Tales from the Hollywood Hills: Natica Jackson (1987) (TV)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

Paul Bogart

Writers:

John O'Hara (based on a story by)
Andy Wolk (teleplay)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot Keywords:

Marital Infidelity | Actress | Actor | Hollywood California | Movie Industry

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Michelle Pfeiffer	...	Natica Jackson
Hector Elizondo	...	Morris King
George Murdock	...	Bud Loring
Holland Taylor	...	Ernestine King
Bryan Montgomery	...	Young Soldier
David Ackroyd	...	Reginald Broderick (as Davis Ackroyd)
Christopher Darga	...	Assistant Director
J. Michael Flynn	...	Alan Hildred
Brian Kerwin	...	Hal Graham (as Brain Kerwin)
Eugene Kallman	...	Mike
Tracy Bogart	...	Mary
Suzy Sharp	...	Maxine
Gail Youngs	...	Beryl Graham
Devin Sidell	...	Jean Graham
Paul Jonathan Henry	...	Howard Graham

Also Known As:

Natica Jackson (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

102 min | 56 min | 88 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | Netherlands:12

Company:

Zenith Entertainment

Soundtrack:

I Can't Get Started

Good Michelle Pfeiffer Performance in an otherwise run of the mill TV effort

I bought this on DVD for my brother who is a big Michelle Pfeiffer fan. I decided to watch it myself earlier this week.

It is a reasonably entertaining piece containing two completely separate story lines. The section with Michelle Pfeiffer was by far the more interesting of the two. She plays a rising Hollywood actress who has had many short unfulfilling relationships. She literally bumps into Brian Kerwin (A regular married guy with Kids)after driving her car into the back of his. After being initially hostile to one another he offers to drive her home as she no longer feels comfortable to drive. Romance develops eventually leading to tragedy when his wife finds out. What happens at the end I was not prepared for but the slow pacing and routine TV direction takes any drama out of the plot.

The other section involves an old Studio boss played by Darren McGavin. This section actually has the better cast with Kenneth McMillan, Lois Chiles, Steven Bauer & Stella Stevens. They all want something from the studio boss but in the end when he is asked to resign, they all realize their careers will now be going nowhere.

It passes the time but is not all that interesting and I am glad this was not bought for me. I am not a Michelle Pffeifer fan but she was admittedly the only actor worth watching in this film and even in 1983 she was a decent actress. Overall though unless you are a fan of hers avoid this as it is very routine.