Leslie Stefanson Movies

James Spader stars in the made-for-TV movie Alien Hunter. Berkley professor Dr. Julian Rome (Spader) is a former code-reader for the government project known as Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. His skills are needed to assist Dr. Alexi Gierach (Nikolai Binev) in the Antarctic, where strange radio signals are detected. As Julian tries to understand the hidden messages in the signals, he comes into conflict with his fellow scientists Dr. Michael Straub (John Lynch) and Dr. Kate Brecher (Janine Eser). Alien Hunter originally aired in the U.S. on the Sci Fi Channel. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

The ad copy for the ABC medical drama MDs promised "doctors who'll bend any rule and take on the system." The series looked and sounded a lot like M*A*S*H, the difference being that it took place in peacetime, and in contemporary San Francisco. William Fichter and John Hannah essayed the Hawkeye and Trapper John counterparts, here named Dr. Bruce Kellerman and Dr. Robert Dalgety. Though chronically irreverent and taking special delight in bucking bureaucracy and red tape at every opportunity, the two protagonists also happened to be brilliant and dedicated surgeons, investing an emotional interest in virtually all their patients ("Come on, you're not gonna die on me today!"). In its efforts to sustain a staunchly anti-HMO stance, the series admittedly stacked the deck a bit by drawing virtually all of its authority figures in broad, almost caricatured strokes: For example, Kellerman and Dalgety's chief nemesis was Mission General Hospital's bean-counting new administrator Pangborn (Leslie Stefanson), who had previously managed a theme park and who fainted at the sight of blood. MDs premiered September 25, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In response to the public's insatiable fascination with the Kennedy family, the NBC network brought forth this two-part miniseries, based on a book by Randy Taraborelli. Described by the author as "Knot's Landing goes to Capitol Hill," Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot covers a time span of 25 years, from the marriage of John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier to the 1980 presidential bid of JFK's brother Teddy. To many observers, the film seemed to consist primarily of TV news bulletins announcing various and sundry Kennedy tragedies, punctuated by long, long discussions between the wives of JFK, Bobby, and Teddy regarding their husbands' various infidelities. Some of the intrigues are based on fact, notably the uneasy relationship between Jackie and Bobby's wife Ethel, and the drinking problems shared by Teddy and his wife Joan. Other segments, however, fall back on rumor and hearsay, notably the scenes involving Marilyn Monroe. At the very least, the three actresses chosen to play the title roles -- Jill Hennessy (Jackie), Lauren Holly (Ethel), and Leslie Stefanson -- looked, sounded, and behaved exactly like their real-life counterparts. Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot originally aired on March 4 and March 5, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Actor Bruce Willis and writer/director M. Night Shyamalan reunite after the surprise success of The Sixth Sense for this supernatural thriller. David Dunne (Willis) is taking a train from New York City back home to Philadelphia after a job interview that didn't go well when his car jumps the tracks and collides with an oncoming engine, with David the only survivor among the 131 passengers on board. Astoundingly, David is not only alive, he hardly seems to have been touched. As David wonders what has happened to him and why he was able to walk away, he encounters a mysterious stranger, Elijah Prince (Samuel L. Jackson), who explains to David that there are a certain number of people who are "unbreakable" -- they have remarkable endurance and courage, a predisposition toward dangerous behavior, and feel invincible but also have strange premonitions of terrible events. Is David "unbreakable"? And if he is, what are the physical and psychological ramifications of this knowledge? Unbreakable also stars Robin Wright-Penn as Audrey, David's wife; the supporting cast includes Spencer Treat Clark and Joey Perillo. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A murder on a military base unearths a netherworld of corruption in this thriller based on the novel by Nelson DeMille. General Joe Campbell (James Cromwell) is a respected military leader with a flawless reputation; he's due to retire from the Army soon and is headed for a Vice-Presidential nomination. However, Campbell finds himself in both a personal and political crisis when his daughter is brutally murdered. Captain Elizabeth Campbell (Leslie Stefanson) was beautiful, intelligent, disciplined, and well-regarded, the very model of an ideal female officer; she was also stationed at the same base as her father. Paul Brenner (John Travolta), a warrant officer of the Army's Criminal Investigation Division, is assigned to look into the case alongside CID officer Sara Sunhill (Madeleine Stowe). Brenner and Sunhill were once romantically involved, complicating an assignment that soon offers more than enough complications of its own. Brenner and Sunhill come to realize that, for all her accomplishments, Elizabeth carried a lifetime of emotional scars from emotional abuse and sexual harassment, and that, despite the General's reputation, his relationship with his daughter was not always a happy or healthy one. It also seems possible that the General's second-in-command, General George Fowler (Clarence Williams III), a likely candidate for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, may also be implicated in the crime. The General's Daughter was the second feature film for director Simon West; his full-length debut was Con Air (1997), after a long string of successful television commercials and music videos. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Kiefer Sutherland and Bridget Fonda star in this thriller with Fonda playing an abused housewife who is forced to deal with a constant stream of lies and violent confrontation from her psychotic husband. Things only get worse when she discovers dead bodies are appearing at their home, a large sum of money is missing, and it becomes obvious her husband's bad side runs deeper and more dangerous than she imagined. The supporting cast includes Steven Weber, Penelope Ann Miller and Tippi Hedren. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News) directed this $50 million-plus romantic comedy, set in Manhattan. Dysfunctional, acid-tongued romance novelist Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson), who suffers from an obsessive-compulsive disorder, takes pride in his ability to offend. At a nearby cafe, the only waitress willing to stand up to his sarcastic tirades is Carol Connelly (Helen Hunt), a single mother struggling to raise her chronically asthmatic son. In Melvin's West Village apartment building, talented contemporary artist Simon Nye (Greg Kinnear) lives across the hall from Melvin. Simon is the current darling of the New York art world, reason enough to draw Melvin's verbal fire, but Simon's gay lifestyle is further grist for the novelist's malicious mill. These three New Yorkers, none of whom appears to have a chance in hell at finding true happiness, discover their fates intertwined because of the fourth complicated character in the piece, Verdell, a tiny Brussels Griffon dog (played by newcomer Jill, after a 15-week training program). Melvin seems to have no friends or family, and he lives alone, working on his 62nd book.

When Simon goes into the hospital after a brutal mugging, Melvin has to take care of Verdell, and the dog actually warms Melvin's cold heart -- to the degree that he sets up unsolicited medical care for Carol's son. Eventually, Melvin is cornered into driving Simon and Carol to Baltimore, and during a hotel stopover, Melvin confesses to Carol, "You make me want to be a better man." The trip becomes an odyssey of self-realization for all three. Locations included Brooklyn's Prospect Park (Carol's neighborhood) and Greenwich Village (where Melvin's building is on 12th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues). Other exteriors were shot in downtown Los Angeles, where a dilapidated transient hotel at the corner of 4th Street and Main was transformed into the chic cafe where Carol works. Sets for the Simon/Melvin apartment interiors were erected on a soundstage at the Sony Pictures lot. Simon's paintings were created for the film by New York artist Billy Sullivan, whose work is part of the modern art collection at NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New Orleans Museum of Art. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

In this romantic comedy-drama, a couple learns that the relationship between the mind and the body can take many different forms. Rose Morgan (Barbra Streisand) is a plain and pudgy middle-aged college English professor who shares a house with her mother, Hannah (Lauren Bacall). Rose got the brains in her family, but her sister Claire (Mimi Rogers) got the good looks, and as Claire prepares for her wedding to Alex (Pierce Brosnon), Rose can't help but despair over the blank page that is her love life, especially since she's long had a crush on Alex. Gregory Larkin (Jeff Bridges) teaches mathematics at the same school as Rose, and he has come to the conclusion that sex serves no purpose but to complicate relationships between men and women; after a series of disastrous romantic affairs, Gregory is looking for an intellectual relationship with a woman -- and nothing more. One day, Gregory passes by Rose's lecture hall as she discusses the role of chaste love in literature, and he's intrigued; he takes her out on a date and is impressed by Rose's quick wit and broad range of knowledge. Gregory is so taken with Rose that he proposes marriage, but under the condition that theirs be strictly a meeting of the minds, without sexual relations. While Rose is very much attracted to the handsome mathematician, the prospect of spending the rest of her life either alone or with Hannah seems far worse than a marriage without passion, and she agrees to his proposal. However, Rose's affection for Gregory makes it difficult for her to stop with a handshake, and one night she puts on her best nightgown and attempts to seduce her husband, much to Gregory's annoyance and confusion. Gregory leaves on a lecture tour shortly afterward, and after Hannah reassures a heartbroken Rose that she was beautiful as a child, Rose goes on a crash course in self improvement. She goes on a diet, starts working out, changes her hairstyle, learns a few makeup tricks, and revamps her wardrobe, and by the time Gregory returns, he discovers that there's a very different woman in the twin bed next to his own. The Mirror Has Two Faces, based on the 1958 French comedy Le Miror a Deux Faces, was Barbra Streisand's third project as a director; she also served as co-producer and helped compose the film's theme song, "I Finally Found Someone." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide