Todd Field Movies
A bona fide jack-of-all-trades, Todd Field is one of the film industry's more multifaceted members, having worked in varying capacities as an actor, director, producer, composer, and screenwriter. Probably most recognizable to art house audiences thanks to his work in such films as Nicole Holofcener's Walking and Talking (1996) and Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Field has also composed scores for features ranging from Gross Anatomy (1989) to Ruby in Paradise (1993) -- both of which featured him in supporting roles -- and has directed, written, and produced a number of independent projects. Born in Pomona, CA, on February 24, 1964, Field broke into professional acting in his early twenties with work in television. After making his film debut as a singer in Woody Allen's Radio Days (1987), he went on to do supporting work in a multitude of features, until in 1993, he earned some measure of recognition and an Independent Spirit Awards nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a greenhouse worker in Victor Nunez's Ruby in Paradise. Further independent work followed for the actor in the ensemble romantic drama Sleep With Me (1994) and Walking and Talking, which cast him as Anne Heche's fiancé; he also did more mainstream work as a member of the tornado trackers in the 1996 blockbuster Twister, and appeared in Jan de Bont's 1999 remake of The Haunting. Following his turn as a piano player in Eyes Wide Shut, Field landed the role of David Cassilli on the acclaimed ABC series Once and Again. In addition to his work in front of the camera, he kept busy behind it. Having debuted as a director in 1992 with the short Too Romantic, Field made a name for himself in 1995 when his short Nonnie & Alex won the Special Jury Award at that year's Sundance Festival. Five years later, the Sundance Festival welcomed the talented renaissance man back, choosing his drama In the Bedroom for its 2001 competition. Based on a story by Andre Dubus, the film starred Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek, and Marisa Tomei. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
Actor Craig Sheffer makes his feature directorial debut with this ensemble comedy featuring Ron Livingston, Rob Schneider, Jennifer Esposito, and Michael Clarke Duncan, and following a harried group of characters through twenty-four hours in a typical Los Angeles day. Quite a bit can happen over the course of a single day in L.A., and when smooth-talking scam artist Johnny (Livingston) decides to throw a bachelor party for his best friend Bill (Schneider) the events of the day take a decidedly bizarre turn. As the festivities get underway, the appearance of a transvestite prostitute, a trigger-happy ex-con, and a notorious porn king signal that this isn't going to be your typical night on the town. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ron Livingston, Rob Schneider, (more)
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Todd Field teams with novelist Tom Perrotta to adapt Perrotta's acclaimed novel concerning the suburban malaise experienced by a handful of small-town individuals whose intersecting lives converge in a variety of surprising, and sometimes ominous, ways. Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, and Patrick Wilson star in a cinematic adaptation that doesn't aim so much to simply reproduce the book for the screen as it does to re-imagine the written word by exploring new possibilities for the characters and situations originally presented in Perrotta's 2004 best-seller. Sarah (Winslet) is a suburban outsider who, unlike the other playground moms, isn't afraid to approach the dreamy but long-absent father whom smitten housewives have taken to calling the "Prom King." Long days at the local community pool with their respective children soon find Sarah becoming acquainted with local husband and father Brad (Patrick Wilson) -- who seems to share in her seething discontentment with life in their quaint commuter town. An English literature major who never envisioned a fate as a soccer mom, Sarah has a growing dissatisfaction with her successful husband (Gregg Edelman) that parallels Brad's increasing frustration with his inability to pass the bar and connect with his wife, Kathy (Jennifer Connelly), a successful documentary filmmaker. It's not long before the dejected pair is meeting for a series of illicit afternoon trysts as their unsuspecting spouses work and their children lie quietly napping. Meanwhile, after the community is riled by the return of a convicted sex offender (Jackie Earle Haley) who leaves the concerned parents scrambling to protect their young ones, an attempt made by Sarah and Brad to legitimize their clandestine relationship by dining together with their respective spouses begins to awaken Kathy's suspicions about the fidelity of her husband. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, (more)
Mia Goldman's psychological drama Open Window stars Joel Edgerton and Robbin Tunney as a husband and wife who have intense professional lives, but are able to rely on each other during their time together at home. One night the wife is raped, sending her into a depression that threatens to crumble the marriage. Elliott Gould and Cybil Shepherd portray the wife's parents. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robin Tunney, Joel Edgerton, (more)
A brilliant German Jewish scientist developing a weapon of incalculable power is courted by intelligence services from England, Germany, and Russia in this World War II-era thriller starring Craig Sheffer, Todd Field, and Ron Perlman. Nicky Raus is a scientist who may hold the key to winning a world war, and when German agents attempt to abduct Raus, American agent Frank Hossom is assigned the task of bringing the scientist back dead or alive. Hossom forges an unexpected romantic bond with Raus' lover, Olga Ryabina -- an actress forced to assume the role of secret operative for the KGB -- and the dangerous love triangle that forms sparks international intrigue while simultaneously threatening to consume all involved. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Craig Sheffer, Todd Field, (more)
Misha (Nastassja Kinski) and Lexi (Alyson Hannigan) have a falling out with their scummy Russian boyfriends on the eve of a big heist. With the help of Helena (Jennifer Esposito), who despises her nerdy detective husband (Todd Field), the women arrange to rob the casino themselves. Which, of course, cheeses off the blood thirsty Russian ex-boyfriends. To complicate matters, Helena's husband gets in on the heist without her knowing it. ~ Buzz McClain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Esposito, Alyson Hannigan, (more)
Character actor and noted photographer Todd Field made his directorial debut with this emotionally powerful drama, which earned enthusiastic reviews at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. Frank Fowler (Nick Stahl) is a handsome and amiable young man who has recently graduated from high school and is spending the summer working as a lobster fisherman before heading off to college in the fall. Frank is also involved with Natalie (Marisa Tomei), an attractive woman ten years his senior who is separated from her husband Richard (William Mapother), though their divorce has not yet been finalized. Frank's parents, Matt (Tom Wilkinson) and Ruth (Sissy Spacek) wonder if it's wise for their son to be pursuing a romance that he won't be able to continue in a few months; Matt trusts Frank and leaves him to make his own decisions, while Ruth quietly but firmly registers her objections. One day, Richard snaps, and breaks into Natalie's home; when he discovers Frank is there, he viciously kills him. The wheels of justice turn in an unexpected direction, and Richard is released on bail, free to go his own way as he awaits his trial. Matt and Ruth are both deeply traumatized by the event; while Matt tries to deal with his hurt by retreating into his work and avoiding his feelings, Ruth instead becomes increasingly withdrawn, losing interest in her job as a music teacher and spending her nights chain smoking in front of the television. In the Bedroom was adapted from the short story Killings by Andre Dubus. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, (more)
Teen movie icon John Hughes returns to the genre he helped revolutionize as producer of the first screenplay written by his son James Hughes. Maddox (Blake Shields) is an intelligent but moody teenager growing up in a suburb of Chicago. High school student Maddox believes schools aren't designed to educate so much as they're used to control young people and bend them to the will of the state. Maddox wants to throw off the yoke of the school's authority, especially after he hears tales of a student named Stanton who attended the same school years before; Stanton openly defied the school system and was sent to a mental hospital for his troubles. Maddox and his friends try to find out the truth about the legendary Stanton as they plot a large-scale rebellion of their own. New Port South features a cast of young faces, including Brad Eric Johnson, Will Estes, Melissa George, and Gabriel Mann; the film also marks the directorial debut of Kyle Cooper, who previously directed music videos and designed title sequences for a number of major motion pictures. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
The final work of legendary director Stanley Kubrick, who died within a week of completing the edit, stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, at the time Hollywood's most bankable celebrity couple, and was shot on a open-ended schedule (finally totaling over 400 days), with closed sets in London standing in for New York City. Cruise and Kidman play William and Alice Harford, a physician and a gallery manager who are wealthy, successful, and travel in a sophisticated social circle; however, a certain amount of decadence crosses their paths on occasion, and a visit to a formal-dress party leads them into sexual temptation when William is drafted into helping a beautiful girl who has overdosed on drugs while Alice is charmed by a man bent on seduction. While neither William and Alice act on their adulterous impulses, once the issue has been brought into the open, it begins a dangerous season of erotic gamesmanship for the couple, with William in particular openly confronting his desire for new sexual experiences. What didn't make the final cut of Eyes Wide Shut may have been as fascinating as what finally appeared on screen: Harvey Keitel was replaced almost immediately by Sydney Pollack, while Jennifer Jason Leigh was replaced by Marie Richardson after she had shot all her scenes and left town. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, (more)
- 1999
Four pals take on their world of high finance in a new and unusual way in this comedy-drama. Woody (Craig Sheffer), Robert (Daniel Baldwin), Michael (Michael Winslow), and Thad (Todd Field) are four close friends in their early thirties who have always felt a strong sense of competition. However, their desire to one-up one another is taken to a new extreme when they agree to an unusual contest -- they'll all move to a city where they don't know a soul, with each carrying only 100 dollars in cash and the suit on their back, and see who can rack up the greatest net worth in only 30 days. The four friends learn a great deal about each other and themselves, as they gain a new perspective on both business and life. Net Worth marked the directorial debut for Kenny Griswold. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Todd Field, Craig Sheffer, (more)
A group of friends discover that they don't know one of their fellows nearly as well as they imagine in this unusual horror tale. Jared (Mackenzie Astin) shows up at the home of his best friend Austin (Todd Field), wounded and bloody and telling a horrible story of a strange man killed in his apartment. Hoping to calm down their hysterical friend, Austin and Jared, with their friends Violet (Natasha Gregson Wagner) and Emma (Dina Meyer) in tow, head back to Jared's apartment to survey the damage. They soon discover, however, that there is more to the story than Jared led them to believe. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- MacKenzie Astin, Todd Field, (more)
In the 1860's, industrialist Hugh Crain financed the construction of Hill House, a beautiful but forbidding mansion where Crain hoped to house a wife and children. However, Crain died an unexplained death at Hill House, and ever since tales have circulated that the mansion is haunted by evil spirits. 130 years later, Dr. David Marrow (Liam Neeson), long fascinated by the Hill House legend, brings three people there for what he tells them will be a study in sleep disorders. Theo (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is outwardly brave, but it soon becomes evident that Hill House's sinister reputation has her on edge. Luke (Owen Wilson) quickly finds himself wondering: if this is really about studying sleep, why bring everyone to a haunted house? And Nell (Lili Taylor) finds herself inexplicably drawn to the mansion, with a fascination that soon bears terrifying fruit as the true story of Hill House is revealed. The Haunting was directed by Jan de Bont; the screenplay was written by David Self and based on Shirley Jackson's novel The Haunting Of Hill House, which was also the basis for Robert Wise's 1963 film The Haunting, widely regarded as one of the screen's finest ghost stories. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, (more)
Scott Ziehl made his directorial debut with this high-energy ambulance ride with a pair of paramedics careening through the Los Angeles night, with Antonio Calvache's camerawork capturing the social drama in a documentary-style depiction. In the vein of Leaving Las Vegas, the film was the top 1998 winner (best feature) at the fourth Los Angeles Independent Film Festival. Pennsylvanian Tom (Jason London) arrives in L.A., encounters his eccentric neighbor Susy (Susan Traylor), and gets work with an ambulance company. Tom is initially impressed by his cool, hard-driving partner, veteran paramedic Jimmy (Todd Field, who also co-produced), especially after Tom screws up by almost sending a crash victim off to the morgue and Jimmy straightens out the potentially embarrassing episode. Daily collisions with violence and danger soon become routine. During one trip to the hospital, a possibly violent attack from an injured man in the ambulance is quelled when Jimmy simply knocks him out with fibulator pads to the head. Steering the streets with adrenaline action and high-octane intensity, Jimmy cools down with an intake of sex and drugs. Tom soon seeks similar solutions to this frenetic life on the edge. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Todd Field, Jason London, (more)
Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt and Carey Elwes may be billed as the stars of Twister, but the film's real attractions are the cyclones themselves. Best experienced in a theater, the nail-biting, blow-the-audience-out-of-their-seats computer generated graphics, cutting edge sound and other special effects are designed to take viewers straight into the roaring funnel of a gigantic tornado. In order to focus on special effects and action, the story is simple and the characters are drawn in broad strokes with little depth. Jo Harding (Hunt) became a storm chaser (a meteorologist who photographs and scientifically studies tornadoes in the field) after a large twister sucked her hapless daddy into oblivion when she was a girl. Bill (Paxton) was a storm chaser too, but left to become a successful weatherman. His change of profession ruined his marriage to Jo. Before separating, the Hardings invented DOROTHY, a gizmo designed to release thousands of tiny sensors when a tornado passes over it. The Hardings hope the information transmitted by the sensors will provide insight into the nature of the whirling windstorms. Backed by a large corporation, the villainous Dr. Jonas Miller (Elwes) has created a similar machine. Neither gadget has been field tested and both groups of storm chasers are anxious to find tornadoes. At the peak of the worst twister season in decades, Bill shows up at Jo's truck with his prissy fiancee Melissa (Jami Gertz) so Jo can sign divorce papers. Suddenly a twister is spotted. With little hesitation, Bill rejoins the mad rush to reach it in time to activate DOROTHY. Jonas and his team are right behind them. Throughout the day the storms become worse and the rivalrous race becomes more intense. As they continue facing incredible dangers together Jo and Bill find renewed love while poor Melissa finds only an intense desire to get away from these storm-obsessed lunatics.
~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, (more)
A Manhattan woman struggles with loneliness in the face of her best friend's imminent marriage in this well-received independent comedy from first-time writer-director Nicole Holofcener. Amelia (Catherine Keener) feels isolated because her friend Laura (Anne Heche) has been devoting all her time to preparing for her upcoming wedding. Desperate, she resorts to the unthinkable: dating the nerdy, Fangoria-obsessed clerk at her local video store (Kevin Corrigan). This discouraging encounter, along with some awkward conversations with her former boyfriend, leave her even more depressed and jealous of Laura's good fortune. However, Laura soon reveals that she is having her own doubts about her future. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Catherine Keener, Anne Heche, (more)
- 1995
- R
An aging, violent hold-up artist enlists the aid of his pacifistic son to pull off one final job in this crime melodrama. Farmer, the father, has just lost his long-time partner in a failed Chicago heist. The son, Chase, who has done nothing more criminal than shoplifting, decides to pitch in and help. Hilary, Chase' girl friend, looking for a little excitement, also decides to help. Though they carefully plot out the robbery, the actual caper goes awry with tragic results. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Todd Field, Ben Gazzara, (more)
Six screenwriters, all real-life friends, each wrote one of the sequences in this romantic comedy-drama that unfolds at a half-dozen parties and celebrations. During a cross-country trip, Joe (Eric Stoltz) proposes to his girlfriend Sarah (Meg Tilly) with his best friend Frank (Craig Sheffer) looking on. At the couple's rehearsal dinner, Sarah confesses privately to Frank her attraction to him, but what she doesn't know is that Frank is in love with her. They share a kiss, which leads to an argument between Joe and Frank at their next meeting, a weekly poker game with their buddies. At a video shoot, a dinner party, another poker game, and a few more celebrations, the friendship between the three of them is challenged by the nascent attraction between Frank and Sarah. In the meantime, the all-male poker game is invaded by Athena (Parker Posey) and Lauren (Joey Lauren Adams), and a party guest, Sid (Quentin Tarantino), delivers a memorable treatise on the homoerotic subtext of Top Gun (1986). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eric Stoltz, Meg Tilly, (more)
- 1993
- R
Florida-based independent filmmaker Victor Nuñez gave young actress Ashley Judd her breakthrough role with his original script about a woman taking to the road to escape her past and forge a new future for herself. Feeling smothered and confused after the death of her mother, Ruby Lee Gissing flees her Tennessee home. She drives south to the panhandle of Florida, because she has always dreamed of living near the ocean. Mildred Chambers (Dorothy Lyman), the owner of a souvenir shop, hires her as a clerk and befriends Ruby as well. Soon, there are two men in Ruby's life: Mike McCaslin (Todd Field) and Mildred's ne'er-do-well son, Ricky (Bentley Mitchum). Although Ruby briefly succumbs to the advances of one of them, by the film's end, she is still on her own, understanding that a new chapter of her life is just beginning. In addition to the picture taking home the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, Judd was nominated for Best Actress by the New York Film Critics and won Best Female Lead at the Independent Spirits. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ashley Judd, Todd Field, (more)
Ray (Ken Olin) is a young adult and has a girlfriend whom he lives with quite happily. However, the agreed-upon date of their marriage is coming up, and he's not quite sure he wants to make that kind of commitment. His buddies Dennis, Elliot, and Vinny have their own commitment problems. Dennis (Kevin Bacon) isn't sure he wants to stay away from his buddies long enough to get his music career going in Hollywood; Elliot (John Malkovich) knows that he's homosexual but thinks that being gay means fitting all sorts of ugly stereotypes -- stereotypes he is determined to avoid at all costs; and Vinny (Tony Spiridakis) commits himself all too frequently and often to the nearest desirable female. Meanwhile, cousin Al (Joe Mantegna) is in trouble with his wife, and only the intervention of a well-intentioned psychotic (Jamie Lee Curtis) can put him back on the right track. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kevin Bacon, Linda Fiorentino, (more)
- 1990
High in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona, a cache of stolen bank money was hidden back in the 1960s. LA based lawyer Bill Paxton, whose security-guard father (David Michael-Standing) has long been held responsible for the heist-he was the only survivor when his armored car was ambushed-conducts a search for witnesses in order to clear his dad's name. Working from his late father's notes, Paxton and his mentally handicapped brother Todd Field attempt to reconstruct the crime and recover the loot. Expressing inordinate fascination in Paxton's efforts are mysterious hitchiker Apollonia Kotero, as well as local sheriff Luke Askew, whose brother was murdered during the robbery. A great many hidden truths and deep dark secrets come to surface during a final bloody confrontation in the mountains. All evidence indicates that director John Kincade intended Back to Back as a tribute to filmmaker Sam Peckinpah-as evidenced by the presence of Peckinpah regular Ben Johnson in a pivotal role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1990
- PG
In this action film, when Panama is threatened by an invasion of U. S. Troops, a group of radical Panamanians capture a nuclear sub from the Russians and station themselves outside of Houston, threatening to blow the city up unless the Americans meet their demands. It is up to American submarine commander McKenzie (Michael Moriarty) to stop the Panamanians and save Houston from annihilation. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Moriarty, Maria Rangel, (more)
- 1990
- R
Actress Dyan Cannon, whose 1976 directorial debut Number One was nominated for a "best short subject" Academy Award, moves on to feature-length projects with The End of Innocence. In addition to directing, Ms. Cannon wrote the screenplay and played a leading role in this story of a young girl spiritually torn apart by forces beyond her control. Rebecca Schaeffer plays Stephanie Lewis, unwanted and ignored by her eternally squabbling parents. Mom and Dad do further damage to Stephanie's battered psyche by giving her mixed messages concerning sex and religion. The girl's self-esteem dwindles to microscopic proportions thanks to a series of no-good boyfriends. Suffering a nervous breakdown, she is placed in an asylum, where for the first time she treated as a human being rather than a nuisance by compassionate psychiatrist John Heard. Completed in the late 1980s, End of Innocence was released in 1990, one year after the death of star Rebecca Schaeffer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dyan Cannon, John Heard, (more)
Gross Anatomy is to medical school what The Paper Chase was to law school, with perhaps a little less sobriety. Matthew Modine plays the blue-collar Joe Slovak, who's attending a posh school of medicine where everyone -- teacher and student alike -- seems to be well above his social stratum. Perhaps as a reaction to the snobbery all around him, he behaves as irreverently as possible. Neither his teacher Dr. Rachel Woodruff (Christine Lahti) nor his lab partner, Laurie Rorbach (Daphne Zuniga), finds Joe's what-the-hell act appealing, but both are fully aware that he is a talented young man with a brilliant future. The climax of the film lays it on pretty thick in defining Joe as an all-around good fellow despite his cheekiness (he even delivers a baby just before taking his finals!), but Gross Anatomy strives successfully to be a "feel-good" movie -- albeit brought ever so slightly down to earth by the death of one of the principal characters. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Matthew Modine, Daphne Zuniga, (more)
"Fat Man" and "Little Boy" were the nicknames given the atomic bombs that were dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the waning days of World War II. This elaborately assembled film is the story of the events leading up to the dawn of the atomic age. Paul Newman plays General Leslie Groves, a hard-nosed career soldier who in 1942 finds himself the reluctant "nursemaid" to a group of idealistic scientists in Los Alamos, New Mexico. As the military head of the top-secret Manhattan Project, Groves intends to have the operation run by the book--and failing that, to have things his way at all costs. The film's storyline narrows down to a battle of egos between Groves and atomic scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Dwight Schultz), in his own way as contentious and childishly single-purposed as the general. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Dwight Schultz, (more)
- 1988
- R
In this sequel, a trusting private serving with U.S. forces in Vietnam becomes friends with a Vietnamese girl. When he discovers that she is being used by someone in the military in a prostitution ring and has become addicted to drugs, he tries to find out how he can blow the whistle on this abuse of power. He doesn't know that the person he has come to for help is himself the chief culprit. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ken Jacobson, Ronald William Lawrence, (more)
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