Ron White Movies

Emmy Award-winning actress Tammy Blanchard (Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows) essays the role of a young girl whose fragile mind was tragically fractured due to years of abuse by her unstable mother (JoBeth Williams). The setting is the late 1950s: multiple personality disorder has yet to be recognized as a serious condition by the mainstream medical community, and Dr. Cornelia Wilbur (Jessica Lange) is struggling against the sexist attitudes of her chauvinistic male colleagues. Chief among her arrogant detractors is Dr. Atcheson (Ron White), a highly respected medico who seems to view Dr. Wilbur with little but thinly-veiled contempt. When Dr. Wilbur hypnotizes withdrawn abuse victim Sybil (Blanchard) in an attempt to bring the sixteen distinct personalities possessed by the girl into harmony, the shocking truth about her tormented childhood gradually comes into focus while forming the foundation of the case file that will finally see multiple personality disorder recognized as a legitimate medical condition. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The time: June 1998. The place: The sleepy town of Jasper, TX. Three young, self-styled white supremists overpower a 49-year-old black man named James Byrd Jr., chain him to the back of their pickup, and literally drag him to death. What follows is a media firestorm, exacerbated by scores of network and cable-TV news services, the grim pronouncements of so-called pundits, and the intrusion upon Jasper of several extremist activists, ranging from members of the Ku Klux Klan to the newly formed Black Panthers. As the frenzy continues, the heretofore peaceful, if somewhat tenuous, relationship between the white and black residents of Jasper is severely strained, with echoes of past racism resounding throughout the area. In the center of the controversy are two decent, hard-working public servants: R.C. Horn, the first black mayor of Jasper, and Billy Rowles, the town's white sheriff. Also profoundly affected by the appalling murder of Byrd are the respective parents of the victim and the killers. Happily, when the dust clears, justice is done (two of the murderers are condemned to death, the third sentenced to life imprisonment), and, instead of being wrenched apart, the black and white communities of Jasper draw closer together than they have ever been. Made for cable TV, this feature-length reenactment stars Louis Gossett Jr. as Horn and Jon Voight as Rowles. Although certain liberties are taken (the actor playing Byrd is clearly much younger than his real-life counterpart and the Black Panthers and KKK are incorrectly shown descending upon Jasper the same day), the film is, by and large, accurate. Better still, there is a minimum of preaching and proselytizing. Previewed at the Philadelphia Film Festival, Jasper, Texas was given its official Showtime network cable premiere on June 8, 2003 -- almost five years to the day after Byrd's death. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on a true story, this made-for-TV movie concerns the true story of Marilyn Bell (played by Caroline Dhavernas), a 16-year-old swimmer who found herself competing against Florence Chadwick, a top-ranked, well-known American swimmer in a special marathon race across Lake Ontario. While Chadwick was the more experienced swimmer, Bell stunned the sporting world when she won the race after the American swimmer, underestimating the difficulty of the conditions, dropped out at the half-way point. Heart: The Marilyn Bell Story also stars Claudia Besso and Ron White. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The miscreant drivers at City Cab drift through the darkened streets on a bizarre mission of hope and longing in this soul searching tale from director Steve Di Marco. Yaphet Kotto stars. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A young girl stuck in a horrific cycle of familial violence finds the power to build her own future from the place she least suspected in an inspiring tale of friendship and devotion starring Ossie Davis and Della Reese, and directed by Bruce Pittman. For years Jo Ann Foley (Madeline Zima) has suffered under the cruel hand of her ruthless grandfather. A chance meeting with kindly neighbors Honey (Reese) and her husband Too Tall (Davis) finds things looking up, however, as the nurturing couple provides Jo Ann with the support needed to break free of her grandfather's tyrannical grip. As the future lies before her ready to be molded however she sees fit, Jo Ann must now find the courage to let go of the past and seek the redemption needed to start life anew. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A horror semi-parody targeted at the young adult market that ravenously gobbles up horror books like R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series, this made-for-TV vampire tale stars Chauncey Leopardi as Zach, a teenage rebel with a flair for telling ghost stories, who stumbles on an underground cabal of vampires when he takes a fateful ride on a New York subway. The vampire's leader, Valentine (Ron Silver), proposes a deal to young Zach, offering him safe passage to the world above, thus enabling the trapped vampire -- who can only mingle with humanity through the willing assistance of an innocent youth -- to reach the surface as well. Our young hero balks at this idea and escapes to the surface with a wild story for his skeptical pals, who shun him until one of their number is kidnapped by the undead subway dwellers in exchange for Zach's cooperation. Though atmospherically photographed, this low-budget production is a bit too corny to provide either laughs or chills, and it suffers further from lethargic pacing. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Walter Isaacson's book Kissinger: A Biography served as the basis for this made-for-television movie about the famed political leader. Beau Bridges stars as President Richard Nixon and Ron Silver portrays Henry Kissinger, Nixon's national security advisor. The adaptation shows how Kissinger worked to try and end the Vietnam crisis while Nixon maneuvered to keep his political image strong until election time. Bridges was nominated for an Emmy for his lead performance. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi

This action-packed sci-fi thriller is set upon the planet Sirius 6B in the year 2078. The planet has been decimated by a vast nuclear war. Many have survived, but their continued survival is threatened by the dreaded screamers, strange shape-changing mechanical creatures who use razor sharp knives to hack up any life-form in their way. They earned their name because when they kill, they make a horrible high pitched sound. The first screamer makes its appearance as a lone soldier approaches a bunker. He has come to deliver an important message from the NEB to its enemy the Alliance. Unfortunately, the low flying screamer gets to the soldier first, and quicker than Popeil's Vegamatic, slices and dices the fellow into tiny pieces. Later a jet crashes near the bunker. Aboard it is a nuclear reactor. One man survives the crash. The man, Ace, knows how to make a bomb with the reactor. Alliance-leader Col. Joseph Hendricksson takes Ace and they travel across the great irradiated desert to met with the NEB leaders. Along the way they find a small boy and though they don't want to, bring him along. Unfortunately, by the time they get to the NEB headquarters, the screamers have killed all but Becker, a tough soldier, Ross, who is nearly mad, and sexy smuggler Jessica. When Becker and Ross see the boy, they think he is a screamer and kill him. They are right and soon the little group find themselves surrounded by the hellish killing machines, all of which have taken the shapes of small boys. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Two decades after he abandoned his family and their ranch, a son returns to help out after their livestock begins mysteriously dying. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

While coming of age in the inner city, Darryl Crawford (Amir Williams), a young African-American man with a tremendous sense of familial loyalty, happens to witness a gang-related bloodbath and is horrified to discover that his beloved older brother Sly (Richard Chevolleau) is one of the perpetrators, in Bruce Pittman's made-for-cable urban dramaBlood Brothers. Primarily, Darryl grapples with his conscience over informing on Sly -- but this fear becomes second-string when the remaining gang members close in on both brothers and threaten their lives. Blood Brothers features acclaimed black character playerBill Nunn (Regarding Henry) in a key supporting role as the boys' father. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Sidney Lumet directed this Larry Cohen-scripted courtroom procedural that owes more than it should to Jagged Edge. Jennifer Haines (Rebecca De Mornay), one of the top female lawyers in the country and flush from the success of defending a gangster, has a new client to defend. A suave ladies man in an Armani suit, David Greenhill (Don Johnson) has come to solicit Jennifer's services. It seems that his rich socialite wife has been pushed to her death through an open window, and David stands to inherit a very large fortune. Needless to say, David is a prime suspect in his wife's murder. David admits to Jennifer the he is a womanizer and an oily manipulator, but nevertheless Jennifer decides to take his case as a challenge -- as she puts it: "People who are guilty are rarely this blunt." The result is an intricate chess game between Jennifer and David as they manipulate events, other people, and each other in order to determine the guilt or innocence of the playboy widower. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Dedicated to his mentors Sergio Leone and Don Siegel, Clint Eastwood's 1992 Oscar-winner examines the mythic violence of the Western, taking on the ghosts of his own star past. Disgusted by Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett's decree that several ponies make up for a cowhand's slashing a whore's face, Big Whiskey prostitutes, led by fierce Strawberry Alice (Frances Fisher), take justice into their own hands and put a $1000 bounty on the lives of the perpetrators. Notorious outlaw-turned-hog farmer William Munny (Eastwood) is sought out by neophyte gunslinger the Schofield Kid (Jaimz Woolvett) to go with him to Big Whiskey and collect the bounty. While Munny insists, "I ain't like that no more," he needs the bounty money for his children, and the two men convince Munny's clean-living comrade Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman) to join them in righting a wrong done to a woman. Little Bill (Oscar-winner Gene Hackman), however, has no intention of letting any bounty hunters impinge on his iron-clad authority. When pompous gunman English Bob (Richard Harris) arrives in Big Whiskey with pulp biographer W.W. Beauchamp (Saul Rubinek) in tow, Little Bill beats Bob senseless and promises to tell Beauchamp the real story about violent frontier life and justice. But when Munny, the true unwritten legend, comes to town, everyone soon learns a harsh lesson about the price of vindictive bloodshed and the malleability of ideas like "justice." "I don't deserve this," pleads Little Bill. "Deserve's got nothin' to do with it," growls Munny, simultaneously summing up the insanity of western violence and the legacy of Eastwood's Man With No Name. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi