Johnathon Schaech Movies
Tall, dark, and very handsome, Johnathon Schaech has all of the physical attributes one would expect of a leading man. Despite his appearance, however, Schaech has eluded true stardom, appearing in films that allow him to showcase his talent without providing the opportunity for the actor to make a solid splash in the mainstream.Born in Edgewood, MD, in 1969, Schaech was a model before being cast in his first role, in a 1993 film called The Webbers. Co-starring David Arquette and Jennifer Tilly, the film was mired in obscurity, much like Schaech's next effort, Franco Zefferelli's Storia Di Una Capinera or Sparrows (1993). It was director Gregg Araki who gave Schaech his first real break, when he cast him as a dangerous, perpetually aroused drifter in his 1995 film The Doom Generation. Ecstatically bad-mannered and filled with an abundance of sex, violence, and severed heads, the film became something of a cult classic and gave Schaech a limited dose of fame. The scope of his fame was widened a little bit with his next significant picture, How to Make an American Quilt (1995). As one of the token Y-chromosome bearers in a virtually all-female cast, Schaech made a favorable impression with many filmgoers in his role as Winona Ryder's lifeguard suitor. His notices were favorable enough to get him a leading part in Tom Hanks' 1996 film That Thing You Do! and the title role of the made-for-cable Houdini (1998). Along with these relative successes came the requisite flops, among them 1997's Welcome to Woop Woop, which featured a memorably bizarre title and little else, and Hush (1998), in which Schaech played the son of a completely crackers Jessica Lange. In 1999, Schaech had another shot at cult stardom when he again collaborated with Araki on Splendor, which had its debut at the Sundance Film Festival. The same year, he was also cast in the Jennifer Love Hewitt series, Fox's The Time of Your Life. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
A struggling actress forges an unusual family unit with two separate boyfriends in this romantic comedy from indie auteur Gregg Araki. Veronica (Kathleen Robertson) hasn't had a decent date for a year, but one Halloween she meets not one but two perfect guys: Zed (Matt Keeslar), a rock drummer who does her on the floor of a club bathroom after his show, and Abel (Johnathon Schaech), an affable rock critic and would-be novelist, who seems more interested in connecting with her soul than her private parts. Unable to lie to either guy about her attraction to both of them, Veronica soon convinces them to share her. Eventually, the unemployed Zed and the underemployed Abel even move in with her, resulting in kinky sex and domestic bliss. Trouble comes calling, however, in the form of an unplanned pregnancy -- and in the person of Ernest (Eric Mabius), an aptly named TV director, who gives Veronica her big break and the chance to play house and raise her child in a monied, more normal environment. Its soundtrack filled with the director's trademarked mixture of shoegazer drone and electronic bliss, Splendor premiered at Sundance in 1999. Araki's first outing after the completion of his "Teen Apocalypse Trilogy," the film reunited him with two actors who had appeared in that series: Schaech (The Doom Generation) and Robertson (Nowhere). Both of those earlier characters participated in unorthodox romantic tableaux similar to the one documented in Splendor. Robertson, in fact, would return to the world of the ménage à trois with 2002's XX/XY. Offscreen, the actress raised eyebrows after beginning a romance with her openly gay director. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathleen Robertson, Johnathon Schaech, (more)
After the death of his wife, Byron (Jonathon Schaech) finds himself chronically depressed, so he decides to hop into his junk heap of a car and drive to Memphis. Along they way he picks up a hitchhiker (Harvey Keitel) in a pink jacket who informs Byron he's Elvis Presley and wants to go back home to Graceland. As one might expect, Byron is convinced this guy is a few doughnuts short of a dozen, but the closer they get to Memphis, the more he wonders if there isn't a bit of Elvis in him after all, especially after he picks up a beautiful Marilyn Monroe impersonator (Bridget Fonda). Priscilla Presley was an executive producer for this film, which features several scenes filmed inside Graceland. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Johnathon Schaech, (more)
Jonathan Darby made his directorial debut with this thriller, set in Kentucky (but filmed in Orange County, VA). Jackson Baring (Johnathon Schaech) wants his girlfriend, Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow), to meet his mother, Martha (Jessica Lange), so he brings her home for Christmas to Kilronan, their sumptuous Kentucky estate and horse farm. Later, after Helen gets pregnant, they marry and return to Kilronan to have the baby, but Martha aggressively intrudes and manipulates, telling obstetrician Dr. Hill (Hal Holbrook) how to deal with the birth and forbidding Helen from seeing Jackson's invalid granny, Alice (Nina Foch). After learning some of Martha's past history from Alice, Helen soon decides she must make an escape from her demented mother-in-law. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jessica Lange, Gwyneth Paltrow, (more)
- 1998
- NR
This biography of the famed magician, produced for the TNT cable outlet, examines both Harry Houdini's public career (and reveals how he performed a few of his better known escapes) and his private life, in particular his sometimes-stormy relationship with his wife Bess and his interest in spiritualism. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1997
- R
In part, filmmaker Stephan Elliott (best known for The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert) made this black, surrealistic and subversive comedy to bid farewell to Australian cultural traditions (i.e. excessive beer drinking, racism and sexism) that are rapidly disappearing due to the increasing infiltration of urban sophistication and political correctness into even the county's most remote regions. Unfortunately, Elliot's outrageous tribute to past 'traditions' is presented with such vulgar abandon that many Australians are sure to be offended, not tickled, even though Elliot did try to tone down the mean spirit of the original script which was first titled 'Big Red.' The story centers on Teddy, a fugitive con-artist who has fled New York and gone into the Australian outback. His troubles begin when he is picked up at a lonely gas station by the blonde and brassy Angie who quickly seduces him and then knocks him out cold. Teddy awakens to find himself in the dusty town of Woop Woop. Surrounded by steep cliffs, the town, which was built near a now-defunct asbestos mine, is ruled by Angie's father Daddy-O, who is as much a warden as he is a local leader, deciding when and who will enter and leave Woop Woop. A weird place that is supported by a kangaroo-meat dog-food factory, it is populated by beer-swilling rednecks, crude eccentrics (and a giant kangaroo named Big Red) who find endless entertainment listening to Oscar & Hammerstein musicals (the town's ramshackle drive-in runs The Sound of Music and South Pacific continuously). Teddy quickly discovers that he is in effect the burg's newest prisoner and is expected to constantly service the sexually insatiable Angie. Not willing to remain a captive, Teddy begins planning his escape. The story's surrealism comes from Elliot's deliberately inappropriate use of musical numbers to punctuate events. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Tom Hanks made his directorial debut in this bright comedy set in the mid-1960's about a rock group and their brief fling with fame. Guy Patterson (Tom Everett Scott) works as a salesman at his father's appliance store and plays the drums in his spare time, fancying himself a jazz musician. One day, a buddy of Guy's tells him a local rock band, The One-Ders (it's pronounced "wonders"), are in need of a drummer -- they have Battle of the Bands coming up and their usual timekeeper has broken his arm. Guy agrees to sit in, but when it's time to play their best original, a love ballad called "That Thing You Do," Guy lays in a sharp, driving beat that turns the tune into an uptempo pop-rocker. Lead singer Jimmy (Johnathon Schaech) isn't happy at first, but guitarist Lenny (Steve Zahn) and the nameless Bass Player (Ethan Embry) think the song sounds better that way -- and they notice the girls like it just fine. Soon people are actually requesting the song at their shows, and the One-Ders scrape together some money to press a single of "That Thing You Do" to sell between sets. A DJ puts the song on the radio, and opportunity knocks in the form of Mr. White (Tom Hanks), who works for the very major Play-Tone Records label. Play-Tone buys the rights to "That Thing You Do" and puts the band on the road as their song makes it way to the top of the national charts. But what can The Wonders (as Play-Tone have re-named them) do for an encore? And what should Guy do about his infatuation with Jimmy's girlfriend, Faye (Liv Tyler)? Real-life 60's obsessed rocker Chris Isaak has a small part as a recording engineer, and fans of real 60's garage bands will appreciate the wealth of small, accurately observed details (for example, halfway through the film, when a few "That Thing You Do" royalty checks have presumably kicked in, the band's inexpensive Danelectro guitars disappear and the Wonders are suddenly playing on brand new Fender gear -- the height of rock style in 1965). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Everett Scott, Liv Tyler, (more)
- 1996
- R
Cult hero Larry Cohen wrote this suspense thriller about a woman whose relationship with a sociopathic killer unwittingly makes her a political hot potato in the abortion rights movement. Theresa Barnes (Mili Avital) is a young woman working at a flower show who meets a handsome and charming young man, Josh (Jonathan Schaech), who as a child had a successful career as a model. Theresa and Josh quickly become a couple, and she thinks that she's finally found the man of her dreams until she becomes pregnant. Josh reacts to this news with unpredictable, psychotic violence, and as Josh becomes more and more unstable, Theresa decides for her own safety that she needs to get away from him. Theresa runs away and stays in a cabin in the woods, and she makes plans to get an abortion. However, Josh finds her and holds her captive, intending to keep her his prisoner until her pregnancy is too far along to be terminated. After several attempts at escape, Josh finally lets Theresa go, and she immediately goes to the police. Josh, however, promptly hires a lawyer who helps him bring his story to the media. As Josh tells it, he's a concerned and caring father trying to save the life of his unborn son from his callous and uncaring girlfriend, who does not respect the sanctity of life. Overnight, Josh becomes the new spokesman for the pro-life movement. In time, Theresa decides to have the baby, but she refuses to buckle under to Josh's public demands to be given sole custody of the child. In time, Theresa is able to convince Police Sgt. Rutherford (David Keith) that Josh is not all that he claims to be, and Rutherford's digging confirms that Josh is not a cheerful friend of the unborn, but a dangerous psychopath who has killed before and will likely kill again. Invasion of Privacy also features Naomi Campbell, Charlotte Rampling, and R.G. Armstrong. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mili Avital, Johnathon Schaech, (more)
Ivy may be gone, but her legacy lives on (and that's not necessarily a good thing) in this sexy thriller. Lily (Alyssa Milano) is a young woman from the Midwest who leaves behind her sheltered life and travels to California to study art. Lily quickly discovers that one of her professors, Donald Falk (Xander R. Berkeley), has taken a decidedly non-academic interest in her. Later, when Lily moves into an apartment with a group of fellow students, she finds that one of her new flatmates, art-school playboy Gredin (Johnathon Schaech), has amorous designs on her. While looking through a closet, Lily finds a diary from Ivy, a teenage temptress with a dangerous talent for wrapping men around her finger. Lily begins remaking herself in Ivy's image and engages in passionate affairs with both Donald and Gredin, but Lily doesn't realize until it's too late that her powers of erotic manipulation can have terrible consequences. Poison Ivy II: Lily was the follow-up to 1992's Poison Ivy, though the original film's director (Katt Shea), screenwriters (Melissa Goddard and Andy Ruben), producer Peter Morgan, and star (Drew Barrymore) all declined to participate in this production. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alyssa Milano, Xander Berkeley, (more)
- 1995
- PG13
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A young woman at a crossroads in her life finds herself receiving plenty of advice from her older and wiser counterparts in this drama. Finn Dodd (Winona Ryder) is a graduate student trying to finish up her doctoral thesis on women's folk art while deciding if she should marry her fiancé Sam (Dermot Mulroney); she's not sure if she's ready to settle down, and suspects that Sam is unfaithful to her. Needing time to sort things out, Finn chooses to spend the summer with her grandmother Hy (Ellen Burstyn) and great aunt Gladys Jo (Anne Bancroft). Hy and Gladys Jo are avid quilters, and with a group of their friends, they work on a special quilt for Finn's wedding; as the women work together, they share stories of their lives, and Finn finds herself learning as much from hearing them talk as she does from her schoolwork. Finn also receives a visit from her free-spirited mom Sally (Kate Capshaw) and finds herself infatuated with a good looking young man who lives nearby. Maya Angelou plays one of the quilters, as do Kate Nelligan, Jean Simmons, and Alfre Woodard. How to Make an American Quilt was the directorial debut of Jocelyn Moorhouse, and was based on a novel by Whitney Otto that itself began as a doctoral thesis. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Winona Ryder, Anne Bancroft, (more)
Billed as "a heterosexual movie by Gregg Araki," The Doom Generation is the director's self-styled bad-taste teen film. Amy Blue (Rose McGowan) is an obnoxious teenage speed freak and her boyfriend Jordan White (James Duval) is a passive, slow-witted poseur who won't have sex with her because he's terrified of AIDS (even though they both claim to be virgins). One day, they run across Xavier Red (Johnathon Schaech), a charming but enigmatic drifter who has a bad habit of killing people. Joining the young couple on a seemingly endless road trip, Xavier (or "X,"as the verbally challenged Jordan insists on calling him), proves a threatening and repulsive yet strangely alluring companion whose very presence raises issues of loyalty and sexual identity. The Doom Generation is dotted with a variety of eccentric cameo appearances, including comic Margaret Cho, actress Parker Posey, musician Perry Farrell, "Hollywood Madame" Heidi Fleiss, and onetime Brady Bunch star Christopher Knight. This is the middle installment in Araki's "teen apocalypse trilogy," which also includes 1993's Totally F***ed Up and 1997's Nowhere. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Duval, Rose McGowan, (more)
- 1993
It is the 19th century in Italy, and Maria (Angela Bettis) has joined a convent in order to explore her strong feeling that she has a calling to become a nun. She has adapted to live at the convent quite nicely, and is relatively untroubled, but a cholera outbreak sends her back to be with her family for a while, near the steaming peak of Mount Etna. She enjoys her freedom to move around the countryside, and is wooed (unsuccessfully, it seems) by a charming young man named Nico, but returns to the convent when the danger is past. There, she is troubled by the thought that she truly loved Nico, and that her calling may not be as firm as she thought. When she learns that Nico has married her sister, she nearly goes mad with self-recrimination, but eventually weathers the storm. All the dialog in this Italian-made film by Franco Zeffirelli is in English. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angela Bettis, Johnathon Schaech, (more)
