Best Drama Films of 1989
Dad
Looking like death warmed ... maestro Gary David Goldberg co-produced and directed Dad, and also adapted the screenplay from the novel by William Wharton. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Field of Dreams
"If you build it, ... be much closer to Ray. That "magical" field in Dyersville, Iowa still draws thousands of baseball-happy tourists each year. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Fat Man & Little Boy
"Fat Man" and "Little ... atomic scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Dwight Schultz), in his own way as contentious and childishly single-purposed as the general. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Tango & Cash
Sylvester Stallone tries his ... trade quips with each other. Ultimately, they escape from their torture chamber and seek out Yves and his gang. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
My Name is Bill W.
My Name Is Bill ... W, which like its Garner/Woods predecessor The Promise was originally presented as a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV special. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
1969
Ernest Thompson, the playwright ... a great deal of tension within his own family, though his mother, Mariette Hartley, tries her best to understand. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
The Incident
Joseph Sargent's made-for-TV drama, ... coerced into defending a German POW who is accused of murdering the town physician (Barnard Hughes), Matthau's best friend. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
The Music Box
Jessica Lange plays an ... is offered on the same calm, collected level, making the ultimate horror of the story all the more effective. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Day One
This WW II-set drama ... the creation of the first atomic bomb. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Driving Miss Daisy
Based on the Pulitzer ... Daisy won Academy Awards for best picture, best actress (Jessica Tandy), best screenplay (Uhry) and best makeup (Manlio Rachetti). [ best drama films - 1989 ]
The Fabulous Baker Boys
Real-life siblings Beau and ... which is inevitably threatened by Susie's growing popularity and by Jack's insistence upon pursuing an affair with the girl. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
In Country
Norman Jewison directed this ... Veterans Memorial in Washington. Finding her father's name in the memorial releases cathartic emotions in Samantha and her family. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Ministry of Vengeance
A Vietnam War veteran ... and daughter are killed by terrorists in Rome (and the government does nothing), the hero returns to violent means. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
The Shell Seekers
The made-for-TV The Shell ... and Spain, The Shell Seekers was the 162nd Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation; it debuted on December 3, 1989. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
The Dawning
A young woman in ... as Aunt Mary. Watch for Hugh Grant as Harry, the stuffed shirt on whom Nancy has a huge crush. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Man Against the Mob: The Chinatown Murders
An L.A. policeman (George ... to destroy the prostitution ring run by Chinatown's version of the Mafia. The film was originally produced for television. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
A Dry White Season
Schoolteacher Ben du Toit ... a radical firebrand, which alienates him from his white friends and neighbors, as well as members of his family. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Physical Evidence
Though this police and ... unravel the tangled circumstances behind the murder. Michael Crichton directed but did not collaborate on the story or screenplay. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Stella
Bette Midler stars as ... a modern age of healthy, fractured families, muting the drama of the tale's earlier versions, specifically Stella Dallas (1937). [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Family Business
You've probably already guessed ... worth of test-tube specimens. There's many a slip-up and betrayal before the three generations can find a common ground. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
The Image
Albert Finney stars as ... a savings-and-loan scandal; when the friend commits suicide, Finney must question his ethics and obsession with high Nielsen ratings. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Beyond the Stars
In Beyond the Stars ... This disturbs Slater's dad Robert Foxworth-a former NASA functionary. The film was scripted by Tom Benedek of Cocoon fame. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Immediate Family
Glenn Close and James ... her baby over to the Spectors. The solution for this happy group? Adopt Lucy and become the "immediate family." [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Jacknife
This little-known Robert DeNiro ... every turn in Jacknife, but the film refuses to play down to its audience by wallowing in the obvious. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Lock Up
Sylvester Stallone is a ... on the credits, it is Sutherland who blubberingly confesses to a string of crimes perpetrated on the helpless inmates. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
The Long Walk Home
The Long Walk Home ... (Dwight Schultz), who at the behest of his goonish brother Tunker (Dylan Baker) joins the Klanlike White Citizen's Council. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Strapless
As she enters middle ... the show will notice that Molly Dodd is closer in temperament to Fonda's character in Strapless than to Brown's. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Great Balls of Fire!
Until its last 10 ... Jerry's cousin Jimmy Swaggart (the same!), Michael St. Gerard as Lewis' great rival Elvis, and Steve Allen as himself. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Triumph of the Spirit
Triumph of the Spirit ... Spirit was filmed on location at Auschwitz--the first film of its kind to be lensed in that infamous locale. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Traveling Man
John Lithgow sets aside ... sales manager. Written for television by David Taylor, Traveling Man debuted June 24, 1989, over the HBO Cable service. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Act of Will
Made for British television, ... is the girlfriend of Hugh Grant). Act of Will received its widest American exposure on public and cable television. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Killing Dad
When a father attempts ... return to his abandoned family after 23 years his grown son tries to murder his drunk, unemployed father. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Casualties of War
Casualties of War was ... his "compliance" in the incident by failing to save the girl. The script is by well-known playwright David Rabe. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Passion and Paradise
The hour-hour TV movie ... of those featuring the Duke of Windsor) had to be rewritten and reshot before the film's British TV release. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Look Back in Anger
Made for British television, ... play (Osborne writes in fluent tract). Earlier filmizations of Look Back in Anger starred Richard Burton and Malcolm McDowell. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Across the Tracks
Rick Schroder and Brad ... 1989, Across the Tracks lay unwrapped until 1991, by which time Brad Pitt had become a first-magnitude movie star. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Winter People
Set in the Appalachians ... (Kelly McGillis) and becomes involved in the family feud that is sparked by the existence of Collie's illegitimate son. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Sweet Bird of Youth
Previously filmed in 1962 ... Chance's hometown sweetheart (Cheryl Paris). The TV remake of Sweet Bird of Youth was first broadcast October 1, 1989. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Born on the Fourth of July
The second of three ... film itself, but only Stone, who co-wrote the film with Kovic from the latter's book, won for Best Director. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
The Women of Brewster Place
Based on the novel ... let them live in peace. The Women of Brewster Place aired March 18-19, 1989, on the ABC television network. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Valmont
The third adaptation of ... some 50 years, de-emphasizing the opulence that was vital to Frears' vision; he has also utilized a younger cast. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
True Believer
The only True Believer ... of plot twists and last-minute shockers, True Believer was popular enough to inspire a spin-off TV series, Eddie Dodd. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Dead Poets Society
Robin Williams toned down ... four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Williams; it won one, for Tom Schulman's original screenplay. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
The Heart of Dixie
Set at a Southern ... co-eds (Ally Sheedy, Virginia Madsen and Phoebe Cates) re-assess their values in light of the burgeoning civil rights movement. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Paris by Night
British playwright David Hare ... as the audience revels in the film's superlative performances and David Hare's adroit manipulation of people, places and events. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
New Year's Day
Filmmaker Henry Jaglom plays ... but you'll very likely want to see New Year's Day for a glimpse at a pre X-Files David Duchovny. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Big Time
Directed by Jan Egleson, ... also stars Ron Silver, Dennis Boutsikaris, and Adrian Pasdar, and is based on a play written by Keith Reddin. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Naked Lie
Victoria Principal plays a ... the feeling that Victoria Principal could have gotten a TV Guide cover in 1989 by reading the phone book. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Summer's Lease
Adapted by John Mortimer ... Summer's Lease was subsequently aired in America as part of PBS's Masterpiece Theatre anthology in the spring of 1991. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Torrents of Spring
Based on the novel ... who has arranged to buy his estate. Timothy Hutton, Nastassja Kinski and Valeria Golino star in this period piece. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Communion
Adapted by Whitley Strieber ... film, though appropriate for the subject matter, quickly transforms into a thesis on his own eccentricities as an actor. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Lean on Me
After earning rave notices ... community, his uncompromising campaign gets results and even makes him famous, much to the chagrin of his powerful enemies. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
The Wizard
In this comedy, Corey ... information, the trio sets off for a video game competition in California, pursued by a number of concerned relatives. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Alexandria Again and Forever
In the third and ... line between narrative and surrealism as Yehia tries to resolve his conflicting attitudes about love, sex, art, and politics. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Stradivari
Anthony Quinn stars in ... of violins to an art form. The supporting cast includes Valerie Kaprisky, Fanny Bastien, and Francesco Quinn (Anthony's son). [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Brain Dead
Brain Dead was based ... invited to do the same. Bill Paxton also stars in this Roger Corman-style thriller, produced by Corman's daughter Julie. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
True Blood
When a man returns ... under the leadership of an old rival who framed him for the murder of a policeman ten years prior. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Crack House
A drama involving the ... two students (Gregg Gomez Thomsen, Cheryl Kay) trying to attend school while living with the pressures of ghetto life. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Relentless
A man who fails ... wouldn't hire him. He uses all his cop smarts to try to elude all who dare try capture him. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Champagne Charlie
Charles Heidseick's fight to ... romantic made-for-TV biography. It was not an easy task as Champagne Charlie met with considerable resistance from American vintners. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
If They Tell You I Fell
This complex and confusing ... incomprehensible ways, and many of the characters are prone to engage in unsavory sexual acts involving fetishism and sadomasochism. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Full Exposure: The Sex Tape Scandal
Full Exposure: The Sex ... Sex Tapes Scandal was mercifully buried in the ratings by its powerhouse competition: the premiere telecast of Lonesome Dove. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Prancer
If you know the ... into a warm-hearted social animal. Filmed in Indiana, Prancer isn't quite a classic, but it's perfect midwinter videocassette entertainment. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Francesco
Told in flashback, the ... days when he receives the stigmata, or wounds similar to those on the body of Jesus at the crucifixion. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Simple Justice
When a group of ... discover that a witness survived their massacre, they begin to threaten her family to frighten them into withholding testimony. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Tap
Gregory Hines plays the ... film. The director is Nick Castle Jr., who like star Gregory Hines is scion of a legendary dancing family. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
For Queen and Country
With a cruel, keen ... decision about the rest of his life. Meanwhile, back in the neighborhood, tempers fray, frustration mounts and violence ensues. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Life and Nothing But
The grim post-World War ... the dead, and with the efforts by another officer to find a suitable candidate for an Unknown Soldier testimonial. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
After the War
John Madden's sweeping drama ... arts. The film charts a quarter-century of their history together, detailing a relationship that is equally affectionate and hostile. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
An Innocent Man
In Peter Yates' crime ... the bad cops' drug dealings are revealed, and Jimmie prepares for a final reckoning between the cops and himself. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
The Raggedy Rawney
Actor Bob Hoskins made ... Raggedy Rawny. Like we said at the beginning: Raggedy Rawny is the big-screen directorial debut of actor Bob Hoskins.... [ best drama films - 1989 ]
A Deadly Silence
Made for TV, A ... costar, while future Friends regular David Schwimmer essays an important minor role. A Deadly Silence premiered April 16, 1989. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days
Lucas, a computer genius ... film that celebrates love's victory over death and suggests that sentiment has some currency even in a pragmatic world. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Monsieur Hire
Lonely and shy bachelor ... and gestures, to achieve a degree of eroticism that other films fail to reach even through explicit sex scenes. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
21 Jump Street: Season 03
Johnny Depp and the ... an outraged Tom Hanson seeks personal vengeance against the punks who seriously wounded his fellow officer Ioki (Dustin Nguyen). [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Coming Out
It seems like a ... he also has been having an affair. He can't bring himself to tell either one about the other one. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Gleaming the Cube
Gleaming the Cube does ... named Al Lucero (Steven Bauer), a collection of skateboard aficionados, and an incredibly attractive Vietnamese girl, Tina (Min Luong). [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Never Come Back
Nathaniel Parker plays Desmond ... television in 1989, Never Come Back premiered in the US over the A&E cable network on December 13, 1991. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Roxanne: The Prize Pulitzer
Roxanne: The Prize Pulitzer ... of Roxanne: The Prize Pulitzer is Chynna Phillips, daughter of another famous star-crossed duo, musicians John and Michelle Phillips. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Blood and Sand
Previously filmed in 1922 ... roots, cheats on his wife, has a last-minute change of heart, and pays for his sins in grotesque fashion. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
The Mahabharata
Director Peter Brook collaborates ... Originally a nine-hour stage production, the lengthy play was pared down to just over five hours for the screen. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Iguana
In this drama, a ... and others are marooned on an island the tables are turned and he rules them with a ruthless hand. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Jesus of Montreal
A modern-day Passion Play ... audition in which the actress portraying his Mary Magdalene (Catherine Wilkening) is asked to disrobe by a prurient producer. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Torn Apart
Based on the novel ... face a number of tragic circumstances as they attempt to be together in a religiously prejudiced and war-torn country. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Speaking Parts
"In my films, you're ... director's goal of assuring that the viewers are constantly aware that they're watching a movie and not Real Life. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Summer of the Colt
This award-winning film by ... and try to understand them as they all experience the joys and sorrows of growing up and growing old. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Baxter
The French-filmed Baxter is ... the leading character is a dog with a full range of human emotions; Baxter is not a family film. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Lambada
One of several films ... a petition by Sandy reinstates him as the two opposing groups of kids square off in a math competition. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Acorralado
In this fugitive spree, ... fleeing fellow gets angrier and angrier (and tired of the chase) when a little romance comes his way. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Emperor of the Bronx
Cycle-flick habitue William Smith ... that the bloodshed in the last reel is almost anti-climactic. As always, the ubiquitous Smith rises above his material. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Intimate Power
Based on a true ... De Rivery, a French girl sold into slavery, where she is purchased by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Midnight Warrior
While investigating the seamy ... life of Los Angeles, a reporter begins to find himself involved too deeply with his subjects. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Nightmare at Bitter Creek
In this made-for-TV thriller, ... they become the target of a militant survivalist group's war games. The film is also known as Bitter Creek. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
The Real Charlotte
In this serious drama ... the PBS "Masterpiece Theatre" series, two cousins fall for the same guy, causing stress in the family. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Sinners
In this film, the ... their New York City neighborhood forces an Italian family to find a way to survive in their unpleasant surroundings. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Tusks
When a famous artist ... poacher and a park ranger who has fallen in love with her. This suspenseful drama was filmed in Zimbabwe. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
A Very British Coup
Based on the speculative ... A Very British Coup aired in three parts over Britain's Channel 4 from June 19 to July 3, 1988. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
La Diosa del Puerto
The tragic course of ... but despite the attentions of many men, her heart remains untouched as she wonders what became of her son. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Abhimanyu
Anil Kapoor and Shakti ... Years later, Anil and Poonam, wise to the ways of the non-Indian world, exact a not-so-sweet revenge upon Shakti. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Men Behind the Sun
Purporting to tell the ... of animal cruelty, as well as actual autopsy footage, is unlawful in many countries including the U.S. and China. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Der 7. Kontinent
Three members of a ... everything in a gaudy, grotesque manner. It goes without saying that Der 7. Kontinent is not for everyone's taste. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East?
The title refers to ... life in the smallest of ways. Sometimes the older acolyte has brief memories of the past he recently left. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
The Perfect Model
Set within a Chicago ... not fit well with the Hollywood crowd. Fortunately, the actor's big brother is around to offer him excellent advice. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Ram Lakhan
Director Subhash Ghai also ... Lakhan is something of an endurance test for western audiences, unfolding its simple tale in an epic 186 minutes. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Desperate for Love
Friends in Georgia are ... up when an enticing teenager comes between them as told in this true story. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Do You Know the Muffin Man?
Do You Know the ... with care and discretion, though dramatically it covers more legal and emotional ground than its two-hour length can hold. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Home Fires Burning
In this drama, set ... Georgia, a curmudgeonly, strongly opinionated local editor is upset by the changes wrought by the end of WW II. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
The Lady Forgets
As the last two ... come into focus for an amnesia victim, she finds her life endangered because of the truths. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Out on the Edge
In this drama, a ... 17-year old is involuntarily committed to a sleazy behavioral treatment center. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Voice of the Heart
This drama, adapted from ... best-seller by Barbara Taylor Bradford chronicles the convoluted love-lives of two rich women over 23 years. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
The Cyclist
The only thing that ... seven days straight, Nasim has very little to lose, and gives it all he's got -- and then some. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Cross of Fire
The two-part TV movie ... of Stephenson -- not because his followers have wised up, but because of a 1925 rape and murder charge. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Rojo Amanecer
Set entirely in the ... attend a street meeting. The family looks out onto the streets as the dramatic events of that time unfold. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Lola
In this tender family ... she has a good relationship with her daughter. It's probably just as well that her rock-guitarist boyfriend went away. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Berlin Jerusalem
This difficult-to-follow arthouse film ... radical kibbutz. Each survives to be present at the beginning of the Jewish state, and each is sorely disillusioned. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
El Costo de la Vida
Beginning in the late ... as he undertakes his new "job" of robbing grocery stores. Needless to say, this does not work out well. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Lo Que Importa Es Vivir
This dreamy and somewhat ... such by all around him. This is not much to his liking, and before long he takes off again. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Guests of the Nation
Two Irish insurgents are ... Barney Callahan (Converse) during pleasant nights of dancing, card games, and amiable debates about their respective religions and countries. [ best drama films - 1989 ]
Pahiram Ng Isang Umaga
[ best drama films - 1989 ]Supplemental Navigation
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