Robert Florio Movies

Based on the 2005 bestselling novel by Gigi Levangie Grazer, the six-part miniseries The Starter Wife starred former Will & Grace leading lady Debra Messing as Molly Kagan, an archetypal "Hollywood wife" who for ten years had enjoyed the perks and privileges of being married to powerful studio executive Kenny Kagan (Peter Jacobson). All of this changed drastically when Kenny dumped his spouse for a much-younger pop singer named Shoshanna (Trilby Glover), adding insult to injury by informing Molly that their marriage was through via cell-phone. Having carefully timed the breakup to coincide with the expiration of the couple's pre-nuptual agreement, Kenny was able to escape without providing Molly with a huge monetary settlement, leaving our benumbed heroine high and dry. Also, Molly was now "persona non grata" in her Brentwood community, with many old doors (especially those on stores and restaurants) being literally closed in her face, and such fair-weather friends as Cricket Stewart (Miranda Otto) and Joan McAllister (wonderfully played as a self-hating lush by Judy Lewis) conspicuously unavailable. Vowing to start life anew for the sake of herself and her teenaged daughter, Molly relocated to Malibu, where she found a new best friend in the form of airheaded Malibu gate guard Lavender Caraway (Arika Noni Rose). She also entered into a brace of tempestuous relationships with aging, moody movie producer Lou Manahan (Joe Mantegna) and handsome but untrustworthy beachcomber Sam Knight (Stephen Moyer). All of the episodes were scripted by Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott and directed by Jon Avnet--and curiously, all were filmed in Australia rather than "La-la Land". Making its USA Network debut on May 31, 2007 with a two-hour episode, The Starter Wife ran on a weekly, hourly basis until June 28 of that year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Admitted to the surgery ward for a routine colonoscopy, forty-year old George Grieves (Thomas Cavanagh) finds himself forced to confront his greatest fear when his surroundings take an unsettling shift towards the surreal. Immediately after awakening from his anesthesia, George is horrified to discover that the surgeon has performed the wrong operation on him. Now, as George's mental and physical condition begins to deteriorate rapidly, he discovers that something is horribly amiss in the hospital's East Ward. But in order to find out the truth about what's been happening in the East Ward, George will have to come face to face with the most sadistic nurse around, and make a difficult decision that promises to alter the course of his entire life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In this adaptation of If I Had One Wish a children's novel by Jackie French Koller, 16-year-old Alex (A.J. Trauth) wishes that his pesky kid brother Stevie (Spencer Breslin) would disappear. This Stevie does -- literally. Belatedly realizing not only that he misses Stevie, but he doesn't really like being an "only child," Alex searches high and low for a way to undo his fateful wish. Looking suspiciously like the pilot for a weekly TV series, You Wish! aired January 10, 2003 over the Disney Channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Shirley Maclaine stars as a reclusive piano player in this made-for-television movie based on the play by Ernest Thompson. Maclaine plays Margaret Mary Elderdice, a loner-type who befriends her next-door neighbor and violinist Cara Varnum (Liza Minnelli) only so the two can play music together. Margaret's life takes a turn into new territory and expands beyond its small confines though, with the addition of her young, aspiring-actress housemaid (Jennifer Grey). ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

In this touching drama, a kind-hearted pediatric nurse tries to adopt an HIV-positive baby and ends up taking care of its troubled, dying mother as well. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The whole story is in the title of this made-for-TV heartstopper. Based on a true 1988 incident, the film details the breakout of a fire in a Los Angeles high-rise. The LA fire department does what it can, but their ladder equipment falls short of the 37-story requirement. Lee Majors, Lisa Hartman and Peter Scolari comprise the all-TV star cast of this Towering Inferno clone (which improves upon its role model): Majors is the LAFD supervisor, while Hartman and Scolari are the unlucky entrapped office workers. The focal point of Fire! Trapped on the 37th Floor is not the conflagration itself but the resourcefulness of the professional firefighters and the improvisational skill with which they utilize their equipment. ~ Hal Erickson, 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

Julie Andrews and Ann-Margaret combine their not inconsiderable talents for Our Sons. In her TV-movie debut, Ms. Andrews plays a San Diego businesswoman and self-styled liberal whose open-mindedness is put to the test when she discovers that her son (Hugh Grant) is homosexual. This brings Andrews in reluctant contact with Ann-Margaret, a brash Arkansas cocktail waitress whose own son (Zeijko Ivanek) is Andrews' son's lover. The occasion for the meeting between the two mothers is the revelation that Ann-Margaret's son has AIDS. Andrews and Ann-Margaret go through a lengthy period of self-denial and self-blame before coming to grips with the tragedy now facing them. William Hanley's screenplay for Our Sons was supposed to spotlight the mothers, but the strong rapport between the sons throws the emphasis off at times. The director was John Erman, whose previous successful collaborations with Ann-Margaret included Who Will Love My Children and A Streetcar Named Desire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The made-for-television Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes recounts the August, 1945 nuclear bombing of Hiroshima through the eyes of a number of survivors, including Japanese soldiers, citizens, and American prisoners of war. The film is partly based on Michihiko Hachiya's Hiroshima Diary. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Made for TV, A Deadly Silence was based on the book by New York Times reporter Dena Kleiman. It is the doleful story of Long Island teenager Cheryl Pierson (Heather Fairfield), who in February of 1986 orchestrated the murder of her electrician father James Pierson (Charles Haid). The film does not argue that Cheryl was innocent. It does, however, delve into the deep waters of "extenuating circumstances". With the utmost taste and discretion, A Deadly Silence reveals that, four at least five years, Cheryl had endured sexual abuse at the hands of her father. Over and above the basic story, the film explores the "deadly silence" of incest-a silence often maintained not only by the victim, but by friends and family members who don't want to cause "trouble". Mike Farrell, Richard Portnow, Jeff Corey and Sally Struther costar, while future Friends regular David Schwimmer essays an important minor role. A Deadly Silence premiered April 16, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ryan White was the teenaged hemophiliac who contacted AIDS through a blood transfusion, then was barred from attending school in Kokomo, Indiana. All but ostracized by the community, Ryan's mother (Judith Light) engages the services of a high-powered attorney (George C. Scott) to win back her son's basic rights. While the film ends with Ryan triumphing over his human adversaries, no effort is made to sugarcoat the situation. Even after he has been welcomed by another school, we see how the boy is shunned by certain students and their parents; nor is there any glossing over the fact that Ryan's days are numbered, despite the boy's enthusiastic plans for the time he has left (young White died shortly after this TV movie was first telecast in 1989). Despite its inherent sadness, The Ryan White Story is a celebration of an exceptional young human being whose short life touched so many others in a positive, uplifting manner. While Lukas Haas portrays the title character, the real Ryan White appears in the small role of Chad, another hemophiliac AIDS victim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On Fire stars John Forsythe as the chief arson inspector of a major metropolis. After 22 years' service as a firefighter, Forsythe is summarily ordered to retire. He tries to fight this in court, but learns that, although mandatory retirement is illegal on a federal basis, it can be enforced on a local level in cases of life-threatening jobs. While this TV movie starts well with Forsythe's anger and confusion over being cast adrift at age 60, the script descends into by-the-numbers melodrama after a harrowing experience leaves Forsythe more scared and distracted than ever. Carroll Baker, the "Baby Doll" of the 1950s, is cast against type in On Fire as John Forsythe's patient and supportive wife. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

First telecast October 6, 1986, A Fight for Jenny is the compelling study of an interracial couple's struggle for happiness. White Kelsey Wilkes (Leslie Ann Warren) is married to African American David Caldwell (Philip Michael Thomas). Casting a shadow over the couple is Kelsey's first husband Ben (Drew Snyder). Using antiquated laws as his weapons, Ben demands custody of his daughter Jennifer (Jaclyn-Rose Lester), insisting that a mixed-marriage household is the wrong environment for the girl. A Fight for Jenny enjoyed a healthy second life in reruns, thanks to the Miami Vice-generated popularity of co-star Philip Michael Thomas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide