Tom Schulman Movies

Hollywood filmmaker Donald Petrie directs the comedy Welcome to Mooseport. Gene Hackman stars as former U.S. President Monroe "The Eagle" Cole. He's retired to the small New England town of Mooseport, ME, in order to write his memoirs and relax. The retirement is put on hold, however, when he's persuaded to run for mayor of the town. Meanwhile, local hardware store owner and plumber Handy Harrison (Ray Romano) is just the sort of plaid-shirted everyman to run against him. Cole seems a sure win in the race, especially with his loyal personal assistants (Marcia Gay Harden and Fred Savage) aiding his every move. The competition gets even more severe when Handy's sweetheart Sally (Maura Tierney) comes between the two men. Welcome to Mooseport also stars Christine Baranski and Rip Torn. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Stephen Herek directed this comedy-drama in which soul-less exec Ricky Hayman (Jeff Goldblum), programmer for the failing Good Buy Shopping Network, is dismayed by a request to increase sales in two weeks. Bald do-gooder guru G. (Eddie Murphy) assists when Ricky and marketing director Kate (Kelly Preston) get a freeway flat. When G. passes out, tests indicate a heart murmur and heat prostration, so the robed prophet becomes Ricky's house guest. At a party, G. uses hypnosis and psychology to rid guest Nino Cerruti (portraying himself) of his flying fears. Ricky witnesses this and gets the notion to put G. on the air. Unfortunately, G. ignores both cue cards and on-sale products, prompting station owner McBainbridge (Robert Loggia) to calculate Ricky's severance pay. He's back on the job when both sales and ratings soar. The situation eventually causes Ricky to reexamine how his own values became lost in the labyrinth of corporate consumerism. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

This ambitious Disney movie uses a remarkable screenplay from Steven L. Bloom and Robert Rodat to tell a rollicking tale of America's transition from a close-to-the-land culture of mythic heroes to a corporate world of real estate tycoons. The strong theme about the decline of folk culture is expressed through a series of high octane adventures experienced by 12-year-old Daniel Hackett (Nick Stahl) at the dawn of the 20th century. Daniel's father, Jonas Hackett (Stephen Lang), runs a farm in a place called Paradise Valley, but his land is coveted by a greedy developer, J.P. Stiles (Scott Glenn). Daniel looks longingly at postcards of New York City while growing increasingly skeptical of his father's tales of legendary folk heroes. Then, through a series of incredible adventures, Daniel meets up with the legends that his father has spoken about -- cowboy Pecos Bill (Patrick Swayze), lumberjack Paul Bunyan (Oliver Platt), and finally, ex-slave and strongman John Henry (Roger Aaron Brown). Each of these heroes hooks up with Daniel and becomes involved in an increasingly bitter and boisterous fight against Stiles, whose plans to buy up land threaten the very strength of the folk heroes and the well-being of the common people. Pecos Bill has a horse named Widowmaker and can lasso a tornado. The giant Bunyan is accompanied by his famous blue ox, Babe. At one point, another legend, the cowgirl Calamity Jane (Catherine O'Hara), joins in the adventures. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

The Amazon rain forest is a living laboratory for Dr. Robert Campbell (Sean Connery), a reclusive research scientist living with a Brazilian native tribe. Campbell has accidentally discovered a flower extract that cures cancer, but has been unable to duplicate the formula. With the assistance of Dr. Crane (Lorraine Bracco), he explores every possible chemical derivative, but continues to fail. When a child in the village is near death from a tumor pressing against his trachea, Campbell and Crane stand against each other on the moral issue to use the last of the successful serum to save him or to keep it for further analysis. At the last moment, Crane reconsiders, and agrees to save the child. At the same time, commercial loggers begin to creep ever closer to the village, and government officials demand the tribe's relocation. With only yards remaining between the bulldozers and the tribe, Campbell discovers a vital clue to the elusive elixir he seeks. His attempt to stop the workmen results in violence and a raging forest fire which destroys his lab equipment and the natives' village. The story ends with Campbell, Crane, and the tribe pushing deeper into the jungle in search of new answers.

In a change of pace from his usual action film fare, the skilled work of director John McTiernan brings emotional depth to what would otherwise be just another pro-environmental propaganda film. Connery, who had starred in McTiernan's crowd-pleasing 1989 film The Hunt for Red October, gives a convincing performance as the determined and complex researcher haunted by mistakes of the past. Bracco's character adds the realistic humor of the city scientist adjusting to Spartan life in the trees, but she does so with both strength and dignity. The constant bickering of two equally obstinate scientists gives a mild "honeymooners in the jungle" quality. Filmed in the Mexican rain forest, the canopy is captured in breathtaking cinematography. ~ Lucinda Ramsey, Rovi

Robin Williams toned down his usually manic comic approach in this successful period drama. In 1959, the Welton Academy is a staid but well-respected prep school where education is a pragmatic and rather dull affair. Several of the students, however, have their thoughts on the learning process (and life itself) changed when a new teacher comes to the school. John Keating (Williams) is an unconventional educator who tears chapters of his textbooks and asks his students to stand on their desks to see the world from a new angle. Keating introduces his students to poetry, and his free-thinking attitude and the liberating philosophies of the authors he introduces to his class have a profound effect on his students, especially Todd (Ethan Hawke), who would like to be a writer; Neil ( Robert Sean Leonard), who dreams of being an actor, despite the objections of his father; Knox (Josh Charles), a hopeless romantic; Steven (Allelon Ruggiero), an intellectual who learns to use his heart as well as his head; Charlie (Gale Hansen), who begins to lose his blasé attitude; unconventional Gerard (James Waterston); and practical Richard (Dylan Kussman). Keating urges his students to seize the day and live their lives boldly; but when this philosophy leads to an unexpected tragedy, headmaster Mr. Nolan (Norman Lloyd) fires Keating, and his students leap to his defense. Dead Poets Society was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Williams; it won one, for Tom Schulman's original screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Wills, an ex-cop (John Larroquette), and Bobby (Bronson Pinchot), who's a psychic, team up as sleuths in Wills's new "Second Sight Detective Agency." To add a little spice, there's a very pretty nun who catches the eye of the laughable detective. ~ Rovi