Beth Broderick Movies

Emmy Award-winning Autism: The Musical director Janet Grillo revisits the subject of her breakthrough film with this sensitive drama about a single mother who must find the courage to enroll her autistic daughter in a therapeutic residential facility. From the moment Mandy was born, Jeanne (Beth Broderick) loved her unconditionally. But the older Mandy (Ashley Rickards) grew, the more challenging she became. These days, even a simple disturbance can set off an intense reaction in Mandy. Gone are the days when Mandy's eccentric behavior was somewhat endearing; self-control has become a major issue, making it quite possible that she could harm either herself or her parents during one of her frequent outbursts. In the wake of a chance encounter with her warmhearted neighbor Tom (Greg Germann), Jeanne starts to think about romance again. As pressures mount at home and at work, however, the stressed-out single mom begins to push Tom away. Later, it begins to dawn on Jeanne that clinging to Mandy may be doing both mother and daughter more harm than good. When the opportunity arises for Mandy to move to a facility where professionals will be available to care for her around the clock, Jeanne contends with the painful decision to finally admit that the best thing for both of them is to finally let go. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This Hallmark Channel TV movie is one of several starring Kellie Martin as Samantha "Sam" Kinsey, the owner of a British-style American bookshop which traffics in mystery novels. To improve business, Sam hosts a book signing with three celebrity "whodunit" authors in attendance. One of the three, Claire Beckman (Beth Broderick), uses the occasion to announce her retirement -- whereupon she is nearly shot to death by a cleverly rigged hidden pistol. A second attempt on Claire's life, using poison, succeeds, whereupon local police chief Connors (Casey Sander) places everyone under suspicion -- including Sam. Thus, our heroine is forced once again to play amateur sleuth, with the able assistance of her friends and colleagues, especially enigmatic former CIA agent Philby (Clarence Williams III). Mystery Woman: Mystery Weekend debuted January 7, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Robert Lee King directs this wacky, campy fusion of teenaged surfer flicks and slasher sagas. Impossibly perky Florence (Lauren Ambrose) doesn't quite fit in at her thoroughly square high school in her seaside Southern California town -- that is, until she happens upon a band of ultra-hip surfer dudes. Renaming herself "Chicklet," she tries her gosh-darnedest to be the sole girl riding the waves with the group led by suave Kanaka (Thomas Gibson). While adopting her surfer alter ego, Florence soon discovers that other less pleasant personalities emerge when confronted with the sight of polka dots. One called Anne Bowman is a tough, "experienced" older lady, while the other, Tylene, is a stereotypical sassy black woman. Blacking out whenever these other personalities take over, Florence becomes increasingly worried that she is responsible for a series of grizzly murders. Of course, she is far from the only suspicious character in her oceanside community -- there's B-movie star Bettina Barnes (Kimberly Davies), Swedish exchange student Lars (Matt Keeslar), and Florence's own unnervingly-perfect mom (Beth Broderick). This film was adapted from a popular off-Broadway play written by Charles Busch. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

This film is a unique combination of documentary, drama and comedy, and uses real people as well as professional actors to chronicle the experiences of Dirk Shafer who in 1992, was voted Playgirl magazine's man of the year. For the athletic, blond and extremely photogenic Shafer this fame was a double-edged sword. On one hand, he really needed the money; on the other, he had just come out of the closet. Still he went for the gusto and spent much of the year touring about and getting interviewed on talk shows. Only a few close friends and family members knew that he was a homosexual; to everyone else he was the epitome of heterosexual masculinity. This naturally, created problems with Mike, the man Shafer wanted to get involved with. Included are filmclips from actual talk-show appearances, and interviews with family and friends, not all of whom were tickled to discover that he was gay. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Season three of Hearts Afire finds conservative political functionary John Hartman (John Ritter) still living in his hometown with his worldly, liberal journalist wife Georgie Anne (Markie Post), where they continue to churn out the local newspaper, "The Daily Beacon," with the help of John's lifelong pal Billy Bob Davis (Billy Bob Thornton) and Georgie Anne's acerbic gal-pal Madeline Stoessinger (Conchata Ferrell). Although the setting and most of the previous season's cast is intact, there are a couple of significant changes during season three. For one, J. Skylar Testa has replaced Justin Burnette in the role of the Hartmans' oldest son Ben. And for another, Georgie Anne has given birth to a daughter. Although the series' locale switch from Washington D.C. to the Deep South during season two had given Hearts Afire a small boost in the ratings, the third season episodes suffered from the stiff competition of Fox's America's Most Wanted -- and then, after switching from Saturday to Wednesday night, the series was at the mercy of another opposing Fox show, Beverly Hills 90210. Hearts Afire was canceled in February of 1995, with only 13 of the series' final 14 episodes seeing the light of day on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this made-for-cable TV movie, Los Angeles police officer John Kane (Scott Glenn) is sent to Arizona to retrieve a murder suspect from a Navajo reservation. However, when his charge escapes, John must hunt down the suspect and overcome the powerful dark magic that he possesses. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

Season one of Hearts Afire takes place in Washington D.C., where transplanted Southerner John Hartman (John Ritter) has relocated as chief of staff to ultra-conservative Senator Strobe Smithers. Recently divorced and the father of two sons, Ben (Justin Burnette) and Elliott (Clark Duke), Hartman has developed a mile-long misogynistic streak, fueled by the calculated bitchery of Mavis Davis (Wendie Jo Sperber), the politically ambitious wife of his best friend and fellow senatorial aide Billy Bob Davis (Billy Bob Thornton), and by the vapidity of Senator Smithers' -- ahem -- secretary, the voluptuous Dee Dee Starr (Beth Broderick). But what has really turned John against the opposite sex is the fact that his wife has left him not for another man, but for another woman! Thus, when liberal journalist Georgie Anne Lahti (Markie Post), broke and jobless after years of circling the globe and filing left-of-center news reports, comes to Smithers' office hoping to sign on as his press secretary, John's first instinct is to boot her out. But despite this, and the vituperative political arguments between the two of them, John agrees to let Georgie Anne have the job, and Georgie Anne, against her better judgment accepts. The reason? John has the hots for Georgie Anne -- and the feeling is mutual! Circumstance dictates that Georgie Anne move into the house occupied by John and his sons, which only intensifies the torrid feelings between the two protagonists. Even the put-down pragmatism of Georgie Anne's childhood nanny Miss Lula (Beah Richards) does little to extinguish the flames, as does John's dismay over the fact that Georgie Anne's dad George (Ed Asner) is an ex-convict who shows no signs of wanting to mend his ways.
As originally conceived, John and Georgie Anne were to remain single, in hopes of stirring up the same "will they or won't they" intrigue that had added spice to such mismatched-couple series as Cheers and Moonlighting. But the executives at CBS were antsy over the unhitched status of the Hearts Afire protagonists, especially since the series was being seen in a relatively early Wednesday-night time slot. Under protest, producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason agreed to make things more "family friendly" by having John and Georgie Anne get married before the first season was over -- and that was only the first of several radical changes in the series' concept. Surprisingly, despite Thomasons' well-known Washington connections, only one political figure appeared during the series' first season -- if "political figure" is the correct phrase to describe "Presidential brother" Roger Clinton! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Produced on a shoestring $2 million budget, documentary director Nancy Kelly and her husband, editor Kenji Yamamoto created this romantic western based on a true story. Rosalind Chao stars as Lalu Nathoy, a young woman sold into marriage by her impoverished father in late 19th century China. Lalu is transported to the U.S. by a slave trader, Jim (Dennis Dun), on whom she develops a crush. Although conflicted, Jim fulfills his professional obligation to deliver Lalu to Hong King (Michael Paul Chan), a saloon owner in a rough Idaho mining town. Refusing to participate in Hong King's plan to make her into an exotic prostitute, Lalu keeps her dignity about her and wins the adoration of Charlie (Chris Cooper), Hong King's white, alcoholic partner. Despite the prejudice of the locals, Lalu becomes a cleaning woman and a successful laundress. Though she dreams of marriage to Jim or escape to China, she recognizes Charlie's admirable qualities after a violent incident that casts him in a different light. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Brian De Palma's Hollywood sanitization of Tom Wolfe's scabrous satire stars Tom Hanks as Sherman McCoy, the "master of the universe," a shallow Wall Street investor who makes millions while enjoying the good life and the sexual favors of Maria Ruskin (Melanie Griffith), a Southern belle golddigger. Sherman and Maria are driving back to Maria's apartment from the airport when Maria takes a wrong turn on the expressway and the two find themselves in the South Bronx. She sees a black youth approaching Sherman's car and Maria, frightened, guns the engine, running over the teenager and killing him. The two drive away and decide not to report the accident to the police. Meanwhile, indigent alcoholic journalist Peter Fallow (Bruce Willis), anxious for a story to make good with his editor, comes upon the hit-and-run tale through local black community activist, Reverend Bacon (John Hancock). Bacon plans to use the hit-and-run case as a rallying point for the black community, while Fallow recognizes the press coverage inherent in prosecuting the callow Sherman. As Sherman is brought to his knees, the New York community fragments into different factions who use the case to suit their own cynical political purposes. Finally, Sherman is left without any allies to support him except for the sympathetic Judge White (Morgan Freeman) and the remorseful Fallow. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

The storytelling device of the flashback gets an intense workout in this tragic coming-of-age drama. Mark Harmon stars as washed-up baseball player Billy Wyatt, who is shocked when he receives news that his childhood sweetheart and friend Katie Chandler (Jodie Foster) has committed suicide and left the disposal of her ashes to his judgment. Although Billy and Katie have not kept in touch through the years, he has always carried a torch for her, his first love. On his way home, Billy recalls his past associations with the free-spirited Katie: their first meeting, the time they made love, and conversations they had, mostly during summers at the New Jersey shore. Billy also remembers the adolescent mischief he got into with his best friend, Alan Appleby (played by Jonathan Silverman in the flashbacks, Harold Ramis in the present-day), like when each of them ended up sleeping with other's prom date. Billy finally decides to cast Katie's ashes to the wind in the place where they were happiest, by the seashore. Stealing Home was reportedly based on the real-life experiences of its writers, former Second City troupe members and WKRP in Cincinnati writers Steven Kampmann and Will Aldis. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

In this spoof, a young girl is convicted of a crime she didn't commit and sentenced to serve time in Loch Ness Penitentiary. It is up to a reporter to don the disguise of a woman to enter the prison and prove her innocence. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

Attorney Jack Devonhoff (Jamie Gillis) hires free-lance filmmaker George Ringer (Tim Gail) to set up a surveillance camera in the apartment of bank employee Laura Williamson (Kim Lambert) in this crime thriller. Laura is suspected of embezzlement according to Devonhoff, and George willfully watches Laura and her boytoy Carson (James Davies) in addition to any money matters. George's girlfriend Jeanne (Jeanne Marie) leaves when she feels neglected. Ringer soon realizes Devonhoff has set him up to take the fall for robbery and murder in this R-rated feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi