Anjelica Huston Movies
The daughter of director John Huston and his fourth wife, ballerina Ricki Somma, Anjelica Huston spent a privileged but troubled childhood in Ireland. Although her father didn't really want her to be an actress, he gave her substantial roles in his films Sinful Davy and A Walk With Love and Death (both 1969). The actress did little movie work during the '70s, choosing instead to pursue a successful, albeit short-term, career as a model before returning to films with a vengeance in the '80s, diligently studying with famed drama coach Peggy Feury.In 1985, Huston earned an Oscar for her performance as the vengeful girlfriend of hit man Jack Nicholson in Prizzi's Honor, making her the first third-generation Academy winner in history. Other worthwhile roles followed in her father's final directorial effort, The Dead (1987), and Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989). She was also rewardingly directed by her half-brother Danny Huston in Mr. North (1988). Huston earned additional Oscar nominations for her outstanding dramatic work in Enemies: A Love Story (1989) and The Grifters (1990). On a lighter note, she was ideally cast as Morticia Addams in the two Addams Family movies in the early '90s; neither was recognized by the Academy, although both earned her Golden Globe nominations. Despite her breakup with long-time companion Nicholson (she went on to marry Robert Graham in 1992), Huston still occasionally acted opposite him, most notably in Sean Penn's The Crossing Guard (1995). Other notable roles for the actress during the late '90s included her turn as the wicked stepmother in Ever After (1998) and a hilarious portrayal of a football-obsessed, dysfunctional mother in Buffalo '66.
In addition to her work on film, Huston accumulated an impressive roster of television credits during the 1980s and '90s, including her powerful performances as frontier woman Clara Allen in the 1989 miniseries Lonesome Dove and the beleaguered mother of an autistic child in the two-part Family Pictures (1993). She also had a supporting role in the widely acclaimed 1993 production of And the Band Played On. In 1996, Huston made her directorial debut with Bastard out of Carolina, a praised adaptation of Dorothy Allison's novel of the same name, and followed that up with another behind-the-camera effort, Agnes Browne, in 1999. She played Gene Hackman's estranged wife in the critically-acclaimed The Royal Tenenbaums in 2001. She appeared opposite Clint Eastwood in his police drama Blood Work. She continued to appear in a wide variety of films including an officious antagonist in Daddy Day Care. In 2004 she reteamed with Wes Anderson for The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and played in the made for cable historical drama Iron Jawed Angels. In 2006 Huston took on a small role in Terry Zwigoff's Art School Confidential, and appeared in Martha Coolidge's Material Girls opposite Hilary and Haylie Duff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Originally made for television, this story concerns a champion rodeo rider (Lee Majors) and his romance with a Russian ballerina (Leslie Wing) who is trying to defect. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
Sean Penn wrote and directed this tale of loss, guilt, and revenge. The daughter of Freddy and Mary Gale (Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston) was killed by a drunk driver, John Booth (David Morse). The death of their child took a heavy toll on the Gales; their marriage broke up, and, while Mary has remarried and attempted to put her life back together, Freddy has become an embittered alcoholic, seething with directionless rage and searching for a purpose in life. Freddy intends to kill Booth as soon as he's released from prison, as he believes that jail was not a severe enough punishment for his daughter's death. But Freddy discovers that Booth is still wracked with guilt for his crime and can barely live with himself. He tells Booth that he has three days left to live; Booth tries to find solace in the arms of artist Jojo (Robin Wright), while Freddy continues to wallow in alcohol and self-pity at a strip club. The Crossing Guard also features an original song by Bruce Springsteen; Penn's previous directorial outing, The Indian Runner, was loosely based on a Springsteen song from his album Nebraska. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, David Morse, (more)
Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited stars Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, and Adrien Brody as three brothers who, at the insistence of the oldest, take a train ride through India together in order to strengthen their bond. Even though the vacation goes wrong in ways they do not anticipate, the strangeness of their setting and some revealing honesty produces some surprising changes between them all. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, (more)
- 1987
- PG
The final film of legendary director John Huston was based on the closing story of James Joyce's Dubliners. Anjelica Huston is top-billed as Gretta Conroy, the niece by marriage of turn-of-century Irish spinsters Kate Morkan (Helena Carroll) and Julia Morkan (Cathleen Delany). At the home of these two curious ladies, Gretta is prodded into remembering her long-dead lover. She tearfully reveals to her husband (Donal McCann) that the deceased boy may well have died on her behalf. Her tale of woe bespeaks the sentiment shared by James Joyce: no matter how long in their graves, the dead will always influence the living. Adding to the film's elegiac quality, it stars Huston's daughter Anjelica and was co-written with his son Tony Huston. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anjelica Huston, Donal McCann, (more)
The distinguished director/producer/writer team of James Ivory, Ismail Merchant, and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala returns to the works of 19th century novelist Henry James in this adaptation of his tale of love and treachery. Wealthy American art collector Adam Verver (Nick Nolte) is traveling Europe with his daughter Maggie (Kate Beckinsale) following the death of his wife. In their travels, Adam and Maggie encounter Mrs. Assingham (Anjelica Huston), an American socialite who enjoys playing matchmaker, whether or not her subjects are interested. She introduces Maggie to Prince Amerigo (Jeremy Northam), a handsome but penniless member of Italian royalty, and after a bit of prodding, they announce their intention to marry. Mrs. Assingham also pushes Adam into a relationship with Charlotte (Uma Thurman), a close friend of Maggie, and they too decide to wed. However, no one else knows that Amerigo and Charlotte were once lovers, who broke off their relationship because he couldn't marry a commoner with no money. Their passion is eventually too strong to resist, and they embark on an adulterous affair, which becomes even more dangerous when Mrs. Assingham learns of it. The Golden Bowl was Merchant/Ivory/Jhabvala's third film based on a James novel, following The Europeans (1979) and The Bostonians (1984). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Uma Thurman, Jeremy Northam, (more)
Director Stephen Frears' tense adaptation of Jim Thompson's novel The Grifters was one of a number of revival film noirs in the first half of the '90s. Updating the setting to contemporary Los Angeles, the film follows a trio of con artists who are intent on out-foxing each other. Roy Dillon (John Cusack) is a simple, two-bit con, whose life is thrown into turmoil when his estranged mother Lilly (Anjelica Huston) returns home in an attempt to evade the law. Lilly doesn't warm to Roy's girlfriend Myra Langtry (Annette Bening), who is too similar to herself. Soon, the two women are competing for Roy in a battle that is more of a power struggle than a pursuit of affection, and the battle quickly turns dangerous. Huston was nominated for an Academy Award for her work. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cusack, Anjelica Huston, (more)
In this undistinguished parody of the sci fi genre, Robert Urich is Jason who leads a band of pirates in redistributing the wealth of the few to the coffers of the needy. He also joins up with Princess Karina Mary Crosby in searching for her father and a possible source of water in the next galaxy. Meant to be a campy romp through the sci fi genre, the film stops short of achieving a goal that should have been effortless. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Urich, Mary Crosby, (more)
- 2008
Based on a story written by Leo Tolstoy in response to Ludwig van Beethoven's eponymous composition, director Bernard Rose's mature dissection of modern marriage tells the tale of a wealthy philanthropist (Danny Huston) who becomes intensely possessive of his wife (Elisabeth Röhm) -- a beautiful and talented pianist. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Huston, Elisabeth Röhm, (more)
Elia Kazan directed this curiously constipated film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished final novel, about Monroe Starr, a brilliant and efficient studio executive (based upon Fitzgerald's experiences with MGM wunderkind Irving Thalberg). Robert De Niro plays Monroe Starr in a cool and detached manner, and as Kazan pans around the Hollywood Dream Factory of the 1930s, Starr juggles several productions, deals with nervous actors and recalcitrant directors, stays afloat in the Hollywood corporate battlefields, and secretly carries on a love affair with an even cooler and more detached English girl, Kathleen Moore (Ingrid Boulting). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, (more)
- 2004
- R
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The first effort from director Wes Anderson since his critically beloved The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou finds the filmmaker re-teaming with a number of familiar faces, including Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston, and Seymour Cassel. Murray plays Steve Zissou, an eccentric and renowned oceanographer who has decided to seek out and enact mortal revenge on a shark that ate one of the men on his team. Along for the ride is Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson), a young man who has joined Zissou's crew after showing up claiming to be the seaman's long-lost son and Zissou's co-producer (and estranged wife), Eleanor Angelica Huston. As the expedition ensues, the two bond and Plimpton falls for a female journalist (Cate Blanchett) who is writing a piece on Zissou. The crew meets a host of obstacles on their journey, including pirates, kidnapping, and bankruptcy. Adding a flair of whimsy to the film's aesthetic, the sea creatures and underwater scenes in the film have been created using stop-motion animation under the direction of Henry Selick, the man behind The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach. The ensemble cast also includes Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, Noah Taylor, and Bud Cort. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, (more)
George Hickenlooper directs this psychological drama about an impoverished writer lost in a world of money, power, and male escorts. Though happily married with a young child, Byron Tiller (Andy Garcia) is struggling to make ends meet as a novelist. His last work, called "Hitler's Child," had an ignoble run in the bookstore bargain bins and his editor is not interested in his latest work about migrant workers. One day, he is approached by a dapper Brit named Luther Fox (Mick Jagger) who actually read Tiller's last opus. Luther explains that he runs an escort agency named Elysian Fields, which caters to rich women looking for intelligent companionship. Desperate for any kind of income source, Tiller takes the job while keeping the whole thing a secret from his loving wife (Julianna Margulies). He soon is rubbing elbows with the beautiful wife (Olivia Williams) of an aging Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. Gradually, Tiller finds himself immersed in this strange new world that he cannot quite understand, much less explain to his spouse. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andy Garcia, Mick Jagger, (more)
This three-hour miniseries adapts Marion Zimmer Bradley's feminist recasting of the Arthurian mythos into a big-budget cable television event. In ancient England, Christianity is spreading and the Saxons are invading. It's up to Viviane (Anjelica Huston) -- Lady of the Lake and high priestess of the kingdom's ancient pagan religion -- to make sure that the next king will honor both the old and new faiths and thereby banish the barbarian hordes. Viviane manipulates her sister Igraine (Caroline Goodall) into marrying King Uther Pendragon (Mark Lewis Jones) and bearing a son, Arthur (Edward Atterton) -- much to the consternation of Viviane's other sister, the power-hungry Morgause (Joan Allen). Arthur grows up happily with his older half-sister, Morgaine (Julianna Margulies), until Merlin (Michael Byrne) spirits him off for training and Viviane brings Morgaine to the mystical island of Avalon to develop her magical connection to the Goddess. Years later, the siblings reunite in a masked mating ritual, unaware that their union is incestuous -- or that their son, Mordred (Hans Matheson), will fall into Morgause's clutches and destroy the delicate balance that Viviane has sought to maintain. As Arthur gathers the knights of the round table and ushers in a golden age with Queen Gwenhwyfar (Samantha Mathis) at his side, the seeds of his destruction, and Avalon's, have already been planted -- by Arthur himself. Filmed on-location in Prague, The Mists of Avalon premiered on the TNT cable network July 15 and 16, 2001. Director Uli Edel, best known for his feature adaptation of Last Exit to Brooklyn, had previously helmed Purgatory for TNT. The titular mists -- developed by Edel and executive producer Mark Wolper -- utilized custom fluid dynamic software designed specifically for the project. Celtic musician Loreena McKennitt added her theme music to composer Lee Holdridge's score. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anjelica Huston, Julianna Margulies, (more)
Old and new loves are turned upside down through a complex case of mistaken identities in this romantic comedy-drama. In 1980, Juan Raul Perez (Alfred Molina) is released from a Cuban prison after spending 20 years behind bars and is allowed to join a mass emigration to the U.S. While Juan was incarcerated, his wife Carmela Perez (Anjelica Huston) escaped to Florida with their daughter, and Juan lives for the day when they can be reunited. En route to Miami, Juan meets Dottie Perez (Marisa Tomei), a fiery young woman who wants to leave behind her career as a prostitute. Juan and Carmela miss finding each other when his boat reaches Miami, and immigration personnel mistakenly assume that Juan and Dottie Perez are husband and wife; when they learn that families tend to find American sponsors much faster than individuals, they play along with the mistake, even convincing other Perezes to pose as their child and grandfather. Juan discovers that trying to renew an old relationship isn't easy as one tries to start a new life, especially since Carmela has attracted the attentions of police lieutenant John Pirelli (Chazz Palminteri). Cuban jazz legend Arturo Sandoval contributed to the soundtrack. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marisa Tomei, Alfred Molina, (more)
Robert Altman takes a scalpel to Hollywood ethics in the 1990s (or the lack thereof) in his acidic satire The Player, adapted from Michael Tolkin's novel. (Tolkin also wrote the screenplay.) The film concerns a sleek and smooth Hollywood studio executive who starts receiving death threats from a disgruntled writer because he has committed the ultimate Hollywood sin -- he promised the writer he would call him back and he never did. This is particularly ironic because the studio executive, Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins), is considered "writer-friendly," spending his days listening to pitches from such noted screenwriters as Buck Henry, who is pushing "The Graduate, Part II" and Alan Rudolph, who is hawking a Bruce Willis action film described as "Ghost meets The Manchurian Candidate." But The Player finds Griffin's comfortable life style in danger of collapse. He is trying to find a way to unload his girlfriend (Cynthia Stevenson) whose independence and intelligence make her a poor candidate for a trophy wife. More importantly, it seems that Larry Levy (Peter Gallagher), a slippery executive from Twentieth Century Fox, is angling for his job. And then there are those nasty postcards and faxes from a screenwriter threatening to kill him. Altman cast over 65 stars in cameo roles as texture for his scabrous tale. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, (more)
- 1981
- R
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Bob Rafelson's remake of 1946's The Postman Always Rings Twice, with a screenplay by the award-winning playwright David Mamet, stars Jack Nicholson as Frank Chambers, a depression-era drifter who ends up at a diner run by Nick Papadakis (John Colicos), who offers Frank a job. Frank takes him up on the offer, but quickly begins a torrid affair with Nick's wife Cora (Jessica Lange). The adulterous lovers soon hatch a plan to kill Nick and share in the insurance payout. The second big-screen adaptation of the James M. Cain novel, the film garnered a certain degree of notoriety for the explicit sex scenes between Lange and Nicholson. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lange, (more)
Director Wes Anderson and his longtime friend and writing partner Owen Wilson follow up Bottle Rocket (1996) and Rushmore (1998) with this similarly offbeat comedy about a dysfunctional family reunion. Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) was a successful attorney who had three children with his wife Etheline (Anjelica Huston), an archaeologist. Each of the Tenenbaum kids was a precocious genius: Chas (Ben Stiller) made a killing as a child investor. Richie (Luke Wilson) was a junior tennis champ and three-time U.S. Nationals winner. The adopted Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) was a playwright who won a 50,000-dollar Braverman Grant in the ninth grade. When Royal abruptly left his family, however, it was the beginning of two decades of betrayal and failure that would scar the Tenenbaums for life. Their past resentments are bitterly held against Royal when he suddenly reappears, claiming to have six weeks to live and a desire to reconnect with his family. Typically, Royal's story is a sham, but his presence and sincere desire for absolution soon have a profound effect on the Tenenbaums, who are each dealing with thwarted desires and relationships. Among them are Richie's lifelong love for Margot, who's unhappily married to Raleigh St.Clair (Bill Murray) and Etheline's eccentric engagement to Henry Sherman (Danny Glover), who wishes to marry her. The Royal Tenenbaums also co-stars Owen Wilson and features narration provided by Alec Baldwin. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, (more)
In Nicolas Roeg's adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel The Witches, a young boy is vacationing at the seaside with his grandmother when he discovers that the hotel he is staying at is hosting a convention of witches. Eavesdropping on the witches, he learns that the Grand High Witch (Anjelica Huston) has devised a plan to turn all of the children in England into mice. With creature-effects by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, The Witches was the last film Henson worked on before passing away in 1990. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anjelica Huston, Mai Zetterling, (more)
An aspiring West End actress intent on maintaining her famous mother's legacy finds her dreams suddenly clouded by the warplanes that buzz overhead in this bittersweet war drama from director Julia Taylor-Stanley. Diana (Zoe Tapper) is a London actress who knows deep within that she has what it takes to become a true star of the West End stage. Faced with constant rejection but eternally optimistic that her day will soon come, Diana enters into a passionate love triangle with talented playwright Robin (David Leon) and powerful director Christopher (Andrew Lincoln). Later, when Diane is finally cast in a headlining role, the drums of war begin beating as Hitler's army prepares for their devastating London Blitz. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Largely improvised by director Rob Reiner and his cast, This Is Spinal Tap looks and sounds like a "real" documentary, with Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest as David St. Hubbins, Derek Smalls, and Nigel Tufnel, the key members of a going-nowhere British heavy metal band called Spinal Tap. The "group" started as an informal skiffle band, eventually maturing into an R&B act called the Thamesmen (their hit was "Gimme Some Money"). After going through a psychedelic period with "Listen to the Flower People," the band mutated into Spinal Tap, a hard rock outfit responsible for such albums as "Intravenous DeMilo," "The Sun Never Sweats," and "Bent for the Rent." This Is Spinal Tap finds them in the midst of their first American tour in years as they support their new LP Smell the Glove, with filmmaker Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner), who specializes in TV commercials, on hand to document the occasion. Just about anything that can go wrong does: shows get canceled, stage props go wrong, wireless guitar pickups start broadcasting air-traffic reports, no one shows up for in-store appearances, David's girlfriend tries to take over the band, they wind up billed second to a puppet show at an amusement park, and the group teeters on the verge of breakup. After the film's initial release, McKean, Guest, and Shearer did a short club tour as Spinal Tap; the "band" reunited in 1992 for a new album, Break Like the Wind, followed by a full-fledged tour and TV special, The Return of Spinal Tap. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, (more)
Before joining Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, Tinker Bell and her fairy brethren were busy creating their own special magic in Pixie Hollow, where they go about the business of bringing rainbows to the sky, color to the flowers, and adding their fairy signature to other miracles of nature. Each fairy is gifted with a unique magical talent to contribute, but Tinker Bell (voiced by Mae Whitman) can't help but feel her talent ("tinkering") isn't as good as those of her fairy companions, and tries her best to change it. It takes a disaster and a lot of help from her friends to realize the magic of being true to oneself. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Whitman, Kristin Chenoweth, (more)
