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Wes Bentley Movies

Wes Bentley was a relative newcomer to film when he starred in Sam Mendes' American Beauty (1999), but his haunting portrayal of the battered, enigmatic Ricky Fitts made him one of the most talked about young actors of the year. Dark, lanky, and possessing a pair of blue eyes of diamond-cutting intensity, Bentley beat out 20 young Hollywood actors for the role (according to Mendes), and his breakthrough performance was soon generating Oscar buzz. The actor originally hailed from Jonesboro, AR, where he was tormented by school bullies for being a "pretty boy," and he came to film via New York's Juilliard School, where he acted in a number of productions. While in New York, Bentley also sought other work, and an open casting call for Rent led to a casting director's request for him to do some reading for a small film. Prior to American Beauty, Bentley's film experience had been limited to roles in independent films such as Three Below Zero and Halfway to Pleasantville, and a small part in Jonathan Demme's Beloved. Following his acclaimed role in American Beauty, Bentley appeared in The White River Kid, in which he played the film's titular murderer.

In the wake of American Beauty, Bentley starred in Michael Winterbottom's The Claim, as well as yet another version of the classic adventure tale The Four Feathers. He was away from screens for three years at that point, but returned in 2005's The Game of Their Lives and continued to work steadily in a variety of projects including Ghost Rider and Jonah Hex. He scored his most high-profile role since American Beauty in 2012 when he played the part of Seneca Crane, the elaborately bearded game-master in The Hunger Games. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
2013  
 
The Hunger Games saga continues in this sequel that finds a revolution brewing as Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) take a "Victor's Tour" of the districts, and President Snow (Donald Sutherland) plots their downfall during preparations for The Quarter Quell, which only occurs every 25 years in celebration of the Capitol's victory over the districts. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Jennifer LawrenceJosh Hutcherson, (more)
 
2013  
R  
The life of one of the most infamous women in early '70s America gets a dramatization in this offbeat period biopic from co-directors Jeffrey Friedman and Robert Epstein. In the Florida suburbs, circa 1970, Linda Boreman (Amanda Seyfried) is an ordinary and unremarkable young woman, who moved back in with her parents (Robert Patrick and Sharon Stone) a year or so earlier, following an unplanned pregnancy. One night on the town, she crosses paths with Chuck Traynor (Peter Sarsgaard) a local bar and restaurant owner who sees Linda as an opportunity; he soon wins her over as a girlfriend, and not long after, the two are married. Within a couple of years,Chuck shoots a private stag film of Linda performing oral sex on a partner, and decides to show it to Gerry Damiano (Hank Azaria), an up-and-coming porn director with ties to the Mafia. Damiano is so impressed by the footage that he immediately decides to cast Linda in his new picture, the hardcore comedy Deep Throat, which becomes the single most lucrative adult film of all time and turns the young woman - renamed Linda Lovelace - into a household name. The film then flashes forward to six years later, when Linda authors a shocking tell-all book about what really happened when the cameras weren't rolling; she describes the sadistic abuse that she endured at the hands of Traynor and a series of increasingly futile attempts to escape from his clutches, and claims that she was coerced to appear in the movie. The media then turns Lovelace - now a Long Island housewife, Linda Marciano - into a feminist icon and a crusader against domestic violence and the enslavement of the porn industry. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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Starring:
Amanda SeyfriedPeter Sarsgaard, (more)
 
2012  
PG13  
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A young woman (Amanda Seyfried) prepares to confront the assailant who previously abducted her, and who has now sought vengeance by kidnapping her sister in this thriller from director Heitor Dhalia. Jill (Seyfried) lives a quiet life, yet one marked by a severe anxiety that the man who once threw her in a ditch to die was going to come back and finish the job. When her sister Molly (Emily Wickersham) goes missing, Jill heads to the police, but no one will listen to her, save for Detective Hood (Wes Bentley), who might or might not have his own reasons for lending a hand. As time runs out, Jill becomes more frantic and takes to desperate measures, putting the police on her trail as she tries to put an end to her nightmare once and for all. Jennifer Carpenter, Joel David Moore, and Michael Pare co-star in the Summit Entertainment release. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Amanda SeyfriedDaniel Sunjata, (more)
 
2011  
PG13  
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Ambitious journalist Robert Torres (Dougray Scott) travels from London to Spain in order to research controversial Opus Dei founder Josemaría Escrivá (Charlie Cox) for an upcoming book, but hits a dead end when his secretive father, Manolo (Wes Bentley), refuses to speak as an official source. Later, as Robert searches desperately for the answers, he discovers that his father and Josemaría grew up together in the same town, and forged a powerful friendship while attending seminary school together. But at some point their paths diverged; Manolo went to fight in the Spanish Civil War as Josemaría embraced his faith. When Manolo fell for a stunning revolutionary (Olga Kurylenko) who shunned his affections in favor of a powerful military man (Rodrigo Santoro), his fate was sealed by his uncontrollable rage. But it's never too late to forgive, and now if Manolo can accept the dark truth about his difficult past, he may have one last shot at redemption. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Charlie CoxWes Bentley, (more)
 
2010  
PG13  
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1970s-era DC antihero Jonah Hex makes his way to the big screen as co-screenwriters Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank, Gamer) team to follow the disfigured gunslinger and part-time bounty hunter on his biggest adventure yet. Supernatural elements combine with Western aesthetics to take viewers on a wild and bloody ride, with Josh Brolin leading the way as Hex and John Malkovich stepping into the villainous role of Turnbull. Jimmy Hayward (Horton Hears a Who) directs. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Josh BrolinJohn Malkovich, (more)
 
2009  
R  
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A dark revenge tale about Las Vegas middle school science teacher (Robinson) whose beloved wife (Elizabeth) witnesses an execution in the desert and is then targeted for death by the mobster who committed it, notorious Vegas crime lord Jimmy Dolan. Dolan's vast wealth stems from his human trafficking operations. Dolan succeeds in having Elizabeth killed before she can testify against him. Without a witness to the murders, Dolan goes free, and Robinson must avenge Elizabeth's death on his own.

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Starring:
Christian SlaterEmmanuelle Vaugier, (more)
 
2008  
R  
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Wes Bentley, Eric Roberts, and Michael Madsen headline first-time feature filmmaker Michael Straininger's story of a successful writer and scholar who falls under the spell of a bewitching seductress on an obsessive quest for immortality. Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's acclaimed short story of the same name, Ligeia tells the story of Jonathan Merrick (Bentley), a respected academic engaged to the beautiful Rowena (Kaitlin Doubleday), but unable to resist the advances of ravishing siren Ligeia (Sofya Skya). Ligeia suffers from a terminal illness, and in order to cheat death she extracts the souls of others. After tricking Jonathan into supporting her ghoulish endeavor, Ligeia gradually draws him into her mysterious world of darkness. Forsaking his beloved Rowena, Jonathan joins Ligeia in her lavish manor at the edge of the Black Sea. There, Ligeia's amaranthine presence slowly erodes the fragile psyche of her prisoner Jonathan, forever cursed to be the victim of his own undying lust. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Wes BentleyKaitlin Doubleday, (more)
 
2007  
PG13  
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When a motorcycle-riding stuntman offers his soul to Mephistopheles in order to save the life of the one he loves most, he is forced to play host to a powerful supernatural entity whose flaming skull visage strikes fear into the heart of his enemies in this feature-film version of the long-running comic series. By day, Johnny Blaze (actor and comic-book devotee Nicolas Cage) is one of the world's best-known stuntmen, but when the sun goes down and he is in the presence of evil, the death-defying daredevil bursts into flames to become the indestructible, motorcycle-riding antihero known to the world as the Ghost Rider. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Nicolas CageEva Mendes, (more)
 
2007  
R  
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A corporate workaholic finds that her decision to work late on Christmas Eve has potentially deadly consequences in this thriller starring Wes Bentley and Rachel Nichols. It's that time of the year, and as the snow falls outside and families gather around the dinner table, Angela vows to close one last deal before the holiday. Now late for her family gathering, Angela rushes down to the garage in hopes of racing home and catching dinner before it gets cold. When her car refuses to start, her phone fails to get a signal, and everyone else has already left, it begins to appear as if Angela's luck may have finally run out. Thankfully, a friendly security guard appears and offers to lend a helping hand. During the course of discussion, the security guard flirtatiously invites Angela to share the Christmas dinner he has prepared in the parking office -- an offer that the high-powered corporate climber laughingly dismisses. The next thing Angela knows, she wakes up tied to a chair in the cold security office located on level P2. It appears as if the security guard's invitation wasn't optional, and that Christmas dinner was the last thing on his mind. Upon realizing just how serious her situation truly is, Angela struggles to escape her subterranean prison and make it out so that she might live to see another Christmas morning. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Wes BentleyRachel Nichols, (more)
 
2007  
R  
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Inspired by the satirical black comedy Man Bites Dog, emerging film director Thomas C. Dunn's feature debut tells the tale of a young documentary filmmaker who inadvertently captures a murder on camera, and unwisely attempts to blackmail the murderer into becoming the subject of his latest film. Mickey (Wes Bentley) is an aspiring filmmaker who seems to lack a certain sense of inspiration - that is, until he captures elusive serial killer James Lemac (Mark Borkowski) on camera doing what he does best. Realizing the remarkable value of this gruesome footage, Mickey approaches the madman with an offer of creating the ultimate reality show. Should James agree to become part of the project the pair will no doubt become famous, but should he refuse Mickey will immediately hand the footage over to the police. Left with precious little choice other than to play along in Mickey's twisted little game, a reluctant James agrees to grant the filmmaker total access to his grisly excursions. But as the filmmaker and his subject set out to make movie history, the lines of power gradually begin to blur, at times giving James the upper hand. Now, as the psychological game of cat and mouse winds to it's shocking conclusion, Mickey will be forced to confront the darkness that dwells not just in the corroded soul of his subject, but somewhere deep within his own fragile psyche as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Wes BentleyMark Borkowski, (more)
 
2007  
R  
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Two luckless stoners begin a truly awful evening when they discover they have a dead girlfriend on their hands in this black comedy from writer and director Allen Moyle. Dexter (Scott Speedman) and Royce (Wes Bentley) are a pair of half-bright slackers living in a nowhere town in Northern Ontario. Dexter and Royce's lack of ambition is compounded by the fact they're both heroin addicts, and they support their habits by dealing dope for Omar (Raoul Bhaneja), a ruthless dealer who's not to be trifled with. Matilda (Taryn Manning), Royce's girlfriend, makes the mistake of dipping into their product one night and suffers a serious O.D.; frightened, Royce and Dexter decide they have to get rid of the body, and Dexter suggests they bury her in the boiler room of a drive-in movie theater where he used to work. The guys take Matilda's body to the drive-in and are about to cover her up when they realize she isn't dead yet; however, their timing is flawed, as this discovery coincides with the arrival of a gaggle of would-be Satan Worshipers, who are looking for a likely candidate for their first human sacrifice. Weirdsville was chosen as the opening night presentation for the 2007 Slamdance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Scott SpeedmanWes Bentley, (more)
 
2007  
R  
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Wes Bentley and Winona Ryder star in director/screenwriter Geoff Haley's darkly comic romance centering on the relationship between a writer specializing in suicide notes and the unsuspecting sister of his most recent client. Evan Merck (Bentley) is a reclusive, Los Angeles-based writer whose unique way with words has earned him an unusual career as a professional suicide note scribe. One day, while attending the funeral of a dearly departed client, Evan forms a close connection with the deceased's sister Charlotte (Ryder). A free spirit who remains blissfully unaware of Evan's true connection to her late brother, Charlotte becomes fascinated by the introverted writer and the pair soon enter into a tenuous relationship. But Evan can't keep his secret from Charlotte forever, and as love continues to blossom between the unlikely pair, the writer quickly finds his snowballing deceptions growing into a rampaging avalanche that threatens to destroy not only his career, but his one true human connection as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Winona RyderWes Bentley, (more)
 
2006  
 
Inspired by the satirical black comedy Man Bites Dog, emerging film director Thomas C. Dunn's feature debut tells the tale of a young documentary filmmaker who inadvertently captures a murder on camera, and unwisely attempts to blackmail the murderer into becoming the subject of a film designed to become the be-all-end-all of true crime docs. Wes Bentley, Joanne Baron, and Mark Borkowski star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Wes BentleyMark Borkowski, (more)
 
2005  
PG  
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In 1950, most Americans had only a passing familiarity with the game of soccer, even though it was the world's most popular sport, and few athletes in the United States played the game with any particular degree of expertise. However, when an invitation was extended to the United States to participate in the World Cup tournament in Brazil -- the international soccer championship held every four years -- Bill Jeffrey was determined that America participate. In less than two weeks, Jeffrey assembled a team comprised mostly of players from St. Louis (where soccer had developed a small but loyal following) and the East Coast (where the game gained a foothold on college campuses), with immigrants from Haiti, Portugal, and Scotland filling out the ranks. Against all odds, the Americans not only made it to the World Cup games, but defeated the British team (favored by many to win the championship) in the greatest upset of the 1950 games. The Game of Their Lives is a sports drama based on the remarkable true story of the 1950 United States team, featuring John Rhys-Davies as Bill Jeffrey, Wes Bentley as team leader Walter Bahr, Gerard Butler as goalie Frank Borghi, Jimmy Jean-Louis as Joe Gaetiens, a dishwasher born in Haiti who found his way onto the team, and Patrick Stewart as a journalist covering the games. David Anspaugh, who made the acclaimed basketball drama Hoosiers, directed. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Gerard ButlerWes Bentley, (more)
 
2002  
PG13  
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A.E.W. Mason's perennially popular tale of honor and adventure is brought to the screen yet again in this lavish period action-drama. In 1884, Harry Feversham (Heath Ledger) is a young officer-in-training in the British Army who is soon to graduate and is expected to be shipped of to the Sudan, where the King's military are battling Muslim insurgents who are attempting to overturn English colonial rule. Feversham, however, has developed serious ethical reservations about going along, and on the eve of his departure, he resigns his commission. Feversham's best friend and fellow officer Jack Durrance (Wes Bentley) in response presents him with a white feather (a symbol of cowardice), and two of his classmates follow suit. Ethne Eustace (Kate Hudson), Feversham's fiancée, presents him with a fourth white feather shortly before breaking off their engagement. Sufficiently humbled, Feversham attempts to win back his honor and the respect of his family and friends by secretly becoming an undercover operative in the Sudan. His initial attempts to pose as an Arab are not especially convincing, but he makes friends with Abou Fatma (Djimon Hounsou), a local sympathetic with the British cause who proves to be a valuable source of insider information and advice on how to blend with the rebels. Meanwhile, Durrance is briefly ordered back to England to help recruit new soldiers for the colonial forces, and he takes the opportunity to begin wooing Eustace, the former flame of his former friend. This adaptation is the fifth film version of The Four Feathers, following two silent screen adaptations (released in 1915 and 1928), Zoltan Korda's memorable 1939 version, and a 1977 made-for-TV movie. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Heath LedgerWes Bentley, (more)
 
2001  
R  
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This entry in the perennially popular teen horror genre is from writer/director Steve Carpenter and the producers of I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and Urban Legend (1998). Melissa Sagemiller stars as Cassie, a college freshman trying to get over the death of her boyfriend Sean (Casey Affleck) in an auto accident. Making matters worse is that ever since the car crash, which also nearly claimed her own life, Cassie has seemed to hover in a netherworld between the living and the dead, where she believes she's hallucinating some spooky, emotional visitations from Sean. In the meantime, she's also coming under the sway of her mysterious friends Matt (Wes Bentley) and Annabel (Eliza Dushku) as well as an androgynous acquaintance (Angela Featherstone) of theirs. Unsure whom she can trust, Cassie turns for aid to an enigmatic young priest, Father Jude (Luke Wilson), but the ultimate truth about her condition and state of mind may come as a shocking revelation. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

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Starring:
Melissa SagemillerCasey Affleck, (more)
 
2000  
R  
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One man's small empire threatens to collapse under the weight of his greed and deceit in this drama that transplants the story of Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge to 19th century America. In 1867, Dillon (Peter Mullan) is an Irish immigrant who settled in California during the Gold Rush of '49 and has done quite well for himself. Dillon owns nearly every business of consequence in the town of Kingdom Come; if someone wants to dig for gold, rent a room, open a bank account, or even order a drink, they have to go to Dillon to do it. One of the few profitable enterprises in town that he doesn't own is the brothel, which is operated by Lucia (Milla Jovovich), Dillon's lover. Circumstances change somewhat when Dalglish - a surveyor with the Central Pacific Railroad - turns up and expresses his plans to implement a railroad in the area. Dillon, sensing a great opportunity afoot, travels well out of his way to ensure that the line is run through Kingdom Come, to enhance the town's commercial prospects. Also arriving in town the same time as Dalglish are two women, the beautiful but ailing Elena (Nastassja Kinski) and her lovely teenage daughter Hope (Sarah Polley); their presence is deeply troubling for Dillon, for they are the keys to a dark secret Dillon has kept from the people of Kingdom Come. The Claim is Michael Winterbottom's second adaptation of the works of Thomas Hardy; his 1996 feature Jude was adapted from Hardy's final novel, Jude the Obscure. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Peter MullanWes Bentley, (more)
 
1999  
R  
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Noted theater director Sam Mendes, who was responsible for the acclaimed 1998 revival of Cabaret and Nicole Kidman's turn in The Blue Room, made his motion picture debut with this film about the dark side of an American family, and about the nature and price of beauty in a culture obsessed with outward appearances. Kevin Spacey plays Lester Burnham, a man in his mid-40s going through an intense midlife crisis; he's grown cynical and is convinced that he has no reason to go on. Lester's relationship with his wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) is not a warm one; while on the surface Carolyn strives to present the image that she's in full control of her life, inside she feels empty and desperate. Their teenage daughter Jane (Thora Birch) is constantly depressed, lacking in self-esteem, and convinced that she's unattractive. Her problems aren't helped by her best friend Angela (Mena Suvari), an aspiring model who is quite beautiful and believes that that alone makes her a worthwhile person. Jane isn't the only one who has noticed that Angela is attractive: Lester has fallen into uncontrollable lust for her, and she becomes part of his drastic plan to change his body and change his life. Meanwhile, next door, Colonel Fitts (Chris Cooper) has spent a lifetime in the Marine Corps and can understand and tolerate no other way of life, which makes life difficult for his son Ricky (Wes Bentley), an aspiring filmmaker and part-time drug dealer who is obsessed with beauty, wherever and whatever it may be. American Beauty was also the screen debut for screenwriter Alan Ball. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Kevin SpaceyAnnette Bening, (more)
 
1999  
R  
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Two small-time crooks find themselves in deeper water than they can handle in this offbeat comedy. Edgar (Bob Hoskins) and Morales (Antonio Banderas) are a pair of minor-league grifters posing as men of the cloth, who travel through the deep South selling cheap socks at inflated prices to raise money for the fictional children's charity St. Mortimer's Orphanage. While stopping at a diner, Edgar and Morales spot a fellow fugitive from justice, the White River Kid (Wes Bentley), who is wanted for murder. Taking pity on a fellow outlaw, Edgar and Morales decide to warn the Kid that there are cops nearby and that he might want to make himself scarce; however, they soon regret their brief moment of compassion when they discover the Kid has taken over their RV and is now holding them hostage along with a waitress from the restaurant. The White River Kid also features Ellen Barkin, Beau Bridges, Swoosie Kurtz, and Randy Travis. While the film was completed in 1999, it received only scattered theatrical distribution in Eastern Europe and South America, and made its American premiere as a cable television feature in 2001. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Antonio BanderasBob Hoskins, (more)
 
1998  
 
Simon Aeby made his directorial debut with this Swiss drama. When a door blows shut, three people are trapped in the basement laundry room of a New York apartment building -- Julian (Wes Bentley), Moriat (Kate Walsh), and older Nora (Judith Roberts) -- and their attitudes and arguments lead to emotional revelations. Shown at the 1998 Locarno Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

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Starring:
Judith RobertsKate Walsh, (more)