Jason Clarke Movies
Not to be confused with the right-wing U.S. political commentator of the same name, the distinguished-looking Australian character actor Jason Clarke burst onto the scene in the early 2000s with a series of critically praised and somewhat edgy roles. He began down under, opposite Aussie superstar Bryan Brown, in the crime thiller Risk (2000), and was particularly memorable two years later as a slimy constable in the politically tinged period docudrama Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002). Clarke then took on a four-episode guest role the Sci-Fi Channel's Farscape (2003), playing Jenek. After that, he signed for a lead role -- local politician Tommy Caffee -- in the acclaimed Showtime series Brotherhood, opposite Jason Isaacs. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Based on author Bryan Burrough's ambitious tome Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43, director Michael Mann's sprawling historical crime drama follows the efforts of top FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale ) in capturing notorious bank robber John Dillinger. A folk hero to the American public thanks to his penchant for robbing the banks that many people believed responsible for the Great Depression, charming bandit Dillinger (Johnny Depp) was virtually unstoppable at the height of his criminal career; no jail could hold him, and his exploits endeared him to the common people while making headlines across the country. J. Edgar Hoover's (Billy Crudup) FBI was just coming into formation, and what better way for the ambitious lawman to transform his fledgling Bureau of Investigation into a national police force than to capture the gang that always gets away? Determined to bust Dillinger and his crew, which also included sociopathic Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Alvin Karpis (Giovanni Ribisi), Hoover christened Dillinger the country's very first Public Enemy Number One, and unleashed Purvis to take them down by whatever means necessary. But Purvis underestimated Dillinger's ingenuity as a master criminal, and after embarking on a frantic series of chases and shoot-outs, the dashing agent humbly surmised that he was in over his head. Outwitted and outgunned, Purvis knew that his only hope for busting Dillinger's gang was to baptize a crew of Western ex-lawmen as official agents, and orchestrate a series of betrayals so cunning that even America's criminal mastermind wouldn't know what hit him. Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum, and Stephen Dorff co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, (more)
Actress Jada Pinkett-Smith makes her feature directorial debut with this drama about a tormented businessman (Jason Clarke) whose life crumbles to ruins when he meets a free spirited temptress (Paz Vega) who lures him towards a dangerous existence of reckless abandon. Ted Danson and Idris Elba co-star in a film penned by director Pinkett-Smith, and executive produced by her husband Will Smith. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Clarke, Paz Vega, (more)
The Transporter star Jason Statham takes the wheel in director Paul W.S. Anderson's remake of the Roger Corman classic about a hyper-violent cross-country race that breaks all of the traditional rules of the road. The time is the not-so-distant future, and as America's prisons begin overflowing with violent criminals, the powers that be devise a grisly game that will free up space in the cells and entertain the masses at the same time. Jensen Ames (Statham) is a three-time speedway champion with a dark past. A survival expert and ex-con whose sordid history comes back to haunt him when he is framed for a murder he didn't commit, Ames is forced to choose between donning the metallic mask of a mythical racer known as Frankenstein or languishing away on Terminal Island -- America's most notorious penitentiary. Over the course of the next three days, this unlikely champion will get behind the wheel of a nightmare machine outfitted with machine guns, grenade launchers, and flamethrowers in a desperate attempt to outrun some of the most violent criminals ever imprisoned. Should Ames be the first to cross the checkered flag, he will win his freedom; should he come in second, however, death would be preferable to a grim future in a cramped concrete cell. Co-stars include Joan Allen, Ian McShane, Natalie Martinez, and Tyrese Gibson, who takes over the role of Machine Gun Joe, made famous by Sylvester Stallone in the original. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson, (more)
- 2008
Jessica Biel, Garry Marshall, Steven Collins, and Jason Clarke headline director Bill Purple's melancholy short about an anti-social math wiz and chess fanatic whose misanthropic worldview is challenged by a lovable little canine. Howard (Clarke) is a "perpetual student" whose uncanny knack for numbers has resulted in a false sense of superiority. Simply put, Howard sees himself as superior to nearly everyone he encounters - including the ageing chess champion that he defeats in a high-profile tournament. When Howard realizes that he's in serious need of some work-study money, his advisor sets him up with a job in a research lab. Now, as the mousy, sensitive lab tech works overtime to prevent Howard from discovering the secrets of their research, the man who views the world through darkened shades of contempt strikes up a most unexpected friendship. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Clarke, Jessica Biel, (more)
- 2007
A troubled alcoholic and her stressed out husband find their attempt to escape the pressures of everyday life unexpectedly challenged after they run a stranger off of the road and then take the man to their remote cottage in hopes of summoning help. Charlie is infertile, and her husband Andrew can't land a job without the help of his wife's influential father. Sensing that they need to get away from it all, Charlie and Andrew pack up the car and head for the family cabin. Later, as they near their destination, Andrew runs a man off the side of the road. Confused and injured, the man accepts Andrew invitation to rest at the cabin until help arrives. But the cabin is anything but safe, because as the night goes on and secrets emerge it quickly becomes apparent that there's much more at stake than Charlie and Andrew's marriage. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Clarke, Lake Bell, (more)
After his 13-year-old sister is abducted by sex traffickers, a determined Mexican teen travels from the barrios of Mexico City to a run-down stash house in New Jersey in a desperate attempt to rescue the frightened girl before she is swallowed whole by one of the criminal underworld's darkest secrets. Jorge's (Cesar Ramos) adolescent sister, Adriana (Paulina Gaitan), has been kidnapped and thrust into a lucrative underground trade in which young girls are bought and sold to the highest bidder. Now, as the terrified youngster is herded through a complex network of underground tunnels leading into the United States, her only ally is a Polish woman named Veronica (Alicja Bachleda), who has been tricked into the trade by the same nefarious gang. After circumventing immigration officers and eventually working his way across the border, the desperate Jorge comes into contact with a Texas lawman named Ray (Kevin Kline), whose own devastating personal loss to sex traffickers causes him to join the search for Adriana. In the dark days that follow, Jorge and Ray form a close bond as they witness the horrors of a secret Internet sex slave auction and discover just how far the depths of human depravity can plunge while attempting to maintain hope that brother and sister will one day be reunited. In the world of international sex trafficking, however, innocent victims disappear without a trace every day and few who fall prey to these reprehensible predators are ever seen again. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Kline, Cesar Ramos, (more)
- 2003
Determined to locate Crichton (Ben Browder) and to figure out the precious wormhole knowledge, Scarran captain Jenek (Jason Clarke) aggressively interrogates his prisoner Aeryn (Claudia Black). Upon discovering that Aeryn is pregnant, the Scarrans exhibit a fascination bordering on exultation. Meanwhile, Crichton and Scorpius (Wayne Pygram), having forged an uneasy alliance, conduct a frenzied search for Aeryn -- cutting a swatch of death and devastation along the way. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2003
In the first episode of a three-part story, the Moya crew continues searching for Katratzi, the elusive Scarran base where Aeryn (Claudia Black) is being held captive. In the process, Noranti (Melissa Jaffer) inadvertently unleashes a deadly plague known as Hynerian Dermaphollica at a Scarran border station. As it turns out, the disease may actually benefit the crew's efforts to save Aeryn and her unborn baby -- but at least one Moya passenger may suffer mightily in the process. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2003
In the second episode of a three-part story, John Crichton (Ben Browder) has managed to rescue Aeryn (Claudia Black) and is heading for Katratzi, the secret and hitherto elusive Scarran base. A message from "beyond" informs John that the duplicitous Scorpius (Wayne Pygram) is in full possession of the precious wormhole secrets. Now John must rescue Scorpius from his Scarran torturers -- or die in the process, the inevitable result of the nuclear bomb rigged to explode if John should meet with harm. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2003
In the conclusion of a three-part story, the Moya crew must improvise a new strategy a minute to escape from the Scarran base Katratzi. To keep the unreliable Scorpius (Wayne Pygram) from revealing the secrets of wormhole technology, John Crichton (Ben Browder) may have to cater to Scorpius' every whim -- and right now, that whim involves harvesting Scarran flora. As the episode progresses, the viewer is faced with two disturbing questions: Are the Moya crew members liberators or terrorists -- and will Crichton be forced to detonate his nuclear device? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
After directing a number of major motion pictures in the United States, Australian-born filmmaker Phillip Noyce returned home to make this remarkable adventure-drama, based on a true story as well as a lamentable period in his nation's history. When European settlers first arrived in Australia, there was an almost immediate conflict between the recent arrivals and the nation's indigenous people, whose rich cultural heritage which bore little resemblance to that of the Europeans. By the mid-19th century, when white settlers had gained political control of the continent, many aborigines found themselves removed from their lands and their children taken from them, under the belief that the youngsters would be better off in a more "civilized" environment. Through most of the 20th century, it was official government policy that half- or quarter-caste indigenous children were to be taken from their families and raised as "white" children in orphanages, where they would be trained to work as domestic servants or laborers. In 1931, Molly (Everlyn Sampi) and her younger sister Daisy (Tianna Sansbury) and cousin Gracie (Laura Monaghan) were three half-caste children from Western Australia who were taken from their parents under government edict and sent to an institution, where they were subject to physical and emotional abuse as they were taught to forget their families, their culture, and their lives up to that point and re-invent themselves as members of "white" Australian society. Gracie and Daisy cling to Molly for support, and Molly decides they need to return to their parents. Molly plans a daring escape, and the three girls begin an epic journey back to Western Australia, travelling 1,500 miles on foot with no food or water, and navigating by following the fence that has been build across the nation to stem an over-population of rabbits. A.O. Neville (Kenneth Branagh), the government functionary in charge of relocating Western Australia's aborigines, takes a special interest in the case of the three girls, and brings in a veteran tracker, Moodoo (David Gulpilil) to help find them, secure in the belief he's acting in their best interest. Rabbit-Proof Fence was based on the acclaimed book by Doris Pilkington Garimara, whose Aunt Daisy was one of the three children who made the extraordinary journey and helped her with the research for the book. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, (more)
The made-for-cable Western The Outsider would seem to have its roots in the classic John Wayne theatrical feature Angel and the Badman. In the Montana of the late 19th century, wounded outlaw Johnny Gault (Tim Daly) is given refuge by widowed sheep farmer Rebecca Yoder (Naomi Watts). This puts Rebecca on the outs with her own people, a pacifist Quaker sect, and also incurs the wrath of a ruthless cattle baron, who has long coveted the Quakers' land--and who also was responsible for the death of Rebecca's husband. Not surprisingly, Johnny Gault turns out to be the traditional "good bad man", capable of solving everyone's problems--except, perhaps, his own. The Outsider first aired over the Showtime cable network on November 10, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Three people discover jealousy and larceny are a dangerous combination in this tense drama. John (Bryan Brown) is a veteran insurance investigator who succumbs to temptation and veers towards the wrong side of the law. With the help of novice con man Ben (Tom Long), John hatches a scheme to substantiate false claims by taking a percentage of several questionable claims his firm has settled for a fraction of their usual worth. John and Ben are assisted in their illegal business by Louise (Claudia Karvan), a lawyer with a cocaine problem who is also John's lover. But when Louise becomes involved with Ben and demands a bigger share of the money, their already-shaky confidence game begins to collapse. Risk was adapted from the short story "The Adjustor" by Tracy Kidder. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bryan Brown, Tom Long, (more)
