Dakota Fanning Movies

An 18-year-old girl and her four-year-old sister are the only survivors when a suburban Las Vegas family is brutally slain. All evidence indicates that the family was butchered by the members of a cult. But in the course of his investigation, Grissom (William L. Petersen) -- who was the first authority on the scene after the surviving girls summoned help -- suspects that the solution to the crime may be even more disturbing than he wants to believe. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A young girl walks through a secret door and discovers a parallel reality that is eerily similar to the life she already knows, yet deeply unsettling in a number of ways, in director Henry Selick's animated adaptation of Neil Gaiman's international best-seller. Eleven-year-old Coraline Jones (voice of Dakota Fanning) is fearlessly courageous, and perhaps far too adventurous for her own good. Coraline and her parents (Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman) have recently relocated to Oregon from Michigan. Bored in her new home since her parents are distracted by work and she has yet to make any new friends, Coraline passes the time by exploring her new neighborhood with an annoying local boy named Wybie Lovat (Robert Bailey Jr.). But after paying a visit to her eccentric neighbors Miss Spink (Jennifer Saunders) and Miss Forcible (Dawn French), a pair of aging British actresses, and crossing paths with the outright weird Mr. Bobinsky (Ian McShane), the precocious young girl becomes convinced that her new surroundings are just as dull as she'd initially suspected. Shortly thereafter, Coraline discovers a hidden door in her new house, and decides to investigate. Venturing into the eerie passageway inside, Coraline emerges into an alternate version of her own reality. At first glance, this strange new world seems even better than the real thing; there her parents aren't distracted by work, and Coraline is always the center of attention. There's even a mysterious Cat (Keith David) that's fascinated by her every move. But when Coraline's button-eyed Other Mother (also Hatcher) attempts to make her stay permanent, the frightened young girl must summon her resourcefulness and bravery in order to find her way back home and save her real family. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Following up on the success of 2000's How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Imagine Entertainment presents The Cat in the Hat, their second live-action adaptation of a classic Dr. Seuss book. Starring Mike Myers, the film follows the adventures of Conrad (Spencer Breslin) and Sally Walden (Dakota Fanning), a young brother and sister who find themselves visited by the titular mischievous cat (Meyers) and his entourage when their mother (Kelly Preston) leaves them home alone. Also starring Alec Baldwin and the voice of Sean Hayes, The Cat in the Hat is the directorial debut of Oscar-nominated art director Bo Welch. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

Weaver (Laura Innes) is off suspension and back on the job. Greene's (Anthony Edwards) father (John Cullum), suffering from terminal cancer, is checked into the ER with pneumonia. Carter (Noah Wyle) continues having difficulty coming to grips with the attack that injured him and killed Lucy. Abby (Maura Tierney) is caught in the middle of a bitter domestic dispute that may have fatal results for a young leukemia victim in dire need of a bone marrow transplant. And while Carol (Julianna Margulies) draws closer to Kovac (Goran Visnjic), Benton's sister Jackie (Khandi Alexander) doesn't think much of the romance between Benton (Eriq La Salle) and Cleo (Michael Michele). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the aftermath of a gruesome restaurant murder, the survivors of the attack are left to ponder their own mortality and how it relates to their connection to society. Forest Whitaker, Guy Pearce, Kate Beckinsale, and Dakota Fanning headline Little Fish director Rowan Woods' adaptation of Roy Freirich's debut novel. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

One of The Brothers Grimm's best loved fairy tales gets an overhaul using the latest in visual effects technology in this comedy-drama for the whole family. A little girl (Dakota Fanning) has a hard time getting to sleep, so her father (Daniel Roebuck) dusts off a book of children's stories and reads her one of his favorites. Hansel (Jacob Smith) and Gretel (Taylor Momsen) are two children who are being raised by their loving father (Gerald McRaney) and his shrewish second wife (Delta Burke) after the unfortunate death of their mother. When Father is forced to leave home to find work in the city, Stepmother decides this would be the perfect time to get rid of the children, and she manages to "lose" Hansel and Gretel in an enchanted forest. While the children make a valuable and magical friend in The Sandman (Howie Mandel), they also encounter a mysterious woman with a gingerbread house (Lynn Redgrave), who takes them in; however, it isn't long before they learn she's actually a witch, and has made some unorthodox dinner plans involving her young guests. Hansel & Gretel also features the voice talents of Sinbad, Bobcat Goldthwaite, and Tom Arnold as, respectively, a talking raven, a troll, and the Bogeyman. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A precocious but troubled young girl living in 1950s-era Alabama seeks solace in the music of Elvis Presley in director Deborah Kampmeier's controversial tale of childhood trauma and musical healing. An air of repression lingers over the home of spirited youngster Lewellen (Dakota Fanning), who finds both comfort in the music of pop sensation Presley, as well as a place to store her pain and anger. In time Lewellen begins to find her own voice, a voice that will instill her with the strength to move beyond the pain of her past and into a more hopeful future. Piper Laurie, David Morse, and Robin Wright Penn star in a period drama that made its debut at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Award-winning short filmmaker Jessica Yu makes her feature-length debut with In the Realms of the Unreal, a documentary about outsider artist Henry Darger. Born in 1892, Darger lived in Chicago and worked as a janitor for most of his life. When he died in 1972, his landlord found his life's work: The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion (often simply referred to as The Realms). A massive, multiple-volume fantasy novel, The Realms also contains nearly 300 illustrations of collages, drawings, and paintings. Rather than interview art scholars and psychologists, Yu chooses to look at Darger's work from the viewpoints of those who knew him. Yu also incorporates animation segments into the documentary, using Darger's original images. In the Realms of the Unreal was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 as part of the documentary competition. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

The animated feature-length film Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch follows the characters from the Oscar-nominated movie Lilo & Stitch. Everything seems to be going smoothly as the film begins, with Stitch acceptably assimilated into his adopted family and everyone planning for a gigantic hula festival. However, Stitch soon starts behaving as erratically as he did in the first film. Lilo (Dakota Fanning) and her older sister Nani (Tia Carrere) soon discover that there are some programming bugs in their alien friend that may make it impossible for him to stay with the new family that loves him. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

This superbly animated children's tale is directed by Hayao Miyazaki, one of Japan's most beloved animators. The story follows Satsuke and Mei, two young girls who find that their new country home is in a mystical forest inhabited by a menagerie of mystical creatures called Totoros. They befriend O Totoro, the biggest and eldest Totoro, who is also the king of the forest. As their girls' mother lies sick in the hospital, O Totoro brings the sisters on a magical adventure but also helps them to understand the realities of life. Like most films released by Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli, this family-oriented feature has a powerful ecological theme. The English-language version of this film wasn't dubbed until many years later, explaining the presence of actors such as Dakota Fanning in the cast (who wasn't even born until 1994). ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, Rovi

Lucky Number Slevin director Paul McGuigan takes the helm for this action thriller concerning a group of telekinetic American ex-patriots who band together in an attempt to take down the clandestine government agency that's genetically transforming normal citizens into powerful psychic warriors. The Division is a shadowy government operation devoted to making humankind the ultimate weapon. Those who accept this transformation have the power to move objects with the mind, see the future before it happens, create new realities, and dispense of their enemies without so much as a single touch; those who are unwilling to participate are immediately terminated. Nick Gant (Chris Evans) is a "mover," a second-generation telekinetic who went into hiding after the Division killed his father more than a decade earlier. He lives a life of anonymity in Hong Kong, a densely populated place where fugitive psychics such as himself are safe as long as they can keep their unique gift secret. Suddenly into Nick's life comes 13-year-old "watcher" Cassie Holmes (Dakota Fanning), a clairvoyant who needs his help in tracking down escaped "pusher" Kira, who may hold the key to bringing down the Division once and for all. A "pusher" is the most powerful kind of psychic due to his or her ability to influence the actions of others by planting thoughts in their minds. Now, as Nick emerges from hiding in order to help Cassie find Kira, the Division's human bloodhounds are hot on their trail. In order to elude the authorities, they'll need to disappear into the seedy underbelly of the city while relying on a team of rogue psychics to help cover their tracks. But Division Agent Henry Carver (Djimon Hounsou) is a powerful pusher who has made it his mission to stop them at all costs, regardless of the collateral damages that may occur in the process. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

After establishing herself as a bankable star with the fish out of water comedy Legally Blonde, Reese Witherspoon returns in what could be described as a "fish back in water" comedy. Melanie Carmichael (Witherspoon) is a successful New York fashion designer who is dating Andrew Hennings (Patrick Dempsey), a wealthy socialite whose mother, Katherine Hennings (Candice Bergen), is the Big Apple's mayor. One day, Andrew pops the big question and asks Melanie to marry him; Melanie is overjoyed, but unknown to Andrew, Melanie has some unfinished business to take care of first. Despite her polished uptown image, Melanie grew up poor in the deep South, and as a teenager she married her high school sweetheart Jake Perry (Josh Lucas). Things went sour and Melanie moved East, reinventing herself along the way, but Jake never bothered to legally end their marriage. Now Melanie has to return to her hometown of Pigeon Creek, AL, to tell her parents (Fred Ward and Mary Kay Place) the news and convince Jake to grant her a divorce; however, the more time she spends with her old flame, the more she feels sparks flying between them again, while she also learns her Eastern affectations don't fly with everyone back home. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi