Robert Joyce Movies

A vacation in Scotland turns into hard work for Michael Cooper, a former Chicago policeman, when he runs into an engaging but nervous Englishman who appears as out of place as the American in a little Scottish fishing village. After the two become friendly, the ex-policeman learns the cause of the other man's nervousness: his daughter has been kidnapped by a criminal gang which is hoping to use her abduction in order to find the old man, who has been on the run from them for some time. Before long, Michael charges in to the rescue. This fairly tame action drama offers old-time fans of comic Norman Wisdom a chance to see him in a "straight" role. ~ Clarke Fountain, 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