Jason Schwartzman Movies
Relatives of famous people rarely have the chops to overcome nepotism cries, but Jason Schwartzman, nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, is one actor who does.Schwartzman was born June 26, 1980, to producer Jack Schwartzman and actress Talia Shire, the latter best known as Rocky Balboa's love interest Adrian. He graduated from the Windwood School in 1999 and continued to live with his mom and two brothers at their home in the Los Angeles area.
Chosen at the tail end of an exhausting casting search, Schwartzman burst into the film industry with his deft, hilarious portrayal of chronic overachiever Max Fischer in Wes Anderson's critically acclaimed Rushmore (1998). Since then, the young actor kept a low profile, opting to spend time with his band Phantom Planet, which recorded an album for Epic Records. Keeping with his geek-chic nature, he also chose small, quirky roles in television, such as his guest appearance as a slimy fake-ID dealer on NBC's tragically short-lived series Freaks and Geeks or his work in spoofs for the 1999 MTV Movie Awards.
He maintained his credibility in the independent scene during the next couple of years, appearing in Spun, and acting in his cousin Roman Coppola's CQ. After a role on the short-lived, though critically acclaimed, Fox sitcom Cracking Up in 2003, Schwartzman began kicking his film career into high gear. After a role in the quirky 2004 David O. Russell ensemble comedy I Heart Huckabees, the young actor appeared in 2005's big-screen version of Bewitched with Will Ferrell. He then played a lovable slacker in the intimate, critically acclaimed dramedy Shopgirl, appearing with Claire Danes and Steve Martin, who wrote the novella that the script was adapted from.
In 2006, Schwartzman joined the cast of his cousin Sophia Coppola's biopic Marie Antoinette, playing French king Louis XVI opposite star Kirsten Dunst. Then in 2007, he re-teamed with Wes Anderson, starring in and co-writing The Darjeeling Limited, a film about three brothers taking a soul-searching train ride through India. The film got mixed reviews, but reception to it was positive overall, setting Schwartzman up nicely for his next film, The Marc Pease Experience, in which he played the title role of a former high-school musical star who's stuck living in the past.
He voiced the role of Ash in Fantastic Mr. Fox in 2009 which turned out to be a busy year for him as he co-starred in Funny People, and became the star of the HBO comedy Bored to Death. He had a brief but memorable turn in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World in 2010, and two years later he teamed up with Anderson yet again in Moonrise Kingdom.
~ Stephanie M. Kuenn, Rovi
Director/co-writer Wes Anderson teams with screenwriter Roman Coppola for this period comedy-drama set in the 1960s, in which a pair of young lovers (Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward) from an island off the New England coast head for the hills and throw their small town into a frenzy. Bruce Willis co-stars with Bill Murray, Edward Norton, and Frances McDormand. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, (more)
A pot-smoking teen from an unstable background finds difficulty adjusting to life at an East Coast prep school despite maintaining a high GPA and excelling as an athlete. Raised by his single, New Age mother after his father abandons the family, 15-year-old Ellis Whitman (Graham Phillips) gains most of his wisdom from a marijuana-growing goat herder nicknamed Goat Man (David Duchovny). Later, upon enrolling in a renowned prep school, Ellis realizes he hasn't been given the proper tools to adjust to his new surroundings. Exceedingly smart and athletically gifted, Ellis gradually begins to grasp the concept of responsibility while contending with adults who place the utmost emphasis on personal accountability. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Based on Bryan Lee O'Malley's Oni Press comic book of the same name, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World follows the eponymous slacker rocker on his colorful quest to defeat his dream girl's seven evil ex-boyfriends. Twenty-two-year-old Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) may not have a job, but rocking the bass for his band, Sex Bob-omb, is a tough job unto itself. When Scott locks eyes with Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), he knows she's the girl he wants to grow old with. But Ramona has some serious baggage; her supercharged exes rue the thought of her being with another man, and they'll crush any guy who gives her a second glance. Now, in order to win Ramona's heart, Scott will do battle with everyone from vegan-powered rock gods to sinister skateboarders, never losing sight of his gorgeous goal as he pummels his way to victory. Shaun of the Dead's Edgar Wright directs the film from a script he penned with Michael Bacall. Superhero veterans Chris Evans and Brandon Routh co-star in the action comedy as two of the seven ex-boyfriends. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, (more)
A wily fox uses his formidable cunning to outsmart three feeble-minded farmers, who resort to extreme tactics to protect their chickens in director Wes Anderson's animated adaptation of the popular Roald Dahl children's book. For 12 years, Mr. and Mrs. Fox (voices of George Clooney and Meryl Streep) have lived a peaceful life in the wilderness with their son, Ash (voice of Jason Schwartzman). Shortly after their young nephew Kristofferson (voice of Eric Anderson) arrives for a visit, Mr. Fox's long-suppressed animal instincts begin to take over and the faithful family man resorts back to his old ways as a cunning chicken thief, endangering not only his family but the entire animal community as well. When evil farmers Boggis, Bunce, and Bean force the animals underground in a desperate attempt to capture the audacious Mr. Fox, dwindling food supplies force the frightened animals to band together in one last attempt to fight for the land that is rightfully theirs. Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, and Owen Wilson provide additional voices. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- George Clooney, Meryl Streep, (more)
Judd Apatow casts his former real-life roommate Adam Sandler as George Simmons, a comic superstar who learns in the movie's opening scene that he suffers from a rare blood disorder that will likely kill him within a year. This news gives him the impulse to go back out and work on his standup, something he hasn't done in years thanks to the massive success of his movie career. At a club, he meets struggling standup Ira Wright (Seth Rogen), takes a shine to him, and hires the young man both to write jokes and to be his personal assistant. Ira, who's been sleeping on a friend's pull-out couch and working a day job at a deli, enjoys the glimpse into the superstar lifestyle, but soon the protégé discovers how selfish and egocentric his mentor really is. Jason Schwartzman and Jonah Hill, and a host of famous standup comics make cameo appearances as themselves. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, (more)
Ten years after graduation, a former high school musical superstar who insists on living in the past discovers that there's more to life than the bright lights of Broadway as his former teacher and mentor prepares for a particularly chaotic opening-night performance. Jason Schwartzman and Ben Stiller star in a comedy co-scripted by Jacob Koskoff and director Todd Louiso. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jason Schwartzman, Ben Stiller, (more)
Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited stars Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, and Adrien Brody as three brothers who, at the insistence of the oldest, take a train ride through India together in order to strengthen their bond. Even though the vacation goes wrong in ways they do not anticipate, the strangeness of their setting and some revealing honesty produces some surprising changes between them all. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, (more)
- 2007
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- Add Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story to Queue Add Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story to top of Queue
Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan team up to take the swagger out of the traditional music biopic with this look at the troubled life of fictional music legend Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly). Apatow and Kasdan both write and produce, while Freaks and Geeks and Orange County director Kasdan steps into the director's chair. Dewey Cox is a rock & roll legend whose songs have the power to shake a nation. Despite the fact that Cox's career has been something of a roller coaster ride, the fact remains that he never went out of style in the eyes of his many adoring fans. He's rubbed elbows with everyone from Elvis Presley to the Beatles, ingested every drug known to man (often in doses large enough to kill a healthy horse), starred in his own television show, and slept with hundreds of women, yet somehow he still finds the time to write some of the best-known songs ever to hit the airwaves. Now, after being married multiple times and fathering enough offspring to populate a small island nation, this musical icon continues to turn out the hits while attempting to win the heart of his beautiful backup singer Darlene (Jenna Fischer). While no one doubts that Dewey Cox will continue to dominate the airwaves, does this larger-than-life superstar really have what it takes to avoid the temptations of the rock & roll lifestyle and finally settle down with one woman? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, (more)
Writer and director Sofia Coppola puts a new spin on the life and times of one of Europe's most infamous monarchs in this lavish historical drama which fuses a contemporary sensibility with painstaking recreations of the look of the 18th century. Born to Austrian nobility, Marie Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst) is only 14 years old when she's pledged to marry Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman), the 15-year-old king of France, in an alliance that has everything to do with politics and nothing to do with love. Sent to France and literally stripped of her former life, Marie weds Louis, but to the consternation of the royal court, he seems either unwilling or unable to consummate the marriage while their advisors clamor for an heir to the throne. Young and more than a bit out of step with the new life that's been thrust upon her, Marie gives herself over to the pleasures of life in Versailles, knowing and caring little of the political intrigue that surrounds her. In time, Marie's trusted older brother, Joseph (Danny Huston), is brought in to coach Louis on the finer points of marital relations, and before long the couple is finally blessed with a child. However, as Marie tends to her children in the gilded cage of her palace and enjoys an affair with a Swedish nobleman, political power plays are throwing France into chaos, and the growing ranks of the poor rebel against the royals and their life of privilege. Also starring Rip Torn, Judy Davis, Steve Coogan, and Asia Argento, Marie Antoinette was given a controversial reception when it premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, (more)
Nora Ephron directed and co-wrote this updated adaptation of a classic situation comedy that also casts a satirical eye on the entertainment industry. Jack Wyatt (Will Ferrell) is a movie star whose career has been going into a slow and steady decline. Desperate for a project that will give his reputation a jump start, Jack agrees to star in a film version of the once-popular television series Bewitched as hapless hubby Darrin Stephens, under the condition that an unknown actress be cast as the female lead so he won't be upstaged. After auditioning dozens of women who fail to make the grade, Jack meets lovely and charming Isabel Bigelow (Nicole Kidman), and is immediately certain she's the perfect choice to play witch-turned-housewife Samantha. However, there's one thing neither Jack nor the producers of the film know -- Isabel really is a witch, and while she's been trying to get along without her powers to better fit in among mortals, she will use her special talents when need be. The film also stars Michael Caine as Isabel's father, Nigel, Shirley MacLaine as Iris Smythson (the actress hired to play Endora), and Jason Schwartzman as Jack's agent. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell, (more)
Steve Martin wrote the screenplay and served as co-producer for this screen adaptation of his short novel, which takes a witty but bittersweet look at a young woman and the two men involved with her. Mirabelle Buttersfield (Claire Danes) is an aspiring artist in her mid-twenties who, after graduating from college, moved to Los Angeles, where she works at the glove counter of an upscale department store. Mirabelle's job is simple and not demanding, but it doesn't pay especially well, and she finds herself struggling to get out from under a growing mountain of debt from student loans and credit cards. One night, while doing her laundry, Mirabelle meets Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman), a scruffy but likable would-be musician who makes ends meet selling guitar amps. While Jeremy is obviously infatuated with Mirabelle, she isn't sure how she feels about him, especially after she meets Ray Porter (Steve Martin), a man in his fifties whom she meets at the store. Ray is independently wealthy, intelligent, and charming, and after asking her out on a date he sweeps her off her feet. However, while Mirabelle quickly falls for Ray and he's generous to a fault with her, he refuses to commit exclusively to her and suggests they should both see other people, a prospect that no longer holds much appeal for her. Shopgirl received its world premiere at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Claire Danes, (more)
Five years after achieving commercial and critical success with his film Three Kings, director and screenwriter David O. Russell returns to the more idiosyncratic territory of his earlier work with this intelligent and offbeat comedy. Bernard and Vivian Jaffe (Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin) are a married couple who run an existential detective agency where they sift through the lives of their clients in order to discover the source of their angst. The Jaffes' latest client is Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman), an environmental activist who has a very large rock and a great deal on his mind; their study of Albert's problems lead Bernard and Vivian to Brad Stand (Jude Law), a public relations executive with a chain of successful variety stores, Huckabees. While publicly allying himself with Albert's environmental initiatives, behind the scenes Brad is running roughshod over responsible land management with little care for the consequences. When Brad learns he's being watched by the Jaffes, he hopes to co-opt them by hiring them himself; however, the plan has unexpected consequences when their questioning leads Brad's girlfriend, well-scrubbed model Dawn (Naomi Watts), into reassessing her life and relationships. Meanwhile, Albert finds himself joining forces with Tommy (Mark Wahlberg), a firefighter and fellow environmentalist who has been having second thoughts about Bernard and Vivian's ideas and methods after a long-term investigation and has since fallen under the spell of nihilist poet and philosopher Caterine Vauban (Isabelle Huppert). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jason Schwartzman, Isabelle Huppert, (more)
Three lifelong cheaters wise up in this gross-out college comedy, which marks the second feature role for Rushmore star Jason Schwartzman. It's the last semester of senior year for roomies Dave (Devon Sawa), Sam (Jason Segel), and Jeff (Michael C. Maronna), a trio of twenty-somethings whose enthusiasm for higher learning is matched only by their enthusiasm for root canals performed without the aid of anesthesia. As such, their entire collegiate existence has been an elaborate series of cons and scams designed to plagiarize essays, skip midterms, and covertly manipulate bell curves. When deranged geek Ethan (Schwartzman) -- who harbors a psychotic fixation for a flaxen-haired co-ed named Angela (James King) -- gets wind of their scheming, he blackmails Dave and the gang into contriving a date between him and his crush. But as Dave cozies up to Angela, he realizes that no amount of scheming can hide the fact that he's the one that's truly in love. Slackers went by a number of working titles while in production at the ill-fated upstart Destination Films; when Destination went belly-up, the film sat on the shelf for over a year before being picked up for release by Sony's Screen Gems division. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Devon Sawa, Jason Schwartzman, (more)
Is the time approaching when a persona in its entirety could be a mere fabrication of modern culture and technology? Or did Hollywood enter that time long ago? Either way Viktor Taransky (Al Pacino) finds himself growing more and more aware of the media-obsessed culture in which he tries to earn his living. Taransky is a film director struggling to survive in an industry that doesn't require or want his artistic vision. When first he meets a stranger whose vision is considered somewhat questionable, he doesn't realize the potential of the idea to digitally incorporate a character into his otherwise unsalvageable film. However, in time, not only the director and the entire studio, but American pop culture at large will grow to embrace Simone. As Taransky earns popularity and acclaim via the success of the digitally constructed actress he "discovered," he struggles to define his own identity as an artist and a person, and finds that lying to cover up Simone's non-existence is altering his life entirely. His ex-wife and former employer Elaine (Catherine Keener) notices the difference in his personality, upsetting their daughter Lainey (Evan Rachel Wood) and her hopes of their reconciliation. Meanwhile, stray paparazzi turned private investigators threaten to make public incriminating evidence, which could destroy the limelight Taransky enjoys while "hiding" Simone. Amazingly, what Simone doesn't say or do creates all the more buzz, and causes Taransky to face the reality of his industry. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol (Gattaca), Simone takes a satirical approach to an otherwise fantastical comedy. ~ Sarah Sloboda, Rovi
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, Catherine Keener, (more)
A crystal-meth addict struggles to get his next fix as he obsesses over a recent breakup in Spun, a black-comic drug drama from music video director Jonas Akerlund. Rushmore's Jason Schwartzman stars as Ross, a young man who finds his maniacal world crumbling around him over the course of one long weekend. Spun chronicles Ross' travails as he tries to score from his regular dealer, Spider Mike (John Leguizamo), who realizes during Ross' visit that he's misplaced his stash. Indisposed by the frantic drug search, Spider Mike's girlfriend, Cookie (Mena Suvari), enlists Ross to pick up her stripper friend Nikki (Brittany Murphy) from work, and when he grudgingly agrees, he learns that Nikki might have an inside line on some of her own speed, courtesy of The Cook (Mickey Rourke). Meanwhile, two bumbling cops are onto Spider Mike's trail, and in his paranoid-delusional state, he sets out to find out who set him up. Spun premiered at the 2002 CineVegas Film Festival before securing berths at the Sundance, Toronto, and South by Southwest festivals. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jason Schwartzman, John Leguizamo, (more)
The feature debut of Roman Coppola (son of Oscar-winning director Francis Ford Coppola) centers around an international film crew making a low-budget, Barbarella-like feature in Paris in 1969. The film is called Dragonfly and is being directed by Andrzej (Gérard Depardieu), who wishes to make a revolutionary work rather than the tacky fluff it is becoming. He is soon fired by the film's Italian producer Enzo (Giancarlo Giannini) when he can't produce a satisfactory climactic scene. After briefly replacing Andrzej with an American horrormeister named Felix DeMarco (Jason Schwartzman), the film's editor and second-unit director, the job is finally handed to Paul (Jeremy Davies). Paul is pleased with the offer, but more devoted to his 16 mm filming of his diary of daily life. He eventually begins to fall for the leading lady (Angela Lindvall), but must retrieve footage of the feature stolen by Andrezej and try to keep the troubled production together. CQ features Billy Zane, Massimo Ghini, and Dean Stockwell in supporting roles. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeremy Davies, Élodie Bouchez, (more)
After the highly acclaimed independent film Bottle Rocket, director Wes Anderson followed up with a quirky Touchstone Studios film entitled Rushmore. Written by Anderson and friend Owen Wilson (an actor in Armageddon and Anaconda), they created the story of Max Fischer, a highly eccentric 15-year-old boy who attends the tenth grade at Rushmore Academy. Played by Jason Schwartzman (Talia Shire's son and Francis Ford Coppola's nephew), Max is a poor student with big dreams and a love of extracurricular activities. Max is editor of the school newspaper and yearbook, president of the chess, astronomy, French, and German clubs, captain of the fencing team, and director of the school play. Max is also a compulsive liar, telling everyone that his barber father (Seymour Cassel) is really a brain surgeon. Suddenly Max falls in love with Miss Cross (Olivia Williams), a first-grade teacher at the school. He also makes a new friend in business tycoon Mr. Blume (Bill Murray), an eccentric millionaire who also loves Miss Cross. The love triangle heats up as Max refuses to believe that his age has anything to do with Miss Cross refusing his romantic advances. Also Max's scheme to erect an aquarium on the school baseball diamond gets him booted out of Rushmore Academy. As his life crumbles around him, he is forced to grow up and accept the consequences of his actions and his lies. He throws himself more into his extracurricular activities, hoping to redeem himself by staging the most ambitious school play ever attempted. ~ Arthur Borman, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, (more)
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