Calista Flockhart Movies
Stage and screen actress, TV star, and the object of endless eating disorder rumors, Calista Flockhart earned fame, fortune, and post-feminist icon status as the eponymous heroine of David E. Kelley's acclaimed TV series Ally McBeal. Since becoming known for her role as the famously neurotic, mini-skirt-clad lawyer, Flockhart has been appearing in an increasing number of films, including Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her.Born on November 11, 1964, in Freeport, Illinois, Flockhart -- whose first name means "most beautiful" in Greek -- was raised as the daughter of a schoolteacher mother and a Krafts Food executive father. Because of her father's job, the family moved frequently, spending time in Iowa, Minnesota, and New York before settling in New Jersey. Flockhart, whose mother sparked her interest in theatre by taking her to theatre productions during high school, studied drama as a student at Rutgers University. After graduating, she headed to Manhattan to begin her professional stage career.
After enduring years of relative poverty and sustained obscurity, the actress got her big break when she was chosen to play Laura in the 1994 Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie. Her portrayal won her both a Theatre World Award and the attention of Hollywood casting agents, and that same year she made her film debut with a bit part in Quiz Show -- and had a more substantial role in Getting In, a black comedy directed by a then-unknown Doug Liman. In 1996, Flockhart moved into slightly more mainstream territory when she appeared as the fiancée of Robin Williams' son in The Birdcage; more recognition came her way the following year when she earned strong reviews for her performance as Natasha in a production of Chekov's The Three Sisters.
1997 proved to be a watershed year for Flockhart; in addition to rave stage reviews and a substantial role in the Kevin Bacon vehicle Telling Lies in America, she was cast as the star of Ally McBeal. The show turned out to be a sleeper hit, and Flockhart's titular Boston lawyer became an instantly recognizable name in the pop cultural lexicon. The actress' heightened exposure was reflected both in numerous magazine articles about her and in her star billing in Michael Hoffman's 1998 adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which included Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, and Christian Bale amongst its other illustrious cast members.
Two years later, still immersed in Ally McBeal popularity and endless media scrutiny about her weight (Flockhart's thinness has stirred rumors in an industry infamous for its emphasis on being thin), the actress headlined the ensemble cast of Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her. A film composed of four vignettes, it featured Flockhart as the lover of a terminally ill woman (Valeria Golino), and included Holly Hunter, Amy Brenneman, Cameron Diaz, Glenn Close, and Gregory Hines amongst its accomplished players. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
The sponsorship of noted filmmaker Martin Scorsese helped the novice filmmakers making this film get it produced and receive mainstream distribution. In addition, it features a vast number of appearances by well-known performers, who took an interest in the project, taking union minimum pay. In the story, Jake (Eric Stoltz) has grown up in a wonderfully neurotic household. It is just as well that he has developed a fondness for drama, as this material is excellent fodder for his playwriting. He has spent a lot of time collaborating with his friend Chris (Ralph Macchio) writing plays, and eventually is given his chance to prove his stuff in New York City. There, he discovers that Chris wants to be more than just a friend, and an important stage actress (Kathleen Turner) also has the hots for him. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Stoltz, Mary-Louise Parker, (more)
- 1994
An attempted black comedy, Getting In endeavors to satirize the cut-throat competition surrounding the medical school admissions process -- a struggle that in this case literally turns deadly. Gabriel Higgs is an aspiring medical student, not out of a great dedication to his craft but due to pressure by his parents, who expect him to follow the long-standing family tradition of attending Johns Hopkins and embarking upon a prominent medical career. However, a poor showing in the admissions test and several other mishaps conspire to place Gabriel on the school's waiting list. Desperate to gain entrance to the school before being disinherited, Gabriel takes to bribing his fellow waiting-list candidates to ensure his admission. But when the students at the top of the waiting list start turning up dead in rather nasty ways, Gabriel finds himself in real trouble. He must discover who is committing these crimes before he is blamed -- or becomes the next victim himself. Easily forgettable, the film is mainly notable for featuring early performances by future television stars Matthew Perry and Calista Flockhart, and for being the directorial debut of Doug Liman, who would receive critical acclaim for his second film, Swingers. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kristy Swanson, Andrew McCarthy, (more)
Calista Flockhart, best known for her work on the TV series Ally McBeal, plays a decidedly different role in this drama about Jane Doe, a troubled, drug-addicted prostitute who becomes involved with a streetwise writer. However much they care for each other, Jane's instability makes their relationship difficult, eventually leading to a life-or-death crisis. Also known as Pictures Of Baby Jane Doe, this film was named Best Picture at the New York International Film and Video Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calista Flockhart, Christopher Peditto, (more)
Director Mike Nichols teams up with his former partner/screenwriter Elaine May for the first time in many years and for the first time together in films to create this sophisticated, remake of the phenomenally popular French musical farce La Cage aux Folles that stars Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman and Diane Wiest as two dramatically disparate couples who manage to reconcile their vast differences for the sake of their children who are getting married. Williams plays Armand Goldman, the owner of a popular South Beach drag club known for putting on elaborate showcases starring his long-time lover/wife Albert (Lane) who appears as "Starina." Lately poor flamboyant, flighty Albert has been in crisis over the inexorable onset of middle age. He has been moody, paranoid and unbearably. When he gets too inconsolably distraught, handsome but clumsy houseboy Agador quietly slips Albert "Pirin" tablets (which he explains to Armand are simply Aspirin tablets with the "as" scraped off). Still though Albert can be a royal pain, Armand dearly loves him and the two live happily in their splendiferous apartment above the club. One day Armand's son Val (the result of Armand's single foray into straight sex) comes visiting with joyous news: he has found his dreamgirl and is getting married. The only trouble is, Barbara Keeley's father is the blustery ultra-religious right-wing Senator Keeley (Hackman), the founder of the Coalition for Moral Order. Senator Keeley and his colleagues are not as upright as they seem and when his closest associate is found dead beside a black, underage prostitute, Keeley finds his house surrounded by ravenous newshounds, hungry for dirt. Knowing that they are poised to ruin him, Keeley and his proper but slightly addled-wife (Wiest) decide that a big, elaborate, church wedding will be just the ticket to save his reputation. Barbara has neglected to tell them that Val's parents are gay, preferring to claim that they are members of the South Beach social elite. In a panic, she panics and calls Val who breaks the bad news to Armand and begs him to make the apartment less flamboyant and worst of all to hide Albert (who functioned as Val's mother while the youth grew up) during the visit. Armand is angry, but loving his son, finally, reluctantly agrees, knowing that he will deeply wound his companion. Unfortunately, Albert finds out and as a compromise tries to learn how to be macho so he can pretend to be Val's uncle, he is too much the Great Dame to ever pass as one of the guys and so is banned from the party. Armand then locates Catherine and asks her to masquerade as his wife. She agrees to show up later that evening. Meanwhile their friends busily redecorate the apartment until it looks as if it were done in "Early Inquisition." During the fateful dinner party, Catherine is late and Albert gets uproarious revenge. Achingly comic chaos ensues as Armand tries to hold the increasingly tenuous evening together while outside the newshounds bay and threaten to make even more trouble for Senator Keely. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, (more)
- 1996
A romantic comedy with a few surreal/absurdist twists, the story centers on recent medical school drop-out David who is first seen aimlessly traipsing about Manhattan musing about the rest of his life when he runs into a strange woman who introduces herself as Nancy and asks if he would interested in spending the next couple of years helping her to produce and direct a small film. Another strange woman then appears and makes an equally odd request as does another and another. David chooses to work with Nancy and so goes to her place to begin writing the script. Suddenly, her strange Uncle Andre shows up in a panic. It seems he somehow acquired an enormous herd of cattle and must quickly get rid of them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Karchy Jonas (Brad Renfro) was born in Hungary and immigrated to Cleveland, Ohio in the early 1960s where he felt adrift in a strange sea of American culture. Jonas tries to fit in at the Catholic high school he attends but finds himself a laughing stock. At home, his stern father (Maximilian Schell) insists that he adhere to traditional Hungarian ways. Karchy's only respite is the rock & roll music he adores. A year before he arrived, flashy, failed disc jockey Billy Magic (Kevin Bacon) rolled into town, found a job at WHK and became the host of the High School Hall of Fame contest, something that Karchy decides he must win so he too can be cool and therefore impress his lovely classmate Diney (Calista Flockhart). Eventually, he does win and before long has made friends with Billy. The DJ proves to be a real pal and pays Karchy a C-note a week to run a few errands and do odd jobs for him. Some of those tasks involve taking money from promoters. When not working, Billy is introducing Karchy to life's wild side. But despite such fun times, there is much the naive youth is destined to learn the hard way about his new buddy Billy. The film's story comes from screenwriter Joe Eszterhas' (Basic Instinct) script, penned around 1982. Himself a Hungarian immigrant, Eszterhas added a few autobiographical touches to the script. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Bacon, Brad Renfro, (more)
- 1997
Ally McBeal, despite low expectations from the network, proved to be a highly successful endeavor from writer/producer David E. Kelley. The notoriously tiny Calista Flockhart's neurotic portrayal of Ally fueled the show for five seasons, though it could not have lasted nearly as long without the insights of its eccentric supporting cast. Unique for its forays into the surreal, Ally McBeal as a show is as conflicted as its starring character. Half feministic endeavor, half a frustratingly traditional portrayal of lovelorn women, Ally McBeal danced precariously between law dramas of a more serious nature and Bridget Jones-esque "chick-shows." The series centered around the life of Ally McBeal, the quintessential "little girl lost," who, after graduating with a law degree from Harvard University, found herself in a law firm populated by an extraordinarily unconventional staff, including but not limited to Billy Thomas (Gil Bellows), her high school sweetheart. The show's premise allowed for quite a bit of creative freedom, and most episodes switched seamlessly from the thought-provoking (modern gender issues and sexual boundaries) to the absurd (remote control toilet flushers and pet frogs). Ally's quest for love and emotional fulfillment made for the heart of the series, along with the dark undertone of her often-questionable sanity. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, (more)
The first season of Ally McBeal centers around Ally's (Calista Flockhart) introduction to a law firm as full of eccentric characters as it is legal files. Not only must Ally adjust to her former high-school sweetheart's choice to marry another, but she also has to learn how to cope with having both him and his wife as co-workers. This season was a highly successful test of Ally McBeal's unique format, which emphasized musical numbers and special effect-laden flights of fancy. Despite initial low expectations from the network, Ally McBeal became a sleeper hit, owing much of its success to its originality, incorporation of truly unique characters, and its expert combination of modern issues of political-correctness with age-old matters of the heart. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, (more)
- 1997
Ally faces a moral dilemma when she's assigned to defend Richard's partner, who was arrested for solicitation. Meanwhile, Richard tries to use Ally to snag a client. ~ TV Guide, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, (more)
- 1997
Georgia asks Ally to work on an age-discrimination case involving a TV newsanchor (Kate Jackson). ~ TV Guide, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, (more)
- 1997
In the series pilot, Ally (Calista Flockhart) goes to work for a former classmate (Greg Germann). ~ TV Guide, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, (more)
- 1997
Ally's anything but jolly when she's assigned to represent a threesome (Eric Pierpoint, Amanda Carlin, Katie Mitchell) who want to make their marriage legal. ~ TV Guide, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, (more)
- 1997
Billy's revelation unsettles Ally. Meanwhile, Elaine hires an attorney (Sandra Bernhard) in a sex-discrimination suit; and Ally and Georgia turn tough in a divorce case. ~ TV Guide, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, (more)
- 1997
Ally reexamines male-female relationships when a lawyer develops an unrequited crush on her, and she defends a prostitute (Jamie Rose). ~ TV Guide, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, (more)
- 1997
In the series' 100th episode, Ally is hired by a man who believes he can fly, and he tries to prove to her that she can, too; and John scoffs as Richard and Elaine try matchmaker Harriet Pumple (Nell Carter). ~ TV Guide, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, (more)
- 1997
Ally's racked with guilt when she's asked to give the eulogy at the funeral of a law-school prof with whom she once had an affair. ~ TV Guide, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, (more)
- 1997
Ally defends a young transvestite (Wilson Cruz) on charges of prostitution, using a modified insanity defense. Meanwhile, Richard fights to have his dead uncle's unusual last request carried out. ~ TV Guide, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, (more)
- 1997
Ally tries to shake off her prudish image; and the firm is sued again---this time by the object of Elaine's lawsuit. ~ TV Guide, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, (more)
- 1997
Ally confronts primitive drives when she goes out with a gorgeous guy (Michael Easton), and defends a man who threw a punch to save his date's honor. ~ TV Guide, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, (more)
- 1997
Ally's efforts to help a divorce (Brenda Vaccaro) make her separation legal in Jewish law go awry when she offends the woman's rabbi (Jason Blicker). ~ TV Guide, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, (more)
- 1997
After Ally's first date with Greg Butters (Jesse L. Martin) ends in a car accident, she defends him in court against the plaintiff's lawyer---a 9-year-old genius (Josh Evans). ~ TV Guide, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, (more)
- 1997
A high-pressure case and more visions of the dancing baby prompt Ally to go into therapy with the Biscuit's therapist (Tracey Ullman). Meanwhile, Richard pursues Janet Reno (Linda Gehringer). ~ TV Guide, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, (more)
An Alcoholics Anonymous meeting brings together a disparate group of people struggling with addiction to drugs and liquor in this film based on Gary Lennon's play "Blackout." Jim (Richard Lewis) is in a bad mood as he sits in on an AA meeting in the basement of a church in New York City; he's prodded into speaking in front of the group for the first time in seven months, and he confesses that he desperately wants to get drunk. Three years before, Jim gave up a decade of dependence on booze and heroin for the sake of his wife, who has just died unexpectedly of an aneurysm, and before long, Jim runs out in search of a bottle. Meanwhile, the other members of the group share their own stories about their problems with substance abuse, including Rachel (Dianne Wiest), a physician who tries to uses her job to fill the void in her life left by the departure of her husband and son; Joseph (Howard Rollins), whose drunk driving put his five-year-old son in the hospital; Debbie (Parker Posey), a young woman who wishes she could have been Janis Joplin; Shelly (Amanda Plummer), whose force of will is being tested by an upcoming visit from her mother; Becky (Faye Dunnaway), a divorcee who is not sure how she'll handle losing custody of her child; Brenda (Lisa Gay Hamilton), an HIV-positive former junkie who was stealing syringes from her diabetic mother; and Louis (Spalding Gray), who is actually looking for the choir practice at the church; he then goes into a rhapsodic ode to the pleasures of beer which suggests that he has his own problems with the bottle. Drunks was the first feature film for director/producer Peter Cohn. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Lewis, Faye Dunaway, (more)
