Joyce Van Patten Movies

A child-services caseworker dies under mysterious circumstances, leaving behind a full caseload. The detectives of the 15th sift through the dead woman's notes, trying to determine if one of the persons listed therein might be angry enough to commit murder. Elsewhere, the IAB's investigation of murdered auxiliary officer Heather Peterson continues to cause friction between the uniforms and the plainclothesmen at the precinct. And Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) reluctantly agrees to fulfill the last wishes of fellow cop Paul Dwyer, who wanted half of his ashes to be spread somewhere within the precinct building. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Assembled by the same team responsible for "The Hallmark Hall of Fame", this TV adaptation of Neil Simon's hit play Jake's Woman stars Alan Alda, recreating his Broadway role as Simon-esque writer Jake. Mired in an unhappy marriage with current spouse Maggie (Anne Archer), Jake tries to cope with his wife's insistence on a trial separation by conjuring up images of the other women in his life: his late wife Julie (Mira Sorvino), his confused daughter Molly (Kimberly Williams), his neurotic sister Karen (Julie Kavner) and his analyst Edith (Joyce Van Patten). Putting his literary skills to good use, Jake carries on imaginary conversations with these ladies, hoping that they will help him sort out his problems. The trouble begins when the spectres of Jake's Women begin showing up without his bidding, insisting upon debating and arguing with the poor fellow even as he tries to pursue a new romance with his current flame Sheila (Lolita Davidovich). Neil Simon's Jake's Women (the official title) first aired March 3, 1996 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Reeling with guilt after he accepts the healthy heart of his darling, deceased grandson, an elderly man lapses into a deep depression that does not abate until he hooks up with a troubled teenage runaway. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Nell Carter stars a a popular singer and Dinah Manoff costars as her maid du jour in the made-for-TV Maid For Each Other. A spoiled-rotten widow whose wealthy husband left her penniless, Dinah hasn't quite latched onto the concept of being at someone else's beck and call. As for Nell, she doesn't suffers fools very easily. This situation is fitfully amusing in itself, but the fun really begins when Nell and Dinah uncover an insidious plot involving corporate espionage and murder. Maid for Each Other debuted January 13, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rock star Adam Ant tops the cast in Trust Me. The premise is as old as dirt, maybe older: art dealer Ant decides that his paintings would be far more valuable if the artists were dead. Now comes the twist: Ant fully intends to make certain that his artists are dead. In particular danger is Ant's chief protege, Brian Packer, who is on the verge of outliving his usefulness. Slapstick, satire and irony are blended in equal measure, resulting in a diverting (if not brilliant) filmic experience. Cast as another art dealer is Barbara Bain, who after years on stage and television is here making her theatrical-feature debut. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When speaking of Laurel and Hardy's first feature film Pardon Us, Stan Laurel described it as "a three-story building on a one-story base"-in other words, a 2-reeler stretched and bloated into 6 reels. Much the same could be said of Blake Edwards's Blind Date, though one wonders if Stan Laurel could have even gotten two reels out of its wafer-thin premise. At the outset, yuppie Bruce Willis is warned not to let his blind date, southern belle Kim Basinger, drink anything stronger than lemonade. So what does Willis do the first chance he gets? That's right, kids; he plies poor Basinger with champagne. And then he wonders why his life rapidly goes to hell in a handbasket. In his first starring movie role, Bruce Willis manages to find all sorts of nuances in his one-note role, while Kim Basinger is very funny when she's blotto-at least, for the first five minutes or so. John Laroquette costars as a character straight out of a 1920s bedroom farce; he's also pretty good, even though his dialogue is numbingly unamusing. Blake Edwards is famous for his ability to make a lot out of a little...but there has to be a limit somewhere. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lenny Von Dohlen plays Billy Galvin, the son of a no-nonsense construction worker (Karl Malden). Though his dad insists that he go to college to become an architect, Billy would rather go into his father's line of work. To prevent this, dad pulls strings to keep Billy out of the ironworker's union. His bullheadedness inevitably leads to ill-will and emotional disaster. Produced for PBS' American Playhouse TV series, Billy Galvin was afforded a very brief theatrical run. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Post-collegiate angst, '80s style, is the subject of this coming-of-age ensemble piece, which traces the fortunes of a group of Georgetown grads as they enter the real world and grapple with work, infidelity, and adulthood. The most outwardly upscale member of the gang, Jules (Demi Moore), hides a plethora of emotional baggage behind a chic wardrobe, an expensive apartment, a fashionable drug habit, and lots of meaningless casual sex. Her friend Wendy (Mare Winningham) has the opposite problem; a trust-fund baby with body-image issues and little sexual experience, she's hung up on Billy (Rob Lowe), a no-good, sax-playing drunkard who can't face up to his responsibilities in the job market or at home with his wife and young child. Such open infidelity is anathema to Alex (Judd Nelson), who must maintain a sense of propriety even while engaging in compulsive womanizing; after all, the Democrat-turned-Republican's nascent political career requires the sort of picture-perfect relationship he shares with girlfriend Leslie (Ally Sheedy). That doesn't sit too well with tortured writer Kevin (Andrew McCarthy), who toils away at a newspaper job and pines away for the unattainable Leslie. Unrequited love also dogs Kirby (Emilio Estevez), a law-school student whose greatest wish is to romance classy doctor Dale Biberman (Andie MacDowell), who is, alas, way out of his league. Co-written by director Joel Schumacher and his studio intern, Carl Kurlander, St. Elmo's Fire spawned the number one pop hit "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)," which was credited to John Parr but co-written by music producer David Foster. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

When the made-for-TV The Rumor Mill first aired on May 12, 1985, it bore the title Malice in Wonderland. This joyously inaccurate biopic concerns itself with Hollywood's two foremost gossipmongers of the 1930s and 1940s: Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper. Long involved in the film industry, Parsons used her ironclad relationship with publishing mogul William Randolph Hearst and the "confidential" information gleaned by her physician husband Harry "Docky" Martin to outscoop every other columnist in Tinseltown. Parsons' awesome power remained unchallenged until 1938, when Hedda Hopper, a character actress fallen on hard times, was hired as a gossip reporter by one of Hearst's rivals. Thereafter, it was every woman for herself: the blood feud between Parsons and Hopper raged unabated until the latter's death in 1966. Jane Alexander's on-target portrayal of Hedda Hopper won her an Emmy nomination; no less impressive (though not as accurate in her characterization) is Elizabeth Taylor as Louella Parsons. Other Emmy nominations went to the costume design and sound mixing, while Philip H. Lathrop won the statuette for his '30s-style photography. The "look who that is" supporting cast includes Richard Dysart as Louis B. Mayer, Eric Purcell as Orson Welles, Tim Robbins as Joseph Cotten (who once booted Louella in the derriere), Jason Wingreen as Jack Warner, Gary Wayne as Clark Gable, Denise Crosby as Carole Lombard, and Thomas Byrd as Hedda Hopper's actor-son William. Adapted from George Eels' waspish book Hedda and Louella, Malice in Wonderland is delightful, high-class claptrap. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Picking Up the Pieces is a TV movie firmly locked in mid-1980s sensibilities: beware your husband, ladies, he's pond scum. Margot Kidder, a high school guidance counselor and mother of two, is the wife of wealthy surgeon and all-around heel David Ackroyd. After 17 years of emotional abuse, Kidder agrees with Ackroyd that divorce is the answer. She returns home from work to find the house stripped and her valuables gone; they've been seized by her husband, who is perfectly within his legal rights because their state has no community property laws. As Kidder battles her ex in court, she struggles to regain her own self-esteem. James Farentino costars in Picking Up the Pieces as the compassionate widower with whom Kidder finds happiness. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Blythe Danner stars as a successful and somewhat sheltered attorney. After a chance meeting with abused teenaged streetwalker Beth Ehlers and tough social worker Joyce vanPatten, Ms. Danner quits her job to set up her own legal defense office for children. Four different "cases" intersect in this made-for-TV film, with emphasis on 12-year-old Tony LaTorre, who is on his own and perpetually in trouble with the law. Ms. Danner is compelled to battle bureaucracy, as well as the retrogressive attitudes of abusive parents who feel that their authority is being usurped. Assembled by several veterans of the TV series Lou Grant (including producer Seth Freeman), In Defense of Kids has the ring of truth throughout, even though it was not (as might be assumed) based on a true story. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Jean Stapleton stars as Eleanor Roosevelt in this made-for-TV biography, first telecast May 12, 1982. The film recounts Mrs. Roosevelt's life after the 1945 death of her husband, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. At the request of new president Truman, Eleanor serves as a United Nations delegate, spending much of her time tilting with dedicated anti-FDR politico John Foster Dulles (E.G. Marshall). She goes on to spearhead the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proving to Dulles--and to Soviet delegate Freddie Jones--that she's anything but soft on Communism. The winning teleplay for Eleanor: First Lady of the World was by Caryl Ledner and Cynthia Mandenberg. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi