Nancy Travis

Robin Swicord's adaptation of the novel The Jane Austen Book Club concerns a group of women and a man who meet regularly to discuss the works of the popular author, but soon discover their lives are playing out much like one of the author's fictional worlds. Among the members of the club are Sylvia (Amy Brenneman), a recent divorcée; Bernadette (Kathy Baker), who has decided to accept her advancing age; and Prudie (Emily Blunt), who feels guilty about her persistent fantasies of cheating on her loving husband. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Horror specialist Stephen King claimed that his TV miniseries Rose Red was inspired by a number of sources, ranging from Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House (twice filmed as The Haunting) to Ripley's Believe It or Not to Moby Dick. Residents of San Jose, CA, however, quickly realized that King's story owed a great deal to their own city's legendary "haunted" mansion, Winchester House. Rose Red was set in motion when psych professor Joyce Reardon (Nancy Travis), defying her tongue-clucking boss Professor Miller (David Dukes, who died during production), set about to investigate reports of paranormal phenomena in Rose Red, a crumbling and foreboding Seattle mansion. According to legend -- and a great deal of physical evidence -- Rose Red was a "living" entity in its own right, adding extras wings to its structure and rearranging its furniture whenever it felt like it. There has also been a number of mysterious deaths at the mansion, which Joyce believed were the handiwork of a ghost: Ellen Rimbauer, the insane wife of Rose Red's architect. Inviting a quintet of psychics (social misfits all, of course) to spend a weekend at the mansion, Joyce was determined to solve the mystery of Rose Red -- and, she hoped, to conjure up Ellen's hostile spirit. Thereafter, the miniseries adhered to the proven formula, with characters foolishly wandering off alone to meet their individual demises, and with such time-tested lines as "Superstitious nonsense!," "Honey -- are you in there?" and "Oh, no! AIYEEEE!" wafting through the mansion's drafty corridor. The outcome of the story -- and the fate of the survivors -- seemed to rest in the hands of Annie Wheaton (Kimberly J. Brown), an autistic teenager with astonishing telepathic skills. Premiering January 27, 2002, the three-part Rose Red posted ABC's best ratings in months, despite an almost universal drubbing by the critics. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A man is given an unusual opportunity at a second chance in life in this drama. John Nolan (Jeff Goldblum) is a successful but unsatisfied insurance agent whose life takes an unexpected turn one day when he happens to witness a robbery at a liquor store that goes horribly wrong. The store's counterman is shot in the midst of the confusion, and as he dies, Nolan discovers his name is Auggie Rose (Kim Coates) and that he had been released from prison only a few days earlier. Nolan is certain he was somehow responsible for the tragic shooting, and promises to honor his final wish by passing a message along to Lucy (Anne Heche), a woman who had been corresponding with Auggie while he was behind bars. When Nolan meets Lucy, he decides to tell her he's Auggie Rose, and soon he finds himself living a double life, romancing Lucy as Auggie while trying to keep up appearances with his wife (Nancy Travis). Auggie Rose was originally announced to star William H. Macy as John Nolan, but when scheduling conflicts forced Macy to drop out of the project, Jeff Goldblum signed on, less than two weeks before shooting began. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Diagnosed with terminal cancer, Chicago attorney Susan Morton (Nancy Travis) returns to her home town of California to wait out her final months. She also brings along her 11-year-old daughter Carson (Jamie Renee Smith), in hopes of finding a good home for the girl when the time comes. Unexpectedly, Susan falls in love with Michael Blake (Scott Bairstow), a much-younger busboy; alas, faced with the prospect of "instant" fatherhood, Michael breaks off the engagement. With nowhere else to turn, Susan entrusts Carson's future with her own elderly parents (James Karen, Holland Taylor)...and then Michael returns. Orginally telecast by ABC on January 25, 1999, My Last Love has since been rerun on the Lifetime cable channel as To Live For. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

First telecast August 29, 1996, "Rage's Burning Wheel" served to introduce "apocalyptist" villain Ezekial Rage to The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (voiced by both David Ackroyd and Michael Bell, who took over the role). Hijacking a space capsule, Rage intends to use the vehicle to destroy the earth's ozone layer. Fortunately for mankind, Dr. Quest and Hadji are on board the capsule, and they are able to communicate their plight to Jonny and Jessie back on earth. There's still more danger ahead in the form of Rage's fanatical disciples, who have overrun Questworld's Mission Control. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this quirky drama, Julian Goddard is stranded in the desert and dying of thirst when suddenly Johnny Destiny drives up and gives him a ride to the ramshackle Marilyn Motel near Las Vegas. There they meet the owner, Harry Thoreau, with whom Julian attempted to rob a bank three years before. It is revealed that Julian is an escaped convict who has returned to get his share of the take and reclaim his former girlfriend Lucille, who is working as a lounge singer at her boyfriend's casino. While Julian endeavors to realize his goal, Destiny frequently appears to guide him and the others along their proper paths. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

It's been said that nothing can bring two men closer together than a dollar placed between them, and a large family finds themselves becoming far closer than they'd like over several million dollars in this satiric comedy. Uncle Joe McTeague (Kirk Douglas) is an elderly man with a multi-million dollar fortune that he made in the scrap metal business and has no immediate heirs. While Joe has no children, he has plenty of relatives, most of whom don't really like him but want to curry his favor in hopes of inheriting his money when he dies (and Uncle Joe is just shrewd enough to know this). However, Uncle Joe has hired a "nurse," Molly Richardson (Olivia D'Abo), who considers modeling bikinis in Joe's Jacuzzi to be therapeutic. The family is afraid that Molly will end up with the lion's share of Joe's money after they've been bending over backwards to earn his approval, so they bring in a ringer. Daniel McTeague (Michael J. Fox) is one of the only members of the family that Uncle Joe actually likes; a professional bowler of no particular skill, Daniel is the son of the family's black sheep, a leftist activist who decided years ago and wanted nothing to do with Uncle Joe. But Joe has a soft spot for Daniel and his imitation of Jimmy Durante, so the family tracks him down and has him come to visit his uncle. The idea is that if Daniel can get on Uncle Joe's good side, he'll be rewarded in his will, and then Daniel will share his fortune with the rest of the family. So Daniel and his wife Robin (Nancy Travis) move to be closer to Uncle Joe, but Daniel soon discovers that he doesn't like his family much more than Uncle Joe does. Greedy also features Phil Hartman, Ed Begley, Jr., Bob Balaban, Jere Burns, and Kirsten Dunst as some of the venal members of the extended McTeague Family; incidentally, the name "McTeague" is a reference to the lead character in Erich von Stroheim's silent epic Greed. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Comic actor and former Saturday Night Live stock player Mike Myers attempted to transform himself from the goofy title character in Wayne's World (1992) (and its sequel) into a romantic leading man with this box office disappointment. Myers stars as Charlie Mackenzie, a San Francisco poet who meets the girl of his dreams, Harriet Michaels (Nancy Travis) when he stops to pick up some haggis for his parents at Meats of the World, a butcher shop where Harriet works. Although he's been neurotically commitment-phobic in the past (dumping one girlfriend because she "smelled like soup"), Charlie thinks Harriet could be the one. That is, until his mother May (Brenda Fricker) and cop best friend Tony (Anthony LaPaglia) begin to suspect that Harriet could be an axe-wielding serial killer who has butchered several husbands. Harriet's wacky sister Rose (Amanda Plummer) and her connection to several of the slayings make Charlie nervous, but he nevertheless pops the question, leading to an eventful honeymoon where all is revealed. Although So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993) earned less than $12 million at the U.S. box office, Myers hit upon the Peter Sellers-inspired formula of playing various supporting characters with this film, portraying Charlie's amusingly paranoid father Stuart. The actor repeated the trick with greater success in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) and its sequel. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

In this black comedy, elderly Jack Scanlan (Jack Warden) passes away just as he's about to tell his oldest son Johnny (Bob Hoskins) what he's decided is truly important in life, which does little to ease Johnny's mid-life anxieties. Jack's funeral and the subsequent wake brings together the various members of the Scanlan Family, most of whom are having troubles of their own. Johnny's mother Mary (Maureen Stapleton) is not dealing well with losing her husband. His brother Frank (William Petersen), a would-be union delegate, has a nagging wife, Denise (Debra Rush), and a pregnant daughter, Rachel (Teri Polo). His sister Nora (Frances McDormand) is a leftist nun who has brought along a guest, a South American dissident wanted by the INS. Terry (Pamela Reed) is splitting up with her husband Boyd (Tim Curry) after finally realizing that he's gay. And Johnny is thinking of quitting his job and leaving his wife Amy (Blair Brown), which makes the mysterious Cassie (Nancy Travis) seem all the more attractive. Passed Away marked the directorial debut of successful screenwriter Charlie Peters. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Loose Cannons may be a wacky buddy-cop comedy, but it starts with a chilling premise. It seems that a film is discovered that depicts the final moments of Adolf Hitler's life. The climax features young German officer Von Metz, who is seen putting Hitler to death. Von Metz (Robert Prosky) is now running for chancellor of West Germany. If this film gets out, his political career is finished, so Von Metz has arranged for the murder of anyone who has seen the film. The killings have taken place in the Washington area and Mac (Gene Hackman) and Ellis (Dan Aykroyd) are sent to investigate the crimes. Mac is a middle-aged veteran of the force, a professional who gets things done. But Ellis is a different ball of wax. Suffering from a multiple personality disorder, he has spent two years in a Benedictine monastery to recover from his problems. But he is far from cured -- as Mac discovers, whenever Ellis is confronted by violence, he blacks out and begins to assume the characters of popular culture icons like Popeye, Captain Kirk, and the Road Runner. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. play a couple of what-the-hell flyboys flying contraband to Laos during the Vietnam War. Gibson doesn't seem to care about anything but the "guts and glory" aspects of the job, but Downey has serious questions about the moral implications of their mission. When a Laotian general expresses more concern over the wellbeing of an opium shipment than the men who are risking life and limb to fly it in, Gibson comes around to Downey's way of thinking. By film's end, Gibson is stuck in one of those character-building dilemmas so common to films of this nature: should he deliver his cache of weaponry, or should he dump it all to rescue a bunch of refugees? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide