Tony Goldwyn Movies
The grandson of movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn, actor Tony Goldwyn favored his grandmother's side of the family (she was film actress Frances Howard) by pursuing an acting rather than an executive career. Goldwyn's first major film was 1987's Gaby: A True Story, in which he was eighth-billed. His breakthrough feature was 1990's Ghost, in which he played Carl, the "lying snake" who sets up the murder of his best friend (Patrick Swayze) and then callously moves in on the dead man's grieving girlfriend (Demi Moore). A master at playing charming-but-shallow yuppies, Goldwyn went on to appear in films ranging from The Pelican Brief (1994) to Nixon (1995) to the thriller Kiss the Girls (1997). In 1998, Goldwyn played astronaut Neil Armstrong in the made-for-TV docudrama series From the Earth to the Moon; the following year he made his directorial debut with the similarly-titled A Walk on the Moon. Starring Diane Lane as a dissatisfied housewife who finds physical and emotional enlightenment with a blouse salesman (Viggo Mortensen) in 1969 upstate New York, the film enjoyed an overwhelmingly favorable reception. Also in 1999, Goldwyn earned additional kudos for voicing the title character of Disney's animated Tarzan. Audiences were able to see more of the actor in 2000, when he appeared in Don Roos' romantic drama Bounce and in the Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi thriller The 6th Day. When his sophomore effort as a director, the romantic comedy Someone Like You..., failed to generate much interest, Goldwyn would turn toward television to helm episodes of The L Word, Without a Trace, Grey's Anatomy, and Law & Order (many of which he also appeared in as an actor) while racking up an impressive list of credits in such efforts as the Christian-themed drama Joshua, The Last Samurai, and as a haunted writer whose attempt to clean the skeletons out of the family closet lead to tragedy in Ghosts Never Sleep. A 2005 performance as a cop whose life is profoundly affected by a firearm in American Gun found Goldwyn as strong as ever in front of the camera, and the following year it was time once again to take the reins for the romantic comedy drama re-make The Last Kiss; a contemporary tale of love and anxiety starring Scrubs and Garden State actor Zach Braff. . ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 2010
- R
The true story of acclaimed lawyer Betty Anne Waters comes to the screen in this docudrama directed by Tony Goldwyn, and starring Hilary Swank. Her brother convicted for a 1983 murder/robbery he didn't commit, unemployed, single mother of two Betty begins studying law in order to help prove his innocence. Over the course of the next decade, Betty continues studying to earn her law degree, eventually passing the bar in 1995 and actively taking up her brother's case. By challenging the conviction with DNA evidence, Betty is ultimately able to prove her brother's innocence and win back his freedom. Sam Rockwell and Minnie Driver co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hilary Swank
A pair of teenage girls are brutally raped and terrorized by a vicious gang of psychopaths, who subsequently find their cruelty returned tenfold when they seek sanctuary in the home of one of the victim's parents in this contemporary reworking of Wes Craven's controversial 1972 shocker. Shortly after arriving at her family's secluded lake house, Mari Collingwood (Sara Paxton) and her best friend are abducted by a sadistic prison escapee and his violent crew. Left for dead and nearly in shock after suffering unspeakable abuse at the hands of her captors, Mari realizes that her only hope for survival is to find her way back home. Unfortunately for Mari, her attackers have unwittingly arrived at her parents' home seeking shelter from the authorities. There, Mari's concerned parents, John (Tony Goldwyn) and Emma (Monica Potter), realize to their horror just what grim fate has befallen their beloved daughter. Suppressing their rage in order to lure the killers into a deadly trap, John and Emma quietly hatch a plan to make the three strangers suffer for their grisly transgressions. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter, (more)
- 2007
In the aftermath of the death of the Ice Truck Killer, Debra makes an uneasy return to work and Dexter finds that he's off his game and distracted and unable to kill; divers make a gruesome discovery; Rita's ex asks for her help in getting out of jail. ~ Ray Stackhouse, All Movie Guide
- 2007
Dexter deals with a smooth-talking, despicable used-car salesman who's dying to do business with him; Rita suspects Dexter has a drug problem and insists that he get into a program, which throws him into the path of a mysterious and attractive woman (Jaime Murray). ~ Ray Stackhouse, All Movie Guide
- 2006
Derek (Patrick Dempsey) tears into Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) over her perceived relationship with Mark, but this time she gives back as good as she gets--with startling results. Likewise trading angry words are Burke (Isaiah Washington) and Cristina (Sandra Oh), while Izzie (Katherine Heigl) manages to upset Denny (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) even as she tries to cheer him up. Elsewhere, Callie's sanitary shortcomings cause problems with her temporary roomates; and we learn a bit more about handsome veterinarian Finn (Chris O'Donnell). But all these intrigues take second place to a horrible automobile accident caused by an intern (John Cho) suffering from short-term memory loss. In the episode's climactic moment, it appears as though a female crash victim will die, but there's a slim chance that her unborn baby can be saved. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A successful 30-year-old (Zach Braff) with a the perfect girlfriend (Jacinda Barrett) and a lucrative outlook on life struggles with the increasing pressures of adulthood as he weighs the merits of settling down with the woman who loves him against risking it all to be with a comely co-ed (Rachel Bilson) in director Tony Goldwyn's remake of Gabriele Muccino's 2001 comedy drama. Crash and Million Dollar Baby screenwriter Paul Haggis adapts a script originally penned by Italian filmmaker Muccino, and Casey Affleck, Blythe Danner, Eric Christian Olsen, and Tom Wilkinson co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, (more)
A longtime comedian who has repeatedly failed to break big finds his one last shot at stardom thwarted by his toughest crowd yet in director Pete Schwaba's tale of love and failure on the standup circuit. Despite being singled out for stardom early on in his comedy career, L.A. comic Joe Keegan (Schwaba) never really managed to find his footage in the ultra-tough world of show business. Informed by his best friend, Kenny (Lance Barber), that Tonight Show talent scout Harvey Skoric will be attending the upcoming "Rocktober" festival in Pine Lake, WI, Joe reluctantly decides to take a break from the West Coast and pull out all the stops for one final all-or-nothing audition. Initially dejected when his set is sabotaged by local emcee Dug (Thomas Lennon), Joe finds inspiration in the form of his former high-school English teacher Molly Mahoney (Lauren Holly), herself attempting to overcome the recent pains of a failed marriage. Concerned that he may have been wasting his life but convinced by Molly that he has simply been living his dream, Joe takes the stage once again to face a formidable crowd filled with hunters, Packers fans, and former high-school football star-turned-drug dealer Big Jake Norquist (Tony Goldwyn) -- the so-called "Godfather of Green Bay," who also has eyes for the lovely Molly. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pete Schwaba, Lauren Holly, (more)
- 2005
It's the annual Dead Baby Bike Day, in which the bicycle messengers of Seattle participate in a city-wide race. Unfortunately, there's been a spectacular accident, and the ER is filled to overflowing with injured cyclists and pedestrians. Among the casualties is a biker named Viper (Callum Blue), who has spokes protruding from his abdomen--not that this prevents him from hitting on Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), who has enough trouble on her hands fending off Derek (Patrick Dempsey). On a more somber note, anothere of the victims is an unidentified, brain-dead woman, whose organs may end up being harvested for a gay cancer patient (Keith David. It is up to Izzie (Katherine Heigl) to decide whether or not to remove the comatose woman's liver...and, more problematically, to determine how long to wait before doing so. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Screenwriter Richard Alfieri and director Arthur Allan Siedelman adapt Anton Chekhov's classic stage play The Three Sisters to the screen in this film starring Mary Stuart Masterson, Maria Bello, and Erika Christensen as the titular siblings. Upon departing from Charleston, SC, to further their education at a prestigious Manhattan college, sisters Marcia (Bello), Olga (Masterson), and Irene (Christensen) soon become lost in fantasies of what their lives may have been to the point where they are unable to affect change in their real lives. As the three sisters gradually open up to each other and their brother, Andrew (Alessandro Nivola), the specter of their deceased father soon lifts, leaving the nostalgic siblings to realize that the only way to confront the brutal realities of life is through honesty and understanding. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Bello, Mary Stuart Masterson, (more)
Three stories of how America's obsession with firearms impacts its citizens are explored in this independent drama. Carl Wilk (Donald Sutherland) runs a gun shop in Virginia that has been owned and operated by his family for generations. Carl sees the shop as his family's legacy without paying much mind to what happens with the weapons he sells. When his granddaughter Mary Ann (Linda Cardellini) needs money for college, Carl gives her a job in the store, and while she's hesitant at first, she becomes fascinated with the merchandise as time passes. On the West Side of Chicago, Carl Carter (Forest Whitaker) is the principal of a high school where violence has become a sad fact of life. As Carl and his wife, Sara (Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon), fear for their young son as they worry he could either fall prey to the violence of their community or embrace it himself, Carl receives a severe emotional blow when Jay (Arlen Escarpeta), one of his most promising students, is discovered carrying a pistol. And in Oregon, Janet (Marcia Gay Harden) is a single mother still troubled by the death of her teenaged son three years before, who took his own life after killing a handful of his classmates in a violent incident at a high school. As Janet deals with sharp words from the community, many of whom believe she should be held responsible for her late son's actions, she is unsure how to handle her surviving son, David (Christopher Marquette), who is now of high-school age. American Gun was the first feature film for writer and director Aric Avelino. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Sutherland, Forest Whitaker, (more)
The drama Ghosts Never Sleep stars Tony Goldwyn as a struggling screenwriter who might have finally scored a successful sale with a screenplay that tells a story that might cost him his relationship with both his mother and his wife. The script is strikingly similar to a real tragic event that happened in his family, an event that his mother (Faye Dunaway) wants no one to know about. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Goldwyn, Faye Dunaway, (more)
Edward Zwick returned to the director's chair for the first time since 1998's The Siege with this sweeping period drama set in 19th-century Japan. After centuries of relying on hired samurai for national defense, the Japanese monarchy has decided to do away with the warriors in favor of a more contemporary military. Tom Cruise stars as Nathan Algren, a veteran of the U.S. Civil War who is hired by the Emperor Meiji to train an army capable of wiping out the samurai. But when Algren is captured by the samurai and taught about their history and way of life, he finds himself conflicted over who he should be fighting alongside. Billy Connelly, Tony Goldwyn, and Ken Watanabe co-star. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Cruise, Timothy Spall, (more)
A handful of New Yorkers struggle to tie together the loose ends of their lives following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in this drama. It has been several weeks since the twin towers of the World Trade Center fell, and Liz (Janeane Garofalo), a writer who watched as one of the jets sailed past her window and into the skyscraper, has refused to leave her apartment since the disaster. However, an eccentric but street-smart poet named Karl (Giancarlo Esposito) carries a torch for Liz and is determined to bring her back to the land of the living. Judy (Nicole Hansen) suffers through an unpleasant one-night stand with Billy (Dov Davidoff) before waking up in the apartment of Punch (Tony Spiridakis), a fellow lost soul whose car is covered with the dust left by the falling towers...only now, some of his neighbors claim they can see a holy apparition in the dirt, so it's hard for him to move. And Samantha (Jennifer Carpenter), who has been observing the neighborhood from behind the bar at a local watering hole, finds some much-needed comfort in the arms of renegade would-be rock singer Gina Mascara (Pauley Perrette). Screened at film festivals as Ash Tuesday, Beyond the Ashes was written by Tony Spiridakis, who also plays Punch. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
A young woman is faced with the disturbing reemergence of a man she once loved in this psychological thriller. Embry Langan (Charlie Hunnam) was a wealthy but reckless student at an exclusive private college until he mysteriously vanished, with airline tickets to Europe left unused and plenty of money still in the bank. Two years later, Katie Burke (Katie Holmes), Embry's girlfriend, is still dealing with his disappearance as she goes into the home stretch of her college career. With exams, a thesis, and job interviews to think about, Katie is already walking an emotional tightrope when Wade Handler (Benjamin Bratt), a police detective, enters the picture. Handler, a recovering alcoholic, has been ordered to reopen the Langan case, and as he questions Katie about the missing man, she finds her obsession with her former beau taking over her life, which leaves her all the more unnerved when she begins seeing Embry around the campus. Meanwhile, Handler's investigation begins to suggest Langan's disappearance may have been more sinister than imagined, and could be connected with other cases of missing students. Abandon marked the directorial debut for screenwriter Stephen Gaghan, who won an Oscar for his script for Traffic. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katie Holmes, Benjamin Bratt, (more)
A mysterious stranger brings both spiritual comfort and a certain level of distrust to a small community in this drama based on the spiritual best-seller by Joseph Girzone. A mysterious man named Joshua (Tony Goldwyn) arrives in the small Midwestern town of Auburn sometime in the late 19th century. Joshua sets up a carpentry shop in Auburn, and soon develops a reputation for his kind and unselfish nature; after bad weather nearly destroys a church in the town's African-American neighborhood, Joshua offers to help repair the building, and has soon persuaded much of the community to offer their support, including Father Pat (Kurt Fuller), a priest at Auburn's Catholic church. Father Pat's superior, Father Tardone (F. Murray Abraham) is also struck by Joshua's talent, charm, and humble desire to help others, and asks him to carve a new statue of Saint Peter for their church. However, while much of the town is following the good example set by Joshua, when people begin to ascribe supernatural powers to the town's new carpenter, Father Tardone begins to become suspicious, and wants to know who Joshua really is and what he really intends to do in Auburn. Joshua features an original song score by popular contemporary Christian musician Michael W. Smith. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Goldwyn, F. Murray Abraham, (more)
A true story based on the life story of writer/director Eva Gardos, this film depicts the personal odyssey of a family's escape from Communist Hungary. One night, Margaret (Nastassja Kinski) and Peter (Tony Goldwyn) arrange to escape Hungary with their eldest daughter in tow, forcing them to leave behind their youngest, Suzanne, in the care of Margaret's mother. When the mother is separated from the young child, she goes to live in a peaceful Eastern European countryside with a loving man and woman who raise her until age six, where Suzanne is sent for by her birth parents, now living in America. She finds the adjustment difficult and does not fully comprehend that Margaret and Peter are her parents, but she is willing to stay, and if she feels the same way in several years, Peter has agreed to give her a ticket back to Hungary. Later, as a rebellious teenager (played by Scarlett Johansson), with Margaret becoming a highly overprotective mother, she takes her father up on his offer to go back and reconnect with those who raised her as a child. While in Hungary, she has a change of heart , however, and discovers her true identity. The feature also co-stars Mae Whitman, Emmy Rossum, and Larisa Oleynik. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nastassja Kinski, Scarlett Johansson, (more)
Based on Laura Zigman's 1998 novel Animal Husbandry, this romantic comedy centers on Jane Goodale (Ashley Judd), a talk-show producer who finds herself suddenly abandoned by her boyfriend (Greg Kinnear). After this untimely breakup, Jane begins to develop a thesis that male behavior is directly related to that of wildlife, with similar patterns existing in both. She studies the tendency for animals to be noncommittal and compares men to bulls, dogs, and other creatures. To prove her theories, she enlists the help of her roommate Eddie (Hugh Jackman), a womanizer who falls into all of the patterns of her research. When applying her studies to Eddie, she gains exposure and suddenly becomes a sensation as a pseudonymous sex columnist. This is the second directorial effort from actor Tony Goldwyn, after his 1999 feature A Walk on the Moon. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ashley Judd, Greg Kinnear, (more)
- 2001
Tony Goldwyn guest stars as Roger, current boyfriend of Roz (Peri Gilpin). Though delighted at the prospect of a relationship that might actually last more than a few weeks, Roz is also worried over the somewhat aromatic fact that Roger is a garbage man. Meanwhile, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) tries once again to shed his stuffed-shirt image by throwing a party, and Niles (David Hyde Pierce) discusses his childhood with Daphne (Peri Gilpin). Ashley Thomas makes her first series appearance as Roz's three-year-old daughter Alice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this romantic comedy-drama, two people whose lives were touched by the same tragedy find love. Buddy Amaral (Ben Affleck) is a successful L.A. advertising executive who has a way with the ladies, but inside he longs for a meaningful long-term relationship. One day Buddy sells his seat on a sold-out airline flight to a stranger; he's shocked when the jet crashes and the man is killed. A year later, still haunted by the incident, Buddy looks up Abby Janello (Gwyneth Paltrow), the victim's widow, who is now selling real estate to support her children. Buddy soon finds himself attracted to Abby, and the feeling is mutual, but while he's interested in marriage, he isn't sure how (or if) he should tell her that he was indirectly responsible for her husband's death. Bounce was written and directed by Don Roos, who made a splash with his independent debut The Opposite of Sex; supporting Affleck and Paltrow are Natasha Henstridge, Jennifer Grey, David Paymer, and Joe Morton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Affleck, Gwyneth Paltrow, (more)
- 2000
Acclaimed author Willa Cather offers a moving tale of an artist's self-discovery in a semi-autobiographical tale concerning a young woman from rural Colorado who moves to the big city to seek her fortune as a world-famous opera star. Originally aired as part of PBS' popular Masterpiece Theatre series, The Song of the Lark details the passion of young singer Thea Kronborg (Alison Elliott) as she strives to make a name for herself in the world of music along with a little encouragement from a country doctor, a railroad worker, and a millionaire, who assist her in her musical development. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alison Elliott, Maximilian Schell, (more)
In this science-fiction thriller set in the very near future, DNA cloning has been perfected and has become an accepted part of everyday life -- cattle and fish are cloned for sale at the market, genetically engineered fruit and vegetables are found in most family's kitchens (nacho-flavored bananas, anyone?), and if your pet dies, you can even order a cloned replacement. But laws have been passed that strictly forbid the cloning of human beings. However, helicopter pilot Adam Gibson (Arnold Schwarzenegger), who believes people should live and die the old-fashioned way, discovers that someone has been violating these regulations. After Adam luckily avoids being on a copter that crashes, he comes home to discover someone has duplicated him. Now Adam is on a mission to find out who cloned him and why, as he struggles to take back his life from a scientifically created impostor, his boss Michael Drucker (Tony Goldwyn), and a pair of thugs (Sarah Wynter and Rod Rowland) who have been cloned into near-indestructibility. The 6th Day also stars Robert Duvall as cloning expert Griffin Weir, Michael Rooker as Drucker's right-hand man Robert Marshall, and Michael Rapaport as Adam's partner, Hank Morgan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tony Goldwyn, (more)
The personal turning points of a family in crisis are portrayed against the backdrop of one of America's most tumultuous summers in this drama. In 1969, Pearl Kantrowitz (Diane Lane) is spending the summer at a resort in the Catskills. Married to TV repairman Marty (Liev Schreiber) and the mother of two children, respectably middle-class Pearl feels trapped by domestic life and inwardly lusts after a traveling salesman named Walker (Viggo Mortensen). When Marty is called back to the city one weekend, Pearl impulsively arranges to meet Walker at a music festival going on in nearby Bethel, New York -- The Woodstock Music and Art Fair. However, Pearl doesn't realize that her teenage daughter Alison (Anna Paquin) has secret plans of her own, and when mother and daughter meet in the midst of hippiedoms's most celebrated moment, both have a lot of explaining to do, to each other and to Marty. A Walk On The Moon was produced in part by Dustin Hoffman, and premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diane Lane, Liev Schreiber, (more)
Author Edgar Rice Burroughs once suggested that animation would be the ideal medium to bring his Tarzan to the screen, and 81 years after the first film about the famous ape-man, Disney brings us the first full-length animated film starring the King of the Jungle. After a disaster at sea causes their ship to sink off the coast of Africa, a British couple finds their way to shore with their infant son in tow. However, the parents are killed by a leopard, leaving the baby to fend for himself. The child is discovered by a gorilla named Kala (voice of Glenn Close), mate of Kerchak (voice of Lance Henriksen), the leader of the tribe of apes. While Kerchak is taken aback by the foundling and would just as soon leave him in the jungle, Kala's maternal nature is stirred. Kala and Kerchak take the baby with them, naming him Tarzan and raising him among their own. Although Tarzan (voice of Tony Goldwyn) grows up painfully aware that he's different from the apes, he comes to love and respect the gorillas and learns their ways, while they accept him into their tribe as he grows to adulthood. However, Tarzan's idyllic life in the jungle is changed forever by the arrival of Professor Porter (voice of Nigel Hawthorne), his daughter Jane (voice of Minnie Driver), and their guide, a hunter named Clayton (voice of Brian Blessed). The Professor and Jane have arrived in Africa to study the wildlife in its natural habitat, although Clayton would prefer to bag as many trophies as he can. When the explorers encounter Tarzan, they at first think they've discovered the missing link, although soon realize that he's as human as they are. Tarzan finds himself torn between his desire to be with his own kind (and the new, unfamiliar emotions that he feels for Jane) and his loyalties to the gorilla family that raised him -- especially since Clayton sees the apes not as friends but as prey. Dominated by fast-paced jungle action sequences, Tarzan also features voices by Rosie O'Donnell and Wayne Knight, as well as new songs by Phil Collins. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Blessed, Glenn Close, (more)
