Category Archives: 1996

The Grass Harp - * * 1/2*

Posted on October 11, 1996 by Madeleine Williams

The Grass Harp is a lightweight but well performed coming of age tale set in a small southern town. A young boy, Collin (played at various ages by Grayson Fricke and Edward Furlong), is orphaned, and left to be raised … Continue reading →

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The Long Kiss Goodnight - * * *

Posted on October 11, 1996 by Madeleine Williams

The Long Kiss Goodnight is a surprisingly witty action-comedy. Samantha Caine (Geena Davis) is an amnesiac schoolteacher who was found pregnant and memoryless on a beach eight years ago. Several private investigators have attempted to find out who she is … Continue reading →

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The Ghost and the Darkness - * *

Posted on October 11, 1996 by Madeleine Williams

The Ghost and the Darkness is a partially thrilling adventure tale that needed to go through the rewrite machine at least one more time. The year is 1898, and the setting of this true story is East Africa. Val Kilmer … Continue reading →

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The Chamber - * *

Posted on October 11, 1996 by Madeleine Williams

A mostly well acted John Grisham tale can’t hide the fact that it doesn’t really have anything to say. Adam Hall (Chris O’Donnell) is that everpresent staple of Grisham works, the eager young lawyer who tackles a big job. In … Continue reading →

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Bound - * * 1/2*

Posted on October 4, 1996 by Madeleine Williams

Bound is a Hitchcockian piece of film noir (that’s good), mixed with an Eszterhasian piece of lesbian chic (that’s not so good). Corky (Gina Gershon) is a lesbian ex-con fresh out of prison. She lands a job renovating an apartment … Continue reading →

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That Thing You Do - * * *

Posted on October 4, 1996 by Madeleine Williams

Tom Hanks directs this gleeful salute to rock-and-roll, innocence and fame. Guy Patterson (Tom Everett Scott) is an ordinary guy who works in his father’s appliance store by day, and plays drums and listens to jazz albums at night. When … Continue reading →

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The Glimmer Man - 1/2*

Posted on October 4, 1996 by Madeleine Williams

The Glimmer Man is a truly disgraceful outing that amounts to little more than an unbelievable Steven Seagal self-love fest. Steven Seagal is Detective Jack Cole, a special forces operative in Vietnam who went native, and is now working under … Continue reading →

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Secrets & Lies - * * 1/2*

Posted on September 28, 1996 by Madeleine Williams

Director Mike Leigh manages to capture real life family dynamics in Secrets & Lies. Timothy Spall stars as a photographer whose family is strained to the breaking point. He and his wife, Monica (Phyllis Logan) have been strangely drifting apart. … Continue reading →

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The Leopard Son - * * 1/2*

Posted on September 27, 1996 by Madeleine Williams

The Discovery Channel launches its feature film series with a rather mediocre documentary about a young leopard in the Serengeti. When the film starts, The Leopard Son is just a cub, under the protection and tutledge of his mother. The … Continue reading →

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Two Days in the Valley - * *

Posted on September 27, 1996 by Madeleine Williams

2 Days in the Valley is a jumbled hodgepodge with an excess of plot masquerading as hip thriller. The movie starts with two hitmen, friendly Dosmo (Danny Aiello) and sociopathic Lee (James Spader) getting ready to kill the ex-husband of … Continue reading →

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