Patrick Markey Movies

First-time helmer Steve Berra writes and directs the finely felt coming-of-age story The Good Life, a film à clef loosely based on Berra's experiences growing up in a Nebraskan small town during the '70s and '80s. Mark Webber stars as the director's alter ego, a more or less well-adjusted adolescent who nevertheless cuts against the grain of his football-obsessed friends and neighbors. Zooey Deschanel plays a young woman in the town who befriends Webber and encourages him to celebrate his uniqueness and individuality; Harry Dean Stanton portrays a local cinema owner who gives Webber a job running the theater. The picture co-stars Chris Klein as an abusive ex-high school football star, Bruce McGill as a worshipped football coach, and Bill Paxton (who also co-produced) as an admirer of Judy Garland. Though set in Nebraska, Berra and co. filmed in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The film reunites Paxton and Stanton, who also co-star in the HBO series Big Love. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

After forays into film noir, thrillers, dramas, and even documentaries, director John Dahl tries the teen horror genre on for size. Paul Walker stars as Lewis Thomas, a college freshman embarking on a cross-country road trip during summer break to pick up his girlfriend Venna (Leelee Sobieski). Along for the ride is Lewis' brother Fuller (Steve Zahn), a practical joker who uses the car's CB radio to play a cruel prank on a lonely trucker known only by the handle Rusty Nail. The victim of Fuller's gag turns out to be a psychotic murderer and soon the brothers are being pursued by the relentless stalker, who gets his revenge in gruesome fashion. Joy Ride, which co-stars Matthew Kimbrough, was produced under the working title "Squelch." ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Robert Redford directed himself for the first time in this romantic drama adapted from the 1995 best-seller by Nicholas Evans. Fourteen-year-old Grace MacLean (Scarlett Johansson of Manny & Lo) and her friend Judith go horseback riding in upstate New York on a winter morning, but their horses lose their footing on ice and slide onto a road, where Judith and her horse are killed by a jackknifing truck. Grace and her horse are also seriously injured -- doctors must amputate Grace's right leg -- and the frightening incident leaves a lasting trauma not only on Grace but also on her horse, Pilgrim. Grace's mother -- magazine editor Annie MacLean (Kristin Scott Thomas) -- seeking Grace's recovery, feels there's a link between her crippled, embittered daughter and Pilgrim's behavior. Learning about a horse trainer with a special gift, she takes Grace and Pilgrim to Montana where horse whisperer Tom Booker (Robert Redford) lives on a ranch with his younger brother Frank (Chris Cooper), Frank's wife Diane (Dianne Wiest) and their children. Tom's work with the horse also has a rejuvenating effect on the guilt-ridden Grace. Annie loses her magazine job, and the low-key romantic involvement between Annie and Tom develops during the summer, stifled by the unexpected arrival of Annie's husband, Robert MacLean (Sam Neill). Screenplay by Eric Roth and Richard LaGravenese (who adapted The Bridges of Madison County). Filmed in Montana and Saratoga Springs, New York. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Albert Franklin (Haley Joel Osment) is the son of stage magician Lorraine Franklin, and has learned to do a few magic tricks of his own. However, when his mother dies and he is sent to live with his aunt Harriet (Whoopi Goldberg), it becomes clear that for him the boundary between stage magic and the real kind is just a bit fuzzy. This is fortunate, because the young man needs a friend. The friend magically appears in the form of a spirit (Gerard Depardieu) calling himself "Bogus," who helps him figure out how to meet the challenge of relating to his very preoccupied aunt. She is more concerned with keeping her restaurant supply company afloat than she is with her new ward. Things change when she, too, catches a glimpse of the spirit. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Produced by the same team that bankrolled the hit The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, this violent domestic thriller is often compared to that mega-hit. Screenwriter Wesley Strick made his directorial debut with this script by Michael Auerbach. Vincent Spano and Moira Kelly are Russell and Dana Clifton, a successful but childless yuppie couple who adopt a mesmerizing young girl named Janie (Julia Devin). Janie has suicidal tendencies, however -- she walks out into crowded streets, keeps a butcher knife under her bed, and sometimes cuts herself. She also has psychotic white-trash parents, John and Leann Netherwood (Keith Carradine and Daryl Hannah). The Netherwoods are crooks forced to give up their daughter, but once released from jail, they are intent on getting her back. They kill an adoption agency worker and a police officer as part of their vendetta, terrorizing the suburban town as they target the Cliftons in their all-out war for the return of Janie. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Director Wayne Wang and screenwriter Ronald Bass effectively interweave sixteen mother-daughter tales in their silken film version of Amy Tan's best-selling novel about the clash between generations. The film takes place in present-day San Francisco, concentrating on a group of late-middle-aged Chinese women. Ever since arriving in the United States after World War II, the women have gathered weekly to play mah-jongg and to tell stories, regaling each other with tales of their children and grandchildren, giving each other a sense of hope and renewal in the midst of poverty and hardship. The Joy Luck Club is made up of four women -- Suyuan (Kieu Chinh), Lindo (Tsai Chin), Ying Ying (France Nuyen), and An Mei (Lisa Lu). But when Suyuan dies, the three surviving members invite Suyuan's daughter June (Ming-Na Wen) to take her place. Along with the daughters of the other members -- Waverly (Tamlyn Tomita), Lena (Lauren Tom), and Rose (Rosalind Chao) -- June is a Chinese-American with only a passing interest in her rich cultural heritage. But through vignettes that switch back and forth in time, the daughters begin to appreciate the struggles of their mothers to start their families in the optimistic promise of the United States. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Robert Redford's lyrical direction sets the tone for this evocative adaptation of author Norman MacLean's memoir of his idyllic Montana youth. The MacLean family is presided over by the strict but encouraging Rev. MacLean (Tom Skerritt) and his loving wife (Brenda Blethyn). Craig Sheffer stars as the young Norman, the older son in his family, who takes his school work and writing a bit too seriously for Paul (Brad Pitt), the impetuous younger son, to take much stock in. Paul would rather have a good time, drink and play cards than get involved with academic study. Where Norman wants to be a college literature professor, Paul would prefer to stay in Montana all his life and wrangle some kind of job writing for a local newspaper. But, ironically, Paul is the better fly fisherman and in this way attains a sense of perfection. The film also details the MacLean boys' involvement with a colorful group of town's people -- including a young Indian woman Paul decides to date and the defiant Jessie (Emily Lloyd), whom Norman later marries. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Stacking stars Megan Follows as a Montana teenager struggling to keep her family's farm together. The time is the 1950s, when rural 14-year-olds were supposed to be seen and not heard. But Follows intends to be seen and heard, and in so doing finds several strong adult allies. The film has been unfavorably compared to the strikingly similar theatrical feature Desert Bloom; while it's true that this takes forever to get started, it is saved by the powerful performances of Follows, Frederic Forrest, Christine Lahti, Peter Coyote and James Gammon. Completed in 1987, Stacking (the title refers to the bundling of crops) received its widest exposure when it aired February 15, 1989, over PBS' American Playhouse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Robert Redford's directorial debut ended up the 1980 Oscar winner for Best Picture. It is a simple but painfully emotional story of the disintegration of a "perfect" family. Teenager Conrad (Timothy Hutton) lives under a cloud of guilt after his brother drowns after their boat capsizes in Lake Michigan. Despite intensive therapy sessions with his psychiatrist (Judd Hirsch), Conrad can't shake the belief that he should have died instead of his brother; nor do his preoccupied parents (Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore) offer much in the way of solace. The boy is brought out of his doldrums through his romance with Jeannine (Elizabeth McGovern). A winner in every respect, Ordinary People (adapted from the novel by Judith Guest) scores highest in the scenes with Mary Tyler Moore, who superbly and perceptively portrays a blinkered, ever-smiling suburban wife and mother for whom outward appearance is all that matters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide