Judge Reinhold Movies
Following his training at the North Carolina School of the Arts, actor Judge Reinhold worked in regional repertory, dinner theaters, and "outdoor" dramas. He gained prominence in TV roles as gawky teenagers, notably the lead in the syndicated Capital Cities Special A Step Too Slow. In films from 1979, Reinhold's first major role was high schooler Brad in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. He hit his stride in 1984, playing the nice-guy detective sent to trail Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop (1984). Though he has proven a convincing villain when the need has arisen, Judge Reinhold has thrived in parts calling for decency and dependency. Reinhold's career slowed down a bit during the '90s and in the early part of the decade he seemed destined to be relegated to B-movies and television films such as Four Eyes and Six Guns (1993), but in 1994, he appeared in two major features, Beverly Hills Cop III and The Santa Clause. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1979
Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Sue Anderson heads the cast of the made-for-TV The Survival of Dana. Dana Lee (Anderson) is a basically decent high school girl who suffers severe culture shock when her family moves to another town. A victim of oppressive peer pressure, Dana begins hanging around the "wrong crowd." Despite the affluence of their parents, these aimless kids get their kicks out of petty crime-and before long, there's nothing petty about their activities. Marion Ross, Robert Carradine Talia Balsam and Frederic Forrest costar in The Survival of Dana, which debuted May 29, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
- PG
Ken Wahl and Judge Reinhold are returning from service in the Army in the Panama Canal Zone. Reinhold kept a few Army-issue items, including a camera. He takes an aerial photo to check out the camera, unknowingly photographing a secret base to be used in the Bay of Pigs operation. Authorities find the negatives when they land and suspect the two to be spies, and the chase is on. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Wahl, John Saxon, (more)
- 1980
In the conclusion of Magnum, P.I.'s two-part opening episode (originally telecast as a single two-hour "TV movie"), Magnum (Tom Selleck) and Alice Cook (Pamela Susan Shoop) literally put their lives on the line to prove that Alice's sister, Navy lieutenant Dan Cook, died a hero--contradicting the government's insistence that Cook was part of an international drug-smuggling ring. The trail of clues leads to crime lord Philipe Trusseau (Roger Loggia), with whom Magnum had previously crossed swords in Vietnam. As with most TV pilots, there are significant differences between "Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii" and later Magnum, P.I. episodes. For example, Magnum's wartime buddy Rick (Larry Manetti is the owner of a nitery called "Café Americain" instead of his more familiar stamping grounds at the King Kamehameha club; also, the role of Moki the Bartender, later played by Rene Abillera, is here enacted by Branscombe Richard, while Jeff McKay, later seen on a semi-regular basis as Naval officer "Mac" MacReynolds, is cast on this occasion as "Ski" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Bill Murray decides to be all that he can be -- and it ain't pretty -- in this hit comedy. John Winger (Murray) is a quick-witted but unambitious loser who comes home after getting fired to discover that his car has been repossessed and his girlfriend is leaving him. With no idea of what to do next, John and his best friend Russell Ziskey (Harold Ramis) impulsively join the Army, more as a practical joke than a career goal. John and Russell find themselves in basic training under the hard-nosed and impatient Sgt. Hulka (Warren Oates), who is stuck with an outfit of goofballs, including overweight Ox (John Candy), naive Cruiser (John Deihl), perpetually stoned Elmo (Judge Reinhold), and the appropriately-nicknamed Psycho (Conrad Dunn). The platoon succeeds in impressing the generals spite of themselves, and John and Russell even find time to romance two pretty female MPs, Stella (P.J. Soles) and Louise (Sean Young). However, when John and Russell commandeer a high-tech military vehicle for a European weekend getaway with the girls, they happen into Soviet territory and stumble into an international incident. Remarkably, Stripes was made with the full cooperation of the U.S. Army, despite its less-than-rosy view of the all-volunteer armed forces. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, (more)
- 1982
- PG
Tom Smothers and Carol Kane co-star with Paul Reubens and Judge Reinhold in this uneven comedy spoof of slasher films. Sergeant Cooper (Smothers) is a Canadian Mountie who investigates the death of cheerleaders attending a summer camp at Indiana's It Had To Be University. Cameo appearances by Eve Arden, Kaye Ballard, Eileen Brennan, Tab Hunter, and Donald O'Connor fail to add anything to the thin, sophomoric plot. This film should not be confused with the similarly titled 1988 Australian feature directed by Hadyn Keenan. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Smothers, Carol Kane, (more)
Amy Heckerling's adaptation of Cameron Crowe's Fast Times at Ridgemont High is often considered one of the finest films of a disreputable genre (the teen sex comedy), and kick-started the careers of many future stars. The center of this ensemble film is Jennifer Jason Leigh as Stacy Hamilton. She is a young, innocent high-school student who, as the film opens, is asking for advice from her friend, the sexually outspoken Linda Barrett (Phoebe Cates). Stacy takes a liking to nebbish Mark Ratner (Brian Backer), but he is too afraid to make a move even after Stacy all but throws herself at him. She eventually hooks up with Mark's more confident best friend, Mike Damone (Robert Romanus). When not concerning itself with these four characters, the film spends time with stoned surfer dude Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn) and his ongoing feud with history teacher Mr. Hand (Ray Walston). The film includes brief appearances by such future stars as Nicolas Cage, Eric Stoltz, and Forest Whitaker. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, (more)
Adapted from a long novel by Pat Conroy, the story is shortened to focus on a harrowing account of institutional racism in the 1960s American South. David Keith stars as Will McLean, a senior student at the fictional Carolina Military Institute. When the school admits its first black student, McLean is confidentially charged with making sure that the newcomer's initiation does not get too violent. Yet that is exactly what happens, and McLean becomes alarmed when it seems like someone is out to kill his new charge. McLean's own investigation of the matter uncovers an elusive group of sadistic students who will go to any length to control their school. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Keith, Robert Prosky, (more)
"Don't expose him to bright light. Don't ever get him wet. And don't ever, ever feed him after midnight." This sage advice is ignored midway through Gremlins, with devastating results. This comic Joe Dante effort is set in a Norman Rockwell-esque small town at Christmastime. Seeking a unique gift for his son an erstwhile inventor (Hoyt Axton) purchases a cute, fuzzy little "Mogwai" from a Chinatown shopkeeper's (Keye Luke) grandson (John Louie), who dispenses the above-mentioned warning before closing the deal. Meanwhile, young bank clerk Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan) must suffer such antagonists as rich-bitch Mrs. Deagle (Polly Holliday) and priggish Gerald (Judge Reinhold) while pursuing his romance with Kate (Phoebe Cates). These and a variety of other plot strands are tied together when the lovable mogwai (named Gizmo) is exposed to bright light and gotten wet. In short order, the town is invaded by nasty, predatory Gremlins, who lay waste to everything in sight as Billy and Kate try to contain the destruction. Like most of Joe Dante's works, Gremlins is chock-full of significant cameo appearances: in this instance, such pop-culture icons as Dick Miller, Jackie Joseph, Chuck Jones, Scott Brady, Harry Carey Jr., Steven Spielberg (the film's executive producer) and even Robby the Robot all show up briefly on screen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zach Galligan, Hoyt Axton, (more)
- 1984
A Matter of Sex is the calculatedly misleading title of a based-on-fact TV movie, which originally bore the more suitable title Women of Willmar. In 1976, the women working in a bank in Willmar, Minnesota become incensed because less-qualified men are being promoted over them. Head teller Jean Stapleton, with the help of attorney Peter Dvorsky and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, organizes an employee's union. When the chauvinistic bank officers cause negotiations to break down, Stapleton and seven other female employees go on strike--a job action which lasts for two years, despite political and social pressure from the community. Director Lee Grant, whose daughter Dinah Manoff is cast as one of the strikers, had previously helmed a documentary based on the same incident, The Willmar Eight--which was telecast on PBS the night before the January 1984 network premiere of A Matter of Sex. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
What's that wisecracking young black guy (Eddie Murphy) in that beat-up Chevy Nova doing in lily-white Beverly Hills? He's Axel Foley, a Detroit detective who's been sent on involuntary vacation because he refuses to drop his intention of avenging his friend's murder. Warned by Beverly Hills police chief Ronny Cox to stay out of trouble, Foley nonetheless dogs the trail of above-the-law Steven Berkoff, the British crime czar who was responsible for the murder of Foley's friend. With the help of sympathetic local cops Judge Reinhold and John Ashton and lady friend Lisa Eilbacher, Foley attempts to corner Berkoff in his mansion, which leads to a wild slapsticky shootout. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, (more)
In this routine story for a teen audience, Beckman (Judge Reinhold) is a buttoned-down, upwardly-mobile type suddenly stranded in a small Arizona town when his car damaged by local youths. It is Labor Day weekend when Beckman and Johnny (Willem Dafoe), the streetwise hitchhiker who has with him, are stranded in Bowman, Arizona waiting for their radiator to be fixed -- it was shot through by the vandals. While there, the two men play some pool, meet some attractive women, and learn from each other so that when the time comes to enter the big annual drag race, they are ready to even the score with the guys who killed off the radiator. Even for teens, this may be too dull -- except for Reinhold's interpretation and the many rock songs that jazz up the soundtrack. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Willem Dafoe, Judge Reinhold, (more)
With a script that is too anemic for the red-blooded actors featured here, this anorexic comedy moves slowly up and down the corporate ladder with the fortunes and misfortunes of several company men. Jack Issel (Judge Reinhold) gets a VIP position at INC in the PR department (business-speak). Suddenly the corporation's shady activities come to the fore -- especially when a U.S. plant is set to close for a move south of the border where labor is almost free. Enmeshed in these tangles, Jack is hardly prepared to fall in love with the leading activist against the plant closing -- but he does. Meanwhile, a lot of other subplots quickly dispose of potentially budding villains like Stedman (Danny DeVito) the inside trader -- too bad. DeVito and Don King (appearing as himself) would have made a great team. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judge Reinhold, Eddie Albert, (more)
- 1986
- PG
In this charming comedy that lives up to its title, Judge Reinhold stars as Joe Gower, a librarian's assistant posing as a police officer and trying to win the heart of a beautiful police officer, Rachel Wareham (Meg Tilly). A complex chain of events is put in place when Joe agrees to help out a good friend who's a policeman by taking his place at an audition for the cop's annual benefit show. Once at the auditions, Joe falls for Rachel, who will be dancing in the benefit. Joe starts hanging out with the choreographer in order to spend more time with Rachel. Unfortunately, this gets him into his borrowed police uniform more than he would like, and soon he's carrying out the duties of a beat cop while wearing his disguise. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judge Reinhold, Meg Tilly, (more)
The last film to be co-directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker, Ruthless People stars Bette Midler (capitalizing on her comeback performance in Down and Out in Beverly Hills) as Barbara, a spoiled rich woman who is kidnapped by the kindly Ken and Sandy Kessler (Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater). Barbara's forceful husband Sam (Danny DeVito) has ripped off the Kesslers and they decide to hold Barbara for ransom. Sam, who hates his wife, refuses to pay. Eventually Barbara befriends the Kesslers and together they figure out how to exact revenge upon the obnoxious Sam. Bill Pullman makes his film debut here as a very dim, would-be criminal. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, (more)
Detroit cop Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) has seemingly smoothed out his differences with his Beverly Hills superior Bogomil (Ronny Cox), but there's trouble ahead for both men, not to mention two other holdovers from the first Cop film, officers Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and Taggart (John Ashton). The "untouchable" heavy this time out is masterminding a series of violent robberies, committed by leather-freak hoods Dean Stockwell and Brigitte Nielsen. Unaccumstomed to this nastiness, Bogomil entreats street-smart Foley to help find the miscreants. But mean-spirited chief of police Lutz (Allen Garfield) will brook no interference from outsiders-especially the profanely insouciant Mr. Foley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, (more)
- 1987
Ronald Reagan Jr. joins Demi Moore and Judge Reinhold in this light-hearted spoof directed toward the younger Reagan's origins. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1988
This 1988 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Judge Reinhold and features musical guest 10,000 Maniacs. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judge Reinhold, 10,000 Maniacs, (more)
- 1988
In this satire, suburbia's two newest residents find their hopes for peace shattered by the presence of constantly barking dogs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A magical jeweled skull makes the wish of 11-year-old Charlie (Fred Savage) come true in this routine but entertaining situation comedy. Charlie wishes he can switch places with his father Marshall (Judge Reinhold), a shallow junior executive of a toy-manufacturing company. Marshall retains his adult form but has the mind of an 11 year old. Charlie still looks 11 but has all the cynical wisdom and experience of his father. The switch provides for many amusing episodes, as father and son try to cope in each other's worlds. Marshall (as Charlie) goes to school while Charlie (as Marshall) tackles the pressures of the corporate boardroom. The performances of Reinhold and Savage are the highlights of this amusing comedy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judge Reinhold, Fred Savage, (more)
- 1988
This fact-based TV drama recounts the trial of a California couple (Judge Reinhold and Rosanna Arquette) charged with manslaughter after their diabetic son died because they withheld his insulin due to their belief that a miracle from God would save him. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- R
Gabriel Byrne and Marianne Basler star in this drama about the relationship between a British sergeant and a French woman during WW II. Once a Resistance member, the woman had an affair with a German officer and is a target for the group's execution. Coming to her rescue, the sergeant protects her, and they engage in an odd affair. Before long, however, he must choose between her and his military duties. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marianne Basler, Paul Wyett, (more)
- 1989
- PG
Larger-than-life German actress Marianne Sagebrecht stars as Rosalie Greenspace, a German bride raising a wonderful family in Stuttgart, Arkansas who she delights in providing gift after gift of goodies that are procured by her newly acquired talent of buying via "ze vonderful credit card." The more she spends, the more clever she becomes at spending; the only problem is that she has virtually no money - the credit cards are all linked to fake names, accounts, addresses, et cetera. This spoof is a playful comment on America's consumerist frenzy. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marianne Sägebrecht, Brad Davis, (more)
- 1990
- R
Enid only looks like she's sleeping. In fact, she's dead. Shortly after Enid caught her husband Harry (Judge Reinhold) in bed with her sister June (Elizabeth Perkins), a row ensued, whereupon June accidently killed Enid. June's problem now is to hide the truth from the authorities--including her police-officer husband Floyd (Jeffrey Jones). Then she decides to reveal Enid's demise, albeit rearranging the damning evidence to make the whole thing look like the accident it really was. Widely praised when it was sneak-previewed for critics, the darkly hilarious Enid is Sleeping was timorously re-edited by its distributor for its general release. Lovingly and laboriously, star Elizabeth Perkins and director Maurice Phillips reassembled the film into its original form. That version currently exists on videotape under the title Over Her Dead Body. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judge Reinhold, Elizabeth Perkins, (more)
- 1990
- PG13
- Add Daddy's Dyin'... Who's Got the Will? to QueueAdd Daddy's Dyin'... Who's Got the Will? to top of Queue
This screen version of Del Shores' play follows a dysfunctional Southern family as they squabble among themselves over the family fortune. As the title would suggest, Daddy (Bert Remsen), the patriarch of a large family in the deep South, is reaching the end of life's journey as his health and energy slip away and he watches midget wrestling on a television that isn't even turned on. Daddy's children have all returned to the family home, ostensibly to show their support in their father's final hours, but mainly because they're eager to know how Daddy's estate will be divided. Sara Lee (Tess Harper) has arrived with her new fiancé, Clarence (Keith Carradine). Evalita (Beverly D'Angelo), the high-spirited "black sheep" of the family, also has her new beau in tow, a pot-addled musician and health-food salesman named Harmony (Judge Reinhold). Orville (Beau Bridges) has brought along his wife, the patient and long-suffering Marlene (Patrika Darbo). And Lurlene (Amy Wright) is a born-again Christian who isn't shy about expressing her views on sin and salvation. As the siblings and their companions bicker, Daddy announces that he can't remember where he put his will, leading to a frantic search. The film was directed by Jack Fisk, who made his name in film as an art director and production designer (he's also the husband of actress Sissy Spacek). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beau Bridges, Beverly D'Angelo, (more)
- 1991
- R
In this thriller, poet Thierry Martin (Judge Reinhold) takes over the family business, abandoning both his art and his sex life, much to the dismay of his wife, Zandalee (Erika Anderson). However, when Thierry's painter friend Johnny Collins (Nicolas Cage) comes to town, his fling with Zandalee could prove more complicated than he imagined. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas Cage, Judge Reinhold, (more)
