Joan Sweeny Movies
- 2009
A young woman turns her back on her family and her community when she learns the safety of herself and her peers is at stake in this drama. Avery Colden (Annie Burgstede) is a fifteen-year-old girl who has been raised as part of a religious cult led by Brother John (Tom Noonan). The cult teaches that the path to salvation comes through obedience, and that it is the will of God for men to have more than one wife. But Avery begins to have doubts about her faith when she learns she's been chosen to be Brother John's latest bride, and she's left both angry and terrified when her father Rodger (David Conrad) attempts to rape her, claiming it is his right and God's will. Avery runs away from home, and finds a benefactor in Jude Marks (Robert Chimento), a military officer who has recently lost his own daughter. Marks puts Avery in touch with Red (Diane Venora), a police officer who has been trying to put Brother John behind bars; as Red offers shelter, she tries to find a way to stop the cult's abuse of underage girls, and Avery steps up to help them when she learns a much younger girl will be taking her place as the prophet's next wife. Follow The Prophet was an official selection at the 2010 Palm Beach International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 1984
McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) takes a sudden leave of absence to prevent her former partner, embittered renegade cop Gus Trancus (David Ackroyd), from fulfilling a contract as a professional hit man. Owing her life to Trancus, McCall hopes that she can stop him before he completely ruins his life--but she may be fighting a losing battle. Meanwhile, Hunter (Fred Dryer) is not only saddled with wimpy Sgt. Terwilliger (James Whitmore Jr.) as temporary partner, but he's also having a great deal of trouble getting the higher-ups off his back long enough to locate Dee Dee and keep her from harm. Arthur Rosenberg makes his first series appearance as Captain Lester Cain. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1984
In this rather blatant "all-white" derivation of the Gene Wilder-Richard Pryor starrer Stir Crazy, Christopher Lemmon and Charles Rocket are cast as pair of dimwitted innocents who suddenly find themselves on the wrong side of the law. While promoting a zany get-rich-quick scheme, uptight suburbanite Eugene Griswold (Lemmon) and his eccentric inventor pal Stanley Flynn (Rocket) are hijacked by a pair of equally stupid jewel thieves. Wrongly accused and convicted of the heist, Eugene and Stanley get swept up in a prison break, spending the balance of the film on the lam and in disguise. Filmed in 1982 as the pilot for a unsold TV series, The Outlaws didn't see the light of day until ABC had to fill an unplugged 90-minute scheduling hole on July 9, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
In a comedy as flat as the cardboard cut-outs of movie stars that appear in one scene, Steve Martin plays Larry Hubbard, a wild and lonely guy who has been dumped by his girlfriend. Since misery loves company, he takes up with Warren, a fellow Lonely Guy (Charles Grodin), and eventually both Warren and Larry find some surprising companions, especially after Larry writes a best-selling Lonely Guy Guide. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Charles Grodin, (more)
