Stephanie Walski Movies
- 1989
Based on a true story, the two-part TV movie I Know My First Name Is Steven tells the tragic story of Steven Stayner. At age seven, Steven was kidnapped by two men who held him captive in a tiny shed for seven years. One of the men, a habitual child abuser named Kenneth Parnell, sexually assaulted Steven on an almost daily basis during the boy's ordeal. At age 14, Steven finally was able to escape and return to his family. But we are shown that Steven's safe return was far from the happy ending it appeared to be. He's forced to adjust to a family he'd never really known, to convince himself that his parents had never forgotten him, and to put his seven-year hell behind him. While I Know My First Name Is Steven ends on an upbeat note, the real Stayner died in a motorcycle accident only a few months after this film was first telecast in May 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Former child star and one-time scandal magnet Drew Barrymore had her first teenage role in this offbeat thriller with comic overtones. Charlie Cross (Matt Frewer) is vacationing with his 15-year-old daughter, Joleen (Barrymore). Charlie and Joleen are stranded in an Arizona trailer park when they run out of gas, and they quickly get to know their temporary neighbors, including ill-tempered landlady Agnes Reed (Susan Tyrrell), her son, Jimmy (Andras Jones), friendly but scrambled Vietnam vet Duckett (Richard Masur), fellow travelers Amy (Jennifer Tilly) and Louise (Karen Austin), and geeky Pinky Sears (Anthony Rapp). However, it turns out that a psychotic murderer is in their midst, and Sheriff Bill Childers (Dick Miller) joins with the mobile home dwellers in trying to catch the killer before he can strike again. Far From Home marked the directorial debut of Meiert Avis, while screenwriter Tommy Lee Wallace previously worked with co-star Frewer as a director for the TV series Max Headroom. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Matt Frewer, Drew Barrymore, (more)
- 1987
Upon finding evidence of the loving 40-year relationship between the elderly couple (Billie Bird, Douglas Seale) who formerly owned the house that she and Sam (Ted Danson) have purchased, Diane (Shelley Long) feels miserable about taking the couple's place. To assuage her conscience, Diane talks Sam into throwing a farewell party for the former owners, complete with "surprise" guests. There are surprises, all right, but not the kind that Diane was hoping for. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
