show him as a villain (although it does portray him as somewhat uncouth and vulgar). Oddly enough, the film is narrated "from beyond the grave" by Elvis himself (Rob Youngblood). ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1992
The final episode of Murder, She Wrote's eighth season finds Jessica (Angela Lansbury) at the headquarters of a profitable toy company, there to supervise the design of a new board game based on her own mystery novels. Within what seems like minutes, the company's ruthless vice-president Meredith Delaney (Barbara Babcock) is murdered. Now Jessica finds herself in a real-life variation of her board game as she sifts through the suspects, which include the dead woman's husband, her much-younger lover, and an embittered designer. This episode is something of a family affair for star Angela Lansbury: it was written by her brother Bruce Lansbury, and features her nephew David Lansbury in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this made for TV movie based on Danielle Steele's novel, Cheryl Ladd portrays a successful New York television anchorwoman. When she marries a successful surgeon in Los Angeles, romance becomes difficult with their careers on opposite ends of the country. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cheryl Ladd, Michael Nouri, (more)
- 1991
Originally broadcast June 22, 1991, this was not only Next Generation's 100th episode, but also the second of the series' season-ending cliffhangers. The crisis at hand is a power struggle within the higher circles of the Klingon empire, the outcome of which may allow Lt. Worf to restore his family's tattered honor. As civil war threatens to break out among the Klingons, Worf's own loyalties are torn between his people and the crew of the Enterprise. A former Next Generation regular makes a surprise appearance in this episode, which was written by Ronald D. Moore. Part one of "Redemption" ends on a freeze-frame and the superimposed title "To Be Continued," which back in 1991 meant that loyal fans would have to wait until September for the outcome. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
- PG
The two-part, four-hour TV movie Switched at Birth is based on an actual event which began unfolding in Wauchula, Florida in 1978. Brian Kerwin and Judith Hoag play the new parents of a baby girl; a few days later, another couple, played by John M. Jackson and Bonnie Bedelia, have a baby at the same hospital. Kerwin and Hoag's baby is healthy; Jackson and Bedelia's baby has a heart defect. Switched at Birth traces the lives of the two girls over a period of eight years--up to the point of a tragedy which opens the possibility that the girls may not have been given over to the correct parents at the hospital. The four parents involved find themselves in court, battling over custody of the surviving child. This intensely personal problem is bloated into a cause celebre by the press and by parents' rights pressure groups. Edward Asner and Caroline McWilliams appear as the opposing attorneys. Those who'd been following the two-part Switched at Birth during its first telecast in April of 1991 may have found themselves in family conflicts of their own, inasmuch as Part Two was shown opposite the network TV premiere of Die Hard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bonnie Bedelia, Brian Kerwin, (more)
Australian star Paul Hogan just couldn't seem to come up with a hit comparable to his 1986 international hit Crocodile Dundee. Hogan's Almost an Angel was a nice try, but no cigar. The star plays a lifelong thief who suffers a potentially fatal accident. While "in limbo", Hogan is visited by God (amusingly played by Charlton Heston-well, why not Charlton Heston?). When he recovers, Hogan is convinced that he'd been returned to the land of the living in order to do God's work. He turns over a new leaf, coming to the assistance of wheelchair-bound Elias Koteas and his pretty sister Linda Kozlowski (the real-life Mrs. Hogan). At first suspicious of Hogan, Kozlowski is finally won over by his new-found sincerity. So lightweight that it threatens to float away at any moment, Almost an Angel is held together exclusively by Paul Hogan's star appeal. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to insure a box-office success. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Hogan, Elias Koteas, (more)
- 1990
Diana Canova guests as Maggie McCauley, former student of Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) and now the producer of a TV police show. Shortly after a heated argument between Maggie and the network programmer who is planning to cancel the series, the programmer turns up murdered. With herself under suspicion, Maggie draws upon the deductive skills gleaned from her mentor Jessica to find the real killer. Actor-turned-network executive Dwayne Hickman is quite cleverly cast in this episode!. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
One of the few American films to deal with the tragic story of the internment of Asian-Americans during World War II, Come See the Paradise opens in the late 1930s, as Jack McGurn (Dennis Quaid) is working as a union organizer in New York City. Jack finds himself on the wrong side of the law after he gets involved in an ill-advised bombing of a scab shop, and he flees to Los Angeles, where Hiroshi Kawamura (Sab Shimono) gives him a job as a projectionist in L.A.'s Little Tokyo. Jack soon meets Hiroshi's beautiful daughter Lily (Tamlyn Tomita) and it's love at first sight. Jack and Lily decide to get married, but Hiroshi opposes the match and California law prevents mixed-race couples from obtaining a marriage license. Jack and Lily move to Seattle, where they are wed and soon have a daughter. Jack, however, begins working with the union again, which puts a strain on their marriage; Lily takes their child and returns to Los Angeles. But before long the United States enters World War II, and the Kawamura family is sent (along with all other Americans of Japanese descent living in California) to an internment camp, as it is believed they will become traitors against America if left to their own devices. Jack, ironically, is drafted into the Army and soon goes AWOL to return to California, where he tries to find his wife in the camps. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Quaid, Tamlyn Tomita, (more)
- 1990
In the conclusion of Night Court's two-part Season Eight opener, court bailiff Dan (Richard Moll) is in hot water with prosecutor Dan (John Larroquette) after allowing Dan's promiscuous sister Donna (Susan Diol) to seduce him. Also, Judge Harry T. Stone (Harry Anderson) may not get his belated high-school diploma if he doesn't agree to certain "favors" demanded by his overbearing history tutor (Fran Ryan). And finally, public defender Christine (Markie Post) has a hard time getting down to work after returning from maternity leave. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
- R
In this horror film, the murderous Ricky returns under the control of a cult of demon-possessed women, who use the killer for their own evil means. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
In Peter Yates' crime drama An Innocent Man, Tom Selleck plays Jimmie Rainwood, a stock figure airline maintenance supervisor with a perfect family. Then, one day, Jimmie decides to take a shower. While scrubbing himself clean, two crooked cops are getting themselves dirtier. Mike Parnell (David Rasche) and Danny Scalise (Richard Young) are the kind of bad cops who bust the drug dealers, steal their supply, and sell it back to the local drug lords. On this day, unfortunately for Jimmie, they get the wrong address and bash down his door. When Jimmie comes out of the bathroom wielding his hair dryer, Parnell and Scalise think it is a gun and shoot him. Realizing their mistake, they cover themselves and frame him as a drug dealer. Jimmie refuses to take a plea and he is sentenced to six years in the slammer. In the brutal prison environment, he is taken aside by long-timer Virgil Kane (F. Murray Abraham), who gives him a bleak collection of options to chose from in order to survive prison. After seeing a prison gang rape, Jimmie chooses the kill-or-be-killed selection and stabs to death the nasty black convict who has been bothering him. After three years, Jimmie is released on parole, and he tries to pick up his life again. But Parnell and Scalise return to threaten Jimmie and his family. Realizing that his prison lessons must be carried over into civilian life, he sets up a situation in which the bad cops' drug dealings are revealed, and Jimmie prepares for a final reckoning between the cops and himself. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Selleck, F. Murray Abraham, (more)
The directorial debut of horror producer Brian Yuzna, this low-budget shocker was an overseas success but sat on the shelf for three years before gaining a U.S. release. Billy Warlock stars as Bill Whitney, the troubled scion of a wealthy Beverly Hills family. Feeling like an outcast his entire life, Bill begins seeing Dr. Cleveland (Ben Slack), a therapist who's trying to help him reconcile his conflicted feelings about his parents, who seem to lavish more attention on his sister Jenny (Patrice Jennings). Bill then discovers that his doubts have more of a foundation in reality than simple teen angst. After he receives a copy of an audio tape of horrific sounds at Jenny's coming out party, Bill becomes convinced of the existence of a secret "society" of wealthy people preying on outsiders, and that his family is involved. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Warlock, Devin DeVasquez, (more)
- 1987
The last of the four Perry Mason movies telecast in 1987, The Case of the Scandalous Scoundrel rounds up veterans Raymond Burr (as Mason) and Barbara Hale (as Della Street), with comparative newcomers William Katt (as Paul Drake Jr.) and David Ogden Stiers (as the "Hamilton Burger"-style prosecutor). The accused murderer in this outing is Susan Wilder, a reporter for a sleazy tabloid. The victim is the rag's hateful publisher, Robert Guillaume. Other suspects include Guillaume's ex-lover, and a banker who was ruined by the tabloid's half truths. Unlike most of the Perry Mason TV movies of the 1980s, The Case of the Scandalous Scoundrel doesn't play fair with the audience; vital clues and character motivations are withheld from the viewer, robbing us of the pleasure of trying to second-guess the methodical Mr. Mason. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Acting as talent scout for the Floorem, a tough country-western bar in Dry Creek, Arizona, Face (Dirk Benedict) books what he thinks he is a C&W singer named Cowboy George. Imagine Face's shock and awe when he discovers that he's engaged the services of androgynous rock star Boy George, who shows up at the Floorem with the rest of Culture Club in tow! The presence of Boy George complicates the plans of the club's crooked owner Danforth (L.Q. Jones), who intends to steal the club's payroll during an upcoming concert. In their efforts to foil the robbery, the A-Team must not only escape from jail, but also avoid a few disgruntled patrons who aren't exactly Boy George fans (And how did The Lennon Sisters get mixed up in all this?) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In a well-wrought sex comedy with one foot in the feminist camp and another on a banana peel, Casey Meadows (Deborah Foreman in an excellent performance) defies social custom when she gets a job as a limo driver. The manager of the Brentwood Limousine Company, McBride (Howard Hesseman), and her co-workers give her both a hard time and some of the worst fares possible. She is eventually assigned to chauffeur an overworked executive (Sam Jones) who just broke up with his girlfriend. After drowning his sorrows in the back seat of the limo, the ingrate wakes up in Casey's bed the morning after, refusing to believe he had anything to do with her. Their antagonistic relationship is stressed all the more when she has to drive him on a vacation and the car breaks down. What Casey does not know is that she has not been given the complete scoop on her passenger. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Deborah Foreman, Sam Jones, (more)
- 1986
Jonathan Kellerman's Edgar Allan Poe Award-winning novel When the Bough Breaks was evocatively adapted for the TV screen in 1986. Ted Danson plays a clinical psychologist, brought in to tend to an emotionally withdrawn little girl (Rachel Ticotin). There's a possibility that the child may have witnessed an unsolved double murder. As Danson and the girl draw closer, he becomes enmeshed in a homicidal conspiracy sparked by a clique of wealthy, well-connected men. Ted Danson also coproduced When the Bough Breaks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Danson, Richard Masur, (more)
- 1986
A terrorist group takes credit for the murder of a middle Eastern ambassador. Though Hunter (Fred Dryer) acknowledges that the group is smart enough to take another diplomat hostage (which they have), he isn't convinced that they have the technical savvy to assemble the time bomb that killed the ambassador. Assembling the clues at hand, Hunter finally deduces that the "brains" behind the murder was an exotic beauty (Persis Khambatta) with an extremely personal agenda. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Blue Moon's daffy secretary Agnes Dipesto (Allyce Beasley) has won a free trip on a "mystery" train, in which she and the other passengers participate in solving a mystery. While bidding Agnes goodbye, her bosses David (Bruce Willis) and Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) end up trapped on the train themselves. As usual, wherever David and Maddie go, a genuine mystery is sure to follow--and before long, one of the passengers, famed mystery writer J.B. Hartland (Rick Jason) turns up murdered! Among the guest stars is the ubiquitous Vincent Schiavelli, who at the time this episode originally aired was the husband of series regular Allyce Beasley). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Tom Hanks stars in this raunchy teen comedy from veteran screenwriters Pat Proft and Neil Israel, who had previously collaborated on the amusing sketch film Tunnelvision (1976) and the disappointing Americathon (1980). Bus-driver Rick Gasko (Hanks) is engaged to wealthy Debbie Thompson (Tawny Kitaen), much to the chagrin of her father (George Grizzard), who considers Rick a loser. To keep an eye on her future groom, Debbie and her friends dress as prostitutes to attend his bachelor party, which quickly turns into a bacchanal of smutty debauchery. Familiar faces in the cast include action stars Michael Dudikoff and Ji-Tu Cimbuka, pin-ups Monique Gabrielle and Rosanne Katon, and teen-movie regulars Adrian Zmed and Wendie Jo Sperber. It's an occasionally hilarious excursion into bad taste, although one which two-time Oscar winner Hanks would probably like to forget. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Hanks, Tawny Kitaen, (more)
