Liev Schreiber Movies
Displaying the kind of off-kilter charm that makes him a natural for leading roles in independent films and character parts in mainstream features, Liev Schreiber has made a name for himself on both circuits. Born October 4, 1967, in San Francisco, Schreiber was raised on New York's Lower East Side. A graduate of Hampshire College in Massachusetts, he initially wanted to become a writer, but later decided to try his hand at acting, training at both London's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Yale School of Drama.Schreiber's first acting job was on Broadway, where he appeared in In the Summer House. More theater work followed and in 1994, the actor made his film debut in the Steve Martin comedy Mixed Nuts. The film was an unequivocal flop, although Schreiber's role as a rather muscular transvestite proved to be one of the picture's few memorable features.
His next project, the 1995 indie Denise Calls Up, fared a little better; despite almost non-existent box-office ratings, it was rewarded with critical approval. Following more minor film work, he landed the role of a British bouncer in the successful indie flick Party Girl (1995), which also starred nascent indie queen Parker Posey. Schreiber got an introduction to a more mainstream audience thanks to his role as killer Cotton Weary in Wes Craven's mega-hit Scream, a role he reprised in the film's sequel, Scream 2 (1997). The same year, Schreiber had leading roles in two more independent films, The Daytrippers (which again paired him with Posey) and Walking and Talking, as well as a secondary role in the bloated Mel Gibson thriller Ransom.
Deftly straddling the divide between Sundance and the studio, Schreiber went on to make three major mainstream pictures in 1998: Phantoms, with Rose McGowan and Ben Affleck; Twilight with Susan Sarandon, Paul Newman, and Gene Hackman; and Sphere with Samuel L. Jackson, Sharon Stone, and Dustin Hoffman. The following year, Schreiber returned to more familiar territory with his role in Tony Goldwyn's small but successful drama A Walk on the Moon. As the man Diane Lane cuckolds for Viggo Mortensen, Schreiber mined endless possibilities from what could have been a narrow role, giving his character the sort of charming, good-intentioned inadequacy that became one of the actor's trademarks.
In 2000, Schreiber returned to the role of Cotton Weary a third time to close out the Scream franchise. It was around this time that he also began doing a considerable amount of voice-over work, mainly for PBS's NOVA series. As the decade progressed, Schreiber continued to be a presence in bigger mainstream projects, such as the 2002 adaptation of Tom Clancy's The Sum of All Fears. Two years later, he could be seen in another high-profile, politically tinged thriller, this time opposite Denzel Washington in director Jonathan Demme's remake of The Manchurian Candidate.
In 2005 he made his directorial and screenwriting debut with Everything Is Illuminated, and appeared in the critically acclaimed, Golden Globe-winning HBO movie Lackawanna Blues, a life-affirming film about a selfless black woman (played by S. Epatha Merkerson) in 1950s segregated New York who provides a home and a guiding hand to the youths who come to live at her boarding house. His 2006 project would be quite a departure from this sweet, poignant tale, as Schreiber took the role of Robert Thorne in John Moore's remake of the 1976 horror classic The Omen. Heavily publicized for its "666" release date (June 6th, 2006), the film pleased horror fans, as did Schreiber's performance as husband to Julia Stiles and father to the infamous Damien, a little boy who seems to harbor an evil that at best makes him disturbingly cold and at worst, places him at the crux of the devil's own plan for hell on Earth.
Schreiber next went into production on The Painted Veil, an adaptation of the novel by W. Somerset Maugham. Playing the playboy whom Naomi Watts cuckolds her husband with, the actor immersed himself in the part for the drama.
Meanwhile, a return to the stage in the lauded revival of Glengarry Glen Ross not only earned Schreiber a Tony award, and in 2005 he made his debut as a film director and screenwriter with the indie Everything Is Illuminated. Always up for new challenges, he played the role of the comic-book supervillain Sabertooth in the 2009 summer blockbuster X-Men Origins: Wolverine. In addition to his acting, Schreiber also has a lucrative career narrating documentaries and commercials. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
The remarkable life of baseball's most beloved icon comes to the screen with the kind of loving attention to detail only achieved by the respectful, sports-loving documentary filmmakers at pay-cable giant HBO. Filmed in part to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the legendary switch-hitter's death, this film tells the remarkable tale of the athlete who overcame constant, nagging injuries to blast 536 home runs out of the ballpark over the course of 18 unforgettable seasons and swing his way into the history books. A charming country boy who would beat the odds to become the toast of New York, Mickey Mantle's charmed life came to a tragic end when, as he was receiving an operation to replace his damaged liver, doctors discovered that the baseball great had inoperable cancer. As filmmakers speak to the people who knew Mantle best, including his teammates, his sons, his wife Merlyn, and sportscaster Bob Costas, baseball fans are afforded the rare opportunity to watch from the stands as history is made in the ballpark. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 2005
Secrets of the Dead: The Hunt for Nazi Scientists documents the attempt to bring to justice the various men of science who helped build Hitler's Third Reich. The film utilizes a wealth of historical footage along with interviews given by both people who were involved in the events depicted and by historians. The film shows how some of the work done by these men had a direct effect on international post-war life. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Liev Schreiber
- 2005
- Add Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women's Soccer Team to Queue Add Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women's Soccer Team to top of Queue
Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women's Soccer Team documents how a group of five women formed the core of the international team that captured the Women's World Cup. Team members Brandi Chastain, Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and others share stories about their time on the team, and the filmmakers provide much footage of the team in action. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- 2004
Presented by PBS Home Video, Secrets of the Dead: D-Day - The Ultimate Conflict takes a look at the methods and techniques that the Allies used to outwit the Germans and overtake their daunting Atlantic Wall to storm the beaches of Normandy and turn the tide of the war. This documentary, narrated by actor Liev Schreiber, is sure to interest any war history buff. ~ Dana Rowader, Rovi
Jonathan Demme directed this updated remake of John Frankenheimer's 1962 cult favorite The Manchurian Candidate, a pioneering examination of political conspiracy and psychological reconditioning. Major Bennett Marco (Denzel Washington) and Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber) are two soldiers who served in the same company during Operation Desert Storm, but their paths following their tours of duty have been very different. Shaw, the son of powerful congresswoman Eleanor Shaw (Meryl Streep), has used his reputation as a war hero to quickly scale the ladder of American politics, and with the help of his mother earns the Vice Presidential nomination. Marco, on the other hand, has been troubled with mental illness, and is convinced that something strange happened to him and his compatriots during the war. As Marco struggles to find the truth behind his nightmares and emotional torment, he unearths some disturbing facts about how his mind and body have been reworked by shadowy forces, as well as those of his fellow soldiers -- including Raymond Shaw. Featuring a stellar supporting cast (including Jon Voight, Miguel Ferrer, Ted Levine, and Dean Stockwell), The Manchurian Candidate credits George Axelrod's screenplay for the 1962 film as its source, as opposed to Richard Condon's 1959 novel from which Axelrod adapted his script. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, (more)
On September 11, 2001, New York City became the site of the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil when a group of extremists brought down the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The event struck to the heart of New Yorkers as well as Americans across the country (and their friends around the world), but an unexpected event helped to heal and galvanize people a few weeks later. The New York Yankees, the Big Apple's perennial baseball powerhouse, had enjoyed a strong season and found themselves representing the American League in the 2001 World Series, with the fledgling Arizona Diamondbacks as National League champs. Three of the seven games in the series were scheduled to be played at Yankee Stadium, only nine miles away from Ground Zero, and both the Yankees and New York mayor Rudy Giuliani determined that despite the attacks, the games would go on, and the hard-fought series became a rallying point across the nation, as fans rooted not just for the Yankees, but for the city they called home. Nine Innings From Ground Zero is a documentary which looks at this fascinating nexus between nation tragedy and healing through sports; produced for the premium cable network HBO, the film includes with Rudy Giuliani, Yankee's manager Joe Torre, and members of both the Yankees and the Diamondbacks. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Directed by Rick McKay, who traveled across five continents during the documentary's production, Broadway: The Golden Age is both a celebration of current Broadway stars and a tribute to Broadway legends past. Through a plethora of interviews and vast amounts of archival footage, McKay presents a variety of factoids, anecdotes, and memories from over 100 Broadway actors, writers, and directors. The careers of Laurette Taylor, Kim Hunter, Jessica Tandy, and Marlon Brando are all animatedly retold, as is some of the Broadway "lore of olde," such as Angela Lansbury's struggle to land a role in Mame and the shocked reaction to West Side Story on its opening night. In addition to footage and discussion regarding highly successful Broadway stars, a variety of actors recount their experiences and struggles in finding even a small amount of critical recognition. The cast includes Shirley MacLaine, Bea Arthur, Edie Adams, Alec Baldwin, and Kaye Ballard, and many others. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
- Starring:
- Edie Adams, Bea Arthur, (more)
The fierce competition between Boeing and Lockheed-Martin is the subject of this Nova installment. Both companies are trying to earn government contracts with their "X-Planes," 15-ton stealth fighter jets with state-of-the-art technology. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
In this episode of NOVA, Conrad Anker leads an expedition to climb the highest mountain peak in Antarctica: Vinson Massif. Anker was joined by author Jon Krakauer, guide Dave Hahn, glaciologist Dan Stone, extreme skier Andrew McLean, NOVA producer Liesl Clark, and a three-person camera crew. This eight-person team survived through powerful winds and extreme temperatures to capture high-definition footage of this mostly unexplored area of Antarctica. Their successful journey in 2001 is compared with other historical attempts to scale the mountain. Mountain of Ice was originally broadcast on PBS February 11, 2003. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
The Thubchen monastery has long been a hallmark of Buddhist art, with its elaborate wall paintings. This episode of Nova chronicles how the pictures came to be, and the battle over how to preserve them. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- 2003
This PBS special documents the sequence of events resulting from the Japanese army's capture of more than 200,000 Allied POWs during 1942, specifically pertaining to the supply route needed to support its front-line troops in Burma. Under deplorable conditions, the POWs, along with thousands of Asian laborers, were ordered to complete a railway linking Thailand and Burma, which would include a bridge on the River Kwai. Nicknamed "The Death Railway" due to the extreme malnourishment and disease the bridge claimed before its completion, the bridge gained no small amount of infamy. The railway was eventually destroyed by the invention of the Azimuth Only bomb (the AZON), which served as a cornerstone in the development of high-accuracy guidable bombs that would ultimately be used in places like Afghanistan and Iraq decades later. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
Roger Spottiswoode directs Jeff Goldblum, Anthony LaPaglia, and Liev Schreiber in the political satire Spinning Boris. The film takes place during the Russian elections of 1996 that ended with Boris Yeltsin becoming the head of the country. The trio of lead actors play political consultants who use their knowledge of American style campaigning to get Yeltsin the victory. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeff Goldblum, Anthony LaPaglia, (more)
British actor Robert Carlyle stars as the 20th century's most infamous dictator in this two-part TV biopic. The film covers the life of Adolf Hitler from his childhood to his emergence as absolute ruler of Germany in 1934. Most of the ground covered should be familiar to history buffs: Hitler's failed efforts to become a great artist, his frustration at watching his adopted country fall apart at the seams during World War I, his resolve to put Germany back on its feet by exploiting the nation's horrendous postwar economic woes and its ingrained anti-Semitism, his 1923 arrest, the publication of Hitler's virulent screed Mein Kampf, the growing popularity of National Socialism, and the fatal error made by senile German chancellor Von Hindbenburg (Peter O'Toole) to "neutralize" Hitler by giving him a relatively unimportant political post in 1933. Also covered is Hitler's abortive romance with his half-niece Geli Raubal (Jena Malone) and his longer relationship with the estimable Eva Braun (Zoe Telford). Given the difficulties faced by actor Carlyle and the screenwriters to successfully convey pure, unadulterated evil, much of what we learn about Hitler is conveyed by the observations and reactions of other characters, notably crusading but ineffectual anti-Nazi journalist Fritz Gerlich (Matthew Modine), and especially German publisher Ernst Hanfstaengl (Liev Schreiber) and his wife, Helene (Julianna Margulies). Originally a staunch supporter of Hitler, Hanfstaengl eventually comes to realize the danger the man poses to the world ("He's not human. He simply studies others to become human."); in contrast, Helene, who at the outset is vaguely opposed to National Socialism, is ultimately seduced and swept up by the movement. Not surprisingly, this film stirred up a great deal of controversy even before it aired; some Jewish leaders and prominent Holocaust survivors worried that Hitler might come off as being sympathetic (a concern that may have dictated altering the film's title, which was to have been Hitler: The Early Years); and one of the film's producers was summarily dismissed after issuing a public statement which seemed to compare Germany's blind, unthinking allegiance to Hitler to America's rallying behind George W. Bush during the Iraq crisis. Hitler: The Rise of Evil originally aired May 18 and 20, 2003, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Carlyle, Stockard Channing, (more)
- 2002
Following the Civil War, Grant considered returning to civilian life. Racial violence in the South, however, along with President Andrew Johnson's ineffectual leadership, led the ex-soldier into politics. Beginning in March 1869, Grant would serve two presidential terms. Although he attempted to focus his administration on Reconstruction, Westward expansion, a Depression in the 1870s, and corruption within his own administration sidetracked his plans. When Grant left the White House in March 1877, it was under a cloud of suspicion. In May of the same year, he and his wife left for England, beginning a two-and-a-half-year trip that would take them around the world. Grant entered business with his son and investor Ferdinand Ward upon his return. Although a great deal of money was earned in the beginning of their venture, Ward's unsavory dealings, of which the Grants knew nothing, led to bankruptcy. After Grant discovered he was ill with throat cancer, he decided to write his memoirs as a way of providing for his family once he was gone. While director Adriana Bosch doesn't shy away from Grant's faults, she does offer a positive portrayal of his presidency. Ulysses S. Grant also includes interviews with historians and biographers. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., Rovi
- 2002
This 60-minute cable TV documentary places the sensational murder trial of ex-football star O.J. Simpson in context with American race relations of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Deliberately courting controversy, the filmmakers opine that, up until his arrest on suspicion of murder in 1994, Simpson was not perceived as an archetypal African-American by either the black or the white community; he was nothing more nor less than a fabulously handsome and immensely talented sports celebrity. Once Simpson was placed on trial, however, the race card was played (or, rather, overplayed) on both ends of the color spectrum: Black activists labeled Simpson a "spokesman" for his race and regarded the trial as "payback" for the thousands of African-Americans who have been unfairly treated by the country's judicial system, while white observers now perceived the formerly idolized Simpson as merely another "bad black man." Among those interviewed in O.J.: A Study in Black and White are black athlete-turned-actor Jim Brown, advertising executive Jerry Burgdoerfer, and sports sociologist Dr. Mary Jo Kane. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Liev Schreiber, Jim Brown, (more)
- 2002
A Brilliant Madness chronicles the life of mathematician and Nobel Prize winner John Nash. Born in Bluefield, WV, the eccentric Nash joined the prestigious math department at Princeton in the late '40s. In 1950, at the age of 21, he developed the Nash Equilibrium, a challenge to traditional game theory that would prove revolutionary to economics. No one, however, recognized its importance at the time. After receiving his doctorate, Nash began teaching at M.I.T. where he met and married Alicia Larde. He was frustrated, though, by the slow progress of his career and began to exhibit signs of mental imbalance. He claimed that aliens were sending him coded messages and that his picture was on the cover of Life disguised as the Pope. Nash was committed for a short time to McLean Hospital where he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. For the next 20 years, Nash suffered from the disease until he slowly began to recover in the 1980s. In 1994, he received the Nobel Prize for his work in game theory and resumed his work at Princeton University. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., Rovi
- Starring:
- Liev Schreiber
The successful franchise of Paramount motion pictures based on novelist Tom Clancy's techno-thrillers featuring heroic CIA intelligence analyst Jack Ryan stages a much-publicized "do-over" with this action-adventure that recasts the character of Ryan as a rookie to the complex game of geopolitical warfare. Ben Affleck takes the reins from Harrison Ford as Ryan, a greenhorn CIA historian and analyst who finds himself thrust front and center into the spy community's spotlight when Nemerov (Ciaran Hinds), a Russian politician on whom Ryan is an expert, suddenly becomes the leader of the former Soviet Union upon the current president's unexpected demise. Attached to the director of the CIA, Cabot (Morgan Freeman), Ryan insists -- contrary to the opinions of many high-ranking White House officials -- that Nemerov is not a warmonger. Meanwhile, a cadre of neo-fascists, led by Dressler (Alan Bates), plots the detonation at the Super Bowl in Baltimore, MD, of a nuclear device recovered from a long-ago Israeli fighter jet crash, a terrorist incident they intend to spark a war between the super powers, leaving them to conquer the world in the conflict's post-apocalyptic vacuum. The Sum of All Fears co-stars James Cromwell, Bridget Moynahan, and Liev Schreiber as covert operative John Clark, a character central to another series of Clancy's best-selling tomes. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, (more)
- 2002
Ulysses S. Grant was born the son of a tanner and little distinguished him as a young man. He attended West Point at his father's insistent, but felt ill suited for demands of military life. When the Mexican-American War erupted in 1846, Grant served beside many officers who later fought for the Confederacy. He was transferred to the far West after the war, but quit the army in 1854 to reunite with his family. He farmed land for a short time, worked as a clerk for his father, and invested in a number of schemes; he made little money, however, and his business ventures failed. When the Civil War began in 1861, trained officers were needed. Grant received a brigadier general's commission and although he distinguished himself quickly, enormous casualties, first at Shiloh and later at Cold Harbor, made him controversial. President Lincoln nonetheless chose Grant to head the Union Army in 1864, bestowing upon him the rank of lieutenant general, the first to receive the title since George Washington. Ulysses S. Grant includes interviews with prominent historians and film footage of Civil War battlefields. Part 1 ends with Lincoln's assassination on April 14, 1865. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., Rovi
- 2002
Originally broadcast on PBS, NOVA: Secrets, Lies & Atomic Spies attempts to uncover the nearly 300 Americans who spied for the Soviet Union during the 1940s. De-classified reports from the National Security Agency reveal the identity of several Soviet spies living and working for the U.S. government. Narrated by Liev Schreiber, this program features interviews with family members of the accused as well as information about the complex Venona espionage coding system. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- 2002
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Galileo Galilei was one of the first truly revolutionary men of science; between 1585 and 1638, this pioneer was one of the first to employ mathematics to determine laws of motion, develop a telescope to help chart the heavens, observe the movements of stars and planets, and declare that the Earth moved around the sun, rather than the sun around the Earth. While many branded Galileo as a dangerous heretic in his day, today he's regarded as the father of modern physics and astronomy. Galileo's Battle for the Heavens stars Simon Callow as the great scientist; he reconstructs and re-creates many of the crucial moments in Galileo's career, and explains the methods behind his pioneering work. The film also examines letters Galileo wrote to his illegitimate daughter in which he discusses his personal feelings about his work and the measures taken to silence him. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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