David Strathairn Movies

The life and legacy of atomic bomb creator J. Robert Oppenheimer serves as the subject of this installment of PBS's American Experience. His name forever bound to the Manhattan Project, America's most famous top-secret initiative, Oppenheimer presided over the assembly of the atomic bomb that helped end World War II. The legacy of the charismatic scientist would soon be tainted, however, by accusations of treason. Why did the country who once hailed Oppenheimer as a national hero suddenly turn their backs on him? Academy Award-nominated actor David Strathairn stars as Oppenheimer in a documentary profile of the man who would ultimately emerge as one of the 20th Century's most important, yet controversial figures. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Mark S. Waters's adaptation of the popular fantasy novels The Spiderwick Chronicles tells the tale of the Graces, a family who must adapt to their new strange surroundings. As the story begins, twin brothers Jared and Simon, along with their sister Mallory and their mother, move away from the big city to a mansion owned by their uncle. When a series of strange happenings suggest that Jared may be causing a number of disturbances, the siblings band together to figure out what is going on. Soon they discover the magical history of the property. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Academy award nominee David Strathairn stars in co-directors David Gow and Mark Adam's fiery tale of a Jewish, court appointed lawyer assigned the task of defending a murderous neo-Nazi skinhead. David Dunkleman (Strathairn) is a Jewish liberal humanist and a lawyer who works for the court system. Mike Downey (Andrew Walker) is a fierce member of the Aryan brotherhood who stands accused of a brutal, racially motivated murder. Now, behind prison walls, these two disparate souls will clash in the ultimate struggle of ideology as Dunkleman boldly attempts top put his professional beliefs before his personal beliefs, and his client clings to the hate that now threatens to consume both men from the inside out . ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A structural engineer (Anthony Hopkins) and an ambitious young district attorney (Ryan Gosling) become locked in a deadly battle of wits when the former is found innocent in the attempted murder of his wife in director Gregory Hoblit's tense tale of courtroom mind games. Ted Crawford (Hopkins) is an engineer who lives with his wife, Jennifer (Embeth Davidtz), in the couple's lavish Southern California home. One day, after carefully planning out the details to ensure that there is no way he can be convicted of murder, Ted shoots his wife in a blatant attempt to kill the woman. When head hostage negotiator Rob Nunally (Billy Burke) arrives on the scene to speak with Ted, he is shocked to find that the victim of the shooting is in fact his longtime lover. Though Jennifer survives the trauma of being shot in the head at close range, she hovers comatose between life and death as star prosecutor Willy Beachum (Gosling) reluctantly accepts the case while preparing to leave the Los Angeles criminal court system behind for a more promising career at a posh private law firm. Though the DA (David Strathairn) vehemently resents Beachum's lofty plan for departure, the hotshot young lawyer remains convinced that he can expedite the apparently open-and-shut case and be on his way to greener pastures in one week's time at the very most. Beachum's swelling ego betrays him, however, as his future boss Nikki Gardner (Rosamund Pike) begins to turn up the heat and fracture mechanics specialist Ted chooses to represent himself at the trial knowing well that a career spent spotting structural flaws in aeronautical systems has instilled him with just the kind of argumentative skills needed to riddle the swaggering young lawyer's "foolproof" case with doubt. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

David Strathairn and Melissa Leo star in first-time feature filmmaker Nicole Quinn's Racing Daylight, a feature length love story told in three short films about hope and forgiveness. Part ghost story, part murder mystery, and part time-shifting tale of eternal love, the film follows the journey of Sadie Stokes (Leo), who has recently returned to her family farm in Cedersville to tend to her catatonic grandmother (Leclanche Durand). For as far back as anyone can remember, there have always been Stokes in Cedersville, though the family legacy appears to be fading as Sadie and Grandma are the last surviving members of their bloodline. One day, Sadie's staid existence is suddenly shattered when a mysterious man appears to her momentarily in a mirror, calling out the name "Anna" before vanishing back into the glass. Haunted by the mysterious apparition, Sadie gradually begins to take on the characteristics of her ancestor Anna Stokes while realizing that the only man capable of satisfying both herself and the apparition is Henry (Strathairn), the local handyman, and an avid Civil War enthusiast. But Sadie can't help but suspecting that Henry is in fact her long lost love Harry (Strathairn), and against the backdrop of the magical Hudson River Valley, an age-old mystery begins to take form in the present. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

An American clothing designer who has traveled to Thailand with his family to visit a remote factory that produces his garments must struggle to locate his wife and children when the Southeast Asian country is devastated by the 2004 tsunami. Oscar nominee David Strathairn stars in a film scripted and directed by Michael Patwin, and produced by Chris Bender, Ben Katz, and Madeline Ryan. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A true story of tragedy, hope, and resilience comes to the screen in this sports drama. Huntington, WV, is home to Marshall University, a school where college football is a way of life. Huntington is also a town that learned to deal with tragedy in the fall of 1970 when Marshall's "Thundering Herd" boarded an airliner to return home after a football game in North Carolina. The jet crashed into a hill due to bad weather, and 75 members of Marshall's football squad and athletic staff died that night. The accident dealt a crippling blow to the city of Huntington, as well as Marshall's faculty and student body, and university president Donald Dedmon (David Strathairn) considered abandoning the school's football program. But instead Coach Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey) was recruited from Ohio's College of Wooster to rebuild Marshall's football program. Lengyel was not naïve about the task ahead of him, and working beside Red Dawson (Matthew Fox), an assistant coach who narrowly missed the doomed flight and was one of the program's only survivors, he came to understand his job was not just to put a team on the field, but help a college and a community heal their wounds from the tragic accident. Together Lengyel and Dawson turned a handful of rookies and second-string players into a competitive team who in 1971 showed the world what they could do in a legendary game against Marshall's rivals, Xavier University. Produced with the cooperation of Marshall University and filmed in part on their campus, We Are Marshall also stars Ian McShane, Anthony Mackie, and January Jones. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

George Clooney pays homage to one of the icons of American broadcast journalism, Edward R. Murrow, in this fact-based drama, which was Clooney's second feature film as a director. In 1953, Edward R. Murrow (played by David Strathairn) was one of the best-known newsmen on television as host of both the talk show Person to Person and the pioneering investigate series See It Now. Joseph McCarthy, a U.S. senator from Wisconsin, was generating no small amount of controversy in the public and private sectors with his allegations that Communists had risen to positions of power and influence in America, and an Air Force pilot, Milo Radulovich, had been drummed out of the service due to McCarthy's charges that he was a Communist agent. However, Radulovich had been dismissed without a formal hearing of the charges, and he protested that he was innocent of any wrongdoing. Murrow decided to do a story on Radulovich's case questioning the legitimacy of his dismissal, which was seen by McCarthy and his supporters as an open challenge to his campaign. McCarthy responded by accusing Murrow of being a Communist, leading to a legendary installment of See It Now in which both Murrow and McCarthy presented their sides of the story, which was seen by many as the first step toward McCarthy's downfall. Meanwhile, Murrow had to deal with CBS head William Paley (Frank Langella), who was supportive of Murrow but extremely wary of his controversial positions, while Murrow was also trying to support fellow newsman Don Hollenbeck (Ray Wise), battling charges against his own political views, and working alongside Fred Friendly (George Clooney), the daring head of CBS News. Good Night, and Good Luck also stars Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey Jr., Patricia Clarkson, and Robert John Burke; the film won Best Film honors after its world premiere at the 2005 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The tragic court case that forever altered the course of American jurisprudence is dramatized for the screen in this courtroom docudrama starring Timothy Hutton, David Straithairn, Leelee Sobieski, Anthomy Mack and Bill Sage. The year is 1931, and nine black hobos have been accused of raping two white women on an Alabama freight train. The accused, who all range in age from twelve to twenty-three, are quickly sentenced to death in the electric chair by an all-white jury fueled by racism and vengeance. But as news of the convictions spreads, something remarkable happens: the plight of the so-called Scottsboro Boys inadvertently ends up fueling the fires of socialism across the globe and the case is quickly appealed to the United States Supreme Court. As each of the nine defendants prepare for their retrials in a Decatur, Alabama courtroom, self-assured New York defense attorney Samuel Liebowitz (Hutton) accepts the formidable task of representing the accused in the trial that will hold an entire nation spellbound. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Celebrated and vilified in equal measure, the pinup goddess Bettie Page inspired a legion of followers -- and an indecency scandal -- by appearing in a series of nude, sado-masochistic, and/or revealing magazine spreads in the 1950s. An era later, writer/director Mary Harron casts a knowing eye upon the woman who indirectly gave birth to modern pornography in the biopic The Notorious Bettie Page. As a teen, Page (Gretchen Mol) is a smart, plucky girl with ambitions beyond her Tennessee roots. Suffering varying degrees of abuse from her father, her first husband, and suitors of dubious virtue, Page makes her way to New York City, where an amateur photographer discovers her lounging on the beach. It isn't long before images of the shapely brunette reach Irving and Paula Klaw (Chris Bauer and Lili Taylor), brother-and-sister entrepreneurs who publish illicit magazines dedicated primarily to men's fetishes. The casual nudist Page eventually finds herself acquiescing to their requests to don thigh-high boots, whips, and chains, which raise the ire of the smut-fearing senator Estes Kefauver (David Strathairn). The Notorious Bettie Page had its North American premiere at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

Studies say that the majority of homicides are committed by someone the victim knows, and 17-year-old J.J. White (Jonathan Tucker) is about to find that out the hard way. Upon returning to his working-class home from a court-ordered stay at rehab, J.J.'s struggle to remain sober is complicated by both the stress of dealing with his dysfunctional family and a series of late night snowstorms that makes venturing into the outside world impossible. As cabin fever takes hold and J.J. begins to suspect that his own family is plotting to kill him for the insurance money, he must discover if his paranoia is truly justified or psychosomatic if he is to survive and maintain his sanity. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The coming-of-age drama Blue Car is the directorial debut feature from actress Karen Moncrieff. Played by newcomer Agnes Bruckner, quiet high school student Meg lives in an apartment complex where she takes care of her troubled little sister, Lily (Regan Arnold), while her emotionally unavailable mom (Margaret Colin) is busy at work or school. Since her dad left, the family has been under financial strain and Lily suffers from starvation, delusions, and self mutilation. Meg maintains a calm demeanor and endures her responsibilities but unleashes her frustrations and pain through her poems, which she shares with her supportive English teacher, Mr. Auster (David Strathairn). With his encouragement, she wins a regional poetry competition and makes it to the finals in Florida. However, she is faced with repeating hardships as her sister's condition intensifies, she gets fired for stealing, and her mom kicks her out of the house. Temporarily staying with her friend Georgia (Sarah Beuhler), she meets the delinquent Pat (A.J. Buckley) and gets involved in some petty crime. Agnes eventually goes to Florida by herself, where she meets Mr. Auster's intelligent yet discontented wife, Delia (Frances Fisher), and she finds her relationship with him becoming more complicated. Blue Car premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

A runner-up in HBO's popular series Project Greenlight, this touching tale of common threads and self-discovery stars David Strathairn, Nicky Katt, and Christopher McDonald. Brought together by a car accident, Bruce Hickman (Strathairn) and Frank Marnikov (Katt) soon discover that they are connected not only by their current dilemma, but also by their acquaintance with a deaf man whom neither was aware the other knew. As a bond forms between Bruce and Frank, the past simmers to the surface, forcing the two men to confront their troubles and take an introspective journey that will open their eyes to both themselves and the world around them. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide