Lee Weaver Movies
- 2006
A loner with a secret life discovers that someone wants to intrude on his solitude in this independent drama. Carter (Lukas Haas) is a shy and introspective young man who works as a repairman at an auto garage alongside Leroy (Lee Weaver) and his son, Bobby (Chris Williams). When he's not fixing cars, Carter devotes most of his time to following Ann (Brianne Davis), a pretty girl who plays the violin and doesn't seem to have any interest in him. Despite this, Carter trails her wherever he goes and regularly hides beneath her window so he can hear her play. While Carter worships Ann from afar (or not so afar), he has a stalker of his own, Darla (January Jones), a girl who waits tables at a diner near the auto shop and is obviously fascinated with him. A misplaced astronomy text makes Carter aware that Darla has been following him, and they edge into a cautious romance. Swedish Auto was the first feature film from writer and director Derek Sieg. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lukas Haas, January Jones, (more)
- 2001
Not to be confused with the sixth-season episode of the same title, this one concerns a talented minor-league baseball player named Ben McCloud (Omar Gooding) and his obsessive, hypercritical father Norm (Ernie Hudson). Not only is Norm living vicariously through Ben's athletic accomplishments, but he also hopes that his son will expunge the "shame" brought upon the family by Ben's own father Candy (Lee Weaver), a former Negro League ballplayer who in his later years was reduced to working as a baseball "clown". In order to convince Ben to stop pushing and start loving his son, Monica (Roma Downey)must find out if Candy's seemingly farfetched stories about his diamond career--including the claim that he once struck out Babe Ruth--might have a kernel of truth in them after all. The great Hank Aaron appears as himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on a novel by acclaimed crime writer James Ellroy, this film stars Michael Rooker as Fritz Brown, a former L.A.P.D. detective who was kicked off the force due to his drinking. Now struggling to remain sober, Brown works as a private eye when he can, but he makes most of his money repossessing cars. One day, Brown is offered some detective work by Freddie "Fat Dog" Baker (William Sasso), a golf caddy who has some severe reservations about his younger sister, Jane (Selma Blair) and her relationship with Solly (Harold Gould), a wealthy businessman with mob connections who is old enough to be Jane's grandfather. Brown isn't interested at first, but when "Fat Dog" starts flashing an impressive bankroll, he decides to take the case. Brown's investigation of Solly causes him to cross paths with Cathcart (Brion James), the head of L.A.P.D. internal affairs who was responsible for Brown losing his job. Soon Brown runs afoul of a group of hired thugs and several key figures wind up dead as Brown tries to find out the truth about Solly and Jane. Ellroy wrote Brown's Requiem, his first novel, while he was still supporting himself as a golf caddy and breaking himself of a decade-long addiction to drugs and alcohol. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Rooker, Tobin Bell, (more)
- 1998
- R
- Add How Stella Got Her Groove Back to QueueAdd How Stella Got Her Groove Back to top of Queue
Terry McMillan and Ron Bass wrote this screenplay based on McMillan's semi-autobiographical best-selling novel (over 2,000,000 copies in print before the release of this film). San Francisco stockbroker Stella (Angela Bassett), a 40-year-old divorcee, has a nice Marin County home and an 11-year-old son, Quincy (Michael J. Pagan). With Quincy off to see his dad, Stella and her best friend Delilah (Whoopi Goldberg) vacation in Jamaica, where she meets sexy, good-looking Winston Shakespeare (Taye Diggs). He's the man of her dreams in every way except one -- he's half her age. Even so, a romance develops. Grammy Award-winning songwriters Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis supervised the film's music and produced the R&B-slanted soundtrack album. Shown at the 1998 Urbanworld Film Festival (NY). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angela Bassett, Taye Diggs, (more)
After several weeks filming The Scout in the late 1970s, star Peter Falk and director Howard Zieff abandoned the project. Two decades later, writer Andrew Bergman gave his original script to Albert Brooks and Monica Johnson, who polished it as a vehicle for Brooks and director Michael Ritchie. Brooks stars as Al Percolo, a talent scout for the New York Yankees whose latest recruit (Michael Rapaport) has just vomited on the field and fled. Sent to Mexico as punishment by his boss (Lane Smith), Percolo finds phenomenal young pitcher Steve Nebraska (Brendan Fraser). Before he can get back to the Big Apple, however, Percolo gets pink-slipped by the Yankees, so he offers Nebraska as a free agent. After a stellar tryout, Nebraska is signed for millions. Soon after, he starts to exhibit odd behaviors that may be linked to psychological problems. A psychiatrist (Dianne Wiest) hired by the ball club wants Nebraska in daily therapy, so Percolo ends up babysitting a mentally unstable pitcher. Brooks' normally winning mix of laughs with psychological insights didn't add up to box office or critical success, despite cameos from real-life sports figures such as George Steinbrenner and Steve Garvey. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Albert Brooks, Brendan Fraser, (more)
- 1994
Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) comes to the rescue when a fellow cop dies -- and not in the line of duty -- in the apartment of Andy's prostitute friend Lois (Shannon Cochran). Lesniak (Justine Miceli) is harassed on the job by her former boyfriend -- also a cop. And in the midst of investigating the death of a baby in a drive-by, Kelly (David Caruso) is called on the carpet by the IAB's Cmdr. Haverill (James Handy) for past dereliction of duty. This highly rated episode represents the final NYPD Blue appearance of David Caruso. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Robin Wirkus (Debrah Farentino) is upset by the terms of her late husband's will, which will provide for Kelly (David Caruso) so long as he keeps an eye on Robin. Elsewhere, the discovery of the "wrong" corpse leads to a murder conspiracy involving a hotelier and a concierge. And Sipowicz's (Dennis Franz) teenaged son, Andy Jr. (Michael DeLuise), faces a drug charge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Martinez (Nicholas Turturro) takes on the case of a phony ATM machine. Lt. Fancy (James McDaniel) and his wife (Tamara Tunie) must give up a foster child to its natural mother, a recovering drug addict. Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) and Kelly (David Caruso) investigate the scene of a mob killing, finding evidence that may prove damning to Janice (Amy Breneman). And during a hostage crisis, Laura (Sherry Stringfield) again comes in contact with the man who murdered Giardella before her eyes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
In the conclusion of a two-part story (originally networkcast as a single one-hour special), Harry (Harry Anderson) is offered several jobs, from superior court-judge to road manager for Mel Torme, before making his final decision. Elsewhere, Christine (Markie Post) rather surprisingly wins the congressional election; Dan (John Larroquette) finally finds his true love; and Bull (Richard Moll) has a very close encounter with some Jupiterians. Though intended as the final installment of Night Court's nine-season run, this episode was originally seen next-to-last, with an additional first-run episode shown three weeks later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Philip (James Avery) is appalled when he sees his widowed mother Hattie (Virginia Capers) kissing the Banks' repairman Ed (Lee Weaver). How can he dissuade his mom from thinking about remarrying without letting her know that he was spying on her? Things come to a head when Ed is invited to dinner with the Banks family, an occasion that turns sour in a hurry as the uptight Philip makes a total fool of himself! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Olivia (Raven-Symone) comes down with a bad case of laryngitis just before she is to sing for her grandparents' 55th anniversary. When none of the family's exotic "home remedies" prove successful, Olivia retreats to her bedroom, refusing to attend the anniversary party because she feels she's let everyone down. At the last moment, Cliff (Bill Cosby) and Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) come up with a solution to Olivia's plight--a solution involving a spirited lip-synch rendition of Koko Taylor's "I'm a Woman". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Two Jakes is the much-delayed and rather convoluted sequel to the 1975 classic Chinatown. Released in 1990 after an abortive stab at shooting that began in the mid-'80s, the film was the subject of a creative feud between its principals, star Jack Nicholson, producer Robert Evans, and screenwriter Robert Towne. Private eye Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is a middle-aged war hero, paunchy, snobbish about his golf game, and about to marry a lovely and much younger woman. Then a fleeting reference to a woman he once loved that he heard on a wire recording plunges him into a past he has tried to escape. It comes while he was spying on a philandering wife (Meg Tilly) and her paramour in her motel room for her husband, Jake Berman (Harvey Keitel). Then Berman shocks Gittes when he shoots his wife's lover. Gittes is doubly stunned when he learns that Berman was partners with the dead man in a subdivision that may contain huge oil deposits. So now Gittes wonders, was it justifiable homicide or murder? The answer lies in the wife (Madeleine Stowe) of the dead man, her shady oil baron friend (Richard Farnsworth), and in the past he has tried to avoid. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, Harvey Keitel, (more)
- 1990
Even though Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) and Whitley (Jasmine Guy) are on the verge of getting back together, Dwayne may mess up the reconciliation by dwelling on the past. Elsewhere, Ron (Darryl M. Bell) disses homeless people in history class, only to be forced to eat his words when he meets Ray Nay (Lee Weaver), a shabby street person who'd once been a successful entrepreneur. Featured in a small role is Michael Ralph, in the first of several nondescript Different World assignments before he settled into the part of Kim's (Charnele Brown) boyfriend Spencer Boyer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
My Brother's Wife was adapted from A. R. Gurney's off-Broadway play The Middle Ages, but if you dig back a little you'll find a kernel of the plotline in Phillip Barry's 1928 play Holiday. John Ritter plays the flamboyantly nonconformist member of a staid Boston family. When he sees his future sister-in-law (Mel Harris), it's love at first sight. But neither act upon their impulses--not throughout the 1960s, the 1970s or the 1980s. The film finally catches up with Ritter and Harris at a family funeral, 27 years after their first meeting. Made for television, My Brother's Wife betrays its theatrical roots by confining most of its action to a single sitting room. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
The hobo in the made-for-TV A Hobo's Christmas is played by Barnard Hughes. Drifting from place to place, Hughes finds himself in his hometown of Salt Lake City at Christmastime. Here he hopes to close old wounds and be reunited with his unforgiving son Gerald McRaney, and get to know the grandchildren he has never met. McRaney, still resenting the fact that Hughes ran out on his family 25 years earlier, gives his father only one day with his grandkids; after that, he's expected to leave and never come back. Everything that usually happens in a feel-good film of this nature does happen, but getting there is half the fun. If you missed the location-filmed A Hobo's Christmas when it was first telecast on December 6, 1987, despair not: the film is sure to pop up again on cable during the Yuletide season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Cliff (Bill Cosby) takes Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) and her little friends to a fancy restaurant that specializes in "gourmet burgers." Unfortunately, the kids find their expensive meal inedible, and it is up to a sympathetic waiter (Lee Weaver) to save the day. Elsewhere, Clair (Phylicia Rashad) is visited by her sister Sarah (Yvonne Erwin), who announces her plans to become a mother; and Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) has an ulterior motive when he agrees to give sister Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe) some tennis lessons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Blonde-haired, blue-eyed women's libber Molly McGrath (Goldie Hawn) quits her teaching job at a comfortable middle-class school to take a new position as varsity football coach at a predominantly black inner-city school. Culture and gender clashes abound; she must win over the hard-boiled youths, convince them to practice hard and show up for class, and convince them they can win football games. Her job begins to take a toll on her family, however, when her ex-husband (James Keach) attempts to take away her daughter, claiming she is neglecting her responsibilities as a mother. Wildcats marked the fourth sports film directed by Michael Ritchie. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Goldie Hawn, James Keach, (more)
- 1983
- PG
A cautious single mom and a frustrated writer dance around the prospect of getting together in this romantic comedy. Caustic, difficult Emily (Susan Sarandon) lives with her potty-mouthed son, Tim (Wil Wheaton), and her obnoxiously bossy mother (Jean Stapleton). Her social life consists of afternoon dalliances with a total cad. When part-time writer/inventor and full-time school security guard Joe (Richard Dreyfuss) passes up the chance to turn Tim in for not meeting the school's residency requirements, a paranoid Emily accuses him of masterminding a blackmail scheme. Unbeknownst to Emily, though, the friendless, fatherless Tim strikes up an unlikely friendship with Joe. Eventually, against her better judgement, so does Emily herself. But when one of Joe's inventions begins to take off, his sadistic ex-girlfriend, Carrie (Nancy Allen), shows up to spoil things. Directed by TV vet Glenn Jordan, The Buddy System was written by future Beaches scribe Mary Agnes Donohue. The film marked the feature debut of future Stand By Me and Star Trek: The Next Generation star Wheaton. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dreyfuss, Susan Sarandon, (more)
Robert Mulligan directed this Americanized re-make of the successful Brazilian comedy Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands. Sally Field stars as Kay Villano, a lonely widow of three years who can't forget the memory of her dead husband, Jolly (James Caan). Jolly was a selfish and unfaithful Broadway choreographer who still managed to win Kay over with his charm. But Kay has fallen in love again with Rupert Baines (Jeff Bridges), a stuffy professor of Egyptology. As her wedding day approaches, Kay receives a visit from Jolly's ghost, who taunts and harasses her, clearly upset that Kay is marrying someone so dull. Kay goes ahead with the marriage and Jolly refuses to disappear, resulting in a bizarre menage-a-tois. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sally Field, James Caan, (more)
Joseph Wambaugh's The Onion Field is based on an actual 1963 case. L.A. plainclothesmen Karl Hattinger (John Savage) and Ian Campbell (Ted Danson) routinely investigate a pair of suspicious types, Greg Powell (James Woods) and Jimmy Smith (Franklin Seales). Unexpectedly, Powell pulls a gun on the cops, then forces them into a deserted onion field, where he kills Campbell in cold blood. Hattinger manages to escape, and through his eyewitness account, Powell and Smith are arrested. But that is not that. Thanks to their knowledge and manipulation of the quicksilver legal system, Powell and Smith manage to evade prosecution for years. Meanwhile, Hattinger goes through hell on earth, tortured with guilt over the fact that he lived while Campbell died so ignominiously. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Savage, James Woods, (more)
Recently widowed Dr. Nichols (Walter Matthau) finds himself ill at ease in re-entering the singles scene. Then he meets Ann Atkinson (Glenda Jackson), a patient recuperating from a jaw operation. Freshly divorced from a philandering spouse, Jackson is as reluctant to inaugurate a lasting commitment as Walter--but inaugurate they do, in a hilarious scene wherein Jackson and Walter try to emulate those romantic couples in 1930s movies who were forced by the censors to keep one foot on the floor while lying in bed. It is Jackson who encourages Matthau to stand up for his ideals during a lawsuit involving senile head physician Dr. Willoughby (Art Carney, who is unbearably funny at times). Richard Benjamin rounds off the cast of polished farceurs who add so much sparkle to House Calls. The film was later adapted into a TV sitcom starring Wayne Rogers in the Matthau role, Lynn Redgrave (and later Sharon Gless) in the Jackson counterpart, and David Wayne as a less aphasiatic version of the Carney character. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, (more)
Opting for light entertainment after the critical satire of Shampoo (1975), producer-director-writer-star Warren Beatty remade the 1941 comic fantasy Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Dimly amiable L.A. Rams quarterback Joe Pendleton (Beatty) is prematurely called to Heaven by an over-eager escort (Buck Henry, who co-directed) after a traffic accident. When archangel Mr. Jordan (James Mason) discovers the error, he offers to return Joe to his body, only to find that it has been cremated. On the verge of playing in the Super Bowl, Joe demands a fit body rather than the old about-to-be-murdered industrialist Farnsworth he has been offered, but he reconsiders when he sees environmentalist Betty Logan (Julie Christie) in Farnsworth's house. Assuming Farnsworth's body while keeping his sweet self, Joe hires his beloved coach Max Corkle (Jack Warden) to get him in shape (after convincing Max who he really is), sets Farnsworth's business on an eco-friendly path, and romances Betty. Farnsworth's homicidal wife (Dyan Cannon) and secretary (Charles Grodin), however, are still determined to succeed in their plan to kill him. When Mr. Jordan finally finds the Super Bowl body Joe wanted, Joe has to trade his old self for the new life -- but will he remember his love for Betty? Heaven Can Wait offered contemporary yet old-fashioned escapism and tapped into the late-1970s vogue for nostalgic fun, becoming one of 1978's most popular summer movies after Grease. Updating the original while following its blueprint, Beatty and co-writer Elaine May switched Joe's sport and turned Joe into a man of his '70s moment, adoring Betty for her convictions and favoring "green" policies over corporate greed. Gently breathing life into a classic form, Heaven Can Wait found romantic innocence in a jaded time, and it went on to receive nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, (more)
- 1978
Famed for their supporting performances in Sylvester Stallone's Rocky, Burt Young and Talia Shire struck while the iron was hot to star in the made-for-TV Daddy, I Don't Like It Like This. Young also wrote the screenplay for this middling domestic drama. He and Shire play an endlessly bickering middle-class couple; the husband, an ex-boxer, is frustrated by his inability to fulfill his dreams, while the wife is hampered by emotional and intellectual immaturity. Both Young and Shire take out their hostilities on their son (Doug McKeon), who reacts to the ongoing strife by retreating into his own imagination. Daddy, I Don't Like It Like This was the first directorial assignment for Adell Aldrich, daughter of "cult" director Robert Aldrich. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Posing as a prison pathologist, Quincy (Jack Klugman) conducts an investigation of the death of a convicted embezzler who was about to provide testimony against his mob bosses. The man's death has been ruled accidental, but Quincy doesn't believe it. The trick now is to figure out how a murder was committed in a maximum-security prison wing, without any tangible evidence (hint: the episode's title is a key to the solution). This episode was originally scheduled to air on April 15, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
