Jerry Wasserman Movies

This true-crime biopic explores the life of mother-and-son grifters Sante and Kenny Kimes, from Kenny's childhood apprenticeship in early-'80s Honolulu to Sante's murder trial in late-'90s New York City. Fortyish Sante Kimes (Judy Davis) uses her looks and her brazen disregard for the law to acquire whatever she wants in life, from jewels to cars to large insurance settlements. Her most frequent accomplice in these endeavors? Son Kenny (former General Hospital actor Jonathan Jackson), who spends most of his childhood serving as a bit player, then later a co-star, in his mother's schemes. When a slavery -- yes, slavery -- conviction sends Sante to prison, Kenny enjoys a more or less normal adolescence with his wealthy father (Chelcie Ross), who has long refused to marry Sante. But upon her return from the big house, the now over-the-hill Sante re-enlists her son's assistance in her amoral activities. Eventually fingered for the murder of a wealthy Manhattan matron, Sante finds herself in court, where her son's testimony may well end her lifelong crime spree once and for all. Adapted by Randy Stone and Teena Booth from Jeanne King's book Dead End: The Crime Story of the Decade: Murder, Incest and High-Tech Thievery, A Little Thing Called Murder premiered January 23, 2006, on the Lifetime cable network. It was actually the second TV movie to explore the Kimes' story, following Mary Tyler Moore's turn in the 2001 CBS offering Like Mother, Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

This is the first mainstream film to deal with the harrowing true story of a Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes mountains in October of 1972 and who were forced to resort to cannibalism to survive more than two months of isolation. (The only other film to tackle the subject, Rene Cardona's Survive! was a seedy little mess that delighted in exploiting the cannibalism aspect.) The events depicted are primarily based on the novel of the same name by Piers Paul Read. The interview-style prologue features an uncredited John Malkovich as one of the survivors, whose spiritual ruminations on the disaster kick off the film's main action. We are briefly introduced to the characters before disaster strikes, in the film's most horrifying set-piece -- the depiction of the crash in grueling detail. The handful of survivors who manage to extricate themselves from the twisted wreckage seem incapable of working through their panic as they hope against all odds that a rescue party will locate them. One of the survivors, Nando (Ethan Hawke), awakens from a coma and makes a remarkable recovery -- enough to demonstrate level-headed leadership after team captain Antonio (Vincent Spano) begins to lose his nerve. As the weeks wear on and rations are depleted, the survivors are forced into a moral dilemma: the only remaining source of food seems to be the bodies of the dead. Those who choose for religious reasons not to consume their former companions must face the realization that they will soon starve or freeze to death. In the end, three men who choose survival above all else find the strength to set out on a treacherous mission to a ridge, where hopefully one of them will make it to civilization. Director Frank Marshall infuses the proceedings with sufficient intensity to keep the story moving, but the film fails to fully explore the often-recounted spiritual aspects of the ordeal as established in the opening monologue. Ironically, the writers' apparent attempts to remain true to Read's account of events -- resulting in some rather odd stretches of dialogue -- impede the drama even more than the Hollywood glamorization of the story's nominal "heroes," who remain rugged and handsome despite months of malnutrition and severe frostbite. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

A woman lives in fear as she hides from her abusive husband in this made-for-television thriller. Susan Dey stars as Joanna Matthews, a woman who lives under an assumed name in order to hide from her husband Bradley Matthews (Richard Dean Anderson). A well-liked cop, Matthews has a dark side that only Joanna knows about, and she must fight to expose his true ways in order to survive. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

A woman fears that her amnesia-stricken husband may be a serial killer in this made-for-cable thriller. After family man Ed Vinson gruesomely murders his wife and kids and skips town, police investigator Joe Steiner (Richard Widmark) becomes obsessed with capturing the monster -- even after he's forced to retire from the force. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, a traffic accident kills one man and leaves another (Keith Carradine) a hideously disfigured amnesiac. Police can't figure out who the survivor is, so he takes the name Allen Devlin and, after reconstructive surgery, falls in love with and marries his recently divorced nurse, Chris Graham (Kathleen Quinlan). Several years later, Steiner shows up in town, convinced Devlin is really Ed Vinson; his dogged pursuit threatens the happiness the Devlins have carved out for themselves and their children -- especially after a series of gruesome rapes begins to occur. The evidence seems to implicate Allen in the attacks, but Chris suspects that her old boyfriend, cop Mike Patterson (Michael Beck), is trying to frame him. The tension escalates as Chris suffers through a series of anonymous phone calls from a man who seems to think he's Ed Vinson; when her son finds a grotesque fetish mask in the garage, even Chris begins to doubt her husband's innocence. Directed by British horror veteran Douglas Hickox and written by Amityville 3D scribe David Ambrose, Blackout premiered on the Home Box Office network in 1985. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

In this Canadian/Japanese sci-fi actioner, the trouble begins as a boozy ex-cop tries to forget the horrible killing of his partner by the nefarious, white-wigged Nassim. The only job the cop can find now is as a janitor at a high-tech bio-research lab where they have been working on a super deadly virus. One night, Nassim and his cronies break into the high security installation so they can "cyberjack" the virus. They gain an evil edge by abducting the daughter of the head scientist and now only the janitor can save them all. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Some parents are faced with a difficult decision in this dramatic made-for-TV movie. Based on a true story, parents (Bruce Greenwood and Michelle Greene) of an ill infant decide to donate their brain-damaged baby's heart to help save the life of another newborn in need. The film was nominated for a Humanitas Award. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

In his first film, The Suburbanators, Canadian director Gary Burns took sharp comic aim at the meaningless, numb lives of a group of Canadian suburban teens. This sophomore effort focus on the same social group, offering a fast and funny take on upper-middle-class gatherings, comparing a teen beer-bash to it's adult counterpart, the dinner party. Because his parents are attending the latter fete, Scott decides to host his own soiree. Unfortunately, his mother is super-uptight about having a pristine home, and so he calls it a kitchen party. Kids from all social groups show up, including Scott's sweet girlfriend Tammy. Meanwhile, his anti-social brother Steve hides out in the basement and listens to loud rock music. The adult party across town goes swimmingly until everyone gets pie-eyed and they become involved in a series of minor accidents outside the local liquor store. Things turn ugly when Scott's father off-handedly suggests that another father's son is a homosexual. Back at Scott's house, things take a similarly downward turn when Tammy goes off with the mysterious Steve. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When an unidentified, inarticulate man (Larry Lillo) comes out of the woods suffering from amnesia and a heavy load of guilt, his condition and treatment become the topic of the day for the crew of doctors and nurses in the local hospital assigned to his care. As the patient begins to make some progress, and his character and personality slowly become known, the reason for his trauma is revealed. With a mix of humor in the beginning and a bit of a shock toward the end, this unusual film by Patricia Gruben is an intriguing treatment of mental deterioration. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Based on the 1989 earthquake that rocked San Francisco, this is the true story of the rescue workers who at their own peril tried to free the people trapped under a collapsed highway. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

In this black teen comedy, a young man is thrilled that his kindly older brother has arranged for him to date the bombshell next door. To further impress her, little brother takes his sibling's shiny sports car. If he had known that there were a pair of corpses in the trunk though, the youth may have changed his mind. Matters get really messy when the cops pull him over and check out the trunk themselves. Soon he and his date find themselves pursued by the police, the tong and an irate florist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The long-suffering wife of despotic sports magnate Art Brooks (Barry Bostwick), Kelly Moore Brooks (Erika Eleniak) enters into an affair with her attorney Richard Linsky (Brian Wimmer). When Brooks is murdered, a detective named Mingus (Christopher Darden) suspects that Kelly and Linsky have hired an assassin to pull off the dirty deed. Flashbacks reveal the whole story and the actual culprit, culminating in a surprising last-minute twist. Originally aired by ABC on March 12, 1998, the made-for-TV One Hot Summer Night has since been rebroadcast on cable under the title The Trophy Wife's Secret. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this chilling drama, the outbreak of a strange and virulent disease causes a tyrannical government leader to separate its victims from the rest of society by interring them in concentration camps where they will eventually be executed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide