Kathy Baker Movies
An earthy strawberry blonde who has skirted typical leading lady roles to build a respectable career out of commendable supporting performances, talented Kathy Baker has time and again proven her cinematic worth with indispensable turns in such films as Edward Scissorhands (1990) and The Cider House Rules (1999). A native of Midland, TX, who received a degree in French from the University of California at Berkley, Baker studied briefly at the California Institute of Arts before abandoning her further education to reside in Paris for a number of years.After returning stateside to make a name for herself on stage and screen, Baker found 1983 to be a pivotal year for her career when she won an Obie for her role in Sam Shepard's Fool for Love and made a lasting impression in director Philip Kaufman's space program drama The Right Stuff. Subsequent roles as a prostitute in Street Smart (1987) and a recovering alcoholic and victim of domestic abuse in Clean and Sober (1988) proved a testament to Baker's considerable onscreen skills; her performance in Street Smart earned her Best Supporting Actress awards from the Boston Society of Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics as well as an Independent Spirits awards nomination.
Baker was increasingly prevalent in quirky dramas throughout the 1990s, but it was her work on the small screen that earned Baker the majority of her recognition in that decade. Her winning performance as a small-town doctor and family woman proved a key component in the success of the small-screen drama Picket Fences during the show's 1992-1996 run, and though she would focus her attention on the series, Baker still made time to appear in such theatrical releases as Mad Dog and Glory (1993) and To Gillian in Her 37th Birthday (1996).
Frequently alternating between high-profile releases and independent efforts, no matter what the quality of the films, Baker's performances were consistently solid. The new millennium once again found Baker scoring a hit with her role in the popular television comedy drama Boston Public, and though she only served a two-season stint on the series, she soon returned to television work with Murphy's Dozen on 2003. Her role as an overbearing mother tackled the issue of teenage pregnancy to surprising effect in the 2002 made-for-television effort Too Young to Be a Dad. Following a supporting performance in Robert Duvall's Assassination Tango (also 2002), Baker could be spotted in director Anthony Minghella's eagerly anticipated Civil War romance Cold Mountain (2003). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Oscar-winning director Curtis Hanson (8 Mile, L.A. Confidential) adapts author Andrew Ross Sorkin's penetrating expose of the 2008 Wall Street financial crisis in this made-for-HBO docudrama featuring an all-star cast. As the U.S. economy hits the skids, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (William Hurt) finds himself caught up in a critical battle of wills between the key players on Wall Street, and the powers that be in Washington, D.C. With just weeks to go before the country plunges into the most devastating financial crash since the Great Depression, the powerbrokers on both sides scramble to pull the failing economy back from the brink of disaster. Ed Asner, Billy Crudup, Paul Giamatti, Cynthia Nixon, James Woods, Tony Shalhoub, and Topher Grace co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- William Hurt, Ed Asner, (more)
An Ohio family man experiences a series of disturbing visions that gradually begin to weigh on his marriage and community when he begins obsessively constructing a heavily fortified storm shelter. Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon) has a good life. He lives in a beautiful house with his loving wife, Samantha (Jessica Chastain), and their deaf six-year-old daughter, Hannah (Tova Stewart), but begins to sense that something ominous is on the horizon when the dark clouds of swelling storms begin invading his dreams. Taciturn, Curtis refuses to discuss the dreams with anyone, but feels compelled to dig out a massive storm shelter with the help of a good friend (Shea Whigham). Meanwhile, as Samantha grows increasingly concerned with Curtis' erratic behavior, the local rumor mill begins to churn. Are Curtis' dreams a prophetic omen of things to come, or is he perhaps headed down the same dark road as his mother, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when she was approximately the same age that he is now? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, (more)
A former biker and drug dealer single-handedly takes on the nefarious Lord's Resistance Army in a noble bid to save young Sudanese refugees from a life of violence and suffering. Inspired by actual events, Marc Forster's Machine Gun Preacher stars Gerard Butler as Sam Childers, a tough-as-nails biker whose heart shatters upon witnessing the harrowing plight of children in Sudan. Determined that no child shall be enslaved by the brutal Lord's Resistance Army, Childers turns to God for inspiration, and establishes an orphanage for wounded kids and child soldiers. When the Lord's Resistance Army refuses to stand down, Childers organizes a militia to protect the children. In helping to give the orphans of war-torn Sudan a better future, the former outlaw begins to find new meaning in his own life as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, (more)
Author David L. Cook's best-selling novel Golf's Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia comes to the big screen in this inspirational sports drama starring Lucas Black and Robert Duvall. Luke Chisolm (Black) has the drive to become a professional golfer. Just when he's on the verge of going pro, however, he buckles under the pressure. In the aftermath of that crushing disappointment, Luke vanishes from the spotlight, uncertain if he'll ever return to the game again. Luke is driving through Texas when he crashes his car in the town of Utopia, and strikes up a friendship with Johnny Crawford (Duvall), a rancher who knows more about the game of golf than the troubled young visitor realizes. Now, the more time Luke spends with Johnny, the more he begins to see life from a new perspective -- a perspective that will not only help Luke to make sense of where he's been in life, but where he's headed as well. Oscar winner Melissa Leo and True Blood's Deborah Ann Woll co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Duvall, Lucas Black, (more)
Disgraced former Paradise, Massachusetts Police Chief Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) goes into self-imposed exile after being suspended from the force, investigating a bizarre series of interconnected murders in Boston that implicate Gino Fish (William Sadler), the city's most ruthless crime kingpin. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Selleck
A disastrous trip to London proves to have a silver lining for a middle-aged American jingle writer in this romantic slice-of-life drama starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. Harvey (Hoffman) is about to lose his unfulfilling dead-end job writing jingles when he boards a plane to attend his daughter's wedding in London. He hasn't turned out a memorable tune in some time, and should Harvey fail to come up with something catchy during his trip overseas, he knows that his boss (Richard Schiff) is ready and willing to let him go. Upon arriving in London, Harvey is devastated to learn that his daughter (Liane Balaban) has opted to have her stepfather (James Brolin) walk her down the aisle instead of him. And things are about to get worse, too. Harvey realizes that he won't be able to suppress his sadness through the whole reception, and makes a quick getaway in hopes of catching a plane back home. Perhaps if he can attend an important meeting on Monday morning, his boss will have some sympathy and grant him a momentary reprieve. No such luck, however, because when Harvey misses the flight and calls his boss to explain, he is fired over the phone. Later, at the airport bar, Harvey is drowning his sorrows when he strikes up a conversation with no-nonsense Office of National Statistics employee Kate (Thompson). Kate doesn't have much of a social life; most of her time outside of work is spent suffocating under the love of her smothering mother (Eileen Atkins). She's just gotten through a humiliating string of blind dates, and something about Harvey's situation and demeanor strikes a sympathetic chord in the lonely civil servant. Likewise, Kate's intelligence and compassion prove unexpectedly invigorating to Harvey. Both Harvey and Kate had always assumed that love had passed them by -- could this middle-aged romance be the glimmer of a new beginning? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, (more)
Robin Swicord's adaptation of the novel The Jane Austen Book Club concerns a group of women and a man who meet regularly to discuss the works of the popular author, but soon discover their lives are playing out much like one of the author's fictional worlds. Among the members of the club are Sylvia (Amy Brenneman), a recent divorcée; Bernadette (Kathy Baker), who has decided to accept her advancing age; and Prudie (Emily Blunt), who feels guilty about her persistent fantasies of cheating on her loving husband. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kathy Baker, Maria Bello, (more)
- 2007
After quarrelling with Logan (Matt Czuchry), Rory (Alexis Bledel) accompanies Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Emily (Kelly Bishop) to North Carolina for the wedding of the Gilmore Girls' surrogate grandmother Mia (Kathy Baker). A pall is cast over the festivities by Emily, who doesn't like the fact that her daughters seem closer to Mia than to her. To top things off, in the middle of the ceremony Logan makes an surprise appearance to beg Rory's forgiveness. Meanwhile back in Stars Hollow, Lane (Keiko Agena) goes into labor. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
The fourth installment of the Jesse Stone series finds restless New England police chief Stone (Tom Selleck) fighting boredom by attempting to solve a twelve year-old cold case involving a murdered bank teller. Jesse Stone is a transplanted L.A. cop who thrived on big city adrenaline, but ultimately buckled under the pressure. Exiled to Paradise after suffering though a nasty divorce and being busted for drinking on the job, Stone now leads a quiet life of writing parking tickets and trying to suppress the urge to cut loose with the booze and babes. When one of his officers out on maternity leave and the other recovering from a recent gunshot wound, Stone turns to some old cold cases to keep himself occupied. Twelve years ago, a local bank teller was killed in broad daylight. Though the gunman responsible for the crime was never brought to justice, Stone soon uncovers a crucial piece of evidence that went overlooked during the original investigation. Now, as this once-cold case gradually begins to heat up again, Stone continues his investigation into an alleged rape that tool place aboard a yacht during Race Week. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Selleck, Viola Davis, (more)
The legacy of a populist Southern politician whose lofty ambitions for the future leave him open to corruption and scandal is detailed as author Robert Penn Warren's thinly veiled portrait of Depression-era Louisiana governor Huey Long comes to the screen -- again -- this time courtesy of director and screenwriter Steven Zaillian. Willie Stark (Sean Penn) is a man of the people, and for the people; at least that's what he tells the people. Propelled into a race for governor by opposing forces looking to split the "hick vote," Stark is convinced by a handler -- as well as by young journalist Jack Burden (Jude Law) -- to not kowtow to the powers that be. His rhetoric grows fiery, and he makes his way into office on a not-so-solid foundation of social-service promises. When idealism gives way to the harsh realities of the time, however, the fast-talking politico is quick to discover just how far one can fall when ambition and power lead to a betrayal of one's original motivations. Kate Winslet, Patricia Clarkson, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, and Anthony Hopkins round out an all-star cast in this second version of Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 novel; the first won a parade of Oscars after its release in 1949. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
A school of ravenous tiger sharks turn a spring break celebration into a frenzied bloodbath, and the only way to survive is to stay away from the beach in a sun-soaked tale of iron-jawed terror starring Shannon Lucio, Kathy Baker, Riley Smith, and Bryan Brown. The hard-partying college coeds aren't the only ones hitting the Florida beach this spring break, and as the keg gets tapped and the beer begins to flow, a school of hungry tiger sharks prepares to move in for the kill. With a virtual buffet of tasty teenage flesh to satisfy their bottomless appetites, the crafty, water-bound killers soon commence to turning the blue waters of the beach blood red. Now forced to fight for their lives against an unrelenting onslaught of unimaginable horror, a group of desperate coeds attempts to put their higher education to the test and outsmart nature's perfect predator. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kathy Baker, Bryan Brown, (more)
Filmmaker Rodrigo García takes an unusual look into the lives of nine different women in this episodic drama. Each of the film's nine sequences has been staged as a single shot, using the Steadicam system to allow the camera to follow the action fluidly and without cuts. In these short episodes (lasting between ten and 14 minutes), Holly (Lisa Gay Hamilton) has a brief moment of reverie while confronting the specters of her past in her old neighborhood. Maggie (Glenn Close) escorts her young daughter Maria (Dakota Fanning) to a cemetery as they visit the graves of their family members. Ruth (Sissy Spacek) is a married woman contemplating an affair while visiting Henry (Aidan Quinn) in his hotel room. Diana (Robin Wright Penn) unexpectedly runs into an old boyfriend, Damian (Jason Isaacs), while shopping for groceries. Camilla (Kathy Baker) is a hospital patient awaiting surgery for cancer. Samantha (Amanda Seyfried) is a teenage girl who helps look after her handicapped father Larry (Ian McShane). Sandra (Elpidia Carrillo) is a female prison inmate who is expecting a visit from her children. Sonia (Holly Hunter) lashes out at her boyfriend Martin (Stephen Dillane) when she finds out he's been cheating on her. And Lorna (Amy Brenneman) has an unexpectedly moving encounter with her ex-husband Andrew (William Fichtner) as she pays her respects to his second wife, who has just passed away. Nine Lives premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kathy Baker, Amy Brenneman, (more)
- 2004
Death Row inmate Ray Kaspo (David Meunier) is poisoned to death--45 minutes before his execution. While investigating this curious turn of events, Monk (Tony Shalhoub) is approached by another inmate, former billionaire Dale "The Whale" Biederbeck, whom Monk sent away for murder in the series' fourth episode (formerly played by Adam Arkin, Dale the Whale is now portrayed by Tim Curry). This time out, Dale is suspected of killing Ray, but insists that he's innocent and wants Monk to prove it. This requires our hero to suppress his million-and-one phobias and go undercover as a convict--whereupon he is immediately befriended by the dangerously sociopathic Spyder Rudner (Danny Trejo). This final episode of Monk's second season ends on a cliffhanger, with Monk seemingly poised to solve the long-ago murder of his beloved wife Trudy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Acclaimed filmmaker Spike Lee makes the leap from the big screen to the small screen for this Showtime drama concerning the battle waged between black, white, an Asian gangs for control of the San Francisco streets. A modern-day melting pot that has become home to some of the vicious street-gangs in the country, San Francisco is a city teeming with racial tension. When each gang lays claim to the streets in a desperate bid to establish their turf, the simmering tensions soon boil to the surface in a violent eruption of murder and chaos. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ben Crowley, Ken Leung, (more)
Thirteen-year-old Jenna (Shana Dowdeswell) has had enough with the trials of adolescence. In addition to being saddled with a devoted-but-nerdy best friend, Matt (Sean Marquette), she falls victim to one of the dangers of playing Seven Minutes in Heaven with the coolest kids in school: being stranded without a willing make-out partner. Humiliated, Jenna buries herself in the aforementioned make-out closet, wishing she could skip the whole adolescence bit and move straight into adulthood, and miraculously wakes up just weeks away from her 30th birthday. Of course, a lot has changed since going to bed the night before, not the least of which being an impressive set of womanly curves. The new, older Jenna (Jennifer Garner) is a successful magazine editor with friends in high places and a lion's share of potential suitors -- including a hockey-playing boyfriend and a swarthy married man. The problem is that her mind hasn't matured with her body; Jenna not only finds living on her own more terrifying than cool, but is quick to dismiss any male over the age of 14 as "gross." Half excited, half mortified, Jenna seeks out Matt (Mark Ruffalo), whom she learns she had spurned as a teenager in an effort to join the popular crowd. Gary Winick directed the film, from a script by Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa; Gina Matthews produced. Choreographer Michael Peters -- who died in 1994 -- received posthumous credit, as his choreography from the Michael Jackson Thriller video is used in one scene. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, (more)
Based on the novel by Charles Frazier, Anthony Minghella's star-studded Cold Mountain is a sweeping tale set in the final days of the American Civil War. Jude Law stars as Inman, a young soldier who, despite an injury, is struggling to make his way home to Cold Mountain, NC, where his beloved Ada (Nicole Kidman) awaits. In Inman's absence, Ada befriends Ruby (Renée Zellweger), who helps her keep up her late father's farm. Meanwhile, in his travels, Inman encounters a menagerie of interesting folks. Also starring Natalie Portman, Giovanni Ribisi, Donald Sutherland, and Philip Seymore Hoffman, Cold Mountain features original music by Jack White of the White Stripes. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, (more)
Three families residing on the same suburban street struggle to strengthen their father/son bonds in this tale from filmmakers Rodrigo García, Jared Rappaport, and Robert Spera. As old wounds remain sensitive and alienation keeps generations of fathers and sons from truly bonding, the struggle to make a meaningful connection offers hopes of understanding and a new beginning. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kathy Baker, Ron Eldard, (more)
- 2003
Divorced Denver TV weatherman Will (Scott Wolf) only has custody of his son during holidays. Divorced mom Jane (Amanda Detmer) has custody of her daughter every day of the year except holidays. Inevitably, Will and Jane meet at the Denver airport while picking up and dropping off their respective children. And inasmuch as this is a made-for-cable romantic comedy, Will and Jane are destined to run into one another at the same airport again and again on subsequent Holiday weekends. And of course they will ultimately fall in love, despite such complications as the effort by Jane's ex-husband to win her back. The first film project of Friends star Lisa Kudrow's Is or Isn't Entertainment, Picking Up and Dropping Off made its ABC Family channel debut on December 7, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Directed and written by Rodrigo Garcia, Ten Tiny Love Stories features ten women who, in a series of monologues, talk about the men who have made the largest impact on their respective lives. Though each woman is unique in her experiences with love, sex, death, loss, and many other aspects of the human condition, they all have one thing in common: their memories are the only remaining connection they have to the man who affected them to an extent he will probably never realize. Ten Tiny Love Stories is Garcia's second feature film, and features Kathy Baker, Radha Mitchell, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Debi Mazar, and Elizabeth Peña. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
- 2002
Stressed to the max by her burned-out husband (Bruce Davison) and her slacker daughter (Terra Vnesa), teacher Susan Freeman (Kathy Baker) takes comfort in the fact that her 15-year-old son Matt (Paul Franklin Dano) is an honor student with an advanced sense of responsibility and a strong work ethic. But even the smartest of kids can make the dumbest of mistakes: While tutoring fellow student Francesca (Katie Stuart), Matt recklessly has sex with the girl -- getting her pregnant the first time out. At the risk of his future (and possibly his sanity), Matt not only takes upon himself the burdens and responsibilities of unwed parenthood, but also fights Francesca's efforts to give up the baby for adoption. Too Young to Be a Dad first aired June 10, 2002 on the Lifetime cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paul Franklin Dano, Kathy Baker, (more)
Leading man Robert Duvall writes and directs his third feature, the romantic thriller Assassination Tango. John J. (Duvall) is an aging hit man who has settled down into family life in New York with teacher Maggie (Kathy Baker). After he is offered a good sum of money, he accepts a job to kill an Argentinean General in Buenos Aires. When he gets there, he finds out he has to wait three weeks to finish the job, so he stays in Argentina and studies the tango. He meets young dancer Manuela (real-life girlfriend Luciana Pedraza making her film debut) and the two become dance partners and begin to flirt with one another. Meanwhile, the assignment lingers. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Duvall, Rubén Blades, (more)
Door to Door is the inspirational true story of a man who refused to let severe physical debilitation get in the way of his life's goal. William H. Macy (who also co-wrote the script) stars as Bill Porter, a Portland, OR, native born with cerebral palsy. Despite his spastic walk and oddly shaped countenance, Bill intends to succeed in life on ability rather than the pity of the unafflicted. Thus, in 1955, he manages to land a job as a door-to-door salesman for the Watkins Company. At first, Bill meets with nothing but slammed doors, hostile dogs, and unashamed hostility from "normal" people; but after making his first sale to a reclusive alcoholic named Gladys (Kathy Baker), there is literally no stopping him. For next 40 years, Bill walks some eight to ten miles per day plying his trade, winning one "salesman of the year" award after another. Also in the cast is Helen Mirren as Bill's supportive but aphasic mother, and Kyra Sedgwick as Bill's young assistant, Shelley, whose Herculean efforts to get the hero to "modernize" his tried-and-true methods invariably come a cropper. Door to Door debuted July 14, 2002, over the TNT cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
This teen psychological thriller marks the feature film debut of respected television producer and director Daniel Sackheim. Leelee Sobieski stars as Ruby Baker, a high school student who is devastated when her parents Grace and Dave (Rita Wilson and Michael O'Keefe) are killed in a tragic car accident. With her younger brother Rhett (Trevor Morgan), Ruby is sent to live with the legal guardians chosen by her parents, their best friends Terry (Stellan Skarsgård) and Erin Glass (Diane Lane). The Glasses live in an opulent Malibu mansion where Ruby and Rhett are promised all of the finest luxuries money can buy and a lavish new rich-kid lifestyle. Before long, however, Ruby begins to suspect that her new caretakers are not what they appear on the surface and that the couple's financial woes may force them to harm her or Rhett in order to cash in on their sizable life insurance policies. The Glass House was written by Wesley Strick, screenwriter of Cape Fear (1991), Wolf (1994), and The Saint (1997). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Leelee Sobieski, Diane Lane, (more)
- 2000
Kenny Rogers guest stars as itinerant musician Denny (Kenny Rogers), former boyfriend of a married woman named Ellen Sawyer (Kathy Baker). Feeling neglected by her workaholic husband Greg (Michael Nouri)--who in time-honored sitcom tradition has forgotten their 20th wedding anniversary--Ellen wishes she had married Denny instead. Monica (Roma Downey), Tess (Della Reese) and Andrew (John Dye are assigned to bring the Sawyers back together again. . .and by an amusing twist of fate, they are "helped " in this pursuit by none other than Denny himself. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
In this comic fantasy for the family, Doris (Kathy Baker), a woman who runs a secondhand store, buys a ring that turns out to have magical powers. Before she knows what's happened, the ring has turned her into one of her favorite television stars, and the talisman allows her to transform a pair of rats into good-looking boys for a couple of teenage girls with whom she's become friendly. But no one knows just how long the spell will remain in effect -- least of all Doris. Ratz also stars Caroline Elliott and Vanessa Lengies. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vanessa Lengies, Caroline Elliott, (more)
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