Nathan Phillips Movies
Born in 1980, in Sunbury, Victoria, Australia, the curly-headed, genially-faced Aussie Nathan Phillips began on the small screen, as so many rising actors do. He landed his first credited appearance with a recurring role on the Australian soap opera Neighbours (1999), just before the curtain rose on the new millennium. For about two years, Phillips limited himself to that medium, fully charting the possibilities of a television career for a young actor. This period included roles in two additional Aussie series: the soap Something in the Air and the children's series The Saddle Club.A bit part in the 2001 Disney/ABC telemovie Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story followed, before Phillips made the leap to cinemas down under with the lead role of Gary "Blacky" Black in Paul Goldman's 2002 sports drama Australian Rules (2002). Penned by Mark O'Toole and Dave O'Neil, this intelligent social conscience picture explores the hot-button issue of anti-aboriginal racism, by dramatizing the cross-cultural friendship between Caucasian Gary (Phillips) and aboriginal Dumby (Luke Carroll), and the surrounding community that falls to pieces when Dumby's winning goal on the soccer team lifts the floodgates on a torrent of controversy. Though little seen outside of its own continent, Rules received outstanding Aussie reviews, in festivals and cinemas from Sydney to Perth; The Urban Cinefile's Andrew L. Urban wrote " Comedy and tragedy, sweet and sour, Australian Rules is impressive for its economy and power in handling a complex handful of issues and themes."
Anyone clinging to the notion that Phillips wanted to stick with socially relevant themes and ideas for the duration of his career doubtless felt those hopes dissipate given the actor's appearance in the 2004 horror outing Wolf Creek. Phillips plays Ben Mitchell, one member of a group of campers drugged, bound, and tortured by a psychopath during a rural excursion in Australia. The film purportedly features lengthy sequences of female mutilation and buckets of gore. It opened in the United States over Christmas 2005, and even as some critics praised what they perceived as ingenuity, it repulsed innumerable others; Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun Times indicated that the picture made him want to leave the theater and keep walking.
Wolf Creek did phenomenal business, however, earning up to 16 times its original million-dollar budget in the U.S. alone.
Phillips headlined twin 2004 Australian releases -- the comic thriller Under the Radar and the visceral family drama One Perfect Day, before making his Hollywood debut in the 2006 Samuel L. Jackson starrer Snakes on a Plane. As a thriller that involves federal agent Jackson taking on an aircraft full of venomous (and carnivorous) serpents, critics and journalists roundly predicted cult status and a runaway hit for this August 2006 vehicle. In it, Phillips played Sean Jones, a Hawaiian surfer assigned to testify in court, and protected by Jackson. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- 2009
In the aftermath of the shooting of five Australian journalists in East Timor, a curious sixth named Roger East (Anthony LaPaglia) is convinced by charismatic acquaintance Jose Romas-Horta, a man who would prove to have a bright and influential future, to investigate the incident. Balibo is a political thriller and true-crime story based on 1975's Balibo Five executions and an ensuing 30-year cover-up. ~ Jonathan Frey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anthony LaPaglia, Oscar Isaac, (more)
The noble search for a dying breed leads an ambitious zoologist to the discovery of a far more sinister species in this brutal Australian shocker featuring Leigh Whannell (Saw) and Nathan Phillips (Wolf Creek). Eight years ago, Zoology student Nina (Mirrah Foulkes)'s sister was searching for evidence of the elusive Tasmanian Tiger when she suddenly vanished without a trace. Before disappearing, however, she did manage to send her sister a mysterious paw print that seemed to suggest that the species was still flourishing somewhere in the vast Australian wilderness. Much like the Sasquatch, the Tasmanian Tiger is a creature that modern scientists have dismissed as legend - but now that Nina has evidence, she's fully prepared to breach Tasmania's dense and dangerous forests in order to prove that the reclusive creature really exists. As Nina, her partner Matt (Whannell), his old friend Jack (Phillips), and his girlfriend Rebecca (Melanie Vallejo) make their way deep into the heart of Tasmania, it quickly becomes obvious that Nina is completely ignorant to one of the isolated island's darkest legends. Back in the 19th Century, when Australia was a barren penal colony, a dangerous convict named Alexander Pierce (aka "The Pieman"), staged a daring escape from the island's most heavily guarded prison. Later, in order to survive, Pierce resorted to eating his fellow escapees. Though Pierce would be hung for cannibalism in 1824, by the time he was captured it was already too late. Pierce had bred, passing on his insatiable appetite for human flesh the next generation. Nearly two centuries later the Tasmanian Tiger seems to have finally become extinct, though the Pieman's lineage is still going strong. Now, in a land where human meat is scarce, Nina's expedition will fall prey to species with a savage appetite, and a murderous motivation to keep their bloodline strong. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nathan Phillips, Leigh Whannell, (more)
Eddie Griffin and Nathan Phillips put the pedal to the metal in stunt coordinator-turned-director Andy Cheng's supercharged auto thriller. As a serious collection of speed freaks gather to hit the streets in hopes of winning 24 million dollars, every rule is broken and the law simply doesn't have enough horsepower to ensure that justice is served. With the speedometer maxed out and the past becoming nothing more than a fading image in the rearview mirror, these drivers will do whatever it takes to win the prize that promises to change their life forever. In addition to featuring a score (and cameo) by hip-hop icon Wyclef Jean, Redline was produced by real-estate developer-turned-producer Daniel Sadek -- who not only financed the 26-million-dollar film, but also donated his personal car collection to the production. Featured automobiles include Sadek's Lamborghini Murcielago, Enzo Ferrari, Ferrari F430, Ferrari Scaglietti Phantom, and two McLarens. In a bid to increase the realism of the driving scenes, one of Sadek's two 400,000-dollar Porsche Carrera GTs was set to be destroyed for the film. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nathan Phillips, Nadia Bjorlin, (more)
- 2006
- PG13
- Add Pirates of the Great Salt Lake to Queue Add Pirates of the Great Salt Lake to top of Queue
Two guys dream of becoming the scourge of the seven seas but have to settle for paddling around a shallow lake in this independent comedy. Kirk Redgrave (Kirby Heyborne) is a well-meaning but overly imaginative teenager growing in the suburbs of Salt Lake City. Determined to remake himself into someone exciting and dangerous, Kirk dons a pirate's hat, gets a rowboat, and begins calling himself Cap'n Kirk, the scallywag of the Great Salt Lake. While Kirk's mom, a strict Mormon widow, is mortified by her son's new hobby, Kirk soon finds a kindred spirit in Flint Weaver (Trenton James), a wholesome guy who wants to seem more dangerous in order to attract the attention of cute waitress Ruby (Emily Tyndall). However, the guys move one step closer to being real pirates when they find a map that will supposedly lead them to real buried treasure, though Drake, the owner of a neighborhood second-hand shop, is already looking for the spoils. Pirates of the Great Salt Lake was the first feature film from writer and director E.R. Nelson. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kirby Heyborne, Larry Bagby III, (more)
Forget terrorists or hijackers -- there's a handful of deadly assassins aboard a jet liner and they don't even have arms or legs in this airborne thriller. Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson) is an FBI agent handling what seems like a routine assignment -- serving as bodyguard for Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips), a Hawaiian surfer dude who is flying to California to testify in a high-profile criminal trial after witnessing mobster Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson) murdering one of his underlings. However, Flynn's job gets a lot more challenging when he discovers Kim's associates don't want Jones to talk, and have devised a unique way to ensure his silence. A cache of highly dangerous poisonous snakes has been hidden on board the jet, and is released using a timed mechanism once the flight is well underway. The snakes quickly attack several members of the flight crew and are eagerly eying the passengers when Flynn decides its time to get medieval on the reptiles. Also starring Rachel Blanchard, Benjamin McKenzie, and Mark Houghton, Snakes on a Plane was produced under the title of Pacific Air Flight 121, but in several interviews Samuel L. Jackson expressed his enthusiasm for the script's original title, Snakes on a Plane, and the high-concept moniker quickly made the film's title and theme a favorite with bloggers and on Internet fan sites all over the world. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Samuel L. Jackson, Julianna Margulies, (more)
When two Australian slackers learn that their favorite television soap star is about to get the axe, they set out on a determined mission to save her career and keep the show from being cancelled by any means necessary. Jeffrey and Philip (Angus Sampson and Nathan Phillips) have been friends since childhood, and despite having aged they both remain locked in a perpetual cycle of arrested development. Loath to even utter the work "work" and obsessed with the daytime television drama "Sons of Surf," Jeffrey and Philip spend most of their days playing practical jokes on one another in their suburban trailer park. Upon hearing that "Sons of Surf" is facing cancellation and the show's beautiful star (Rachel Hunter) may be out of a job as a result, Jeffrey and Philip get up off the couch for the first time in years to ensure that their favorite show makes it to the next season. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Angus Sampson, Nathan Phillips, (more)
Twenty-two-year-old Tommy Matisse (Dan Spielman) is a student at the Royal Academy of Music in London who dreams of writing an opera that will speak truth in the chaos of the contemporary world. Consumed by his unrelenting search for inspiration and his powerful love for girlfriend Alysse (Leeanna Walsman), Tommy remains deaf to the desperate cries of his younger sister Emma (Abbie Cornish). When Emma and Alysse go out for a night of partying and Emma suffers a fatal overdose, Alysse's burden of guilt becomes too weighty to bear and she soon seeks to tell Tommy the truth about his sister's death. Subsequently torn apart by Tommy's anger and Alyssa's sorrow, the pair both embark on solitary journeys that find Tommy making a name for himself in the Melbourne club scene, and self-destructive Alyssa falling under the drug-addled influence of powerful music producer and nightclub owner Hector Lee (Andrew Lee). Though Tommy and Alyssa are later reunited when their paths intersect at the club where Tommy is DJ'ing, the resulting rage of jealous Hector threatens to spell tragedy for all involved. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dan Spielman, Leeanna Walsman, (more)
- 2004
A man with no memory is unwittingly thrown into danger in this thriller with a comic edge from Australia. As Adrian (Clayton Watson), a young man who suffers from severe amnesia and can't retain a memory for longer than 30 minutes, is being held against his will by gangsters, he struggles to figure out what has happened to him, using his collection of scribbled notes and instant photos to recall recent events. Eventually, Adrian remembers Brandon (Nathan Phillips), who works at a home for the challenged where Adrian spends his days. Brandon is a champion surfer who is sentenced to work at the home as community service after becoming involved in a vicious fight. Brandon has convinced his supervisor Maxine (Marg Downey) to let him take Adrian and palsied Trevor (Steady Eddie) to the beach for a day in the sun; Brandon, however, has an ulterior motive, as a surf competition is being held at the seashore that day. After picking up hitchhiker Jo (Chloe Maxwell), Brandon and his charges arrive at the beach, where a run-in with Gene (Damien Garvey), the leader of a local gang, takes matters in an unfortunate direction. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nathan Phillips, Clayton Watson, (more)
A dream vacation turns into a nightmare in this taut thriller from Australia. Ben (Nathan Phillips), Lizzie (Cassandra Magrath), and Kristy (Kestie Morassi) are three friends who, after a night of celebratory drinking, hit the road for a trip to Wolf Creek National Park, where they plan to spend a week hiking and surfing. The three friends are happy to be spending time together, especially after Ben makes the happy discovery that Lizzie is as infatuated with him as he is with her. However, after a long day on foot, Ben, Lizzie, and Kristy make the unpleasant discovery that their car's battery is dead, leaving them stuck in the middle of nowhere. Help arrives in the form of Mick (John Jarratt), a burly but good-natured outdoorsman who happens upon them; Mick tells them that he can fix their car, and offers to give them a ride to his place down the road. Grateful but a bit nervous around the gregarious stranger, Ben, Lizzie, and Kristy offer Mick a wealth of thanks for his help, and give him some money for his troubles before they fall asleep around the campfire. The next morning, the travelers find themselves bound, gagged, drugged, and separated from one another, and they realize Mick is not the good Samaritan they imagined. Wolf Creek was the first feature film from writer and director Greg McLean. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Jarratt, Nathan Phillips, (more)
- 2003
Marc Gracie's Australian comedy Take Away concerns a business rivalry between fast food entrepreneurs. Starting with a segment that shows the birth of fast food, the film quickly establishes the relationship between Tony (Vince Colosimo) and Trevor (Stephen Curry). The anal Tony runs a fish and chip stand more or less right next to the free-wheeling Trevor's more exotic stand that offers calamari burgers. The two have known each other forever, as their fathers owned a restaurant together. They had a falling out and the feud has been passed down to the sons. After they learn that a large fast food corporation, Burgies, is coming into the area, Tony and Trevor work together to stop them. John Howard portrays the head of the Burgies company. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vince Colosimo, Stephen Curry, (more)
- 2002
Paul Goldman's feature film debut Australian Rules is a sports drama that combines a coming-of-age story with an examination of race relations between Australians and Aboriginals, and a sensitive interracial love story. Gary Black (Nathan Phillips) is a 16-year-old who plays on the local Australian rules football team. His best friend is aboriginal Dumby Red (Luke Carroll), the star of the team. After Dumby wins the big game, the racist coach denies him the credit he deserves. This leads to a series of dramatic confrontations capped off by Gary confronting his racist father. Australian Rules was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nathan Phillips, Luke Carroll, (more)
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