Jena Malone Movies
A child actress who made her film debut as the star of Anjelica Huston's 1996 adaptation of Dorothy Allison's Bastard out of Carolina, Jena Malone has appeared in films ranging from Contact (1997), in which she played the younger version of Jodie Foster's character, to Stepmom (1998), which featured her as one of Susan Sarandon's children. A native of Lake Tahoe, Nevada, where she was born November 21, 1984, Malone was influenced to become an actress by her mother, who was active in community theatre. After persuading her mom to move to L.A., the aspiring actress began working in commercials and music videos. Following her debut in Bastard out of Carolina, she went on to do steady work, and in 2000, she starred in Christmas with J.D., which also featured Devon Sawa, Neve Campbell, and Christian Campbell. That same year, the young actress made headlines when she filed charges against her mother accusing her of squandering her earnings; the lawsuit resulted in Malone's legal emancipation from her mother, who was forbidden from interfering with her daughter's career and earnings. Coming out on the up side of the bitter family feud, Malone could next be seen in both the slightly surreal teen fantasy Donnie Darko and the bittersweet family drama Life as a House (both 2001). Following future appearances in The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys and The United States of Leland (both 2002), Malone would announce her intentions of studying photography at a northern California community college in the fall of 2002. She had a key role in The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys in 2002, and the next year had a cameo in Cold Mountain. In 2005 she was one of the younger sister in Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice, and two years later she was the younger sister in Sean Penn's Into the Wild. She had a brief but memorable turn as the ex-girlfriend of a soldier in The Messenger, and in 2011 she was one of the kick-ass girls at the center of Sucker Punch. In2012 she appeared in Hatfields & McCoys as one of the McCoy clan. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi- 1998
In the first episode of a two-part story, former homicide detective Mike Kellerman (Reed Diamond) returns to Baltimore. Now a private detective, Kellerman has been hired by a prominent family to prove that their daughter Debbie (Jena Malone) did not murder her newborn baby. It so happens that Falsone (Jon Seda) is working on this case, and he isn't comfortable with the apparent fact that Kellerman has sold his soul for a quick dollar. This episode was originally scheduled to air on December 4, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Belzer, Giancarlo Esposito, (more)
- 1998
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Debbie Straub (Jena Malone), teenaged client of homicide detective-turned-private-eye Mike Kellerman (Reed Diamond), plea-bargains her way out of a murder charge by naming her boyfriend, Craig (Chris Gunn), as the killer of her newborn baby. Not satisfied with this turn of events, Falsone (Jon Seda) tries to appeal to the conscience of his former colleague Kellerman, and to persuade Debbie to tell the truth. But this is not to be: One of the principals in the case abruptly commits suicide, forever preventing the homicide unit from knowing what really happened -- and driving yet another wedge between Kellerman and Falsone. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Belzer, Giancarlo Esposito, (more)
Mrs. Doubtfire director Chris Columbus continues to explore the family turmoil of divorce in the tearjerker Stepmom, a story that pits the birth mother against the new mother. Jackie (Susan Sarandon), a one-time book editor, is now the consummate soccer mom juggling the schedules of her two kids in her New York ranch outside of Manhattan. Her ex-husband Luke (Ed Harris), who gets weekend custody of the kids, is living in the city with a woman half his age named Isabel (Julia Roberts), a high-fashion photographer with a strong stylistic sense of "what's hot." Since Luke is always away at work, the burden of getting the kids ready for school when they are with their father falls on Isabel, and she just isn't the nurturing type. The story heats up, however, when Jackie learns that she has cancer. Facing the horrors of medical tests and chemotherapy, she realizes that, should something happen to her, her kids will be left with this irresponsible Isabel as their mother, especially after Luke proposes marriage to her. What ensues is part parenting lesson, part competitive parenting, but 100 percent family bonding, as Jackie must learn to allow Isabel to be part of her world and her family. ~ Arthur Borman, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, (more)
- 1997
Goldie Hawn garnered favorable reviews with her TV-movie directorial debut, a family drama set against the backdrop of racism in the American South of the early '60s. While in 1962 the Cuban Missile Crisis generates fears among adults, 12-year-old Lilly Kate Burns (Jena Malone) dreams of a career as a dancer. The problem is how to escape her dreary small-town existence, where she's surrounded by her mother (Mary Ellen Trainor), a stroke victim; her bigoted Uncle Ray (J.T. Walsh), a theater owner; her dejected Aunt Emma (Christine Lahti); and her alcoholic dance teacher Muriel (Catherine O'Hara). In addition to young Billy (Lee Norris), Lilly is also friends with black minister Jediah Walker (Jeffrey D. Sams). Uncle Ray has provided only a single exit in his theater, and when a young black boy dies in a theater fire, the tragedy sparks and inflames local racial conflicts. Uncle Ray is charged with wrongful death, and Lilly contemplates the nature of truth and justice. Filmed on location in Anderson, Texas. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jena Malone, Christine Lahti, (more)
- 1997
Filmed in Vancouver, this Hallmark Hall of Fame takes place during the '70s in the U.S. After the death of her mother, Charlotte (Glynis O'Connor), 10-year-old Ellen Foster (Jena Malone, who narrates) suffers abuse from her alcoholic father (Ted Levine) and is ill-treated by her maternal aunts Nadine (Debra Monk) and Betsy (Barbara Garrick) and also by Nadine's mean daughter Dora (Kimberly Brown). Ellen is sent to live with her grief-stricken grandmother Leonora (Julie Harris), but her problems continue since the mean-spirited Leonora blames Ellen for Charlotte's death. Harry Nilsson's song, "Remember Christmas," is featured. This TV movie premiered December 14, 1997 on CBS. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julie Harris, Jena Malone, (more)
The search for life outside our solar system becomes a personal and spiritual quest for a young researcher. Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) is a scientist who lost her faith in God after her parents died when she was a child. However, Ellie has learned to develop a different sort of faith in the seemingly unknowable: working with a group that monitors radio waves from space, Ellie hopes that some day she will receive a coherent message from another world that will prove that there is a world beyond our own. Ellie's hard work is rewarded when her team picks up a signal that does not appear to be of earthly origin. Ellie decodes the message, which turns out to be plans for a space craft, which she takes as an invitation for a meeting with the aliens. Ellie and her fellow researchers soon run into interference from a White House scientific advisor, David Drumlin (Tom Skerritt), who cuts off their funding and tries to take credit for their achievements. However, Ellie receives moral support from Palmer Joss (Matthew McConaughey), a spiritual teacher who advises President Clinton and tries to persuade her to accept the existence of a higher power, and financial backing from S.R. Hadden (John Hurt), a multi-millionaire willing to fund her attempts to contact the source of the message. Contact was based on a novel by Carl Sagan, who advised director Robert Zemeckis during the film's production until his death in 1996. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, (more)
This moving drama explores a real, but often hidden American problem, hunger. It tells the story of how a lay-off destroys the life of a widower father and his children, reducing them to dire poverty. Part of the problem is that the man is too proud to accept welfare monies. Fortunately, a caring doctor comes to the rescue. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Beau Bridges, Jena Malone, (more)
Accomplished actress Anjelica Huston, daughter of John Huston, made her directorial debut with this absorbing, often wrenching story of child abuse in the 1950s American South. Based on a novel by Dorothy Allison, the film (narrated by Laura Dern) tells the tale of Bone (Jena Malone), a poor white girl so named because she was born right after her mother survived a terrifying car crash. While Bone is still a small child, her single mother, Anney (Jennifer Jason Leigh), meets and marries the sweet Lyle (Dermot Mulroney), and the two add another daughter to the family before Lyle dies in an auto accident. Anney is next courted by the less good-natured Glen (Ron Eldard), who takes out his rage on Bone both physically and sexually, as Bone becomes even more disillusioned at her mother's inability to get away from her monstrous husband. Set in South Carolina in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Bastard Out Of Carolina touches on many aspects of life, family, and hardship amidst the poor white of the South. TNT owner Ted Turner refused to air the film, ostensibly because of its difficult subject matter, but the film goes out of its way to handle its material with as little exploitation as possible. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ron Eldard, (more)
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