THE BEST OF TOMMY

If “The Good Old Boys” was good for you, consider checking out other Tommy Lee Jones performances in films now available on video:

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The Amazing Howard Hughes (HBO Video): Jones gives a compelling performance as the famed, reclusive millionaire in this lavish 1977 miniseries that originally aired on CBS. Ed Flanders, Tovah Feldshuh (as Katharine Hepburn) and James Hampton also star.

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Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Vestron Video): Jones and Jessica Lange created cinema magic in 1994’s little-seen “Blue Sky”--he as an easygoing military officer and she as his mentally unstable wife. Nine years earlier, the two starred as another troubled couple in the PBS “American Playhouse” production of this classic Tennessee Williams play. This rather lackluster version certainly doesn’t make one forget Richard Brooks’ 1958 feature film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman. Nevertheless, Jones is quite good as Brick, the frustrated former athlete trying to regain his dying father’s love. Rip Torn offers fine support as the domineering Big Daddy and Kim Stanley won an Emmy for her turn as Big Daddy’s long-suffering wife.

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Coal Miner’s Daughter (MCA Home Video) Fifteen years ago, Jones and his “Good Old Boys” co-star Sissy Spacek teamed up for the first time in this well-acted adaptation of country star Loretta Lynn’s best-selling autobiography. Spacek won an Oscar for her performance as Lynn; Jones is equally impressive as her husband, Mooney.

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The Executioner’s Song (International Video Entertainment): Jones received a richly deserved Emmy for his mesmerizing performance as convicted murderer Gary Gilmore, who successfully got the state of Utah to carry out his death sentence in 1977. Christine Lahti and Rosanna Arquette also star in the disturbing miniseries, which aired on NBC in 1982. Based on Norman Mailer’s acclaimed book of the same name.

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The Eyes of Laura Mars (Columbia/TriStar): Jones plays a charming police detective who may not be exactly what he seems in this rather inane but stylish 1978 thriller. Faye Dunaway stars as a hip fashion designer who sees premonitions of murders. Irvin Kershner (“The Empire Strikes Back”) directed. And that is Barbra Streisand warbling the forgettable title tune. (Then-boyfriend Jon Peters was the producer).

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The Fugitive (Warner Home Video): Jones received the 1993 best supporting actor Oscar as well as several critics’ awards for his delicious scene-stealing turn as the acerbic and determined federal marshal pursuing fugitive Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford).

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JFK (Warner Home Video): Jones received his first best supporting Oscar nomination for his chilling portrayal of the flamboyant Clay Shaw in director Oliver Stone’s controversial 1991 film about assassination conspiracies involving President John F. Kennedy.

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Love Story (Paramount Home Video): Billed as Tom Lee Jones, the actor made his film debut in this incredibly popular 1970 tear-jerker. He was Oliver Barrett’s (Ryan O’Neal) Harvard roommate. In real life, Jones was Vice President Al Gore’s Harvard roomie.

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Under Siege (Warner Home Video): Andrew Davis, who helmed “The Fugitive,” also directed this highly entertaining 1992 Steven Seagal vehicle that finds Jones as a wisecracking thug who hijacks a Navy battleship to steal its nuclear arms.