Marc Abraham Movies
Loosely based on an actual incident, this family-friendly British comedy is also a sly satire of class consciousness. Phoebe Cates stars as a woman who appears in the English countryside of 1817 wearing exotic garb and speaking gibberish. Delivered to a nearby manor, the mystery woman is sheltered by the Worralls (Wendy Hughes and Jim Broadbent), who are then persuaded by their suspicious Greek butler Frixos (Kevin Kline, Cates' real-life husband) to have the drifter tried for vagrancy and begging, capital crimes. At the hearing, however, the woman persuades the magistrate through pantomime that she is a princess of Javanese origin named Caraboo, escaped from pirate kidnappers. The Worralls welcome Caraboo back into their home, lavishing upon her the deference due a royal. A society sensation, Caraboo wins over a linguist (John Lithgow), the prince regent (John Session), and even Frixos. Only an Irish reporter, Gutch (Stephen Rea), remains skeptical about Caraboo's origins. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phoebe Cates, Jim Broadbent, (more)
This adaptation of the comic novel by T. Coraghessan Boyle is the story of real-life Corn Flakes inventor Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (Anthony Hopkins), an eccentric health nut in the early 20th century. Convinced of the benefits of holistic health practices (mostly involving irrigation of the bowels and colon), Kellogg opens a spa in Battle Creek, Michigan that immediately attracts the well-to-do of his time, including Will (Matthew Broderick) and Eleanor Lightbody (Bridget Fonda). A young couple with sexual and marital problems, the Lightbodys aren't helped much by the forced separation of sexes at Kellogg's sanitarium, and the situation is further exacerbated by Will's obliging nurse (Traci Lind) and Eleanor's encounters with a group of German sex therapists. Also at the spa are Charles Ossining (John Cusack), an ambitious con man who sees a fortune in Kellogg's cereal, and the unwashed, cretinous George Kellogg (Dana Carvey), one of the doctor's several dozen adopted children. A spoof as obsessed as its protagonist with its scatological subject matter, The Road to Wellville was an unusual effort for director-composer Alan Parker, known better for darker dramatic material and musicals. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Hopkins, Bridget Fonda, (more)
Wesley Snipes and Michael Wright play druglord brothers who have a mob-like crime empire in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem. Through flashbacks, we see how Roemello Skuggs (Snipes) and Raynathan Skuggs (Wright) entered the drug culture, with Raynathan helping his mother inject heroin. She died when the boys were young, but their father A.R. Skuggs (Clarence Williams III) survived, remaining a hopeless and frightful heroin addict. Roemello has grown up to be an educated, culturally pretentious businessman who stays away from his own merchandise, wears expensive cashmere coats and other colorful clothes, and lives in a beautiful uptown apartment, while being plagued by guilt. Raynathan, however, is losing his battle with drug addiction and spiraling downward. Roemello runs the family drug business with the help of an old-fashioned mob boss, Gus Molino (Abe Vigoda), whose grocery is a front for the dealing. To fuel his doubts, Roemello becomes involved with a beautiful aspiring actress, Melissa (Theresa Randle), and she urges him to get out of the drug business. But a rival dealer, Lolly Jonas (Ernie Hudson), cuts into Roemello territory, there is a brutally violent turf war, and Roemello must decide whether to defend or abandon his livelihood. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Michael Wright, (more)
Based on a novel by William Wharton, A Midnight Clear is set in the Adriennes Forest in December of 1944. A group of American GIs, all of whom have been together a bit too long, cling to the vestiges of their peacetime interests to remain sane. None are brilliant soldiers, though Will Knot Ethan Hawke is the one who exhibits the strongest leadership qualities. Billeted at a chateau, the soldiers begin hearing strange noises emanating from a graveyard, the handiwork of a group of mischievous German soldiers. The two enemy camps draw closer to one another as Christmas approaches, due in great part to the influence of GI Vince "Mother" Wilkins Gary Sinise. A sudden, impulsive hostile act results in the wholesale -- and unnecessary -- slaughter of the German soldiers. Though the exteriors are convincingly mid-European, the film was actually lensed in Utah. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Berg, Kevin Dillon, (more)
"The Irish are the blacks of Europe, Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland, and the North Siders are the blacks of Dublin ... so say it loud -- I'm black and I'm proud!" Or so Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins) tells his slightly puzzled friends as he tries to assemble a rhythm & blues show band in a working class community in Dublin in Alan Parker's film The Commitments. Jimmy is a would-be music business wheeler and dealer, and he's decided what Dublin needs is a top-shelf soul band. However, top-shelf soul musicians are hard to find in Dublin, so he has to make do with what he can find. However, after a long round of auditions, Jimmy makes two inspired discoveries: Deco (Andrew Strong), an abrasive and alcoholic streetcar conductor who nevertheless has a voice like the risen ghost of Otis Redding, and Joey "The Lips" Fagan (Johnny Murphy), a horn player who knows soul music backwards and forwards and claims to have played with everyone from Wilson Pickett to Elvis Presley. Before long, the band -- called the Commitments -- is packing them in at local clubs. But do they have what it takes to make the big time? Based on the novel by Roddy Doyle, who also co-wrote the screenplay, The Commitments is sparked by fine performances by its young cast and enthusiastic performances of a number of '60s soul classics; the cast, who play their own instruments, reassembled the band for a concert tour after the film became a hit. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Arkins, Michael Aherne, (more)
- 1989
This episode focuses on Blue Moon employees Bert Viola (Curtis Armstrong) and Agnes Dipesto (Allyce Beasley). Bert wants to attend a Viola family reunion, but Agnes has been sequestered with the jury for the murder trial of one John Gibson--and of course, Agnes is the sole holdout who believes in Gibson's innocence. Out of desperation, Bert decides that the only way to get Agnes out of the jury room is to solve the murder himself! In a dream sequence, the Moonlighting regulars are recast as the principals in John Gibson's alleged crime. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
