Just as with One Fine Day, there are many unusual coincidences in this 1996 release, that can be related to Michelle's other films as well as her real life. What follows ranges from the obvious to the more obscure, but as Pfans, you really ought to know. How many did you pick up? Have I missed any? Contact me here.
A basic plot synopsis
before continuing. In the film, Michelle plays wannabe
television-journalist, Tally Atwater. After surviving a poor
childhood in Nevada, she arrives at a small Miami news station
with almost no experience, but is determined to fight her way up
from phone operator to
top journalist. Seasoned newsman, Warren Justice (Robert Redford)
is among the first to notice that Tally 'eats the (camera) lens.'
He takes her on as his prodigee, and inevitably their
relationship develops into something more (this is a romance:-)).
However, as her star rises, his is fading away, and some tough
choices have to be made from both sides...
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In this film, you can
see the only 2 actors who have appeared onscreen for the
third time in their careers with Michelle. They are: -Kate Nelligan, after appearing in Frankie & Johnny, and Wolf. Coincidentally, in this film she plays Joanna, the ex-wife of Robert Redford's character. In Wolf, she played Charlotte, Jack Nicholson's estranged wife. In both films she plays a journalist. -Dedee Pfeiffer, Michelle's real-life sister, here playing, you guessed it, Tally's younger sister. Dedee has previously appeared on screen with her sister in Into The Night, and Frankie & Johnny. |
The actor who
plays Tally's cameraman, Ned, also appears in Frankie &
Johnny. In the latter film, he is the dishwasher, and friend
of Frankie's, who sells his script and moves to Hollywood.
When Tally moves to Philadelphia to work for the station there,
viewers get the chance to see both leaders of the 'Pink Ladies'
on screen together:
-Stockard Channing, here playing bitchy newswoman Marsha Macgraw,
played Rizzo in the original Grease.
-Michelle played Stephanie Zinone in Grease 2.
Michelle's character, Tally talks at one stage about her mother
being an aspiring lounge singer. In The Fabulous Baker Boys,
Michelle's character, Susie Diamond, had similar goals.
Tally's sister is called Louanne. Michelle had just wrapped Dangerous
Minds, where she played teacher Louanne Johnson.
One of the reporters at the Miami station can also be seen in Wolf,
playing one of the two police detectives investigating the murder
of Charlotte Randall.
In both this film, and The Fabulous Baker Boys,
Michelle's characters have issues about singing the song,
'Feelings.'
Michelle's Tally, confides in Robert Redford's Warren, about her
usually failed entries into beauty contests when she was living
in Nevada. Later she even presents Warren with a framed picture
of her walking down the ramp, modelling a swimsuit. In real life,
Michelle's own inroad into acting
(aquiring an agent) was as a result of her win as Miss Orange
County in the late 70s. She failed to become Miss California.
Just after Warren and Tally's wedding, when they are relaxing at home, the same type of 'dinosaur' lamp that was in Sammy's bedroom in One Fine Day, can be seen.
