Joyce Chopra Movies

The title character in this made-for-cable contemporary Western could be hard-bitten cattle rancher John William Cooper (Lance Henriksen), or, for that matter, John's long-estranged daughter Jacqueline "Jake" Cooper (Jennie Garth). Having broken off relations with her dad due to an unpleasant incident involving her mother, Jake returns to Dry Creek Ranch after an eight-year absence with her young son, Billy (Dylan Wagner), in tow. The reasons have little to do with father-daughter love; John's father has died, and the ranch is now mortgaged to the hilt. Out of a sense of obligation, Jake agrees to work the ranch in hopes of putting it back on its financial feet, all the while keeping her distance from the taciturn John. Other interested parties include cowboy Morgan Murphy (Bradley Cooper), who wants to help Jake despite her father's resistance to Morgan's "newfangled" ranching methods, and John's old pal Amos (M.C. Gainey), who is determined to mend the fences between John and Jake. The Last Cowboy was first broadcast by the Hallmark Channel on January 17, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The remarkable life and tragic death of Marilyn Monroe has fascinated film fans for decades, but this two-part TV miniseries, based on a novel by Joyce Carol Oates, takes an unusual approach, using dramatic license (the film announces itself as a work of fiction using the names of real people) to look inside the minds of Monroe and those around her to ponder the circumstances of her rise and fall. Young Norma Jeane Baker (Skye McCole Bartusiak) is raised by single mother Gladys (Patricia Richardson), who is unstable, uncaring, and poorly equipped to deal with the responsibilities of parenthood. As Norma Jeane grows up without a father and with little affection from her mother, she suffers from a poor self-image and craves attention; when she grows into a beautiful young woman who is unusually attractive to men, she falls into a number of romances and a short-lived marriage in search of the approval she needs so desperately. When Norma Jeane (now played by Poppy Montgomery) turns 20, she meets a photographer, Otto (Eric Bogosian), who sees star potential in her beauty. Otto's cheesecake pictures catch the eye of I.E. Shinn (Wallace Shawn), an agent who in turned introduces her to Mr. R (Richard Roxburgh), the head of a movie studio, who offers to make Norma Jeane a star -- if she would be willing to have sex with him. Norma Jeane unenthusiastically agrees, and Mr. R proves good to his word; renamed Marilyn, she becomes an major film star and an international sex symbol. But the adulation proves to be a poor substitute for the love she craves, and as she falls into relationships with any man who treats her with a modicum of respect -- including a famous baseball player (Titus Welliver) and an acclaimed author (Griffin Dunne) -- her life begins to spiral out of control. Blonde also stars Ann-Margret, Kirstie Alley, and Patrick Dempsey; the series first aired May 13 and May 16, 2001, on the CBS television network. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Linda Marsh (Mary McDonnell) may have been hoping for a surprise on her 16th wedding anniversary, but she certainly doesn't welcome the news that her school-principal husband George (William Russ) has been carrying on an affair with the teacher of the Marshes' daughter! The breakup of Linda and George's marriage is quite a shock for the small town in which they live--almost as shocking as Linda's subsequent actions as she grimly embarks on "a search for a new life." As part of that search, Linda has enlisted her kids in her campaign to land a "replacement" head of the household. Wavering erratically between broad comedy and sentimental slush, the made-for-TV Replacing Dad was based on a novel by Shelley Frasier Mickle, and first aired March 14, 1999 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gene Wilder wrote and starred in this detective story produced for the A&E cable television network. Set in 1938, Wilder plays Larry "Cash" Carter, a one-time Broadway theatrical director who has moved to a quiet Connecticut town, where he oversees a community theater group and works as a private investigator. When a local philanthropist with strong anti-Nazi sentiments is murdered, the police ask Cash to help them track down the killer. Cash discovers his little town isn't as quiet as he imagined, with nefarious servants, devious relatives, and an Axis agent all figuring into the deadly puzzle before he can determine the killer's identity. The Lady in Question was the second in a projected series of made-for-cable "Cash" Carter mysteries written by Wilder; the character was introduced in the first film, 1999's Murder in a Small Town. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this sudsy made-for-television drama, long-buried resentments, jealousy and other negative emotions re-emerge when a fashion model and an old friend are reunited. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this drama, based on a true story, a New York educator has an affair with a manipulative peer and subsequently finds himself implicated in his wife's murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Helen Hunt stars as Pamela Smart, the schoolteacher who seduced one of her students into murdering her husband, in this torn-from-the-headlines made-for-TV effort. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Produced for PBS' American Playhouse series, Smooth Talk was given a brief theatrical release before its "official" February 9, 1987 TV debut. Laura Dern plays a teenager anxious to experience the pleasures of sexual contact. Left alone in the family summer cottage when her mother (Mary Kay Place), father (Levon Helm) and sister (Elizabeth Berridge) go shopping, Dern decides to wander into town for male companionship. She makes the acquaintance of Treat Williams, a handsome if mildly psychotic type who identifies himself as "A. Friend" and behaves like James Dean. When she returns home, Dern is bewildered and dishevelled. We can only speculate as to whether or not she was raped by Williams; we do know that she isn't the same person we met at the beginning of the film. Smooth Talk was based on a 1970 short story by Joyce Carol Oates entitled "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide