Roger Birnbaum Movies

Burt Lancaster is eminently hissable as a tabloid publisher in the made-for-TV Scandal Sheet. The current target of Lancaster's smears is alcoholic actor Robert Urich, who is on the verge of making a comeback through the auspices of his movie-star wife Lauren Hutton. Ruthlessly going after Urich merely for the purpose of selling newspapers, Lancaster "persuades" impoverished reporter Pamela Reed, the best friend of Urich and Hutton, to help him wield the hatchet. Sublimely trashy, Scandal Sheet is held together by the despicably dynamic performance of Burt Lancaster. The film was of course made long before tabloid publishers were being lauded as "news analysts" on TV talk shows. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A year after appearing in the box-office sleeper Shanghai Surprise, pop superstar Madonna starred in the screwball comedy Who's That Girl? She plays Nikki Finn, who is being released from prison after serving a four-year sentence for a murder she didn't commit. Meanwhile, wealthy lawyer Loudon (Griffin Dunne) is about to get married that afternoon to the snobby Wendy (Haviland Morris), the daughter of Simon Worthington (John McMartin). Worthington does not approve of the wedding and he wants Nikki out of town as soon as possible, so he sends Loudon to collect Nikki and take her to the bus station. Instead, the flamboyant Nikki seeks her revenge while trying to find out what happened to her friend Johnny, which causes Loudon a lot of trouble. Naturally, wild action ensues -- some of it involving an escaped Cougar belonging to Loudon's boss, the millionaire animal collector Montgomery Bell (John Mills) -- and Loudon having to choose between the prim Wendy and the unpredictable Nikki. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

This comedy-adventure is one of several adaptations of Alexadre Dumas' (pere) classic novel. Provincial swordsman D'Artagnan (Chris O'Donnell) travels to Paris to follow in his father's footsteps and become a king's guard, a musketeer. Meanwhile, the evil royal advisor Cardinal Richelieu (Tim Curry), with the help of one-eyed Captain Rochefort (Michael Wincott), has disbanded the King's bodyguards in his devious attempt to usurp the power of the King (Hugh O'Conor) and rule France. Three of the musketeers, Athos (Kiefer Sutherland), Porthos (Oliver Platt), and Aramis (Charlie Sheen), escape and partner with D'Artagnan in an attempt to thwart the Cardinal and his minions, who also include the duplicitous Milady de Winter (Rebecca DeMornay). ~ Lisa Kropiewnicki, All Movie Guide

A black detective becomes embroiled in a web of danger while searching for a fortune in missing drug money in this action-comedy. Writer-director Keenan Ivory Wayans also stars as Los Angeles private eye Arthur Shame, a former cop whose troubled past resurfaces when a one-time colleague asks for help in a narcotic case. During the course of his investigation, he encounters various old connections, ultimately confronting the criminal responsible for Shame's expulsion from the force. He must also deal with two women, Angela, a beautiful old flame (Salli Richardson), and Peaches (Jada Pinkett), his energetic but annoying sidekick. Unlike Wayans' blaxploitation parody I'm Gonna Get You Sucka, A Low Down Dirty Shame sticks more closely to genre conventions, lightening the action with wisecracks and standard comic interludes. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

This ambitious Disney movie uses a remarkable screenplay from Steven L. Bloom and Robert Rodat to tell a rollicking tale of America's transition from a close-to-the-land culture of mythic heroes to a corporate world of real estate tycoons. The strong theme about the decline of folk culture is expressed through a series of high octane adventures experienced by 12-year-old Daniel Hackett (Nick Stahl) at the dawn of the 20th century. Daniel's father, Jonas Hackett (Stephen Lang), runs a farm in a place called Paradise Valley, but his land is coveted by a greedy developer, J.P. Stiles (Scott Glenn). Daniel looks longingly at postcards of New York City while growing increasingly skeptical of his father's tales of legendary folk heroes. Then, through a series of incredible adventures, Daniel meets up with the legends that his father has spoken about -- cowboy Pecos Bill (Patrick Swayze), lumberjack Paul Bunyan (Oliver Platt), and finally, ex-slave and strongman John Henry (Roger Aaron Brown). Each of these heroes hooks up with Daniel and becomes involved in an increasingly bitter and boisterous fight against Stiles, whose plans to buy up land threaten the very strength of the folk heroes and the well-being of the common people. Pecos Bill has a horse named Widowmaker and can lasso a tornado. The giant Bunyan is accompanied by his famous blue ox, Babe. At one point, another legend, the cowgirl Calamity Jane (Catherine O'Hara), joins in the adventures. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Camp Hope is a summer camp for fat kids; it is also the locale of this Disney family comedy. All of the kids at Camp Hope have a weight problem. It is the one place they can go without feeling different. But when the previous owners declare bankruptcy, the camp is purchased by an obnoxious fitness freak who becomes obsessed with changing his chubby charges into budding body builders. He immediately begins serving them low calorie foods and subjecting them to rigorous exercises. Part of his motivation is greed: he is in the process of writing a book, and filming an infomercial on weight loss. The boys at camp rebel and mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This latter-day romantic screwball comedy stars Sandra Bullock as a love-starved subway toll booth operator, Lucy. Lucy pines for regular customer Peter Callaghan (Peter Gallagher), but the self-absorbed attorney pays her no heed. One day, Peter is beaten by a gang of thugs and tossed onto the tracks. Lucy rescues him from death. While he is comatose in the hospital, a comment she makes at his bedside is misinterpreted, and she then allows his family members, who haven't seen Peter in awhile, to believe that she is his fiancée. Peter's parents, Ox (Peter Boyle) and Midge (Micole Mercurio), take a liking to Lucy. But Lucy takes a liking to Peter's brother Jack (Bill Pullman), though Jack is suspicious about her claim to be Peter's intended. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Sinbad offers some unusual advice on how to make friends in this wacky comedy. Kevin Frankin (Sinbad) is a guy who dreams of starting his own business. However, getting it off the ground is another matter altogether, and soon Kevin discovers that the two loan sharks who fronted him money want to be paid, and paid promptly, otherwise Kevin will be spending some time in the hospital. On the run through an airport, Kevin is trying to find a way out when he overhears Gary Young (Phil Hartman) wondering where his friend is. It seems that Gary has arranged a reunion with an old friend from childhood, but since he hasn't seen him in 25 years, he has no idea what he looks like today, beyond the fact that he's black. Kevin fits the bill that far and claims to be Gary's long lost buddy, which Gary buys hook, line, and sinker. Gary seems to enjoy bonding with his old friend, and Kevin likes staying at Gary's fine home (and raiding his large icebox), but Kevin discovers that impersonating a stranger is a lot more complicated than he expected after he's forced to perform oral surgery and give a speech at a grade school "Career Day" presentation. However, this is all small potatoes on the "oh, no" scale when the loan sharks track Kevin back to Gary's home in the suburbs. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Director Barbet Schroeder and screenwriter Ted Tally adapted the novel by Rosellen Brown into this intriguing drama that, while heavily criticized for a third-act revelation that is something of a cop-out, nevertheless features -- typically of Schroeder's work -- compelling performances, domestic discord, and a search for the truth. Meryl Streep stars as Carolyn Ryan, a rural Massachusetts pediatrician married to Ben (Liam Neeson), a handsome, rugged sculptor. Although theirs is not a picture-perfect marriage, the Ryans consider themselves happy, until police arrive at their home one morning to inform them that their son Jacob (Edward Furlong) was the last person seen the night before with a teenage girl who has been murdered. Jacob is missing, and the Ryans frantically search for him, but when the boy returns, it is obvious that he's not being completely truthful about the night's events. While Carolyn wants the truth, Ben is willing to go to whatever lengths are necessary to defend Jacob, hiring an expensive lawyer (Alfred Molina), destroying evidence, and encouraging Jacob to be deceitful. Carolyn and Ben's opposing views of their son's legal trouble cause serious turmoil in the Ryans' marriage, which may be irreparably harmed in spite of the 11th hour appearance of the truth. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Two basketball fans, whose enthusiasm overwhelms their intelligence, come up with a new but legally problematic way of helping their favorite team in this comedy. Physical education instructor Mike O'Hara (Daniel Stern) and plumber Jimmy Flaherty (Dan Aykroyd) are close friends and obsessive followers of the Boston Celtics; to them, the Celtics are everything, to the point where Mike's marriage is falling apart because his wife can't deal with his mood swings, hinged as they are on the Celtic's fortunes. One night, with the Celtics and the Utah Jazz tied at three games each in the NBA championships, Mike and Jimmy spot Lewis Scott (Damon Wayans) in a sports bar. The star player with the Jazz, Lewis is known to sink up to 50 shots a game, and his talent on the court is exceeded only by his arrogance. Emboldened by alcohol, Mike and Jimmy start buying Lewis drinks, posing as Jazz fans; the next morning, they wake up hung over to discover that they kidnapped Lewis while drunk, and he's tied to a chair in Jimmy's living room. Neither of them planned on doing anything like this and at first they think they ought to let him go. But then again, if Lewis can't play the final game of the championship series, the Celtics chances look a lot brighter. Former Celtics star Larry Bird has a cameo as himself; as do sports heroes Bill Walton and Deion Sanders. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Some say that to be the leader of a country is one of the loneliest jobs in the world. But being the child of a world leader can be doubly so. Constantly surrounded by security officers, restricted in movements and having almost every waking moment carefully monitored makes normalcy an impossibility. No one knows this better than young Luke Davenport, the son of U.S. President Davenport. He vents his loneliness, frustration and feelings of isolation from family and friends by being a brat to his private Secret Service agent. When the agent snaps from the strain in front of the First Lady, a new agent is assigned to Luke. He turns out to be the enormous Sam Simms, a bit of a rogue who managed to rise through the ranks by sheer determination rather than strict adherence to Secret-Service protocol. At first, Luke tries all his old tricks upon Sam. But instead of getting angry, Sam seems to actually understand. This touching comedy follows the eventual friendship that forms between the two misfits. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

During training, a member of the first manned mission to Mars is injured, and NASA chooses a replacement, spaced-out spacecraft designer Fred Z. Randall (Canadian stand-up comic Harland Williams), to team with cocky crew captain William "Wild Bill" Overbeck (William Sadler), efficient mission specialist Julie Ford (Jessica Lundy), and trained chimp Ulysses (Raven). Mission controller Bud Nesbitt (Beau Bridges) backs Fred, but flight-director Paul Wick (Jeffrey DeMunn) has doubts. En route to Mars, Fred's frenetic antics become a threat, but he wins respect with his navigational savvy. Filmed at Houston locations, including the Johnson Space Center, under the working title, Space Cadet. Shelley Duvall is seen in an uncredited cameo as Fred's mother. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide