Jared Harris Movies

Steven Spielberg helms his long-in-the-making biopic of Abraham Lincoln for DreamWorks and Touchstone Pictures. Daniel Day-Lewis portrays the former head of state in the Tony Kushner-penned adaptation of Doris Kearns Goodwin's book Team of Rivals, which chronicles the President's time in office between 1861 and 1865 as he dealt with personal demons and politics during the Civil War. Sally Field leads a co-starring cast that includes Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Academy Award nominee John Hawkes. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

A young girl named Kristen (Amber Heard) awakens in a psychiatric hospital after setting a farmhouse ablaze, and finds herself stalked by a malevolent ghost in this psychological shocker from celebrated horror director John Carpenter (Halloween). Badly battered and seemingly stricken with amnesia, Kristen forges a fragile friendship with fellow patients Sarah (Danielle Panabaker), Iris (Lyndsy Fonseca), Emily (Mamie Gummer), and Zoey (Laura-Leigh) as her compassionate therapist, Dr. Stringer (Jared Harris), works to uncover the source of her mysterious condition. Later, at night, when the lights in her remote ward go dim, Kristen is confronted by an imposing phantom that seems intent on dragging her screaming into the darkness. Eventually, the other girls in the ward begin to vanish, one by one. Now, the harder Kristen fights to avoid falling prey to her shadowy pursuer, the more convinced she becomes that no patient who's checked in to North Bend Psychiatric Hospital ever comes out alive. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's story, re-teams the director with Brad Pitt, who takes on the title role. What makes Button such a curious case is that when he is born in New Orleans just after World War I, he is already in his eighties, and proceeds to live his life aging in reverse. This sweeping film follows the character's unusual life into the 21st century as he experiences joy and sadness, loves lost and found, and the meaning of timelessness. Cate Blanchett co-stars along with Tilda Swinton, Elias Koteas, and Julia Ormond. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

As originally broadcast on the BBC in 2005, To the Ends of the Earth is a miniseries adaptation of three sequential novels by Nobel Laureate William Golding: Rites of Passage (1980), Close Quarters (1987) and Fire Down Below (1989). An adventure saga, it unfolds in the same time and place as Peter Weir's Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World - the high seas of the late 19th century. Against this backdrop, a young British aristocrat named Edmund Talbot (Benedict Cumberbatch) boards a British warship and undertakes a voyage to Australia, where he has been given a post in the colonial government. The program subsequently follows Edmund's adventures, in career and romance. The supporting cast includes Jared Harris, Joanna Page, Sam Neill and Charles Dance. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Directed by Roland Emmerich, this mega-budget, special-effects-laden epic revolves around the onset of an international series of crises brought on by the long-term results of the greenhouse effect. At the eye of the storm is paleoclimatologist (a professor dedicated to the study of weather patterns throughout the ages) Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid), who voluntarily takes on the preservation of the world in the dawn of the next ice age and all the disaster that comes along with it -- violent hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, tidal waves, massive floods, etc. Hall must also contact his son, Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal), who was in the middle of an academic competition in New York City when the chaos begun. In addition to facing the largest-scale onslaught of natural catastrophes in the history of humankind, Jack, in his journey north, must contend with the masses fleeing south in an attempt to resettle in a warmer climate. The Day After Tomorrow also features Emmy Rossum, Sela Ward, and Joe Cobden. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Scottish filmmaker Paul McGuigan directs The Reckoning, based on the award-winning novel Morality Play by Barry Unsworth. Set in 14th century England, the story involves a priest named Nicholas (Paul Bettany) who leaves the church after committing adultery. He falls in with a troupe of traveling actors led by Martin (Willem Dafoe). Nicholas joins them and attracts the attention of Martin's sister Sarah (Gina McKee). The group ends up in a small town where a mute woman (Elvira Minguez) is accused of witchcraft and murder. Drawn to the woman, Martin suggests that the troupe re-create the events in hopes of drawing a crowd and solving the crime. Also starring Brian Cox, Ewen Bremner, and Vincent Cassel. The Reckoning premiered at the Palm Springs Film Festival in 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

After pulling off the heist of their lives, Danny Ocean and his pals unexpectedly find themselves back in harness in this sequel to 2001's blockbuster hit Ocean's Eleven. After robbing a cool $160 million from the Bellaggio Hotel Casino and winning back his former wife, Tess (Julia Roberts), from Bellagio owner Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), Danny Ocean (George Clooney) is living quietly on the lam in Connecticut when he's unexpectedly approached by Benedict. It seems Benedict has tracked down Danny and the ten men who helped him pull off the seemingly impossible robbery, and Benedict offers them a proposal -- if they can repay the $160 million in two weeks, he won't have them killed. As it turns out, both Danny and his best friend, Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt), haven't been doing so well in terms of money management and could use some cash, so they set out to plan a robbery to recover the loot, with the same crew helping out -- Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon), Frank Catton (Bernie Mac), Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle), Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner), Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould), Livingston Dell (Eddie Jemison), Yen (Shaobo Qin), Virgil Malloy (Casey Affleck), and his brother Turk (Scott Caan). Danny and Rusty discover that an incredibly rare Fabergé egg is being displayed at a museum in Rome which would fetch the price they need, but they soon discover a notorious cat burglar, François Toulour (Vincent Cassel), is also after the egg, and it turns into a race to see who can claim it first. Adding to the intrigue is Isabel Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a woman Rusty used to be involved with who is now a top agent with Interpol and is after both Toulour and Ocean's crew. Shot on location in both the United States and Europe, Ocean's Twelve was, like its precursor, directed by the stylish Steven Soderbergh, who also photographed the picture under his nom de lens, Peter Andrews. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The life of poet and novelist Sylvia Plath -- one of the most celebrated literary figures of her generation -- is brought to the screen in this controversial screen adaptation. Born in Boston, MA, in 1932, Plath (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) developed a precocious talent as a writer and published her first poem when she was only eight years old. That same year, tragedy introduced itself into her life as Plath was forced to confront the unexpected death of her father. In 1950, she began studying at Smith College on a literary scholarship, and while she was an outstanding student, she also began suffering from bouts of extreme depression; following her junior year, she attempted suicide for the first time. Plath survived, and, in 1955, she was granted a Fulbright Scholarship to study in England at Cambridge. While in Great Britain, Plath met Ted Hughes (Daniel Craig), a respected author who would later become the British Poet Laureate; the two fell in love, and married in 1958. However, marriage, family, and a growing reputation as an important poet failed to bring Plath happiness, and as she became increasingly fascinated with death in her later poetry and her sole novel, The Bell Jar, and after Hughes left her for another woman, her depression went into a tailspin from which she would never fully recover. Sylvia was adapted in part from Birthday Letters, a collection of poems Ted Hughes published in 1998, in which he dealt with his marriage to Plath in print for the first time. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

One of Frank Capra's best-loved stories gets a modernized and wildly slapstick reinterpretation in this romantic comedy starring Adam Sandler. When Preston Blake (Harve Presnell), a remarkably wealthy media magnate, dies with neither a wife nor children, the question on the lips of most of his associates is who will inherit the estate. The surprising answer turns out to be Longfellow Deeds (Adam Sandler), a cheerful but half-bright proprietor of a small-town pizzeria, as well as part-time greeting card poet, who was a distant relative of Blake. In order to claim his 40-billion-dollar inheritance, Deeds heads to New York City, where Blake's former associates, Chuck Cedar (Peter Gallagher) and Cecil Anderson (Erick Avari), introduce him to the city while trying to figure out how to get their hands on his new fortune. Meanwhile, Mac McGrath (Jared Harris), the producer of a sleazy tabloid television show, wants to get the inside scoop on Deeds, and comes up with perfect way to get it: he sends beautiful but unscrupulous reporter Babe Bennett (Winona Ryder) to sweep Deeds off his feet while she's wired for sound. Convincing Deeds that she's from a small town just like himself, Bennett quickly wins his heart, but while his affection is sincere, hers is not. He also displays a curious eagerness to defend her good name with his fists which quickly gets him in trouble. Meanwhile, as Deeds becomes the new laughing stock of New York thanks to Bennett's stories, Deeds decides it's time he did something big with his money, while Cedar and Anderson think they've finally found a way to take control of Deeds' holdings. Mr. Deeds also features supporting performances from John Turturro, Steve Buscemi, and Conchata Ferrell. John McEnroe and Rev. Al Sharpton make cameo appearances as themselves. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

As a number of luminaries on the international fashion scene converge for a major show, their personal and professional crises come to a head in this comedy-drama. Lorenzo Mancini (Paul Sorvino) is an internationally famous designer who has learned he has only a short time to live. As Mancini tries to make his peace with both his ex-wife (Sonia Braga) and his long-time companion (Peter Gallagher), he also tries to mend fences with his son (and heir) Mario (Michael Sorvino) while persuading him to not merge the family business with the hip-hop fashion empire of J.B. (Omar Epps. Anthony (Jared Harris), a famous and influential fashion photographer, is having a career crisis as his marriage to Francene (Michelle Forbes) begins to collapse. Cutting-edge designer Roberta (Rita Wilson) is scrambling to complete her latest line as her underlings start leaving her one by one. Camille (Leslie Mann), Roberta's business partner, may be the next to hit the road, as she becomes involved with Jamie (Jeff Goldblum), who works for a firm run by arch-rival designer Phillip (Harris Yulin). And Janice (Joanne Baron), the editor of a leading fashion journal, is facing a deadline when she gets an unexpected visitor -- her daughter Halley (Michelle Williams), whom she hasn't seen in over a decade. Taking an unusual approach, director Michael Rymer and screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson wrote a detailed outline for Perfume and in-depth background sketches for all the characters, but allowed the cast to improvise all the dialogue used in the film. Perfume had its world premiere at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Somewhere in L.A., Peter (Kenneth Branagh), a washed-up British playwright, struggles to duplicate his past glory as he surfs a foul-smelling tide of disenchantment. His wife, Melanie (Robin Wright Penn), manages to maintain an optimistic outlook even as she longs for the baby that her husband is hesitant to help her conceive. When Peter befriends Amy (Suzi Hofrichter), a neighborhood girl who has mild cerebral palsy, their friendship softens him to the idea of fatherhood and propels Melanie's maternal yearnings into hyperdrive. As if baby fever weren't enough, Peter is plagued by a seemingly benevolent stalker (Jared Harris), his neighbors' incessantly noisy dog, and the flighty cast and crew of his latest play. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

Chinese-born, American-based director Ann Hu debuts with this epic historical drama about the introduction of motion pictures to China during the beginning of the 20th century. The film is based on a true story of Liu Jung (Xia Yu), a Peking photographer who struggles to start a film industry in China in spite of the strong anti-Western sentiment of the time. At the film's outset, Liu Jung is scolded by his autocratic boss Master Ren (Liu Peiqi) for his obsession with Western gizmos after he brings home a junked Victrola. During a photo session with China's most famous opera star, Lord Tan (Li Yusheng), Liu Jung runs into Raymond Wallace (Jared Harris), a mysterious Brit who is hell-bent on introducing movies (called "shadow magic") to the Emperor. As soon as Liu Jung sees his first frame, he is hooked on the medium and committed to Wallace's scheme. This film was screened at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi