Playing with Fire

Apr 13, 1985

1h 40m

★ 6.0

All he wanted was a little love.

Overview

Gary Coleman stars as a teenage arsonist. The authorities, friends, and neighbors warn his absentee parents until it is too late.

Genres

TV Movie

Crime

Drama

Production Companies

Zephyr Productions

New World Television

NBC

Playing with Fire Trailers

Cast

David Phillips

Gary Coleman

Carol Phillips

Cicely Tyson

Steve Phillips

Ron O'Neal

Fire Chief Walker

Yaphet Kotto

Pamela Fredericks

Tammy Lauren

Mike Harris

Tom Fridley

Dr. Becker

Salome Jens

Principal Sweeney

Richard McKenzie

Harry

Arthur Burghardt

Miss Somerhalter

Jacque Lynn Colton

Fireman Goodwin

Rance Howard

Fireman Wilson

Ron Jackson

Parole officer Jack Mabry has only a few weeks left before retirement and wishes to finish out the cases he's been assigned. One such case is that of Gerald 'Stone' Creeson, a convicted arsonist who is up for parole. Jack is initially reluctant to indulge Stone in the coarse banter he wishes to pursue and feels little sympathy for the prisoner's pleads for an early release. Seeing little hope in convincing Jack himself, Stone arranges for his wife to seduce the officer, but motives and intentions steadily blur amidst the passions and buried secrets of the corrupted players in this deadly game of deception.

6.2

New Jersey Drive

Apr 19, 1995

Jason and Midget are two young, black teenagers living in Newark, New Jersey, the unofficial car theft capital of the world. Their favourite pastime is that of everybody in their neighbourhood: stealing cars and joyriding. The trouble starts when they steal a police car and the cops launch a violent offensive that involves beating and even shooting suspects.

7.1

The Long, Hot Summer

May 17, 1958

Accused barn burner and conman Ben Quick arrives in a small Mississippi town and quickly ingratiates himself with its richest family, the Varners.

4.8

Wide Sargasso Sea

Apr 16, 1993

In the wake of Jamaican emancipation, French colonist Annette Cosway falls into poverty and marries racist Englishman Paul Mason. But when Annette's young son dies in a fire started by former slaves, Mason flees to England, leaving his grief-stricken wife and her Creole daughter Antoinette behind. Soon Antoinette learns she must marry to claim her inheritance and sets her sights on Rochester, an Englishman eerily similar to Mason.

5.8

Desert Blue

Jun 4, 1999

An academic obsessed with roadside attractions and his tv-star daughter stop at a small desert town to see the world's largest ice cream cone, where, because of an accident that spilled an unknown substance all over the highway, they are forced to spend a few days with the towns eccentric residents.

5.2

Mad Love

May 26, 1995

Matt falls for Casey, the new girl in school. She's fun-loving and eccentric, but there's a darkness to her whimsy that Matt can't begin to comprehend. When Casey attempts to commit suicide, her parents place her in a mental institution. Matt springs her out, and together the young lovers head on a road trip. They believe their love can "cure" Casey's problems. Matt starts to wonder, though, if are they inspired or misguided.

6.2

The River Rat

Sep 28, 1984

On the lazy banks of the Mississippi, a young girl is reunited with her time-served but innocent father. But the reunion is tainted with the whereabouts of the stolen loot, and those who come looking for it...

6.9

Wild Boys of the Road

Oct 7, 1933

At the height of the Great Depression, Tommy's mother has been out of work for months when Eddie's father loses his job. Eager not to burden their parents, the two high school sophomores decide to hop the freight trains and look for work.

4.5

Park Hwa-young

Jul 19, 2018

Hwa-young is an 18-year-old student living alone. Her friends call her "mom" and use her house as their place to hang out, but don't really include her in their clique. Hwa-young pays particular attention to one of the friends, Mi-jeong.

6.0

Secrets

May 25, 1995

Etta Berter is a doctor's wife in 1905 who has been unable to have children. The couple has one adopted daughter but she has always wanted more children. Julie Harris's character is the family's cook and close companion to their daughter. Her granddaughter is the family's maid. When a visiting friend of Etta's arrives for a visit both she and the maid are attracted to him. When he seems to prefer the younger woman (the maid) the other woman is very jealous and when the maid becomes pregnant by him the older woman vows to make that child her own.

6.6

From the Ashes

Jan 18, 2024

At a strict girls’ school, a mysterious fire blazes out of control. Now everyone's questioning whether it was an accident — or arson.

6.5

Lupin the Third: Dragon of Doom

Jul 29, 1994

The Lupin gang is once again dragged onto a wild treasure hunt! This time, the objective is a mysterious, small dragon statue that even Goemon's steel-rendering blade Zantetsuken cannot cut. The artifact, which once eluded even Lupin the Third's esteemed grandfather, rests deep undersea inside the infamous Titanic, and is the key to unlocking the mystery of Zantetsuken's almighty strength. A wealthy gangster, Lupin, and Goemon all want the statue for themselves!

4.4

For the Love of Grace

Aug 30, 2008

With a great career, close friends, and an upwardly mobile fiancé, ‘How To’ book writer Grace (Chandra West) appears to have the perfect life. Meanwhile, local firefighter Steve (Mark Consuelos), having just been suspended for his reckless, yet heroic style, seems to be heading in the opposite direction That is, until a fateful fire rescue fans the flames of attraction and gives them both a new perspective on life.

5.1

Nora Roberts' Blue Smoke

Feb 12, 2007

After witnessing an uncontrollable blaze burn her family's pizzeria to the ground when she was just 11 old, it's no wonder that Reena decides to become an arson investigator. Now, years later, she decides to visit the old neighborhood, where she finds true romance with a hunky carpenter named Bo Goodnight. But Reena is swiftly knocked off cloud nine when she discovers that a psycho connected to her past has resurfaced to wreak havoc in her life.

7.0

Quest for Fire

Dec 16, 1981

In the prehistoric world, a Cro-Magnon tribe depends on an ever-burning source of fire, which eventually extinguishes. Lacking the knowledge to start a new fire, the tribe sends three warriors on a quest for more. With the tribe's future at stake, the warriors make their way across a treacherous landscape full of hostile tribes and monstrous beasts. On their journey, they encounter Ika, a woman who has the knowledge they seek.

7.4

WE

Jan 1, 2011

No overview available.

5.2

Princess Iron Fan

Nov 19, 1941

The story was liberally adapted from a short sequence in the popular Chinese folk tale Journey to the West. Princess Iron Fan is a main character. Specifically, the film focused on the duel between the Monkey King and a vengeful princess, whose fan is desperately needed to quench the flames that surround a peasant village.

6.5

The Vourdalak

Oct 25, 2023

Lost in a hostile forest, the Marquis d'Urfé, a noble emissary of the King of France, finds refuge in the home of a strange family.

5.0

The Fire Raisers

Jan 22, 1934

Jim Bronton is an insurance investigator, but he's unhappy with his work and gets involved with a gang of arsonists. His conscience is troubling him ...