Glenn Close Movies
With elegantly aristocratic features and a career marked by versatility and critical acclaim, Glenn Close is one of Hollywood's most celebrated actresses. Her acclaim is not limited to the film world, as she has also found great success in various television and stage productions, most notably Andrew Lloyd Webber's Broadway musical version of Sunset Boulevard and in the acclaimed 1991 made-for-TV movie Sarah, Plain and Tall (which was successful enough to have two sequels, Skylark and Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter's End.Born in Greenwich, CT, on March 19, 1947, Close grew up in Africa and Switzerland while her father, a doctor, maintained a clinic in the Belgian Congo. As a high school student at Greenwich's Rosemary Hall, the actress organized a touring rep-theater group and performed a number of folk-singing gigs. After graduating from the College of William and Mary, where she studied anthropology and acting, Close appeared in regional theater and then made her New York stage bow in 1974's Love for Love. Her theater work led to her first film role, when director George Roy Hill, after seeing her in the Broadway musical Barnum, cast her in The World According to Garp (1982). Close won the role of the protagonist's political-activist mother, a portrayal made all the more interesting by the fact that the actress was only five years older than Robin Williams, the actor playing her son. Close earned an Oscar nomination for her work, thus catalyzing the acclaim that was to surround much of her subsequent career.
Close worked steadily through the remainder of the 1980s, winning Oscar nominations for her divergent performances in The Big Chill (1983), The Natural (1984), and Fatal Attraction (1987). In the last of these films, she all but caused the screen to combust with her fearsome portrayal of a woman who gets very, very angry with Michael Douglas. As evidence of her remarkable versatility, Close avoided being typecast as similarly psychotic women, going on to win another Oscar nomination the next year for her devastatingly wicked performance in Dangerous Liaisons.
Further acclaim followed with her role as Sunny Von Bulow in Reversal of Fortune (1990), and Close spent the next decade turning in consistently strong performances in films both good and bad, from the critically and commercially lambasted Mary Reilly (1994) to the all-star Mars Attacks! (1996); 101 Dalmatians (1996), in which she got in touch with her inner drag queen as Cruella De Vil; and Air Force One (1997), which featured her as President Harrison Ford's harried Vice President. In 1999, Close took on two very different roles, first lending her voice to the animated Tarzan as the hero's gorilla mother, and then in Robert Altman's Cookie's Fortune, in which she was able to explore Southern-style insanity as the terrifically unhinged Camille Orcutt.
In addition to her film work, Close has maintained a television and stage career since the early '80s. Her stage work led to Tony Awards for her turns in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing (1984) and Ariel Dorfman's Death and the Maiden in 1992. She garnered further raves and diva status for her starring role as the legendary Norma Desmond in the 1995 Broadway production of Sunset Boulevard (an excellent singer, Close annually performs the National Anthem for the New York Mets' opening-day game).
On television, she continued to win prestige for performances in Stones for Ibarra (1988), 1991's Sarah, Plain and Tall, in which she starred opposite Christopher Walken, and Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story (1995), for which she won an Emmy for her portrayal of the title character. However, it wasn't until 2005 that Close could be seen in a regular series role when she joined the cast of the critically acclaimed FX series The Shield. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
A cynical husband's apathetic philosophy is put to the test when his adulterous wife draws him into a duel against her exasperated lover in this adaptation of Liugi Pirandello's upper class tragicomedy starring Joan Van Ark, David Dukes, Glen Close, and John McMartin. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
A series of 17 short stories by American writer John Updike form the basis for this examination of the rocky marriage of a New England couple. The movie was made for television in 1979 and directed by Fielder Cook. Updike's stories focus on the issues of fidelity and responsibility hiding beneath the calm veneer of American suburban affluence. Michael Moriarty plays Richard Maple, a non-conformist middle-class man married to Joan Barlow Maple (Blythe Danner). Glenn Close plays the home-wrecker Rebecca. The couple's problems are both traced to childhood incidents in which their propensity for taking the easy way out is established. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Moriarty, Blythe Danner, (more)
- 1979
In the second half of the 19th century, some 100,000 abandoned or poverty-stricken New York children were relocated to midwestern families by the Children's Aid Society. Made for television, Orphan Train is a fictionalized account of the early days of the Society in 1854. Top billing goes to Jill Eikenberry as a minister's daughter and Kevin Dobson as a photojournalist. Eikenberry shepherds the first group of orphans from New York to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana, with Dobson along for the ride in hopes of getting the exclusive story. En route, the orphans encounter hostility from so-called "respectable" people and danger from a fire and a train crash. The supporting cast includes Glenn Close, five years away from her theatrical-movie debut in The World According to Garp. Based on a novel by Dorothea G. Petrie, Orphan Train was initially telecast December 22, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jill Eikenberry, Kevin Dobson, (more)
- 1982
This TV adaptation of Bernard Pomerance's play The Elephant Man differs radically from the 1980 theatrical film of the same name. Both are based upon the same true story: that of John Merrick (1863-1890), an unfortunate citizen of Victorian England who suffered from neurofibromatosis, a hideously deforming disease that all but condemned him to a lifetime of circus sideshows. Though he remained trapped in his misshapen body, Merrick was intellectually and emotionally liberated by London physician Frederick Treves, whose sensitive treatment of the "Elephant Man" unlocked the soul beneath his horrific appearance. But whereas the film was graphically realistic in its use of makeup, the TV version follows the precedent set by Pomerance's play: John Merrick's deformity is conveyed purely through the vocal and physical contortions of actor Philip Anglim, repeating his Broadway role. Also carried over from the stage version is Kevin Conway as Dr. Treves. The TV version of The Elephant Man was telecast as an ABC Theatre of the Month special on January 4, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The 1982 film version of the John Irving novel The World According to Garp attempts to captures the quirky spirit while condensing the Irving original. Robin Williams plays the title character, the son of unmarried, unorthodox feminist Jenny Fields (Glenn Close, in her film debut). Every effort made by Jenny to broaden Garp's outlook on life -- she even arranges for him to spend the night with a hooker (Swoosie Kurtz) -- crams more fears and phobias into his psyche. Aspiring to become a novelist, Garp succeeds in this goal at the same time that his mother publishes her first feminist manifesto. Though successful and happily married to college sweetheart Helen Holm (Mary Beth Hurt), Garp remains envious of his fearless mother, who has taken in the radical "Ellen Jamesians," a group named after a young woman who had her tongue cut out by a rapist. Mutilation, in fact, becomes something of a leitmotif in Garp's life, climaxing (in every sense of the word) in an auto accident brought about by Helen's tryst with Michael Milton (Mark Soper). There is, of course, much more to the story than this: standing out amongst the dozens of offbeat supporting characters is John Lithgow as Roberta Muldoon, a transexual ex-football jock. John Irving appears as a referee during a college wrestling match, while director George Roy Hill plays the pilot whose low-flying plane crashes into Garp's new home. The World According to Garp didn't attract as large an audience as other, more conventional Robin Williams vehicles, though Close and Lithgow would both be nominated for Best Supporting Actor statues. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Mary Beth Hurt, (more)
Embraced by the Baby Boomer generation and spawning countless imitators, the sophomore film of writer-director Lawrence Kasdan was a successful comedy-drama with a best selling soundtrack of Motown hits. Kevin Kline and Glenn Close star as Harold and Sarah Cooper, a couple whose marital troubles are put on hold while they host an unhappy reunion of former college pals gathered for the funeral of one of their own, a suicide victim named Alex. As the weekend unfolds, the friends catch up with each other, play the music of their youth, reminisce, smoke marijuana, and pair off with each other in unexpected combinations. Included are Michael (Jeff Goldblum), a smarmy journalist; Sam (Tom Berenger), a TV star; Karen (JoBeth Williams), unhappily married and pining for Sam; Nick (William Hurt), a drug-addicted Vietnam vet; and Meg (Mary Kay Place), a single career woman who wants a child. Joining the group is Alex's bizarre girlfriend Chloe (Meg Tilly), who finds new love with Nick. As they learn to deal with the truth about the loss of idealism in their lives and Alex's sad demise, the friends find their bond still intact, while the marriage of Harold and Sarah is healed in an unusual way that's in sync with the era of their youth. Cut from the release of The Big Chill (1983) was the brief appearance of young actor Kevin Costner as Alex. Kasdan promised Costner a role in his next picture, which turned out to be a star-making part in Silverado (1985). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Kline, Glenn Close, (more)
- 1984
This video, narrated by Jeremy Irons and Glenn Close, features the work of Ogden Nash as his poetry follows the adventures of animals at the zoo. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1984
First offered as an ABC Theatre presentation on January 9, 1984, Something About Amelia stars Ted Danson in an "against type" role to end them all. Danson is the well-to-do, loving husband of Glenn Close, and the doting father of teenager Roxanne Zal. Zal's mother can't understand why the girl has been depressed and withdrawn of late. It takes a session with her school guidance counselor to get Zalto admit the source of her depression: Her father has had sexual relations with her. Zal's mother goes through the expected anger and denial upon hearing this news....but the girl is, alas, telling the truth. Wisely, scriptwriter William Hanley does not present Ted Danson's character as a monster, despite the monstrosity of his behavior. The point of the drama is that incest is not exclusively the dominion of lower-class, poorly educated, abusive parents--and that it is tragically possible for even the most "mature" of grownups to confuse love with sex. Dismissed by an otherwise perceptive TV movie critic as merely "typical," Something About Amelia chalked up one of the highest-ever ratings for a TV movie, and won a well-deserved Emmy for young Roxanne Zal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Danson, Glenn Close, (more)
- 1984
- PG
- Add Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes to QueueAdd Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes to top of Queue
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes is a reverent retelling of the Edgar Rice Burroughs original, with a 1980s-sensibilities slant. Shipwrecked on the coast of Africa, Lord Jack Clayton (Paul Geoffrey) and his pregnant wife Lady Alice (Cheryl Campbell) attempt to survive in the hostile environment, but both die shortly after the birth of their son John. Abandoned in the wilderness, the orphaned John is adopted by a family of rather highly evolved apes, and raised as one of their own. Years later, John-now known as Tarzan, and now played by Christopher Lambert-comes across a party of white hunters. Rescuing one of the intruders, Belgian Captain Phillipe D'Arnot (Ian Holm) from a horrible death , Tarzan is taught to speak English by the grateful D'Arnot. Coming across the remains and possessions of Tarzan's parents, D'Arnot discovers that the Lord of the Jungle is actually the Earl of Greystoke. Brought back to England, Tarzan is introduced to society, where his crude, apelike manners offend everyone--except the likeable (and painfully senile) 6th Lord of Greystoke (Ralph Richardson, in his final film role) and Greystoke's American ward, Jane Porter (Andie McDowell, whose Southern-fried voice is dubbed by Glenn Close). Disturbed at the notion of Tarzan's inheriting Greystoke manner, his more greedy relatives begin plotting against him. But it is Tarzan himself who decides that he cannot adapt himself to England-especially after a painful reunion with his ape foster father, imprisoned in a science-lab cage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Richardson, Ian Holm, (more)
In this tightly-wound, perceptive film, a young farm boy kills his older brother when a shotgun accidentally goes off then retreats into a shell of silence as his family seems to react against him. Arnold (Jason Presson) and his brother get up at the crack of dawn to go duck hunting, but their happy plans take a tragic turn when Arnold's shotgun gets caught in a barbed wire fence and accidentally goes off, killing his older brother. Arnold is in shock, he sits by his brother's side, he irrationally wanders in a pea patch, slowly picking the vegetables. When he finally goes home and manages to articulate what happened, his parents ignore him in their own grief. His father Joe (Robert Duvall) thinks Arnold does not have a clue about what he did because he just stands there, not speaking or communicating anything at all -- like a stone. Arnold's mother may not understand his behavior -- this is a Montana farming couple, not a pair of psychologists -- but she is not as judgmental as her husband. The family's grief causes some aberrant behavior, making the life of Arnold's next-door Aunt Lu miserable (her philandering husband is taking off after the dead boy's girlfriend), and Arnold senses a kindred spirit in the woman. But his grandfather is the only one who understands that the family should not mistreat Arnold, that he is suffering so intensely he simply cannot express it. When Arnold runs away, escaping to the city of Reno, there is some hope that the boy will find a much-needed emotional release. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Duvall, Jason Presson, (more)
The film version of The Natural pulls off the neat trick of conveying the spirit of the Bernard Malamud novel upon which it is based, even while changing both the outcome and the meaning of Malamud's closing chapters. In his first film appearance in four years, Robert Redford plays Roy Hobbs, a farm boy with a hankering to be a great baseball player. With his faithful homemade bat "Wonderboy" in hand, Roy heads to the big city. En route, he arouses the fascination of the mysterious Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey). Luring the boy to a hotel room, Harriet asks Roy what he wants out of life. Roy brashly responds he wants to be "the best there is," whereupon Harriet whips out a gun and shoots Roy down. Sixteen years later, a humbler Roy Hobbs emerges from the bush leagues to become a 35-year-old "rookie" on the 1939 lineup of the New York Knights. He soon becomes the team's star player, and in so doing once more attracts enigmatic woman Memo Paris (Kim Basinger), the glamorous niece of the Knights' manager Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley) and the mistress of Rothstein-like gambler Gus Sands (a curiously unbilled Darren McGavin). Roy's fascination with Memo compromises his ability to play, but this time he finds salvation in the form the angelic Iris Gaines (Glenn Close), his childhood sweetheart. From this point forward, the script for The Natural bears very little resemblance to the Malamud original. Without giving anything away, it can be said that Roy Hobbs is given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compensate for the mistakes of his youth, despite the demonic intrusion of inexplicably spiteful sports writer Max Mercy (Robert Duvall). The Natural elevates the art of slow-motion photography to new heights; while this technique would become precious and boring in later baseball films, it works beautifully here, as does the decision by director Barry Levinson and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel to convey the symbolism inherent in the story in purely visual rather than blatantly verbal terms. (If the characters told you that the story was a retelling of the Camelot legend in baseball terms, would you have watched?) Another plus is the pastoral theme music by Randy Newman, which has been well utilized on sports broadcasts and "human interest" TV documentaries ever since. The baseball scenes in The Natural were staged at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo, New York. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, (more)
In this comedy, an ordinary woman finds herself sharing both her home and her body with a ghost who has a pronounced wild streak. Jan (Glenn Close) and Nick (Mandy Patinkin) are a couple moving into an apartment in an old Victorian house in San Francisco. Jan is a straight-laced secretary working for a Catholic bishop, while Nick deals in used books. While stripping some old wallpaper in their new home, they discover a message written on the wall, which their flaky landlady Mrs. Lavin (Ruth Gordon) informs them was written by Maxie, a high-spirited flapper who had a career in silent films before dying in a car wreck on her way to audition for D.W. Griffith. Out of curiosity, Jan and Nick rent a video of one of Maxie's films to see her in action, but it just so happens that Maxie's ghost still lives in the house -- and is looking for a human host. Maxie's spirit enters Jan's body and makes her presence known at the most inconvenient times; suddenly mild mannered Jan is kicking up her heels, swilling gin, starting arguements, and acting like a flaming youth straight out of the 1920s. Nick finds Maxie a good bit more exciting than Jan and even tries to launch Maxie back into a movie career by having her audition for a remake of Cleopatra opposite Harry Hamlin; Jan, however, just wants to have her body to herself again. Maxie proved to be one of the last screen appearances for veteran actress Ruth Gordon, who died several weeks before the film was released. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Close, Mandy Patinkin, (more)
In this hit thriller, a prosecuting attorney-turned-defense lawyer falls in love with a rich, charming client who's been accused of murdering his wife and her maid with a hunting knife. When an unknown assailant gruesomely slays San Francisco newspaper heiress Paige Forrester (Maria Mayenzet), her husband and business partner, Jack Forrester (Jeff Bridges), turns to corporate attorney Teddy Barnes (Glenn Close) for counsel. Teddy, who quit her job with the district attorney's office four years earlier over an ethical dilemma, has reservations about returning to criminal work; nevertheless, she accepts the assignment, convinced of Jack's innocence and eager to face off in court against her old boss, DA Thomas Krasny (Peter Coyote), who's about run for attorney general. With the help of investigator Sam Ransom (Robert Loggia), the recently divorced Teddy builds a strong defense for her client, though the work -- and her incipient romance with Jack -- cause strain in her relationship with her children. When Jack's innocence and his romantic intentions come into question, Teddy feels her life slipping back into a moral quagmire until a series of courtroom denouements set the stage for even bigger surprises. Big-name screenwriter Joe Eszterhas' follow-up to Flashdance, Jagged Edge was directed by Richard Marquand, who had previously lensed Return of the Jedi. Parts of Jagged Edge were shot on-location in San Francisco, whose City Hall provides the film's courtroom exteriors. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Bridges, Glenn Close, (more)
- 1987
Featuring exquisite illustrations, innovative music by composer Mark Isham, and the lively reading of Glenn Close, this version of Hans Christian Andersen will delight the entire family. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
"Fatal attraction" has become a household term for love turned to murderous obsession, thanks to the success of Adrian Lyne's 1987 movie. Dan (Michael Douglas) is a family man whose one-night affair with Alex (Glenn Close) turns into a nightmare when she insists on continuing the relationship, claiming to be carrying his baby. Alex systematically terrorizes Dan, even temporarily kidnapping his daughter, in her attempts to win back his affection. Douglas' besieged family man guiltily tries to preserve his marriage and family from the consequences of his own indiscretion. Close's performance as the love-struck psycho-siren remains her signature role: She conveys the buried feminist message of the film in her challenge to Dan to take responsibility for his sexual behavior. Though many critics acknowlegded the film's striking similarities to Clint Eastwood's 1971 film Play Misty for Me, Fatal Attraction spawned numerous other movies about middle-class families besieged by a lone psychotic intent on infiltrating and destroying the fabric of the family unit, including The Stepfather (1987), Pacific Heights (1990), The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992), and Fear (1996). ~ Laura Abraham, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, (more)
Adapted for stage and screen several times over the past century, French author Francois Choderlos de Laclos' 1782 novel Les Liasons Dangeureuses was the basis for this Academy Award-winning Stephen Frears film. The plot is motivated by a cruel wager between the beautiful but debauched Marquise de Merteuil (Glenn Close) and her misogynistic former lover, the Vicomte de Valmont (John Malkovitch). The Marquise challenges Valmont to seduce the virginal Cecile de Volanges (Uma Thurman) before the girl can be wed. Valmont offers a more difficult counter-challenge: He bets the Marquise that he will be able to bed the very moral and very married Madame de Tourvel (Michelle Pfeiffer). In the course of carrying out his plan, Valmont is stricken with a sudden case of honor and remorse, while the Marquise becomes all the more vicious. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Close, John Malkovich, (more)
- 1988
- PG
Isaac Asimov wrote the English translation for this animated sci-fi tale about the prince of the planet Gandahar, who is sent to the future in order to avenge an attack on his home world. The film is re-edited from the original French version (Ghandahar (1987), created and directed by Rene Laloux). ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Glenn Close and Keith Carradine are the only non-Latino cast members of the made-for-TV Stones for Ibarra. Close and Carradine portray a San Francisco couple who feel they've lost touch with life's meaning. They journey to a tiny Mexican village, where they find themselves sharing the "companionship of death" with the locals. The film is at its best when emphasizing its mysticism and clashes of custom. Adapted by Ernest Kinoy from a novel by Harriet Doerr, this was originally presented as a Hallmark Hall of Fame special. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Yes, as this documentary by British filmmaker Jon Blair shows, there are indeed cowboys living and working in modern-day rural America. While the spirit of ranch folk is as rugged as ever, the life of a cowboy isn't as glamorous as Hollywood has often portrayed it. Televised as an episode of the PBS series The American Experience, this show is narrated by award-winning actors Glenn Close and Robert Redford. To create this documentary, director Blair spent a year filming several generations of cowboys and their families in Big Piney, WY. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide
- 1988
This animated version of Washington Irving's classic The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is narrated by actress Glenn Close and accompanied musically by the works of Tim Story. In it, Ichabod Crane of Sleepy Hollow faces the challenges of competing with his local rival, winning the heart of the woman he loves, and confronting the Headless Horseman. ~ Sarah Sloboda, All Movie Guide
Glenn Close and James Woods star in this artery-clogging schmaltz about a childless couple who desperately want to have a baby. Linda (Close) and Michael Spector (Woods) are an upscale couple who have everything -- except a child. Linda mists over after she takes her temperature, plans the correct time for conception, and then her period starts. Despite medical intervention, the Spectors cannot conceive. They finally decide to adopt a child and meet the pregnant 17-year-old Lucy (Mary Stuart Masterson), who decides that the Spectors can provide a better home for her child than she and her boyfriend Sam (Kevin Dillon) could. The Spectors look Lucy over and determine -- since Lucy's mother died when she was seven -- to take care of her during her pregnancy. The three bond as they await the birth of Lucy's child. But now Lucy has second thoughts about the decision to turn her baby over to the Spectors. The solution for this happy group? Adopt Lucy and become the "immediate family." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Close, James Woods, (more)
- 1989
This 1989 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Glenn Close and features musical guest Gipsy Kings. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Close, Gipsy Kings, (more)
Franco Zeffirelli directs his third Shakespeare adaptation (after Romeo and Juliet and Otello) with this film version of the tragedy Hamlet. The titular prince of Denmark (Mel Gibson), returns home to his family's castle of Elsinore after years of attending school in Germany to find out his father has died and his uncle Claudius (Alan Bates) is the new king. To make matters worse, Claudius has married Hamlet's mother, Queen Gertrude (Glenn Close), whom he has unusually strong feelings for. Hamlet is visited by his father's ghost (Paul Scofield), who asks him to seek revenge for his murder. In order to find out who the real killer is, Hamlet stages a theatrical scene resembling his father's death. Claudius is upset by the production and leaves to arrange for Hamlet's murder. In the ensuing confusion, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonious (Ian Holm) instead of Claudius; Hamlet's lover, Ophelia (Helena Bonham Carter), goes mad and commits suicide; and eventually Hamlet and Claudius both meet their fate. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Gibson, Glenn Close, (more)
This film is a darkly humorous, determinedly ambiguous adaptation of Alan Dershowitz's book about his successful legal appeal of Claus von Bulow's conviction for the attempted murder of his wife, Martha "Sunny" von Bulow. Sunny (Glenn Close) -- who remains in a "persistent vegetative state" resulting from a suspicious injection of insulin -- narrates the film, summarizing the first murder trial, which ended with Claus (Jeremy Irons) convicted and released on bail pending appeal. Claus approaches Harvard Law professor Dershowitz (Ron Silver) to handle the case. Working with a small group of law students recruited from his classes, Dershowitz presents sufficient new evidence to cast doubt as to Claus' guilt and the veracity of the star witness, her maid. Jeremy Irons' extraordinary, Oscar-winning performance dominates the film. He plays the role of Claus with a alternatively pompous, aloof snobbishness and an engagingly enigmatic, kinky, sly humor. Barbet Schroeder was also nominated for an Academy Award for his extraordinary, off-beat, direction of this sophisticated, exceptionally intelligent legal drama. Reversal of Fortune with its sharp, witty, Oscar-nominated screenplay by Nicholas Kazan is unusual in its understanding that legal guilt and moral culpability are not the same thing -- making for an unusually provocative tragicomedy of bad manners and bad behavior among the rich. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons, (more)
