Josh Lucas Movies
Josh Lucas was a working actor for over a decade -- which included scene-stealing performances in Alive (1993), You Can Count on Me (2000), and The Deep End (2001) -- before he shot to stardom with high-profile roles in A Beautiful Mind (2001), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), and The Hulk (2003). Born in Arkansas, Lucas moved with his family to over a dozen U.S. cities before settling in Gig Harbor, WA. There, he joined his high school's competitive acting team and went on to win the state title for dramatic interpretation in both his junior and senior years. After graduation, Lucas moved directly to California where he made guest appearances on Fox's True Colors and Parker Lewis Can't Lose, ABC's Life Goes On, and CBS' Jake and the Fatman. The actor made his feature-film debut in the Ethan Hawke vehicle Alive (1993), before appearing opposite Patrick Swayze and Halle Berry in Father Hood (1993). That same year, he returned to television to portray a young Custer in the television film Class of '61 and relocated to Australia for a brief stint as Luke McGregor in The Family Channel series Snowy River: The McGregor Saga. Upon returning to the States, Lucas joined Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, John Rhys-Davies, and the infamous Ginger Lynn Allen in the cast of the video game Wing Commander II: The Heart of the Tiger. He also continued to act on the big screen in independent films -- such as True Blue (1996), Restless (1998), Drop Back Ten (1999) -- and appeared opposite Anson Mount in the Manhattan Theater Club's production of Terrence McNally's Corpus Christi. Soon enough, formidable parts as a banker in American Psycho (2000), roughneck deadbeat dad in Kenneth Lonergan's award-winning You Can Count on Me, and a doomed gay night-club owner in The Deep End put Lucas in the public eye. He went on to earn rave reviews as Russell Crowe's nemesis-turned-friend in Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind, before securing the plum roles of Reese Witherspoon's backwoods husband in Andy Tennant's Sweet Home Alabama and Bruce Banner's (Eric Bana) romantic rival in Ang Lee's much-anticipated adaptation of The Hulk. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide- 2009
Josh Lucas stars as a man whose heart transplant leads him on a frenzied journey to find the killer of his heart's previous owner before its past catches up to him in this retooling of Edgar Allen Poe's classic tale. Directors Tony and Ridley Scott produce the Scott Free production being helmed by cable TV veteran Michael Cuesta. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Lucas
- 2007
- R
Writer/director Boaz Yakin explores the burdens carried by the descendants of those who survived with this family drama about a woman (Jacqueline Bisset) who managed to live through her harrowing stint in a Nazi concentration camp, and her two dysfunctional sons. Having managed to survive in a Nazi concentration camp by seducing the doctor who carried out experimental surgeries on the prisoners, a young Jewish woman moves to New York and starts a family. Years later, her two grown sons seem poised to become casualties of their mother's desperate past. Her eldest son (Josh Lucas) works at a fraudulent modeling agency that profits off the dreams of fame seekers. His psychosexual escapades and intellectual diatribes act as a barrier to the outside world, yet just when it seems that his life has lost all meaning, a charming young co-worker (Adam Brody) helps him to realize that in order to survive, he will have to embrace change. Meanwhile, the highly erratic mother and her younger son (Lukas Haas) have become locked in a compulsive, co-dependent cycle that now threatens to consume them both. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Lucas, Jacqueline Bisset, (more)
- 2007
Ken Burns continues his exploration of massive, sweeping subjects with his 15-hour documentary The War; in this case, the conflict in question is World War II. Yet within the scope of that gargantuan subject, Burns and co-director Lynn Novick narrow their scale of emphasis, honing in on four "average" American towns and charting the experiences of individual young men who enlisted to go overseas and fight against the encroaching shadow of fascism. The film covers each major "region" of the U.S. by transporting audiences to the west coast (Sacramento, California); the south (Mobile, Alabama); the east coast (Waterbury, Connecticut) and the Midwest (the farming community of Luverne, Minnesota). Within that geographic framework, Burns uncovers a series of astonishing tales about bravery in the midst of adversity - from the story of a young man who transported 12 American soldiers from the Normandy beach on D-Day, to the accounts of innumerable young men who falsified their ages and enlisted early. Burns and Novick thus repeatedly emphasize the human side of war - an aspect all too often glossed over when documentarians treat WWII on a broader scale. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Frazier, Sam Hynes, (more)
A documentary adaptation of the popular regional theatrical monologue -- in which such heavyweights as Paul Newman, Nathan Lane, and Joe Mantegna essayed the lead on various occasions -- Trumbo recounts the life and times of legendary Hollywood scribe-turned-HUAC scapegoat Dalton Trumbo. As with its source production, the film takes as its base material highly personal, detailed, and emotive letters written by Dalton Trumbo to his son, Christopher; the latter, in turn, molded the missives into a screenplay for this production. Here, however, in lieu of one actor portraying Dalton, a number of celebrities take turns narrating from the script, including Lane, Paul Giamatti, Brian Dennehy, Donald Sutherland, and others. As a visual accompaniment, the film intercuts home-movie footage from the Trumbos' lives; incisive interview material with Trumbo, his family, friends, and collaborators; and haunting glimpses of the HUAC trial hearings with the Hollywood Ten, led by Senator Joseph McCarthy; as well as extracts from The Sandpiper, Johnny Got His Gun, Spartacus, and other productions authored by Trumbo. Peter Askin, who helmed the stage play, directs. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Allen, Brian Dennehy, (more)
Set adrift in the vast waters of the North Atlantic for a luxury New Year's Eve party staged in the ship's magnificent ballroom, the massive ocean-liner Poseidon receives an unexpected jolt when a rogue, 100-foot wave rolls it completely upside down, forcing the surviving passengers to fight their way to safety in Das Boot director Wolfgang Petersen's waterlogged blockbuster. Trapped beneath the waterline and implored by the captain to remain in place until a rescue team arrives, the panicked survivors struggle to keep their cool as the water begins to rush in, infernos blaze all around, and a loss of electricity plunges the doomed vessel into total darkness. Seasoned gambler Dylan Johns (Josh Lucas) isn't willing to wage his life on the prompt arrival of help, though, and as he attempts to navigate the treacherous, inverted maze of death, he is flanked by desperate band of like-minded seafarers including eight-year-old Conor (Jimmy Bennett) and his mother, Maggie (Jacinda Barrett), reticent stowaway Elena (Mía Maestro), suicidal Richard (Richard Dreyfus), and concerned father Robert (Kurt Russell), whose missing daughter may still be somewhere onboard along with her frightened fiancé. With a little luck and a little help from onboard waiter Marco (Freddy Rodriguez), the desperate team may just live to see the morning after. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, (more)
A true-life story of a basketball team who broke down barriers while racking up victories is the basis for this sports drama. Don Haskins (Josh Lucas) was a high school and college basketball star who, after six years of working with high school teams, became the head coach at Texas Western University in 1962. At that time, Texas Western's basketball program was not well respected, but Haskins was determined to change that, and in 1966 Haskins assembled what he was certain was a winning team. However, Haskins' starting lineup was comprised entirely of African-American athletes at a time when racially integrated teams were still a novelty in the South and West. Despite generating a firestorm of controversy, Haskins and his players showed they could succeed where it counted -- on the court. In post-season play Haskins and the Texas Western team found themselves competing for the NCAA championship against the University of Kentucky's all-white team, lead by legendary coach Adolph Rupp (Jon Voight). Glory Road also stars Derek Luke, Alphonso McAuley, Mehcad Brooks, Al Shearer, Damaine Radcliff, Sam Jones III, and Schin S. Kerr as members of Haskins' winning team. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Lucas, Derek Luke, (more)
The latest innovation in high-tech defense hardware turns out to have a very dangerous mind of its own in this action thriller. Kara Wade (Jessica Biel), Henry Purcell (Jamie Foxx), and Ben Gannon (Josh Lucas) are three highly ranked U.S. Navy pilots who are part of a top-secret project involving the next generation of stealth fighter technology, the Talon Jet. Wade, Purcell, and Gannon are surprised when their commander, Captain George Cummings (Sam Shepard), introduces them to the new member of their team -- "Edi," an "extreme deep invader" developed as part of the "Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle" program. Utilizing the latest innovations in artificial intelligence, Edi is a computer-based flight controller that will take over the wingman's position in the team's formation, and while the pilots initially balk, Edi performs admirably in its first mission. However, after Edi is struck by lightning on a return trip, the computer's circuits and software begin to change in unexpected ways, and Edi not only begins to think for itself, it begins to violate direct orders. During a mission investigating the forces of a dangerous Chinese extremist, Edi starts an attack that could launch World War III, and it's up to Wade, Purcell, and Gannon to stop both Edi and its dangerous plan before it's too late. Stealth also stars Joe Morton and Richard Roxburgh. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel, (more)
Two generations of a damaged family are brought together in this emotional drama. Einar Gilkyson (Robert Redford) was a once successful rancher whose spread went to seed after he developed a serious drinking problem. Now on the wagon, Einar looks after what's left of his spread with his friend Mitch (Morgan Freeman), a one-time cowhand who never fully recovered after being mauled by a bear. Einar once had a son named Griffin, but he died in a car wreck while Griffin's wife, Jean (Jennifer Lopez), was driving; Einar never forgave her for the death, and he had never met the granddaughter she was carrying until she arrived at his doorstep 11 years later. Jean has become involved with a violent man named Gary (Damian Lewis), and seeks refuge on Einar's ranch for the safety of her daughter, Griff (Becca Gardner). Einar reluctantly takes in Jean and Griff, giving them a place to stay as Jean looks for work and tries to put her life back together. But old trouble makes its way back to town in two ways -- Gary tracks down Jean and wants to make her pay for leaving him, while the bear who attacked Mitch comes down from the mountains looking for new prey. An Unfinished Life was adapted from the novel of the same name by Mark Spragg. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Redford, Jennifer Lopez, (more)
Four generations of an American family are brought together by difficult circumstances while facing some unpleasant truths in this drama. Henry (Michael Caine) is an elderly man in failing health living in a small town in the Southwest, where he's cared for by his live-in nurse (Glenne Headly). As Henry's condition grows worse, he's joined by his son Turner (Christopher Walken), his grandson Jason (Josh Lucas), and his great-grandson Zach (Jonah Bobo). As the four men deal with Henry's illness, they also try to come to terms with a lifetime's worth of differences between them. Around the Bend is the first feature film from writer and director Jordan Roberts. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Walken, Josh Lucas, (more)
Chris (Jamie Bell of Billy Elliot) is a volatile teen who lives with his father, John (Dermot Mulroney), and his little brother, Tim (Devon Alan). After the death of Chris' mother, his reclusive father moved the family to a shack in backwoods Georgia, where they raise hogs. Tim has an unusual eating disorder. He is constantly making himself sick by eating things like dirt and paint. One day, John's estranged brother, Deel (Josh Lucas), gets out of prison and shows up on the farm. John is less than thrilled to see him, but agrees to let him stay with the family as long as Deel helps him look after his boys. Chris is drawn to his wild-man uncle, but it soon becomes clear that Deel has more on his mind than a family reunion. Greed and years of resentment lead to violence, and Chris finds himself on the run, towing his sickly brother along, with Deel in pursuit. Undertow is writer/director David Gordon Green's third feature film, and features many of the same crew as his previous films, George Washington and All the Real Girls, including cinematographer Tim Orr. Green, who co-wrote the script with Joe Conway, has cited the influence of filmmaker Terrence Malick, who is credited as a producer. Green was also influenced by low-budget regional films of the 1970s (like Macon County Line and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and by Charles Laughton's classic The Night of the Hunter. Undertow was selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center for inclusion in the 2004 New York Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamie Bell, Josh Lucas, (more)
James Cox directs the sleazy Hollywood murder tale Wonderland, starring Val Kilmer as legendary porn star John Holmes. Using a non-linear plot structure, the film explores different perspectives of the quadruple homicide that occurred on July 1, 1981, in the Hollywood Hills. At the lowest point of his career and the height of his drug addiction, Holmes was implicated in the murders of the Wonderland gang: Ron Launius (Josh Lucas), Billy Deverell (Tim Blake Nelson), Barbara Richardson (Natasha Gregson Wagner), and Joy Miller (Janeane Garofalo). Launius' wife, Susan (Christina Applegate), was the only survivor. Led by Detective Sam Nico (Ted Levine), the police investigation reveals a dark criminal underworld surrounding Holmes, his disapproving wife, Sharon (Lisa Kudrow), and his innocent teenage girlfriend, Dawn Schiller (Kate Bosworth). Eric Bogosian stars as notorious Hollywood nightclub owner Eddie Nash. Wonderland premiered at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Val Kilmer, Kate Bosworth, (more)
In this family-friendly comedy drama, Walter (Haley Joel Osment) is a shy and bookish boy just short of his teens whose mother impulsively decides to leave him for the summer with his eccentric grand-uncles, Hub (Robert Duvall) and Garth (Michael Caine). Walter isn't especially happy about being left in the middle of Texas with two old men, while Hub and Garth aren't too pleased to be stuck minding a boy, especially one who isn't accustomed to hunting, fishing, or firearms. When Walter starts hearing local gossip about his uncles' wild and wooly pasts, he begins asking a few questions, and while Hub and Garth don't enjoy having the boy poking into their pasts, as they start telling tales of their youthful adventures, they find themselves itching for some new adventures in their lives. Soon Walter is a semi-willing accomplice as his elderly guardians rediscover the wild, impulsive spirit of youth. Secondhand Lions was produced in part by the well-respected visual effects house Digital Domain, who also helped create the imagery for the film's flashback sequences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, (more)
An entrepreneurial bachelor and his loyal best friend strike out on their own to live it up in the Hamptons in directors Sam Sokolow and Rob Lobl's all-star comedy featuring Josh Lucas, Bob Balaban, Al Franken, Ally Sheedy, Teri Garr, and Roy Scheider. Eric Traber (Lucas) has just been fired from his job. As if that wasn't enough to get a guy feeling blue, his roommates have compounded his woes by voting him out of the household. Soon joining up with best bud Ziggy Sinclair (Jeffrey Beuhl), the pair decide to leave New York City behind and travel to the Hamptons to see how the other half lives. Though Eric hopes to win over the lavish estate that his deceased father had willed to his estranged stepmother, getting the keys to the million-dollar home won't be as easy as he thinks. As Eric and Ziggy's manic quest to realize the American Dream reaches a fever pitch, they soon realize that getting to the top can literally be murder. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Ang Lee directs the live-action feature film The Hulk, based on the Marvel comic book created by Stan Lee and illustrated by Jack Kirby. Emotionally stunted Dr. Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) is part of a research team at the University of California at Berkeley. Corporate hustler Glenn Talbot (Josh Lucas) takes notice of the lab and makes plans to take it over. Then Bruce accidentally gets hit by an experimental ray and grows into a huge beast, destroying the lab in the process. A creepy janitor who claims to be his real father, Dr. David Banner (Nick Nolte), starts to secretly use the experimental ray on himself. He creates some mutant dogs and sends them after Bruce's lab mate and ex-girlfriend Betty Ross (Jennifer Connelly). After Bruce saves her life in the form of the Hulk, she lets her distant father, General Ross (Sam Elliott), take him to an abandoned army base in the desert. However, Glenn Talbot takes over the operation and wants to patent the creature's superpowers for his own profit, so he holds Bruce unconscious in an isolation tank. When provoked, Bruce turns into the Hulk and makes a break for San Francisco, leading to a desert chase sequence involving military aircraft, tanks, and bombs. Only the sight of Betty can make him turn back to his human form. When he is eventually captured, Dr. David Banner shows up for a final confrontation with his son and his old adversary, General Ross. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, (more)
After establishing herself as a bankable star with the fish out of water comedy Legally Blonde, Reese Witherspoon returns in what could be described as a "fish back in water" comedy. Melanie Carmichael (Witherspoon) is a successful New York fashion designer who is dating Andrew Hennings (Patrick Dempsey), a wealthy socialite whose mother, Katherine Hennings (Candice Bergen), is the Big Apple's mayor. One day, Andrew pops the big question and asks Melanie to marry him; Melanie is overjoyed, but unknown to Andrew, Melanie has some unfinished business to take care of first. Despite her polished uptown image, Melanie grew up poor in the deep South, and as a teenager she married her high school sweetheart Jake Perry (Josh Lucas). Things went sour and Melanie moved East, reinventing herself along the way, but Jake never bothered to legally end their marriage. Now Melanie has to return to her hometown of Pigeon Creek, AL, to tell her parents (Fred Ward and Mary Kay Place) the news and convince Jake to grant her a divorce; however, the more time she spends with her old flame, the more she feels sparks flying between them again, while she also learns her Eastern affectations don't fly with everyone back home. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas, (more)
Victor Nuñez's Coastlines centers on Sonny (Timothy Olyphant), who is returning home after his release from prison. When he asks for money owed to him by local crime boss Fred Vance (William Forsythe), Vance responds by blowing up Sonny's home (causing the death of Sonny's father). Sonny moves in with old friends Dave and Ann (Josh Brolin and Sarah Wynter), even though Dave is now a policeman. Ann, who has grown bored by her husband's conversion from wild man to cop, begins an affair with Sonny. Nuñez wrote this script before his breakthrough films Ruby in Paradise and Ulee's Gold, but directed it after making those movies. Coastlines was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Timothy Olyphant, Josh Brolin, (more)
The true story of prominent mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. is the subject of this biographical drama from director Ron Howard. Russell Crowe stars as the brilliant but arrogant and conceited professor Nash. The prof seems guaranteed a rosy future in the early '50s after he marries beautiful student Alicia (Jennifer Connelly) and makes a remarkable advancement in the foundations of "game theory," which carries him to the brink of international acclaim. Soon after, John is visited by Agent William Parcher (Ed Harris), from the CIA, who wants to recruit him for code-breaking activities. But evidence suggests that Nash's perceptions of reality are cloudy at best; he is struggling to maintain his tenuous hold on sanity, and Alicia suspects a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. Battling decades of illness with the loyal Alicia by his side, Nash is ultimately able to gain some control over his mental state, and eventually goes on to triumphantly win the Nobel Prize. Based loosely on the book of the same name by Sylvia Nasar, A Beautiful Mind (2001) co-stars Paul Bettany, Adam Goldberg, Anthony Rapp, Christopher Plummer, and Judd Hirsch. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, (more)
Writer/director Brad Anderson, known for whimsical romantic comedies like Next Stop, Wonderland, was inspired by the astonishing, creepy visage of an abandoned mental hospital in Danvers, MA, to make the intense psychological horror film Session 9. The film stars the redoubtable Scottish actor Peter Mullan (from Ken Loach's My Name Is Joe) as Gordon Fleming, a new father struggling to keep his asbestos removal company afloat. Desperate to bring in some money, the normally deliberate and careful Gordon gets the contract by promising that his company can clear out the creepy deserted building in a week's time. Assisted by his right-hand man, Phil (David Caruso), Gordon hires a crew and, pressed by the nearly impossible deadline, gets the hazardous work underway. But each man on the crew harbors a dangerous secret, and it's only a short time before the haunted atmosphere of the asylum -- where cruel and primitive means were used to control unstable patients -- begins to work its dark spell on them. Session 9 was one of the first feature films shot using Sony's 24P HD video, which shoots at 24 frames per second, like film, as opposed to the 30 frames per second of conventional video. The filmmakers used the same camera that George Lucas would later use to film Star Wars: Episode II. Using this technology, Anderson and director of photography Uta Briesewitz were able to produce the uniquely effective, deep-focus images in Session 9 using mostly natural light. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Mullan, David Caruso, (more)
A woman is placed in a dangerous position after a chance meeting with a stranger in this suspense drama. A drifter wanders into a quiet diner off a highway, and the woman who manages the place takes pity on him and gives him breakfast on the house since he doesn't have any money. The stranger looks like he's been injured recently, and when three men come in for something to eat, he warns the manager that the new customers are not to be trusted -- he has information that they want, and they would be willing to hurt her as badly as they hurt him in order to get it. Whom should she believe? And what will happen if the drifter happens to be right? Produced under the title Shearer's Breakfast, When Strangers Appear stars Barry Watson, Radha Mitchell, and Josh Lucas; though set in the United States, the film was actually shot in New Zealand. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Radha Mitchell, Barry Watson, (more)
A mother is drawn into a sinister web of blackmail while trying to protect her son in this drama. Margaret Hall (Tilda Swinton) is a wife and mother of three living in Lake Tahoe, whose husband is a Naval officer stationed in the Atlantic ocean. Margaret's oldest son, teenaged Beau (Jonathan Tucker), is gay and has become involved with Darby (Josh Lucas), a disreputable older man whom Margaret does not trust. Margaret confronts Darby and tells him to stay away from her son, but Darby isn't easily dissuaded, and he comes by the house late one night, leading to a fight between Beau and Darby. The next morning, Margaret discovers Darby's body on the beach, with an anchor piercing his chest. Not sure what to do, Margaret hauls Darby's body out to sea, and dumps it where she hopes it will not be found. Margaret tries to get her life back to normal, until a man named Alek (Goran Visnjic) appears at her door. Alek appears to know something about Darby's death, and he definitely knows about Beau's relationship with him; in fact, he has a videotape of Beau and Darby having sex, and he's prepared to make it public unless she'll pay him $50,000. Margaret is in no position to pay the money, but is desperate to protect her son and attempts to reason with Alek. Surprisingly enough, in time it works, and Alek withdraws his request for blackmail money. However, Nagle (Raymond Barry), a local crime boss whom Alek works for, is not nearly so generous. The Deep End was adapted from a novel by Elizabeth Sanxay Holding, The Blank Wall, which was previously filmed by Max Ophuls as The Reckless Moment. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tilda Swinton, Goran Visnjic, (more)
- 2000
- PG13
Based on an original idea by celebrated French director Luc Besson, The Dancer follows the struggle of its eponymous heroine, a mute dancer by the name of India Rey (Mia Frye), to perform on the Broadway stage. Every Saturday night, India, who teaches movement to school children by day, wins the weekly dance contest at a local Brooklyn disco. Under the management of her brother, Jasper (Garland Whitt), a surly meat delivery boy, she makes the cut at an open audition for a Broadway show. Her dreams are aborted when she is dismissed by the director after giving her name in sign language, and she is told that her disability will hold back the rehearsal process. India despairs, but help is on its way in the unlikely form of Isaac (Rodney Eastman), a stuttering scientist infatuated with her. Isaac toils in his lab to invent something that will allow India to translate her movement into sound, effectively clearing her path to big-time success. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mia Frye, Garland Whitt, (more)
A woman studying a crime of the past finds her own life becoming a morass of suspicion and deceit in this drama based on the novel by Anita Shreve. Jean Janes (Catherine McCormack) is a photographer working on a project that would document surviving evidence of a multiple murder that occurred a hundred years ago -- when a man named Louis Wagner (Ciaran Hinds) brutally killed two immigrant women from Norway with an axe, only to discover a third, Maren Hontvedt (Sarah Polley), witnessed the mayhem and survived to identify him in court. Jean travels to the small New Hampshire coastal town where the killings occurred with her husband Thomas (Sean Penn), an award-winning poet; his brother Rich (Josh Lucas); and Rich's girlfriend Adaline (Elizabeth Hurley). As Jean digs deeper into the troubling facts of the long-ago murder, as well as the tangential details of Maren Honvedt's unhappy marriage to John Hontvedt (Ulrich Thomsen) and her incestuous affair with her brother Evan (Anders W. Berthelsen), Jean begins to believe that she has a crisis of her own to contend with: she is convinced Thomas is having an affair with Adaline. The Weight of Water also features Katrin Cartlidge as Maren's sister Karen and Vinessa Shaw as her sister-in-law Anethe. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine McCormack, Sarah Polley, (more)
- 2000
Stacy Cochran directs this loose, understated comedy about football and celebrity. Pete Barnes (James LeGros) is in desperate straits -- he lost his job as a sports reporter, his married girlfriend has had enough of him, and his muckraking exposé on the seamy side of the NFL has saddled him with a handful of lawsuits. In spite of this, Pete wins an assignment from a loyal editor for a tabloid feature on 19-year old football wunderkind Spanks Voley (Desmond Harrington). When Pete catches up with him, Spanks is playing the lead in a low-budget flick about football; that is until a mysterious assailant rearranges the jock's face, forcing him to drop from the shoot. As Pete starts digging around, he soon learns that Spanks is not what he appears. His murky past is populated with two angry ex-wives; a trail of changed names, ages, and careers; and vague accusations of domestic abuse. This film was screened at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James LeGros, Amber Valletta, (more)
Bret Easton Ellis' dark and violent satire of America in the 1980s is brought to the screen in this unsettling drama with black comic overtones. Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), the son of a wealthy Wall Street financier, is pursuing his own lucrative career with his father's firm. Bateman is the prototypical yuppie, obsessed with success, fashion, and style. He is also a serial killer who murders, rapes, and mutilates both strangers and acquaintances without provocation or reason. Donald Kimble (Willem Dafoe), a police detective, questions Bateman about the disappearance of Paul Allen (Jared Leto), whom Patrick murdered several days earlier. As Kimble stays on Bateman's trail, Bateman's mask of studied, distant cool begins to fall apart. American Psycho also features Reese Witherspoon as Bateman's girlfriend, as well as Samantha Mathis, Chloe Sevigny, and Guinevere Turner; the latter also co-authored the screenplay. Controversy followed the production from the start, when speculation that Leonardo Di Caprio would play Bateman sparked concerns that he would lure preteens to an R-rated movie. Di Caprio soon bowed out of the project, and original leading man Bale was reinstated. Later, a group of Toronto residents attempted to block filming in that city after Canadian serial killer Paul Bernardo claimed that Ellis' novel inspired his murder spree. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, (more)
