Jack Blessing Movies

In this cheerful, lightweight comedy, excruciatingly clumsy, disorganized, and messy Uncle Buck Russell (John Candy) becomes the screens most unlikely babysitter since Clifton Webb in Sitting Pretty. While their parents are away, eight-year old Miles (Macaulay Culkin), six-year old Maizy (Gaby Hoffman) and their teen-aged sister, Tia (Jean Kelly) are left in the care of Buck. Surprisingly, the very inept Uncle Buck entertains the younger children who come to love him and earns the respect of Tia when he rescues her from her worthless boyfriend. However, in doing so, Buck nearly loses his long-time girlfriend Chanice (Amy Madigan). John Candy is delightful in the leading role giving a touching and notable comic performance. Directed by John Hughes in his typical broad style, this youth-oriented comedy is perhaps the best role of John Candy's regrettably brief career. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi

Still grieving over her miscarriage, Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) buries herself in her work, while David (Bruce Willis) ponders the option of leaving town. Among Maddie's many cases involves Joan Spring (Cristina Raines-Crowe), who is worried that she will lose her husband to his ex-wife. Once again, what starts off innocuously enough as a case of domestic discord quickly deepens into a murder investigation--two murders, in fact. This one ends with a perilous balloon chase (yes, a balloon chase!) high above the Mohave desert. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Blue Moon's latest client is Nora Cooper (Karen Landry), who is looking for the husband to whom she was married for only five days--and who has been missing for ten years. Searching for the absent hubby, David (Bruce Willis) and Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) enter the rarefied world of poolrooms, sharks and hustlers. And as a bonus, the episode offers another "tumble-on" unbilled role for C. Thomas Howell. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This is the only Moonlighting episode in which neither Cybill Shepherd nor Bruce Willis appear. Instead, the focus is on nerdish detective Bert Viola (Curtis Armstrong), who has gone into a deep blue funk over an imagined slight from Blue Moon secretary Agnes Dipesto (Allyce Beasley). In the course of a very long night in which Bert is required to guard an "experimental grapefruit", he dreams of his future with Agnes, in sequences inspired by Rudolph Valentino's silent "Shiek" pictures and the 1940s classic Casablanca (in which "As Time Goes By" is replaced by "Chopsticks"!) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

It's been two weeks since David (Bruce Willis) has seen Maddie (Cybill Shepherd), his partner at the Blue Moon Detective Agency--and his lover, or so he'd been led to believe. With no one else around, David teams with the obsequious Bert Viola (Curtis Armstrong) for his latest case, involving another missing person. This time, David's quarry is a reluctant groom who left his bride waiting at the altar several years earlier--a situation that unfortunately strikes extremely close to home for our hero. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this conclusion of a two-part story, David (Bruce Willis) attempts to escape from a chain gang in order to be reunited with his pregnant sweetheart Maddie (Cybill Shepherd, who is represented only by her voice in this episode). It looks like David's only hope for freedom is to follow the "musical" advice of his fellow inmates. Meanwhile, with one of the Moonlighting stars out of circulation, the nervous ABC executives begin auditioning potential "David Addison" replacements! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

College girl Nancy McKeon, up until recently the picture of normality, suddenly displays signs of schizophrenia. She hears voices, commits sudden acts of violence, and switches moods without warning. McKeon's parents Valerie Harper and Stephen Macht are at a loss to contend with the sudden change of personality. With the help of psychological experts (and scene after scene of dry statistics), Harper and Macht are able to reclaim their daughter. Made for television, Strange Voices merely tiptoes through territory more successfully mapped out by such TV earlier films as Promise (86). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In addition to sexual encounters and nudity, toilet humor is on a roll in this story about some teens trying to finish a 12-week course in fast-food service -- yes, 12 weeks to study how to make and sell a hamburger. As their final exam, the teens have to run a burger place. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

There must be an inviolate law on the TV statute books demanding that every series turn out at least one takeoff of the 1946 film classic It's a Wonderful Life. Moonlighting's contribution to this ongong Yuletide tradtion finds a disgruntled Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) wondering what her life would have been like had she sold the Blue Moon Detective Agency as she originally planned. The "Clarence" character this time out is a most unangelic angel named Albert, played by Richard Libertini. Guest appearances include model Cheryl Tiegs as herself, and Lionel Stander in his "Max" character from the earlier TV detective series Hart to Hart (which had previously occupied Moonlighting's Tuesday-night network timeslot!) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Children of a Lesser God is a love story about a speech teacher who falls for a beautiful yet distant deaf girl in a small New England school for the deaf, and the obstacles that they face due to their differences. William Hurt plays James Leeds, a renegade teacher with an unconventional approach to education and a resume that includes stints as a bartender and a disk jockey. Upon his arrival, he is warned by school administrator Dr. Franklin (Philip Bosco) not to get creative with his instruction. Naturally, Leeds already has his mind set on his teaching plan and proceeds to play loud rock music in class in order to teach the students to feel the vibrations of the music and get them to try to speak phonetically. But a new element enters his life when he meets the attractive custodian, Sarah (Marlee Matlin). An exceptionally intelligent yet extremely bitter young woman, Sarah is a graduate of the school who has decided to remain there, in the confines of her world of silence; it's safer for her to be with her own "people" than to face what she perceives as a cruel and uncaring world. She hardly seems interested in James and will only communicate with him through signing, although she can read lips and even speak a little. James learns from Sarah's mother (Piper Laurie) that Sarah was sexually molested as a teenager; this explains why she is so wary of his attempts to form a relationship with her and why she is so full of fear. Eventually, James does get through to Sarah and the two fall in love, although both have to learn new ways to communicate their feelings. Though it seldom resembles the Mark Medoff play on which it was based, this directing debut from Randa Haines won an Best Actress Oscar for Matlin, for her first screen performance. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi

Stars Kirk Douglas and Elizabeth Montgomery manage to rise above the melodramatic trappings of Amos. Douglas plays the title character, a fiercely independent senior-citizen baseball coach, forced to live in a retirement home after an auto accident. During his stay, Amos conducts a battle of wills with overbearing head nurse Daisy Dawes (Montgomery). This Cuckoo's Nest-derived setup has an added wrinkle: Amos suspects, quite rightly as it turns out, that Dawes has been systematically murdering her more troublesome charges. Made for TV by Douglas' own Bryna Productions, Amos first aired September 29, 1985 ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the first episode of a two-part story, Quincy (Jack Klugman) and his lady friend Janet (Diana Muldaur) are enjoying a luxury cruise to Tahiti, when tragedy strikes. One man suddenly jumps overboard and drown, while another is murdered--and the murderer subsequently dies himself. It turns out that a mysterious but deadly illness is rapidly spreading throughout the cruiser...and unless Quincy is able to isolate the source of the disease, no one will ever set foot on shore again. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi