Publisher's Synopsis
Collection of five films based on real events. In 'Rivals' (2000), Michelle (Marnette Patterson) is young, beautiful and the most popular girl in high school. She decides to help out when the shy and awkward Laurie (Jennifer Finnigan) arrives in the area, taking the new girl under her wing and transforming her from a bookworm into a beautiful siren. But this is when the trouble starts. Michelle's boyfriend falls for Laurie, and Michelle becomes extremely jealous, taunting Laurie and even threatening her with physical violence. The two girls become bitter rivals, but Michelle gets more and more out of control, and Laurie gradually comes to fear for her life. In 'Scattered Dreams' (1993), the Messenger family, comprised of dad George (Gerald McRaney), mother Kathryn (Tyne Daly) and five children, including Phyllis (Alicia Silverstone), struggle to eke out an existence as poor farmers. However, when the family are incorrectly convicted for an unpaid debt, the parents are sent to labour camps and the children absorbed and dispersed through the juvenile care system. Can George and Kathryn work to bring their family back together again? In 'Deep in My Heart' (1999), after being placed for adoption as a child, Barbara Ann Williams (Gloria Reuben) decides to trace her biological mother when she is diagnosed with a life-threatening condition. As she struggles to unravel the trail of her life, she discovers that her birth mother Gerry Cummins (Anne Bancroft), a white woman, was raped by a black man in the early 1960s. In 'The People Next door' (1996), Anna Morse (Nicolette Sheridan) has what seem like the perfect neighbours in Garrett and Donna James (Michael O'Keefe and Tracy Ellis), who make a big fuss of her three daughters. However, one day the James's disappear without a trace, taking two of Anna's daughters with them. Soon after, Anna discovers that Garrett James has a violent criminal past when she enlists the help of police detective Jack Driscoll (Ernie Lively) in tracking them down. Finally, in 'Our Guys' (1999), after a lifetime of fighting crime in the city, Detective Heather Brooks (Ally Sheedy) returns to her home town, where she must face another disturbing case. Rumours begin to circulate that a member of the high school football team has sexually assaulted a mentally handicapped girl. Along with the state prosecutor (Eric Stoltz), Brooks starts investigating, but her progress is hampered by local hostility and the reluctance of the lonely victim to testify.
