Lynn Whitfield Movies

Oz Scott directed this made-for-television performance of Ntozake Shange's musical For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide. Originally airing in 1982, the play recounts the history and struggles of African-American women in the United States. The star-studded cast includes performances by such prominent entertainers as Patti LaBelle, Carol Maillard, Lynn Whitfield, Alfre Woodard, and playwright Shange herself. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Lawrence Kasdan's Silverado is a fond hark back to the all-star, big-budget westerns of the 1950s and 1960s. The various plotlines converge at the town of Silverado, held in thrall by crooked sheriff Brian Dennehy and his behemoth "deputies." The four disparate heroes--Kevin Kline, Kevin Costner, Scott Glenn and Danny Glover--prepare to do battle against Dennehy for personal reasons ranging from mercenary to altruistic. Sidelines characters include duplicitous, dandified gambler Jeff Goldblum, frontier widow Rosanna Arquette and gimlet-eyed saloon owner Linda Hunt. The film is stolen hands-down by Kevin Costner, playing an irresponsible young gunslinger who never speaks when hootin' and hollerin' will do. A classic, High Noon-style showdown caps this rousing retro western. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bill Duke directed this fact-based tale of a poor Southern black woman who rose from poverty to become an FBI agent. Retitled Johnnie Gibson F.B.I. for home video. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

This third sequel to the 1975 mega-hit Jaws returns Lorraine Gary to the role of Ellen Brody, widow of the Roy Scheider character from the first two films. When her son Sean, the current police chief of shark-plagued Amity Island, is killed by the beast, Ellen goes to the Bahamas to comfort her surviving son. Michael Brody (Lance Guest) and his friend Jake (Mario Van Peebles) are marine biologists there to help, but in the end it is up to Ellen and her new beach-bum love -- played by Michael Caine -- to put a halt to the fishy horror. Director Joseph Sargent concludes the series with an ending chosen from several alternate possibilities. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

This drama features a progressive medical group whose founding female members encourage the use of unique practices for the best results. ~ All Movie Guide

Based on the novel by Gloria Naylor, The Women of Brewster Place was produced by and stars Oprah Winfrey. The film concerns a variety of women who live in the housing project located on Brewster Place, and tells about their lives as they struggle in the face of racism, poverty, and troublesome men. Winfrey portrays Mattie Michael who was kicked out of her parent's (Paul Winfield and Mary Alice) house after refusing to reveal the name of her soon-to-be-born child's father. She eventually inherits a house, but loses it after her son skips bail. Robin Givens plays Kiswana, a focused woman who does her best to improve the situations of those around her. During a conversation with her mother (Cicely Tyson), Kiswana learns how her decision to change her name from Melanie is a betrayal of her family history. Cora Lee (Phyllis Stickney) craves being needed by babies and continues to have children, although she becomes neglectful as her children age. Miss Sophie (Olivia Cole) traffics in neighborhood gossip. Theresa and Lorraine (Paula Kelly and Lonette McKee) are a lesbian couple who live on Brewster Place because they believe the people in the neighborhood might let them live in peace. The Women of Brewster Place aired March 18-19, 1989, on the ABC television network. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Mario Van Peebles stars as football play Ricky Bell in this made-for-TV biopic. The film touches upon Bell's gridiron accomplishments, then concentrates on the athlete's final years, when he falls victim to a terminal illness. As Bell's physical state deteriorates, he forges a strong friendship with a young handicapped man, played by Lane Davis. Their relationship provides courage and determination for both men, encouraging Davis to make the most of his life after Bell dies at age 29. Substituting bathos for pathos, Triumph of the Heart: The Ricky Bell Story is not the Brian's Song it desperately wants to be. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Following up the goofy big-screen comedies Dragnet and Delirious, director Tom Mankiewicz delivered this made-for-cable thriller starring Tony Goldwyn and Lynn Whitfield. After witnessing a murder, Goldwyn finds himself pursued by a group of thugs led by mafia boss Alan Arkin. Whitfield stars as the detective assigned to ensure that Goldwyn not only doesn't flee out of fear for his life, but stays alive long enough to testify at the murder trial. Along the way, as the two spend more time together, a romance ensues. Peter Boyle, George Segal and Will Patton round out the cast, and the film was scripted by Dan Gordon who would later gain noteriety as a scribe on 1999's The Hurricane. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Set in a busy inner-city emergency room, this made-for-cable television drama follows the struggles of a world-weary surgeon who takes on the hospital administrators whose budget-cutting is affecting his ability to adequately care for his patients. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Originally made for and aired on the Lifetime cable network this 1955-set drama centers on a loving, white Southern housewife (Patricia Richardson) whose comfortable life is thrown into turmoil when she learns that her close friend and housekeeper Sophie (Lynn Whitfield) has been targeted by the Ku Klux Klan and that her beloved husband (Jason Bernard) has been living a secret life as the Grand Dragon of the racist fraternity. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A young girl learns some difficult lessons about truth, love, and fidelity in this critically-acclaimed Southern gothic drama. Eve Batiste (Jurnee Smollett) is a ten-year-old girl whose father Louis (Samuel L. Jackson) is a successful and well-liked doctor in an African-American community in Louisiana. Louis is a good father and an excellent provider, but he also has a way of attracting the ladies, and he's not inclined to turn them away. One night, the Batistes hold a party, and Eve, her older sister Cisely (Meagan Good), and their mother Roz (Lynn Whitfield) all notice that Louis is spending a great deal of time dancing with the same woman. Eve later spies her father and the woman in an embrace in the carriage house, though Louis unconvincingly claims that nothing untoward was happening. The evidence of Louis' infidelity takes a toll on the entire family: Cisely, who at age 14 is walking the middle-ground between being a girl and a woman, becomes sullen and confused about her new emotions, Roz takes out her frustrations on her loved ones, and Eve visits Elzora (Diahann Carroll), a voodoo priestess, looking for advice and possibly revenge. Meanwhile, Eve's Aunt Mozelle (Debbi Morgan), who claims to have psychic powers, arrives to stay with the family after the death of her third husband, though she isn't lonely for long after meeting the eccentric Julien Greyraven (Vondie Curtis-Hall). Eve's Bayou was the first project as writer-director for actress Kasi Lemmons; leading man Samuel L. Jackson also co-produced. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Just how much trouble can two guys get into while trying to catch some fish? Joe Waters (Joe Pesci) and Gus Green (Danny Glover) are two guys from New Jersey who've known each other since childhood; they've always been friends, and they've always been inept to the point of posing a threat to life and limb (early on in the proceedings, we get to watch them blow up a factory by accident). Joe and Gus are avid fishermen, and as luck would have it, they win a trip to the Everglades to do some serious angling. They hitch their boat trailer to Joe's 1968 Plymouth and hit the road to Florida, but they run afoul of a con man named Dekker Massey (Nick Brimble), who quickly relieves Joe of his automobile. Not about to let the loss of their wheels stop them, Joe and Gus try to hitch a ride, and they get picked up by a pair of beautiful women, Rita (Rosanna Arquette) and Angie (Lynn Whitfield), who are also headed South. It seems that Dekker conned Rita's mom out of much of her valuables, and they're looking for him in hopes of getting them back; Joe and Gus get roped into helping them out, which leads to a number of misadventures involving guns, treasure maps, boat chases, and hurricanes. Sadly, the production of this comedy had tragic consequences when a stunt performer was killed and two others were seriously injured while filming a jump on a boat ramp. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide