Marcia Gay Harden Movies
Often noted for her striking feature debut as a gun-toting seductress in the Coen brothers' noirish gangster crime thriller Miller's Crossing (1990), Marcia Gay Harden has since bounced between disparaging disappointment and critical prosperity, and is commonly praised for her chameleon-like ability to immerse herself in characters that are often the polar opposite of the cheerfully optimistic actress.Born in La Jolla, CA, on August 14, 1959, as the third of five children in a military family, Harden's clan moved constantly. Her passion for drama sparked by a period that the family spent in Greece (when she attended Athenian plays), Harden studied drama in college, earning a B.A. in theater from the University of Texas, and an M.F.A. in theater from New York University. After graduation, Harden continued to hone her acting talents on stage in Washington, D.C. Immediately evincing an innate ability to portray a wide range of characterizations, Harden earned two Helen Hayes Award nominations - one for her role in Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart and one for her role in The Miss Firecracker Contest. Angels in America brought Harden to Broadway, where she found further success in earning both Tony Award and Drama Desk nominations, as well as winning the Theater World Award for Best Actress. Though she had made an impressive screen debut in Miller's Crossing, disappointment soon followed with a slew of critically shunned successes mixed with a series of creative misfires. Though discouraged in the critics' failure to recognize what Harden considered to be some of her best work, Harden began to focus less on Hollywood validation for happiness, and instead shifted her attention to refining her acting abilities. Moving from quirky dramatic roles, such as her manipulative character in Crush (1992), to quiet dramas like 1996's The Spitfire Grill, and such mainstream efforts as The First Wives Club (also 1996) and Meet Joe Black (1998), Harden felt comfortable in a wide variety of roles. She also occasionally compromised on her choice of material during this period (perhaps out of necessity) - such as the dumb-dumb comedy Spy Hard, with Leslie Nielsen, and the 1997 Absent Minded Professor rehash Flubber (starring Robin Williams).
But her fortunes began to turn with a supporting role in Ed Harris' long-anticipated Jackson Pollock biopic Pollock (2000) that finally brought the actress much-deserved, mainstream critical recognition for her work. Reunited with Harris from their pairing in an earlier stage production of Sam Shepard's Simpatico, Harden's role as Pollock's dysfunctional muse earned her the Best Supporting Actress Oscar at the 2000 Academy Awards.
The dawning years of the new millennium were undeniably kind to the tireless actress, and after a trio of made-for-television movies in the year 2000 Harden essayed the role of a stylish but enigmatic catalyst to a mystery with decidedly comic undertones in Susan Seidelman's Gaudi Afternoon, and portrayed the NASA engineer love interest of Tommy Lee Jones's crop duster, Hawk, in Clint Eastwood's Space Cowboys; Harden and Eastwood forged a strong professional bond and would work together again, several years later.
A brief foray into sitcom territory followed soon thereafter, when Harden co-starred with Richard Dreyfuss in shortlived television series The Education of Max Bickford (2001), and the following year, she stuck to the small screen for the mini-series Guilty Hearts and the made-for-television feature King of Texas (the latter earning her a a Golden Sattelite nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Made for Television). An adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear set in the Old West, King of Texas found Harden essaying the role of cattle-baron John Lear's (Patrick Stewart) eldest daughter. Equally busy in 2003, Harden abandoned the small screen to work with some of the most acclaimed filmmakers in Hollywood. Following her second onscreen assignment for Clint Eastwood - in his deeply flawed but commendable ensemble piece Mystic River -
Harden essayed the role of a mother attempting to adopt a South American girl in longtime indie filmmaker John Sayles' Casa de Los Babys and provided a key supporting performance in Mike Newell's Mona Lisa Smile. She contributed to the disappointing (and eminently forgettable) Gene Hackman/Ray Romano onscreen pairing Welcome to Mooseport (as president Hackman's campaign manager) but fared better by joining the cast of Richard Linklater's remake The Bad News Bears, starring Billy Bob Thornton (Harden plays the mom who brings Thornton's slovenly Morris Buttermaker in to coach the team).
After relatively limited work throughout 2005 - including a small-scale voiceover assignment as Willa Cather in Joel Geyer's Willa Cather: the Road is All and Mrs. Merriman in the heartwarming family drama Felicity: An American Girl Adventure - Harden's activity crescendoed over the course of 2006, with appearances in no less than three A-list features. These entailed work in multiple genres, and suggested a broad array of fun and challenging characterizations. In Lasse Hallstrom's late 2006 docudrama The Hoax, Harden plays Edith Irving, the wife of scam artist Clifford Irving (portrayed by Richard Gere) during his notorious early-1970s scheme to forge an autobiography of the late Howard Hughes. In Paul Weitz's American Dreams, she plays yet another matron - this time the wife of American president Dennis Quaid, as the generally clueless fellow (!) is sent on a nationally-broadcast talent program. And Harden joins the celebrity-studded ensemble of the more conventional Dead Girl - a murder mystery directed by Karen Moncrieff, whose cast members include Harden, Giovanni Ribisi, Brittany Murphy, Piper Laurie, Josh Brolin, and Mary Steenburgen. The plot recalls Ray Lawrence's Lantana, in its investigation of several seemingly-unrelated lives that intersect in unforeseen ways as the mystery surrounding a woman's death is gradually disclosed to the characters and audience.
Offscreen, Harden married property master and occasional location scout Thaddaeus Scheel (Boys on the Side, Houseguest, The Spitfire Grill) in 1996. The couple has three children. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
In a convoluted story of one man's obsession, widower Roger Blackwell (Michael Nouri) has been a media advisor to countless politicians, probably one too many as it turns out. Blackwell is set on using his experience to make a film about the manipulation of the media by unscrupulous politicos. His video obsession is apparent when he has an actress dress up as his deceased wife (a suicide he could have prevented) and films her for playback on monitors around the house. Blackwell hypes an incriminating tape in his possession that implicates the President of the U.S. in some dirty (not sexual!) dealings. Then he cons an old enemy, Molly Grainger (Anne Twomey) into covering his public unveiling of the tape which he plans to do on a talk show. What happens next is a series of events that lead to a surprise ending -- and more questions about whether or not the media is shafting the politicians as well. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Nouri, Anne Twomey, (more)
- 1989
This TV film was the 2-hour pilot for the Gideon Oliver series. Louis Gossett Jr. stars as Oliver, an anthropology professor who uses his knowledge of other cultures to solve mysteries. In the opener, Professor Oliver tackles the murder of an ex-lover, who'd been investigating a cult of satanists. The storyline takes side trips into the porn industry and "snuff" films, but Gossett emerges with his dignity and reputation unsullied. Gideon Oliver was one of three rotating series telecast in 1988-89 under the umbrella title The ABC Monday Mystery Movie; the other components were B.L. Stryker and old reliable Columbo. When Mystery Movie was picked up for a second season, Gideon Oliver was not retained. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
A rich businessman, his wife and son are involved in illegal transactions as Kojak investigates. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Telly Savalas
Joel and Ethan Coen's third collaboration, the gangster film Miller's Crossing, stars Gabriel Byrne as Tom Reagan, the right-hand man of big-city Irish mob boss Leo (Albert Finney). The film opens with Italian mobster Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito) and his second in command Eddie Dane (J.E. Freeman) informing Leo and Tom that they are going to kill bookie Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) because he has been revealing Caspar's fixed fights to other gamblers. Leo informs Caspar that Bernie pays for protection and is not to be touched. After the Italians leave in a huff, Tom informs Leo that he should give up Bernie. Tom and Leo are both involved with Verna (Marcia Gay Harden), Bernie's sister. After a failed hit on Leo starts a full-scale mob war, Tom reveals to Leo the truth about his relationship with Verna. This leads to a falling-out between the pair. Tom goes to work for Caspar, but in truth, he is still loyal to Leo. Tom figures out how to manipulate all of the situations so that Leo survives, but this may cost Tom his relationship with Verna. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, (more)
- 1991
- PG
W.D. Richter directed this comedy-drama in the spirit of Back to the Future and Peggy Sue Got Married. The film opens in Santa Fe in 1962, where Willie (Brian Wimmer) and Joy Husband (Marcia Gay Harden) are a cute couple living in familial bliss with their five-year-old daughter. When evil land-developer Bob Freeman (Peter Gallagher) tries to turn their bliss into blight, a gun goes off and Willie flees to Los Angeles with his dim-witted brother-in-law Frank (Peter Berg), convinced he has committed murder. They run into crazed scientist Dr. Chilblains (Bo Brundin), who cryogenically freezes the fugitives. Twenty-nine years later they are defrosted, and Willie, who has only aged a day, goes back to Santa Fe with Frank to seek out his wife and daughter, discovering they have aged and gone on with their lives without him. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Wimmer, Peter Berg, (more)
- 1991
In this drama, based on a true story, desperate townsfolk take up arms to defeat the sociopathic town bully who has been terrorizing them for years. They then swear themselves to silence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Dennehy, Cloris Leachman, (more)
Developed by Tina Sinatra and approved by Frank himself, Sinatra is a made-for-television mini-series following the life and times of Frank Sinatra, one of the most popular and acclaimed singers of the 20th century. Opening with his childhood in Hoboken, New Jersey, the film follows Sinatra's (Philip Casnoff) rise to the top in the '40s, through the dark days of the early '50s and his triumphant re-emergence in the mid-'50s, to his status as pop culture icon in the '60s, '70s and '80s. In between, the film hits all of the main events, including his three marriages, his connections with the Mafia and his notorious friendship with the Rat Pack. Even with the presence of Tina Sinatra as executive producer, Sinatra doesn't gloss over the more unsavory portions of Frank's life, which makes it all the more impressive. With the exception of a couple of early songs, all the music in the movie is taken from the original Sinatra recordings. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1992
- PG13
Todd Graff wrote the screenplay for this eccentric romantic comedy in the spirit of Moonstruck that exchanges pasta for matzo balls. The film takes place in Queens in 1969, where Pearl Berman (Shirley MacLaine) has just arrived back from the funeral of her husband. As her dysfunctional family kvetches in the living room, the dapper Joe Meledandri (Marcello Mastroianni) arrives. It seems that Joe has admired Pearl from afar for a number of years, ever since he met her husband in a bar and persuaded him to return to his wife. He invites Pearl for coffee, provoking the wisecrack from her mother (Jessica Tandy): "She got picked up at her own husband's funeral." As Pearl is wooed by Joe, she has to deal with her lonely, overweight daughter Bibby (Kathy Bates) and her prettier daughter Norma (Marcia Gay Harden), who suffers from such a lack of self esteem that she assumes the personalities of Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy, and Bonnie Parker. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley MacLaine, Kathy Bates, (more)
Produced with the help of the Sundance Institute, Alison Maclean's first feature, Crush, is a clever, gynocentric neo-noir. Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden (Pollock) stars as Lane, the film's conflicted femme fatale. The film opens with Lane speeding along a winding road. She's driving her best friend and lover, Christina (Donogh Rees), a literary critic, to meet with an author, Colin (William Zappa), at his home in the New Zealand countryside. In the midst of a snarky conversation, Lane is momentarily distracted and drives her car off the road. The car flips over, and Christina is badly injured, while Lane walks away with barely a scratch. She goes to Colin's house, where she meets Angela (Caitlin Bossley), his shy, tomboyish teenage daughter. Lane doesn't immediately identify herself, and Angela -- thinking that Lane is actually Christina -- takes her for a walk. The charmingly aggressive Lane begins flirting with the impressionable girl, and it's clear that Angela is smitten with the brash American woman. Later, Colin arrives home, and he agrees to let Lane stay in their home for a few days. Before long, Lane has seduced him. Angela is jealous and begins going to the hospital to visit Christina, who is recovering from a severe head injury. As she recovers, regaining control of her movements and the ability to speak, Angela tells her again and again that one horrible person is to blame for her condition -- Lane. But Angela is not prepared for the harrowing results when she brings Christina home for a visit. Crush is an amusingly twisted thriller from down under, rooted in well-drawn characters, along the same lines as Jocelyn Moorehouse's wickedly clever Proof. Maclean demonstrates great skill with actors and with complex material, which is also evident in her second feature, Jesus' Son. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcia Gay Harden, William Zappa, (more)
A large, dysfunctional family awaits word on a loved one's fate in this domestic drama starring Susan Sarandon as Mag Singer, mother of seven sons. One, Percival (Matt Keeslar) is serving in the Marine Corps, and when news comes that his barracks in the Middle East has been bombed by terrorists, Mag's family assembles at her home, anxious for more information. In the meantime, a series of old wounds are reopened and healed. The prodigious Singers include the father, Patrick (Sam Shepard), unhappily estranged from Mag and prone to bouts of hysterical blindness, and Alfred (Robert Sean Leonard), the responsible, sober eldest, who is engaged to divorced mother Cynthia (Marcia Gay Harden). There's also Simon (Nick Stahl), the intellectual Izzy (Sean Astin), two twins, and guilt-wracked Gideon (Jason London), a track star who outshone Percival athletically, inspiring the latter to join the military. While the Singers deal with minor crises like a neighbor's dog that repeatedly attacks Simon, Percival's fate looms, and Mag deals with her fear by cleaning out the ramshackle garage and drinking Tequila with her daughter-in-law to be, Cynthia, with whom she's surprised to find much in common. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon, Sam Shepard, (more)
- 1995
When a ten-year-old is rendered brain-dead by a random shooting in a mall, Pembleton (Andre Braugher) and Bayliss (Kyle Secor) are assigned to investigate the child's "murder." Not unexpectedly, both detectives become emotionally involved in the plight of the youngster's anguished family. Meanwhile, the rest of the Baltimore police force prepares for a visit by the Pope. Watch for a brief and unheralded crossover with the TV series Chicago Hope. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, (more)
This debut drama from writer-director Lee David Zlotoff (creator of the TV series MacGyver) won the audience award at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival. Alison Elliott stars as Percy Talbott, an ex-convict who's come to the small Maine town of Gilead in the hope of finding work and a place to start her life over again. With the help of the local sheriff, she lands a waitress job at the Spitfire Grill, eventually winning over the crusty owner Hannah (Ellen Burstyn) and simple-minded fellow waitress Shelby (Marcia Gay Harden) with her hard work and trustworthiness. Percy even finds a new love with a woodsman, Joe (Kieran Mulroney) and befriends a hermit (John M. Jackson) who lives in the nearby woods and is regularly fed by Hannah. When Hannah falls ill, Percy devises a scheme to help her sell the café in a national contest, but Shelby's husband Nahum (Will Patton) doesn't trust Percy's motives -- and his suspicion leads to tragedy. The Spitfire Grill, which played as a cross between To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), got initial financing from an organization of Roman Catholic priests and sold at Sundance for a then-record $10 million. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alison Elliott, Ellen Burstyn, (more)
In this emotional drama, a group of young professionals tries to get away from their problems, only to find that their friends create new annoyances. The marriage of Ellie (Jennifer Connelly) and Ryland (Jim True) has been strained by the recent death of their infant daughter. Hoping that some time away will ease Ellie's mind, Ryland organizes a weekend getaway in the nearby resort of Far Harbor, where they'll stay at a beach house with several friends, including Arabella (Marcia Gay Harden), Ellie's sister, and Frick (Edward Atterton), Ellie's ex-husband. Frick, a struggling filmmaker, hears a rumor that a yacht anchored off the beach belongs to David Speckman, a successful movie director; and the soothing weekend soon turns maddening, as he devises scheme after scheme to meet Speckman, oblivious that those around him have serious problems to deal with. Far Harbor marked the feature debut of writer/director John Huddles. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Connelly, Edward Atterton, (more)
Three women plot revenge on their two-timing husbands in this comedy. Brenda (Bette Midler), Elise (Goldie Hawn), and Annie (Diane Keaton) were close friends in college, but 27 years after graduation they've lost touch with each other, and it's not until a mutual friend of the three commits suicide that they meet at the funeral for the first time in years. It seems that their friend grew despondent after her husband left her for a younger woman, and all three find themselves in similar situations. Elise is an actress who finds herself out of work now that she's seen the shady side of 40, and her husband and producer Bill (Victor Garber) is demanding a divorce (and half of her fortune). Brenda helped her husband Morton (Dan Hedaya) open a profitable chain of discount electronics stores, but now that his commercials have made him a minor celebrity, he's taken up with a much younger (and thinner) woman. Annie has allowed her husband Aaron (Stephen Collins) to use her as a doormat throughout their marriage, and she's at a loss now that he's leaving her. After comparing notes, Brenda, Elise, and Annie decide that it's time to do something about their problems, and they hatch an elaborate blackmail scheme that will win them control of their ex-husband's businesses and allow them to do something positive with the money they helped earn. Heather Locklear and Ivana Trump both make cameo appearances. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, (more)
The first of several sight gag and slapstick-rich comedies he produced without the team of Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, and Jim Abrahams, this lowbrow comedy from executive producer and star Leslie Nielsen suffers by comparison to his work with the "ZAZ" team. Nielsen plays Dick Steele, secret agent WD-40, called out of retirement to stop the world-conquering plans of his old nemesis, General Rancor (Andy Griffith), an armless madman determined to avenge himself upon Steele (who is responsible for Rancor's lack of appendages). With the help of Russian agent Veronique Ukrinsky (Nicolette Sheridan), Steele prepares to battle Rancor at his tropical island lair, where the daughter of Steele's long-ago love is being held captive. Along the way, such films as True Lies (1994), Speed (1994), Jurassic Park (1993), Pulp Fiction (1994), and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) are spoofed. Director Richard Friedberg had previously directed Nielsen in a series of automobile rental commercials and goofy "how-to" golf videos. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Nielsen, Nicollette Sheridan, (more)
- 1996
- R
The debut from writer/director Greg Mottola, The Daytrippers follows a Long Island family as they make a disastrous journey into New York City. The impetus is a love letter discovered by suburbanite Eliza (Hope Davis) which seemingly incriminates her publisher husband Louis (Stanley Tucci) in an extramarital affair. To solve the mystery, Eliza, her parents (Anne Meara and Pat McNamara), her oddball sister Jo (Parker Posey) and Jo's boyfriend Carl (Liev Schreiber) all pile into the family station wagon in a misbegotten attempt to track Louis down. Beginning as a playful, satiric look at family dynamics, The Daytrippers occasionally loses its way, becoming increasingly dark and venomous as it rushes towards the revelations of its final moments. For all of its flaws, however, it's often an engaging debut. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hope Davis, Pat McNamara, (more)
Although "flub" is defined as "to make a mess of," the word "flubber" is a contraction from "flying rubber." In this remake of the 1961 comedy-fantasy The Absent Minded Professor, Robin Williams takes on the role created by Fred MacMurray and later executed by Harry Anderson on television, while the 1961 film's Flubber with anti-gravity properties has now been digitally reincarnated as a translucent green, pulsating, bouncing blob that loves to dance the mambo. Absent-minded college professor Philip Brainard (Williams), employed at a near-bankrupt university, creates the formula for Flubber, yet he can't remember to show up for his own wedding to university-President Sara Jean Reynolds (Marcia Gay Harden). His rival, Wilson Croft (Christopher McDonald), plots to steal Sara and the Flubber from Brainard. Rich, corrupt businessman Chester Hoenicker (Raymond Barry) tries to force Brainard to pass his failing son Bennett (Wil Wheaton), but he soon takes an interest in Flubber after hearing about it from his flunkies (Clancy Brown, Ted Levine). After using Flubber to fly over clouds in his 1963 T-Bird, Brainard realizes Flubber can also improve the performance of the school's pathetic basketball team. Jodi Benson is the voice of Weebo, Brainard's talking, flying household robot, with a video display of Disney clips at odd moments. Many gags are embellishments from the 1961 film, with John Hughes (Home Alone) rewriting the original Bill Walsh screenplay (based on Samuel Taylor's short story, "A Situation of Gravity"). Though Walsh died in 1975, he received posthumous credit for this script. Filming began October 8,1996 in San Francisco. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Marcia Gay Harden, (more)
- 1997
- R
- Add Path to Paradise: The Untold Story of the World Trade Center Bombing to QueueAdd Path to Paradise: The Untold Story of the World Trade Center Bombing to top of Queue
This engrossing made-for-television feature examines the circumstances leading up to and the aftermath of the badly botched 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. By focusing more on the characters, both good and bad, than on the explosion itself, the film is able to avoid becoming another disaster movie. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Gallagher, Marcia Gay Harden, (more)
Although he enjoyed great critical success with crime dramas and slice-of-life pictures, director Barbet Schroeder continued dabbling in the thriller genre with this action-oriented film. Andy Garcia stars as Frank Conner, a widowed San Francisco police officer whose young son Matt (Joseph Cross) is suffering from leukemia. Without a bone marrow transplant, Matt will die, but Frank isn't a donor. In fact, the only potential match is prison inmate Peter McCabe (Michael Keaton), a psychotic but charming serial killer. At first, McCabe refused to participate despite Conner's pleas, but eventually, the convict relents and agrees to the procedure. It is all a ruse, however, as McCabe has discovered a clever way to escape the confines of the operating room where Matt's oncologist, Dr. Hawkins (Marcia Gay Harden) is scheduled to perform the transplant. Faced with the dual nightmare of his son's deteriorating condition and a mass murderer on the loose in a major metropolitan hospital, the frantic Conner finds himself bending and even breaking the law to bring McCabe down and save Matt's life. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Keaton, Andy Garcia, (more)
The cycle of life on Earth hangs in the balance when Death becomes emotionally involved in this romantic fantasy. William Parrish (Anthony Hopkins) is a tremendously wealthy and powerful man who oversees a worldwide multi-media empire. Despite the loss of his wife, whom he dearly loved, William is content with his life, and he's very close to his two daughters, Allison (Marcia Gay Harden) and Susan (Claire Forlaini). One night, as William is fighting a hostile takeover of his company and Allison is planning an elaborate party to celebrate her dad's 65th birthday, William begins displaying the symptoms of a severe heart attack, and he is visited by a mysterious stranger, Joe Black (Brad Pitt). Joe is actually the angel of death, who has taken the form of a man who recently passed on to pay William a call. It seems that William is due to move on to the next world, but (no great surprise) he doesn't want to go. Joe, on the other hand, is curious to know what life is like for mere mortals, so the two men strike a deal -- William will have some time to get his affairs in order, and Joe will wait and see what it's like to be a human being. Joe decides that he likes it very much when he falls in love with Susan, but negotiating the slippery slopes of romance is no easier for Joe than for any ordinary man. Meet Joe Black is an updated version of Alberto Casella's play Death Takes a Holiday, which was adapted for the screen in 1934. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, (more)
- 1998
A gay man's good friend agrees to bear his child, but once impregnated has second thoughts, due in part to her love affair with a handsome journalist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcia Gay Harden, David Marshall Grant, (more)
- 1999
Joe Mantegna stars as Spenser, Robert B. Parker's tough and intelligent private eye, in this made-for-cable mystery thriller. When Ellis Alves (Wood Harris) is accused of the murder of a well-to-do college student, no one seems terribly surprised; Alves has a long criminal record and has served time for two previous felony convictions. But Alves' lawyers notice that many of the facts of the case don't seem to add up, and they hire Spenser to find out if their client is being railroaded. The longer Spenser digs into the murder, the more firmly he's convinced that Alves is not the culprit. But a number of people, including the parents of the murdered co-ed and the police detectives on the case, want Spenser to keep his nose out of the matter, and when someone starts shooting at him, he decides that he may need to go underground to protect his own safety and uncover the truth. Shiek Mahmud-Bey plays Spenser's sidekick Hawk, while Marcia Gay Harden plays Susan Silverman, the detective's significant other. The characters from Parker's Spenser mysteries were also the basis for the popular TV series Spenser For Hire, in which Spenser was played by Robert Urich. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Mantegna, Marcia Gay Harden, (more)
In this adventure drama, four men passed over by the space program get one last chance to be heroes and live out their dreams. Frank Corvin (Clint Eastwood), Hawk Hawkins (Tommy Lee Jones), Jerry O'Neill (Donald Sutherland), and Tank Sullivan (James Garner) were top pilots within an elite Air Force squadron and on the fast track to becoming the first Americans in space in the early 1950s. However, when NASA was established, the pilots were cut out of the loop; Corvin went on to become an aerospace engineer, Hawkins continued on as a freelance pilot, O'Neill became an astrophysicist with a sideline in designing roller coasters, and Sullivan took up preaching as a Baptist minister. Years later, a Russian satellite's guidance system has started to malfunction, and it is expected to crash into the Earth within a matter of weeks. The system is identical to the one Corvin designed for Skylab, so NASA head Bob Gerson (James Cromwell) asks Corvin to help him with the emergency mission to repair the satellite. Corvin agrees under one condition -- that he be sent up to do the repairs himself, with Hawkins, O'Neill, and Sullivan as his crew. Clint Eastwood directed Space Cowboys while also starring as Frank Corvin; his supporting cast includes Marcia Gay Harden, Courtney B. Vance, Loren Dean, and William Devane. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, (more)
Artist Jackson Pollock revolutionized American painting in the 1940's with his exciting abstract canvases that used dripped and splattered paint in a manner at once excitingly physical and structurally intelligent. While Pollock became a heroic figure in the art world, his private life was nothing to envy, and this biography looks at both his professional triumphs and personal tragedies. In 1941, Pollock (Ed Harris) was a bitter and struggling painter when he met Lee Krasner (Marcia Gay Harden), a fellow artist with whom he was appearing in a joint gallery show. Krasner was intrigued by Pollock, and immediately sensed the importance of his work; they quickly became lovers, and as Krasner realized his superior talent, she began devoting herself to promoting Pollock's work. When Peggy Guggenheim (Amy Madigan) agreed to present a show of Pollock's paintings at her Art of This Century gallery, his name was made, and a profile in Life magazine solidified his reputation as one of the art world's most important figures. But success did not bring Pollock peace of mind; while he long had a taste for alcohol, his new fame sent his drinking out of control, and his infidelity with numerous women (including Guggenheim) eventually destroyed his relationship with Krasner. Pollock was the first feature directed by actor Ed Harris, who also plays the title role; the cast also includes Val Kilmer as artist Willem de Kooning and Jennifer Connelly as Ruth Kligman, one of Pollock's lovers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed Harris, Marcia Gay Harden, (more)
