Steven Schachter Movies
His career in an uncontrollable downward spiral, a hapless Hollywood producer cons a major studio into financing a $100 million action film following the adventures of 19th century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, only to find his swindle taking a sudden turn for the worse when his star is kidnapped and the production is shut down. Now left with few other options for resuscitating his flat-lining career, the producer aligns himself with a well-connected Hollywood studio executive in a clandestine attempt to finance another, wholly different film by utilizing the blocked studio funds. William H. Macy and Meg Ryan star in The Wool Cap director Steven Schachter's comic look at the twisted side of Hollywood politics. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William H. Macy, Meg Ryan, (more)
- 2005
Originally titled Echoes, this made-for-cable drama is set in Napa Valley wine country, sometime in the 1980s. Patricia Heaton (who also produced the film) stars as Sara, the daughter of strong-willed vineyard owner Alicia Anselmi (Lainie Kazan). Hoping to arrange a merger between Alicia and rival vintner Nick Di Cenzo (Tony Lo Bianco), Sara must first overcome the bitter 40-year-feud between ex-sweethearts Alicia and Nick, which began when each seemingly jilted the other during WW2. The delivery of a long-lost engagement ring proves beyond doubt that Nick had intended to marry Alicia, but evidently this does little to alleviate their mutual animosity. And when it appears that Sara intends to dump her fiancé Brian (David Hunt) in favor of Nick's nephew Tony (Vincent Spano), Alicia and Nick are all the more convinced that any merger between the Anselmi and DiCenzo families--even a merger that never comes to fruition--will result only in heartache for all concerned. The Engagement Ring originally aired over the TNT cable network on November 28, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patricia Heaton, Lainie Kazan, (more)
Created for the TNT television network, The Wool Cap is a remake of the 1962 film Gigot, which was written by and starred the legendary Jackie Gleason. This time around, it's Academy Award-nominee and Emmy winner William H. Macy (Fargo) handling the lead role, as well as teleplay and producer duties. Macy stars as Gigot, a curmudgeonly mute who works as the super at a worn-down apartment building. After living a lonely existence for most of his years, Gigot finds his life turned upside-down when he unwittingly finds himself in the care of a precocious young girl named Lou (Keke Palmer). Also starring Ned Beatty and Catherine O'Hara, The Wool Cap netted a 2005 Golden Globe nod for Macy. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William H. Macy, Keke Palmer, (more)
Door to Door is the inspirational true story of a man who refused to let severe physical debilitation get in the way of his life's goal. William H. Macy (who also co-wrote the script) stars as Bill Porter, a Portland, OR, native born with cerebral palsy. Despite his spastic walk and oddly shaped countenance, Bill intends to succeed in life on ability rather than the pity of the unafflicted. Thus, in 1955, he manages to land a job as a door-to-door salesman for the Watkins Company. At first, Bill meets with nothing but slammed doors, hostile dogs, and unashamed hostility from "normal" people; but after making his first sale to a reclusive alcoholic named Gladys (Kathy Baker), there is literally no stopping him. For next 40 years, Bill walks some eight to ten miles per day plying his trade, winning one "salesman of the year" award after another. Also in the cast is Helen Mirren as Bill's supportive but aphasic mother, and Kyra Sedgwick as Bill's young assistant, Shelley, whose Herculean efforts to get the hero to "modernize" his tried-and-true methods invariably come a cropper. Door to Door debuted July 14, 2002, over the TNT cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Adam (George Eads) makes his living as a dog walker for the wealthy New Yorkers who live near the Central Park district. So dedicated is Adam to his work that his family and friends are worried that he will never emerge from his professional shell and find a suitable wife. At present, Adam is apartment-sitting for one of his best customers, millionaire executive A.J. Preston. While thus employed, the hero "meets cute" with fellow dog fancier Rachel (Jane Krakowski), who jumps to the obvious conclusion and assumes that Adam and A.J. Preston are one and the same. Smitten by Rachel, Adam wonders if he should tell her the truth and risk losing her affections. By the time the plot is resolved thanks to the intervention of Adam's agoraphobic neighbor Selma (Brenda Vaccaro), the plot has taken many an unexpected twist and turn, including an episode involving a mysterious Chilean businessman and a strange package. Filmed in Montréal under the title The Dog Walker, the made-for-cable Just a Walk in the Park premiered over the ABC Family Channel on August 18, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Eads, Jane Krakowski, (more)
- 2000
This made-for-TV fantasy was based on Rod Serling's "A Stop at Willoughby," a 1960 episode of Serling's classic anthology series Twilight Zone. The story begins in the year 2000, with advertising executive Charles Lattimer (Mark Harmon) escaping his hectic professional life and increasingly dissatisfying marriage to wife Kristen (Catherine Hicks) by obsessively tinkering with his elaborate model-train set. Through the aid of a magic stopwatch, Charles boards a real train and is whisked back to 1896, where he inaugurates a romance with attractive widow Laura Brown (Mary McDonnell). Traversing back and forth through the years, Charles ultimately finds that he will never truly be happy until he chooses between the "real" world and the world fashioned by his nostalgic imagination. Filmed in Alberta, For All Time made its CBS network debut on October 18, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on a novel by Donald E. Westlake, this seriocomic tale of murder and manipulation stars William H. Macy as nerdish but powerful movie critic Terry Thorpe. During an argument with his lover, Terry accidentally kills the woman, forcing him to go great lengths to cover up his crime. Unfortunately, the dead woman was being tailed by smarmy private eye John Edgerson (James Cromwell), who suspects foul play and blackmails Thorpe accordingly. Meanwhile, the case is being officially investigated by police detective Fred Stapelli (Adam Arkin), an aspiring screenwriter who hopes that Thorpe will help him make a Hollywood sale. Playing Stapelli like a fine piano, Thorpe not only shifts suspicion from himself to a third party, but also begins an affair with Stapelli's wife Patricia (Julia Campbell). And how does Thorpe's current girlfriend Kit (played by Macy's real-life spouse Felicity Huffman) figure into all this intrigue? Also known as A Travesty, A Slight Case of Murder made its TNT cable network debut on September 19, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William H. Macy, Adam Arkin, (more)
- 1998
A woman overcomes a tragedy in her own life by helping a teenage girl with a tragic family background in this made-for-TV drama. A disturbed woman who is unhappy with what she perceives to be the eccentric behavior of her daughter keeps her child a prisoner in her home for 16 years. A social worker who is still putting her life back together after the death of her own daughter gets wind of the case and is brought back into the world as she fights for the girl's freedom. To Live Again stars Bonnie Bedelia, Frances Sternhagen, and Annabeth Gish. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bonnie Bedelia, Annabeth Gish, (more)
- 1998
Slinky blonde con woman Barbara Beatty (Rebbeca De Mornay) knows how to use all her charms to get what she wants. But one day, a scam goes awry and she finds herself deeply in debt. If she does not pay quickly, she will die. Hearing of a favorable situation in Mississippi, she heads southward in hopes of seducing an heir out of his impending fortune. He is an awkward and introverted gas-station attendant and has no idea that he is about to become a rich man. On her part, the conniving marriage-minded Barbara has no idea that she is about to fall hopelessly in love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rebecca De Mornay, William H. Macy, (more)
- 1996
Knowing that her daughter will die without a bone marrow transplant, a mother is forced to face up to her past mistakes and find the child she gave up years before in hopes of finding a donor match. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patty Duke, Tracey Gold, (more)
Evidently, the "dream" to which every woman aspires in this made-for-TV drama is Mitch Parker (Jeff Fahey), a handsome, charismatic fellow with a smooth line of patter. Mitch proves irresistible to Liz Wells (Kim Cattrall), and the fact that he seems to be wealthy and extremely well connected is the icing on the cake. Eventually Liz marries Mitch, little suspecting that he already has a wife and two children -- not to mention several casual romances on the side. To juggle the various nuances of his double life, Mitch becomes enmeshed in a web of lies in which he casts himself as everything from an entertainment-industry executive to a CIA agent -- and when these prevarications begin to go sour, he makes a sharp and deadly turn into a life of crime. Though adapted from Karen Kingsbury's novel Deadly Pretender, Every Woman's Dream is based on a true story -- and more incredible still, that story is told from Mitch's warped point of view! The film first aired October 15, 1996, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Fahey, Kim Cattrall, (more)
- 1995
Plagued throughout his life by fuzzy, disturbing memories, Coloradoan William Coit Jr. (Neil Patrick Harris) realizes that these memories may put a crimp in the happiness of his recent marriage. In his efforts to get at the root of his anxieties, Coit ruminates over his unhappy, unstable childhood -- and his much-married mother Jill (Bonnie Bartlett), who, in addition to her other peccadillos, has cheated her children out of their late father's inheritance. Can it be possible that the wanton Jill actually murdered William's father? And if so, what horrors are in store for Jill's brand-new husband (number ten!) if William does not take immediate action? Based on a true story, Legacy of Sin: The William Coit Story first aired October 3, 1995, on the Fox network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Neil Patrick Harris, Bonnie Bedelia, (more)
- 1995
Tracey Gold and Judith Light star as mother and daughter respectively, in this tense made-for-television thriller. Light stars as Janice Mitchell, mother and philandering wife, who comes to rue the day she ever got involved with her revenge-bent, ex-lover. Jack Wagner stars as the obsessed lover who embroils Mitchell's daughter Sharon into his plot. This film debuted on CBS on April 5. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
In this high-tension thriller, Christopher Reeves plays Dempsey Cain, a paralyzed detective (ironically, it was filmed a year before the tragic accident that would make him a quadriplegic) whose arrogance and penchant for perfectionism has alienated his family to the point that his wife Gail (Kim Cattrall) turns to his brother Nick (Edward Kerr) for love. Nick is also a cop, but unlike Dempsey, he tends to be irresponsible and sloppy. It was he who was responsible for Dempsey's paralysis. Dempsey knows that Nick and Gail are trysting. This coupled with his disability makes life unbearable. Wanting to end his life, but knowing that his million-dollar life insurance policy will not cover his suicide, he approaches Nick and Gail with the perfect solution -- to murder him and make it look like a burglary. Dempsey plans his demise to the nth degree. Unfortunately, despite his careful scheming, Dempsey makes one fatal flaw -- he did not include his suspicious, resentful and jealous colleague Allan Rhinehart (Joe Mantegna) into the equation and things go horribly awry. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1992
A Depression-era inventor finds a way of revolutionizing manufacturing technology and then discovers that this invention has its dark side as well. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Based on Robert Anderson's novel, the made-for-television Getting Up and Going Home is a drama about a divorced attorney (Tom Skerritt) who copes with a mid-life crisis by having affairs with no less than three women: his ex-wife, a single mother, and a married suburbanite. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
