Maurice Blake Movies
- 1999
On Christmas Eve, Carol brings one of her twin babies into the ER for a checkup, while the attending room is clogged with half a dozen very sick Santas. Overstepping her authority, Finch (Michael Michele) takes teenager Chad (Emile Hirsch) away from his mother (Roxanne Hart) so he can undergo treatment for alcohol abuse. Corday (Alex Kingston) tries to persuade patient Rollins (Lawrence Monoson) to have leg surgery. And Lucy (Kellie Martin) doggedly tracks down the off-duty Dr. Romano (Paul McCrane) to beg his help in a very delicate heart transplant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Michael Apted (Gorillas in the Mist) directed this Walter Mosley script adaptation of Mosley's short story collection, Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned. Ex-con Socrates Fortlow (Laurence Fishburne) returns to L.A., looks for work, becomes friends with Right Burke (Bill Cobbs), is told he's too old for a construction job, helps youngster Darryl (Daniel Williams), and romances cafe-owner Iula Brown (Natalie Cole). Socrates provides a moral uplift to the neighborhood, while Burke's voiceover narration has a Sunset Boulevard twist. The TV movie premiered March 21, 1998 on HBO. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Fishburne, Bill Cobbs, (more)
- 1991
- R
The owner of a British nightclub attempts to do the impossible by coaxing a legendary Irish tenor out of retirement for a once-in-a-lifetime show in this engagingly quirky comedy. The owner, Mickey O'Neill, is particularly desperate to land a performance by the great Josef Locke, as his already questionable reputation was ruined when he booked an impostor claiming to be Locke. Now only providing a show by the real thing can make up for it. Trouble is, Locke fled England several decades before to avoid charges of tax evasion, and would face immediate arrest upon his return. Naturally, the comedy emerges from O'Neill's desperate attempts to convince Locke to participate in the scheme. Much of the film's charm comes from the presentation of eccentric but believable characters, particularly Locke himself -- a real historical figure given warm life by Ned Beatty, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe for his performance. The film as a whole manages a similar balancing act between realism and comic fantasy, grounding even the less believable aspect of the narrative in strongly observed local color. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ned Beatty, Adrian Dunbar, (more)
