It’s a quaint little movie. I think that’s the right word.
The story follows Cooper (Matthew Broderick) who is suffering from a bout of memory loss due to hitting his head against a wall in a bar fight in which he was collateral damage, it wasn’t his fight but he took a hit.
After being let go from his job as a Political Correspondent at a newspaper he finds himself heading home at his Mothers (Lois Smith) request to help take care of his Uncle Rollie (Alan Alda). His Uncle is also suffering from his own form of memory problems, his are age related though, Alzheimers, and he’s not getting any better from it. His Mother hopes Conner can persuade him to get more professional help.
This might not be as helpless as it all seems as it’s revealed that Uncle Rollie is in possession of a rare baseball card; Frank Schulte from the 1908 Chicago Cubs lineup. And, if they could convince Rollie to sell this card they could potentially put all their financial woes behind them and get Rollie the help he needs. As he’s back home for the first time in a good while, the inevitable happens and he runs into his ex-girlfriend, Charlotte (our Virginia Madsen). Charlotte is single, good news for Connor. She had a husband, and a child, Dillon (Jimmy Bennett) now she’s back on the market. The two hit it off quite well and rekindle their acquaintance. Not in a romantic way, but a friend way.
One thing leads to another and before you know it, Connor, Uncle Rollie, Charlotte and Dillon are on the road to a Sports Memorabilia Convention to sell the card.
And, yeah – That about sums up the premise and you can probably work out the sentimental trip to the Convention that follows.
It’s not a bad film, and it’s not a good film. It has a lot of heart, I’ll say that much. The performances from all the cast are spot on. Matthew Broderick has a knack for this kind of sentimentality, Alan Alda is always a joy to watch and he pulls off the role with as much gravitas as you’d imagine he would. Virginia Madsen does her whole “Single Mother with a heart of gold just waiting for her chance” thing in this one, it’s not a bad dialled in performance by any means – It’s nothing new though While all of the acting her,e is above par you wouldn’t expect anything less from the cast.
It’s worth a watch, it’s likely nothing you haven’t seen before but it’s still worth a watch for the performances alone. It’ll touch your soul in all the right places and maybe give you a little hope that things aren’t that bad at the same time.
Availability:
Good, not hard to find on DVD and on some streaming services depending on your location (or access to a VPN).
The Astronaut Farmer is a 2006 film, and it’s a film about following your dreams first and foremost. Virginia Madsen seems to end up in a lot of these kinds of films I’ve noticed, or maybe there is just a lot more of these films than I realised.
Charles Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton) is a former Air Force Pilot and would be astronaut, he was enrolled in the space program with the military before being forced to pull out of it. Rather sadly it was after his Father commited suicide admist the growing debt the familes ranch and gotten itself into. This caused Charles to cancel his dreams and return home to save it.
He got to live a happy life with his wife, Audrey (Virignia Madsen), his son Shepard (Max Theirot), and two daughters, Stanley (Jasper Polish) and Sunshine (Logan Polish) – BUT, years later with the itch still bugging him Charles decides he’s going to build his own rocket in one of his Barns.
He manages to build a replica of the Murcury-Atlas rocket, and fair play to him, he pulls it off and gets it spaceworthy all on his lonesome.
It’s only when he starts asking around about how to get hold of some rocket fuel to power it that things start to come unstuck. The FBI and FAA get themselves involved, along with the public who show an interest in his project. The Media latch on to Charles and his plans for his home made rocket and turn him into a sensation, much to the dismay of the aforementioned FBI and FAA.
Ultimately they decide that an ordinary hard working fellow like Charles can’t possibly give any ideas to the rest of the ordinary hard working folk and they tell Charles he can’t go ahead with his launch. Having sunk too much money into the whole thing for it not to work, Charles ultimately decides to stick it to the man and launch his rocket anyways.
Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd. Yeah. You’re going to have to watch it to see what actually happens. I’ve avoided spoiling other films and I’m not about to start with this one now.
Normally I would not like this kind of film. I don’t go in for sentimental films for the most part, but this one has a heart to it.
I liked that he fails on his first attempt but keeps on going anyways – I think if he’d made it at his first attempt it would have been too much.
I also liked that Bruce Willis showed up in a cameo role. From the start I was reminded of Billy Bob Thorntons character in Armageddon where he played Dan Truman. a man who always wanted to goto space but couldn’t due to not being physically up to it. When Bruce turned up to give him the nod, yeah. Do approve.
Virginia Madsen’s part is that of the supportive wife, and as always she pulls it off admirably. I mean I wish she wasn’t playing this kind of role at this point in her career, but at least she’s obviously putting the effort in, probably because she was having such a good time on set.
Speaking with The AV Club in 2013 she’d rate The Astronaut Farmer as her most favourite film to work on to date, espeically working with Billy Bob Thornon;
“Because that was Billy Bob [Thornton], you know? And I like these guys. I like men who are real manly men. I like being around a lot of testosterone. But the real stuff. Not the misogynistic, self-conscious guys who don’t really have confidence but who are trying to pretend. Like, if they’re mean to women or demeaning to women, that somehow makes them manly? These kinds of men just make you feel at ease, because they like women. They’re not threatened by women, and they like them strong. And Billy Bob, I just completely fell in love with him. Granted, in that kind of safe actor way… [Laughs.]
But oh, I just love that man. He’s just one of my favorites ever to work with. We were in New Mexico, and we had these really cool artist twins who were our directors—the Polish brothers—and they had these little beautiful daughters who played our daughters in the movie. They weren’t professional actors, so they were lovely and sweet, and I got to play with them all day long and do arts and crafts. And I got to dance with Billy Bob Thornton! I mean, God, how much better could it be? [Laughs.]”
Would I recommend this one? Well, normally, no – But as i said – This one has heart and it’s worth a watch. I think if it’d been anyone else but Billy Bob Thornton doing his earnest American Hero thing then it might have been a different story, but. Yeah this one works.
Availability:
You practically trip over copies looking on eBay and other online stores.
[sigh] – Operation Christmas Drop is a film from Netflix, released in 2020 just in time for, surprise surprise – Christmas. It’s a Romantic Comedy Family film. As if you needed telling…
And, there isn’t any other way of saying this, but Christmas movies aren’t my thing, at all. Well, films like Violent Night pass the criteria checklist, but apart from that, no. The whole family friendly seasonal message of hope and good in the world, no.
So, while I did make an attempt at watching this movie then for the most part I might as well have not bothered. I got 45 minutes in and felt like I knew the whole plot anyways.
I’m not saying it’s a bad movie, I’m not qualified as I didn’t watch it – What I am trying to make clear is that it isn’t one for me. Much like Grace Stirs up Success and Hot to Trot before it, I’m about as far removed from the target audience as it gets.
That being said, it did give me reason to Google the whole “Christmas Drop” thing and I was pleasantly surprised to find it still does exist and happen, so that’s nice.
The plot of the movie is as predictably Christmassy as you can get. Something nice that usually happens is in danger of not happening. Person who is trying to stop the nice thing happening is eventually won round, and the nice thing happens with everyone smiling and being nice because, Christmas.Virginia Madsen plays Congresswoman Bradford – She’s the main reason the Christmassy thing isn’t happening but she’s delegated Grinch duties to her subordinate, Erica (Kal Graham).
And, I know I’ve commented before on Virginia being typecast, but this one really does take the biscuit. Her role in this one is pretty much her role in Designated Survivor, even down the outfit we first meet her in. Black Suit with an American Flag pin. Which, I realise is pretty much the uniform for a US Senator, at least in my head, but. Yeah.
I mean, you couldn’t tell where I’d grabbed each of these from.
(Designated Survivor is the one on the right…)
Virginia actually isn’t in the movie that much, which was pretty much the deciding reason for me to give up on it completely. And when she is in it, she’s pretty much a Kimble clone anyways. But more evil. Nothing we’ve not seen her do before, which again isn’t bad, but it’s nothing to go out of your way to watch the movie for anyways, fan or not.
And, of course by the end of the film the evil Virginia Madsen even gets a bit of the Christmas spirt herself. Availability:
It’s a Netflix film and it’s still available, unlikely to ever see a physical release though, officially at least.
Brave New Girl is a TV Movie released in 2004 by ABC Family. It’s based on the novel “A Mothers Gift” which was written by Britney and Lynne Spears which was loosely based on Britney’s life. Although it was based on the book, the plot has been changed significantly, Britney still takes a credit as Executive Producer on the film though.
And, before you wonder.Yes, I did watch this one
Brave New Girl tells the tale of schoolgirl Holly Lovell (Lindsey Haun) and her dreams of making it big as a Singer. Holly lives with her Mother, Wanda (Virginia Madsen) in a small Texan town without much a future in front of her, she sees music as her only chance. So set on this future is Holly that Wanda gives up everything for her daughter to have the chance she wants.
Yes, it’s that kind of movie.
We see Wanda literally give everything for Holly to attend the prestigious Haverty School of Performing Arts, but once she’s there it isn’t the smooth ride Holly thinks it’s going to be. Being from a small Texan town she’s given the cold shoulder somewhat by the other more popular girls in the school which obviously causes some drama.
One teacher takes her under their wing though and helps Holly realise her potential.
Told you it was that kind of movie.
Wanda ends up hanging around the school as she has nothing to go home for. She meets a man in a local bar she’s frequenting wondering what to do with her life now she has no home and no job to go back to. One thing leads to another and she ends up working as Waitress in a nearby Cafe (It’s OK – I know you didn’t expect me to say that).
She still needs a place to stay though, and that’s when she ends up staying with Holly in her room at the school. (I know, I know).
Small town bigotry overcome and Holly goes on to do well at the school. Etc. I bought this years ago and filed it away thinking I’d probably never watch it. It was only when it came to this project I even considered it. I put it in the DVD player with a loud sigh and fully thought I’d be switching it off after 30 minutes or so. But, that never happened. It wasn’t necessarily because it’s a good film, and it’s wholly predictable, but… I don’t know. I ended up being sucked in for some reason. Maybe it was the sheer implausibility of it all, maybe it was the message of hope reaching into my dark cold soul. Who knows?
Virginia Madsen does her doting Mother thing in this one. And, to be fair she does it well. But we wouldn’t expect anything less. And to be fair she does get a fair bit to do on her own while she’s hanging around making sure Wanda gets a fair go. It’s a fun role for her and you can kind of tell she enjoyed doing it.
Don’t think I’ll be watching it again anytime soon though.
The first time I came across this one was on Netflix. I wasn’t paying particularly close attention to Virginia Madsen’s career at that point and I saw her standing there with a bunch of ladies and a basketball.
It was late at night and I’d nothing else to do so I hit play. And, damn. I don’t know if it was because it was late at night or the idea of seeing something new from Virginia after a long time but I properly enjoyed it. For what it was at least.
The film centres around a group of middle aged women, some at the time when menopause is an issue in their lives. Beth Humphrey (Brooke Shields) is one of these women. She’s trying to get herself tested for Breast Cancer but is upset to learn her local Testing Centre is closing down due to the lack of funding.
Not just upset because it’s closing but upset because one of her close friends had died three years prior, she’d left the Centre a substantial amount of money so it could keep going and maybe help someone be more fortunate than herself. It turns out there has been a mistake with some paperwork and so the Centre can’t get the help it so desperately needs. For it to remain open it needs another $25,000. Not willing to let it drop, Beth gets in touch with some of her old high school friends and arranges with them to raise the money for the Testing Centre to remain open with money being charged for various things to see them play and making bets on themselves to win.
Ginger Peabody (Daryl Hannah), Florine Clarkson (Wanda Sykes), Roxie Rosales (Camryn Manheim) and Clementine Winks (Mrs Madsen) have made it through life in many different ways with varying degrees of success, but they agree to help. Some are more willing than others…
And thus the ladies set about trying to prove everyone who thinks they can’t do it wrong and the film goes on. It’s an underdog’s tale, you know the ones.
I guess in some ways it’s kind of a modern take on Long Gone. It’s the same kind of story when you step back and look at it. Not a bad thing at all, just a Virginia related observation. It does actually have a very noble and worthwhile purpose by bringing some awareness to Breast Cancer, at the film’s premiere the ladies walked down a pink carpet instead of a red one and it served as a benefit for the American Cancer Society.
The film was released to mixed reviews, some enjoyed it for what it was (like myself) and others, in my opinion, took it all too seriously and bashed it for no real good reason other than they could. Not everything needs to be deep and meaningful for it to be worth watching.
And, personally I think it’s also worth some points for being a tale of “woman of a certain age” as well, they could so easily have swapped out the cast for some young nubile things which would have lessened the message behind the film. It crossed my mind when I was originally watching it but it seems as though the reviewers, and critics, of the film also picked up on the fact. Good.
[ahem] – Getting back to the film… Virginia has spoken highly of the film, in an interview with The AV Club she has this to say;
“it was a straight-up offer, which is always appreciated. It’s always wonderful to just not have to audition for something. They sent me the script, and I had to be there in, like, two days, but… I think I probably said yes before I read it, because of the cast and the director and just that it was a story about all of these incredible women. I mean, all that cast on one script? I was like, “This can’t be real. This is mine? You want me to be in this with these girls? Yes!” So I said yes without finishing the script. I think I read about 30 pages, and I was like, “Yeah, I’ll do it.” And, luckily, I was in really good shape, so I was ready and up for the challenge. I generally don’t like any sports that involve running. [Laughs.]
But the thing is, when you get a role, actors will do anything to make that role sing. Just the fact that I can have live bees all over me in Candyman proves that we’ll do anything, basically, for a good performance. [Laughs.] So I thought, “Well, I don’t know how to play basketball, but if I look cool, then it’ll be okay.” But that didn’t work, because with this, you really have to know how to dribble the ball, and I couldn’t even do that. They’d all had a basketball clinic, and we had a great coach named Carla who was a professional basketball player, but I pretty much went from the airport to the court, so they all just rallied around me. They just played and played and played. And while shooting, every moment between takes I was learning how to dribble, how to do a layup, and it was really, really hard. It was physically very challenging, which is exciting and appealing to me. I love physical challenge
And it turned out I was pretty good at it! As soon as I knew how to do a layup, I was like, “Oh, that’s it! That’s how you do that!” The girls were really badass, and they just helped me to feel confident. That day, we became a team.”
And you know what? It is good to see all the ladies come together here, I’d like to say Virginia steals the show, but she doesn’t. There is an obvious camaraderie about the gang and I’d be willing to bet there are a few tales to be told from behind the cameras. Of course, the film reunites Virginia Madsen with Brooke Shields who were both previously in After Sex together, and, this is a much better film for both of their talents.
Availability:
Good. Lots of cheap copies on DVD (in a snazzy pink case of course) and it can be found on streaming (like I did originally).
Burn Your Maps is a film that I enjoyed far more than I thought I was going to do. It’s another supporting role in an indie for our Virginia Madsen, but it’s a good one, and a damn good movie to boot. It’s a film from 2016, written and directed by Jordan Roberts and based on a short story of the same name by Robyn Joy Leff.
Wes (Jacob Tremblay) is a 9 year old boy with a bit of a problem. You see he’s really a Mongolian Farmer who has been born in the wrong place.
Or, so he tells his parents at least.
Wes’s parents, Alise (Vera Farmiga) and Connor (Marton Csokas) are already struggling in their relationship, they’ve recently lost an infant daughter and their son’s behaviour is putting an even bigger strain on their marriage and nobody is happy.
Wes has been wearing his Mongolian Nomad Halloween costume for a month straight which is driving Connor round the bend with anger, not helped by Alise’s refusal to force him to take it off.
In a bid to escape the pressure of it all Alise makes the decision to allow her son to be who he wants and the two take off on an adventure to Mongolia to see, well, just to see. She takes along one of her Mongolian students, Ismail (Suraj Sharma) to help them navigate the desolate country.
I won’t say much more. This is a film that deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. Sure, it’s a bit janky in places and clumsy in others, but for me at least, the idea of it outweighs all of that. I love movies that are about “people” and the things that can and do affect their lives. Especially when they have adventures like this. They might not be “real” but they can be heartwarming and uplifting.Virginia Madsen isn’t in the film much. She plays a Nun, Victoria, that they meet along the way. She imparts some wisdom and then she’s on her way again. Short, sweet but memorable. It’s little roles like this that she takes that I think remind us, almost of what could have been with her career. She just rocks up, does her thing and it stays with you. I’m glad she gets to do this, I’m sure most people would want more but doing this is better than nothing. Recommend you track this one down and give it a watch. It’s something different and a film worthy of your time.
Availability:
Not horrendous but you won’t be tripping over copies. I had to order it from the US, other than that it was relatively easy.
Not one for me this one – I had every intention of rewatching this but after about 20 minutes I found myself distracted and playing with my phone more than I should have been.
Mr. North is a comedy film from 1988, it follows Theophilus North (Anthony Edwards) as he makes his way through life with a special ability, the power of, well making feel better. A literal special touch along with an uncanny ability to be where he is needed at that moment in time. He plays down these gifts and even denies them beyond an ability to transfer electricity which he puts down to nothing more than a mundane quirk.
The film is based off a book, Theophilus North by Thornton Wilder. The book would later be renamed Mr. North so it would match the film and hopefully increase its audience.
One summer he comes across the Bosworth family, through them he meets many more people who are intrigued by Mr. North.
He gets a job working for James McHenry Bosworth (Robert Mitchum), James is housebound thanks to his over cautious daughter, Sarah (Tammy Grimes). Mr North reads to him but becomes more than that and helps James get out of the situation he’s found himself in by giving him back the courage that has been lost from him.
While there he comes across Sally (Mrs Madsen), a maid for the family. She’s ln love with a man from a wealthy family but fears her lowly status stops her from being able to pursue such a man. Mr. North encourages her that she’s better than that and gives her the courage to chase after what she really wants.Eventually all of his good works catch up to him and he finds himself on trial for being a charlatan, he doesn’t claim to be anything special but that doesn’t stop people accusing him of being. The people he helps come to his defence.
Etc.
I actually can’t put my finger on why I’m not hugely into this film, I think it’s the setting. I tend not to be bothered about rich folk and their problems. It’s a very polite film with well spoken people and good manners and it’s not a world I can really understand.
It scores relatively highly on most sites, think we can put this down to my personal preferences.
Virginia is excellent as always, for her I paid attention while watching. It’s not a role that gives her plenty of screen time, this is very much an Anthony Edwards centric tale, but she does get her fair share to do even if she’s just one of many Mr. North helps along the way.Mr. North is directed by Danny Huston who would later on in life become Mr. Madsen, the lucky so and so. Also notable (by me at least) of being the first film Virginia would make with Harry Dean Stanton also in the cast list)
Availability:
Not bad, but not great either. You can find copies but they tend to be for more money than you want to pay for a film this old – Though that might be just because I’m not a huge fan of the film. VHS copies are also kicking around with some regularity.
This is definitely one for the “Why?” section. And, one I didn’t actually rewatch for this project. It’s not that it’s a horrendous film, it’s just one that you only need to see once in my opinion.
Hot to Trot was released in 1988, as pretty much a Bobcat Goldthwait vehicle. He was all the rage at the time. Unfortunately, and, no – I’m not a fan.
It stars Bobcat Goldthwait as Bob Goldthwait, uhm, Fred Chaney, who is Bobcat Goldthwait, I mean, challenged… Whose Mother dies and leaves to him a horse and half of her stock broker business. Oh, the horse can talk. Called Don.
Yes. Talking Horse. I know. It hurts me too.
Annnnnnnnnyway. His Mothers Stepfather, Walter (Dabney Coleman), wants the business for himself, in typical comic book cheese ball family friendly villain of the era. He offers to buy the business from Fred to take it off his hands but Fred isn’t having any of it.
Fred takes Don back to his Horse family, who can all talk, and then returns back to the office to take up a job in the family business. Not long in the job Don gets a hot stock tip and phones (!) Fred to clue him in. He takes the chance, does his stock thing and makes a shed load of money.
Don and Fred team up to make even more money, which enrages Walter who can’t work it out. He sends in his secretary Allison (where out Mrs Madsen comes in) to find out Fred’s secrets.
Oieeee – You know the rest, don’t make me type it.
Anyways. It’s pretty much a family friendly affair and harmless enough, one to watch with the kids. I dare say some of them might even find it funny.
While I was getting the captures for this page I couldn’t help but notice that Virginia did indeed seem to be dialling it in on this one. It’s crossed my mind before that she did this one because it might have offered more comedy roles going forward. But the look on her face might betray her in some scenes… Particularly when she’s in the background of a scene. I don’t know, just a feeling I got when I was skipping around looking for her. I could be and am probably wrong, but if you do own a copy, or get a copy, then just watch.
Hot to Trot tanked, badly – And, it deserved to do.
It’s not often I’m this down on a film, I can normally see the good in it somewhere. I’ve said that kids might enjoy this one, and while I did mean it, I wouldn’t put my kids in front of it. It’s one of the rare films, out of all films ever that has a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Virginia herself always knew that it wasn’t a particularly good movie for her, speaking with Will Harris from The AV Club she’d outline her reasons for doing the movie;
“That was a real low point in my career. But I’ll tell you why I did that movie: Because my sister had three little kids, and they knew that Auntie Gina was a movie star, but they could never see Auntie Gina’s movies because they were too grown-up. I really wanted to make a kids movie for them, and I purposely sought one out that they would love. This was with a talking horse and animals and Bobcat [Goldthwait]… I mean, it couldn’t have been more tailor-made for them. Although it could’ve had a better script. [Laughs.]
But, I mean, Steve Tisch was producing it, it was a studio film, and Tim Kazurinsky and all these wonderful comedians were in it. And they loved it! That movie actually came out in movie theaters, so they got to go to the movie theater and see Auntie Gina with big ’80s hair with a talking horse, and they just thought it was the coolest thing ever. I got big points at their school for being in that movie. So, yeah, that was specifically for them. It was not a career movie. It was a family movie.”
So, I mean – At least from her point of view the movie hit it’s intended audience…
ANYWAY – That’s enough of that.
Availability:
Pretty good. but expensive for the trash that it is – AND – Word to the wise, the movie is part of the Warner Bros Archive Collection, This means if you order the DVD then it’ll have a “DVD-R” sticker on the sleeve. This is legit, the DVD’s are made to order and this is how they’ve been producing them.
Scooby Doo in Where’s my Mummy? Is a 2005 animated film based on the American Saturday morning cartoons found on the Cartoon Network.
Scooby Doo should need no introduction.First introduced in 1969 the show follows the adventures of Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and of course Scooby Doo. The gang drive around in a van named The Mystery Machine solving all kinds of, well – Mysteries calling themselves Mystery Inc as they do. The show has bounced around networks since it was first broadcast and has been with the Cartoon Network since 2010.
Where’s My Mummy? Is the ninth movie from this version of the show. It had a small run at the cinema before being shown on TV and then released on home video. It has the distinction of being the last Scooby Doo movie to be released on VHS. Well, damn.
The film begins in Ancient Egypt, we see Cleopatra (an animated Virginia) running for her life, making her escape to the Great Sphinx of Giza. She makes her way into a secret tomb and hides her treasures before issuing a curse on history.Back to the present day and we hook up with Velma who is helping to restore the Sphinx, who accidentally stumbles across a necklace once owned by Cleopatra. She shows it to a colleague and it start’s shining a light on the entrance to the hidden tomb Cleopatra used.
Meanwhile the rest of Mystery Inc are on their way to meet Velma but they break down along the way, they meet a nomad. Amahl Ali Akbar who gets them going again (Triple-A, geddit? geddit?). Amahl drops them outside of the Sphinx, just in time for them to meet the host of a Supernatural TV show who is trying to get some credibility by filming the curse that may have been released by finding Cleopatra s tomb.
The gang meet up and adventures ensue, YOINKS!The adventure seemed fun enough, for it’s intended audience. But it’s not for me this kind of thing. Even when I was a kid I was never a fan of the Scooby Gang, really.
Going back to what I’ve said before about Virginia and her voice acting, it really is on point. She narrates the opening sequence with some proper gravitas about it. Unlike her turn as Silver Sable (which I watched at around the same time) you could better tell it was her this time, it’s a similar tone to her “Mother that will do anything to protect her kids” voice that she has. It suits the role though, no complaints. She does her thing here and does it well.
Availability:
Good, no problems finding it on DVD and seems to be on TV with some regularity.
Frasier is without doubt one of my favourite shows, it’s rare a TV show can make me laugh like this one does.
If you don’t know then Frasier follows, well, Frasier who is a Psychologist who works for a Radio Station and gives advice over the air. It’s a spin off from Cheers where the character would first be seen. Frasier lives with his Dad, Martin (the late John Mahoney), and his Dad’s care worker, Daphne (Jane Leeves). He has a brother called Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and the Producer of his Radio Show, Roz (Peri Gilpin) is often kicking around somewhere. They make up the core cast, along with Eddie the Dog, The show follows Frasier as he makes his way through life, normally from one blunder to another.
Virginia Madsen took a guest role on the show for three episodes in the sixth season. Technically, four episodes but the last two are Parts 1 and 2 and I’ve never seen them apart. The box set even plays them as one episode on the DVD.
She plays Cassandra Stone, she works at the same Radio Station as Frasier as a Public Relations Executive.When we first meet her it’s in the episode 14 of the Season in an episode called “Three Valentines“. Frasier is out for the evening with Cassandra, but doesn’t quite know if he’s on a date or not. He’s had mixed signals and ends up sat at the table waiting for her unsure on if this is a Business meeting or not. Things aren’t any clearer after she arrives and Frasier spends the dinner confused. It doesn’t get any clearer. Not even after Cassandra invites him back to her room to make things easier the next day for a meeting they are both going to.
And. not even after they end up in bed together…
We next see Cassandra in the 21st Episode, “When a Man Loves Two Women“. By this point Frasier and Cassandra are dating, but on random meeting with an old girlfriend, Faye, Frasier gets confused about who it is he really wants. Ultimately he decides that life with Faye is what he wants the most. Well, that is until he learns that Cassandra has being seeing someone else as well. This brings out the green eyed monster in him and he decides it is Cassandra that is the one for him. But, in typical Frasier fashion, once he sits down to talk to Cassandra he realises that it’s Faye he wants. Or, is it… Once he’s back with Faye he starts to doubt that decision as well. (C’mon Frasier – It’s a no brainer here, surely?- Right? RIGHT?)
Moving on to Episodes 23 and 24 – “Shutout in Seattle Parts 1 and 2“. Frasier has been seeing Faye for a good few weeks now, but he keeps calling her Cassandra by mistake, obviously she’s still on his mind in a big way (well, yeah, Frasier). He’s managed to cover it up so far by insisting that his Aunt is called Cassandra and that Faye reminds her of his Aunt. Faye seems to be OK with this, but then in a fleeting moment it all goes terribly wrong and Cassandra bumps into Faye, introducing herself as she does… Game over Frasier, game over. You fool.
Although she has limited screen in time in all three shows, it’s an utter delight to see her in this kind of role. Sure she’s the sexy smart woman we’ve seen her do before, but just to see her shine in a proper comedy role is worth the price of admission. I honestly wish the Producers of the show had found a bigger role for her in this show, but I’ll take what I got.
Virginia Madsen throughly enjoyed her time on the show, speaking in 2013 with The AV Club she’d remember her time with the cast and crew fondly;
“When I did Cassandra, I wasn’t quite to the point where I was when I did Sideways, but I was just starting to turn my life around. I was still a good deal heavier than I wanted to be, but I was starting to get really healthy, Jack was a little bit bigger at that point, and life was all coming together, but I wasn’t getting any work. I wasn’t really getting movies that were… well, they were sort of pay-the-mortgage movies. So I decided that I would try and guest star in shows that I really liked, so that I could continue learning as an actor. Star Trek: Voyager was one of those, because I’m a huge Star Trek fan, and Frasier was another one, because I’m a huge fan of that show and because I wanted to learn about comedy. I’d never really done any comedy before.
So my agent called and asked if I could meet the show creator, and they said, “Well, we have an episode for her!” I was like, “What?!?” [Laughs.] I just got offered the part! And it was a three-episode arc for a season finale… or, rather, I did one episode, then they turned it into that. But I just couldn’t believe it. Those people on that show, it was like they were a theater company, and they made me feel like I was a part of the cast, not just a guest star. I’m sure that they could see that I was still very vulnerable at that time. I was not very confident. But I really wanted to learn, and they were just like, “Here, Virginia, we’ll show you how to do it! Come on the stage with us, we’ll teach you how to dance!” And they did! And that did so much for my self-esteem. To perform in front of a live audience was just icing on the cake, and I will always be grateful to those actors and the showrunner for giving me that chance, because it really created momentum for change… very big change…in my life.”
Frasier will be forever a part of her history, and Virginia Madsen will live on in Frasier history, even if by proxy. The first episode she was in, Three Valentines, is widely regarded as one of the best episodes as it featured the infamous scene of Niles getting ready for a date and things going disastrously wrong. It is genuine comedy gold and has me in creases each and every time I see it.
In fact, I don’t have a trailer or any other video for this page, so you can have a giggle at that instead…
Availability:
Excellent. The DVD’s for both the Season and the Full Series are easy to find, and cheap! – Not sure why but I feel like I stole both the Season box set and the series box set when I picked up mine.
The show is currently a part of the Paramount+ line up as well if you’re a subscriber, or as it seems there is a lot of this, you can probably find copies of the episode(s) to watch on YouTube as well.
As he’s back home for the first time in a good while, the inevitable happens and he runs into his ex-girlfriend, Charlotte (our Virginia Madsen). Charlotte is single, good news for Connor. She had a husband, and a child, Dillon (Jimmy Bennett) now she’s back on the market. The two hit it off quite well and rekindle their acquaintance. Not in a romantic way, but a friend way.
Virginia Madsen does her whole “Single Mother with a heart of gold just waiting for her chance” thing in this one, it’s not a bad dialled in performance by any means – It’s nothing new though While all of the acting her,e is above par you wouldn’t expect anything less from the cast.
