Patrick Wilson Movies
Patrick Wilson is the kind of actor whose boyishly handsome good looks make him equally effective in roles that call for characters who are vulnerable, irresponsible, and even menacing. Many moviegoers may not realize that the actor they first caught a glimpse of in a Gap commercial (opposite
Claire Danes) or in the Emmy Award-winning miniseries
Angels in America had been honing his craft on the stage for years: By that point
Wilson had already earned back-to-back Tony nominations with roles in the Broadway version of
The Full Monty and
Trevor Nunn's critically acclaimed revival of
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!
Wilson's roots are firmly planted in Virginia, although his family moved to Florida when his father became a television news anchor in the Tampa-St. Petersburg vicinity. An early stint in his mother's choir helped
Wilson realize his love of singing early on, and it wasn't long before the young performer's stage aspirations were taking precedence over his athletic obligations. Though he had been singing for years, it wasn't until
Wilson entered Carnegie Mellon University that he received his first proper vocal lesson. As with many an aspiring stage star,
Wilson eventually made his way to New York City, where his performance in an off-Broadway production of Bright Lights, Big City drew a Drama Desk nomination and left audiences raving. A subsequent performance in the Gershwin revue Fascinating Rhythm earned
Wilson a Drama League award, and subsequent roles in The Full Monty and Oklahoma! cemented his status as a talent to watch.
Up to this point in his career,
Wilson had little movie experience, but that would change when he accepted a role in the independent drama My Sister's Wedding. A virtual unknown when production began on
Angels in America,
Wilson had director
Mike Nichols to thank for recognizing his talent and accommodating his schedule when the stage production of Oklahoma was in full swing. If subsequent roles in
The Alamo and
The Phantom of the Opera found rising talent
Wilson overshadowed by the performances of such powerhouse actors as
Billy Bob Thornton, it was his next film -- the controversial and hotly topical
Hard Candy -- that truly allowed the former stage actor to step front and center on the big screen. A relentlessly tense tale of an Internet predator who becomes hopelessly ensnared by his own sickness,
Hard Candy proved that
Wilson was indeed willing to take the kind of career risks that could propel him to the next level. The following year,
Wilson once again proved his worth as a film actor by portraying a conflicted suburban husband who embarks on a passionate extramarital affair in
Todd Field's
Little Children, with a supporting role in the
Augusten Burroughs' biopic
Running with Scissors following in short order. In 2007,
Wilson could be seen in no less than four films, including Brothers Three: An American Gothic,
Purple Violets,
Evening, and
Life in Flight. He played the title character in 2008's Barry Munday, and that same year he was in the racial thriller Lakeview Terrace. In 2009 he appeared in his first would be blockbuster, playing Nite Owl in the big-screen adaptation of The Watchmen, and the next year he appeared in The A-Team, as well as the showbiz-set rom-com Morning Glory. She was the object of Charlize Theron's obsession in Young Adult, and had a small part in 2012's Prometheus. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

- 2011
- R
- Add Young Adult to Queue
Add Young Adult to top of Queue
Upon returning to her small Minnesota hometown to win back her high school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson), now a happily-married father, divorced young adult fiction author Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) forges an unexpected bond with another former schoolmate (Patton Oswalt) who's had a particularly difficult life. Juno collaborators Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody re-team for this Paramount Pictures production. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, (more)

- 2011
- R
- Add The Ledge to Queue
Add The Ledge to top of Queue
Shauna (Liv Tyler) has two men competing for her affections -- one a Christian named Joe (Patrick Wilson), the other an atheist named Gavin (Charlie Hunnam). Events transpire in such a way that Gavin ends up on the ledge of a tall apartment building and Joe gives him one hour to jump to his death or another person is going to die. All the while, a police officer (Terrence Howard) tries to talk Gavin off of the ledge. The Ledge was directed by Matthew Chapman. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Charlie Hunnam, Terrence Howard, (more)

- 2010
- PG13
- Add Morning Glory to Queue
Add Morning Glory to top of Queue
Produced by J.J. Abrams and written by Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada), director Roger Michell's comedic glimpse into the cutthroat world of live television finds a desperate female news producer (Rachel McAdams) attempting to put out the flames between an anchorman (Harrison Ford) and his blustery but iconic cohost (Diane Keaton) in a last-ditch effort to save their failing morning show. Jeff Goldblum co-stars in the Paramount Pictures production. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Harrison Ford, Rachel McAdams, (more)

- 2010
- PG13
- Add Insidious to Queue
Add Insidious to top of Queue
Saw franchise veterans James Wan and Leigh Whannell team with Paranormal Activity writer/director Oren Peli to give the familiar haunted house story an exciting new twist with this tale of a family that moves into an old house and begins to suspect they are under siege from otherworldly forces when their young son inexplicably falls into a deep coma. As devoted parents Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) struggle in vain to uncover the root cause of their son's condition, the stress of the situation gradually begins to take its toll on their once-strong relationship. Later, when darkness falls and specters appear to reach out for them from the shadows, the frightened parents realize they're dealing with powers beyond human comprehension. Barbara Hershey and Lin Shaye co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, (more)

- 2010
- PG13
- Add The A-Team to Queue
Add The A-Team to top of Queue
Director Joe Carnahan resurrects the popular 1980s-era action series with this explosive reboot following the adventures of four Iraq War veterans who begin a second career as mercenaries for hire. Col. John "Hannibal" Smith (Liam Neeson), Templeton "Face" Peck (Bradley Cooper), B.A. Baracus (Quinton "Rampage" Jackson), and H.M. "Howlin' Mad" Murdock (Sharlto Copley) are a group of former Special Forces operatives who have been fighting the good fight for eight years when they're sentenced to military prison for a crime they didn't commit. Breaking out with relative ease, they embark on a treacherous quest to clear their names while being hunted across the globe by Charissa Sosa (Jessica Biel), a high-ranking military officer and one of Face's many former lovers. Meanwhile, mysterious CIA operative Lynch (Patrick Wilson) offers tips that help point the federal fugitives in the right direction, which seems to lead straight to former military contractor Pike (Brian Bloom), who may have been responsible for setting them up in the first place. Just when it seems that the A-Team has all the evidence needed to prove their innocence, however, they discover that their latest mission is just getting started. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, (more)

- 2010
- PG13
- Add The Switch to Queue
Add The Switch to top of Queue
A woman approaching middle age yet still childless decides to get pregnant by artificial insemination, only to discover that the donor she chose may not be the father of her child in this comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman. Wally Mars (Bateman) is a dyed-in-the-wool pessimist. Hopelessly neurotic and unrepentantly narcissistic, he gets no joy out of life except for the time he spends with his best friend Kassie (Jennifer Aniston). However, despite the fact that Wally pines to be more than just friends with Kassie, she isn't convinced they'd make a good couple. When Kassie announces to Wally that she's found the perfect sperm donor, he's crestfallen; as far as he's concerned, the ideal candidate is standing right in front of her. Later, Kassie selects handsome stranger Roland (Patrick Wilson) to provide the seed. Things get complicated when Kassie's best friend Debbie (Juliette Lewis) throws an "insemination party" to commemorate the big event, and Wally intercepts Roland's special delivery, drunkenly replacing it with his own before blacking out. Pregnant and content, Kassie leaves the city for Minnesota, where she gives birth to a healthy baby boy. Flash-forward seven years, and Kassie returns to New York with her son, Sebastian (Thomas Robinson), who shares an uncanny number of physical and psychological traits with embittered bachelor Wally. Before long Wally and Sebastian have become good friends, and Wally becomes convinced that the boy is his biological son. His ideal family is finally within reach, and if he can just figure out a means of breaking the news to Kassie gently, perhaps she'll find it in her heart to forgive him, and recognize that he'll make the perfect father for Sebastian. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, (more)

- 2009
- R
- Add Watchmen to Queue
Add Watchmen to top of Queue
300's Zack Snyder brings Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' critically acclaimed comic book Watchmen to the big screen, courtesy of DC Comics and Warner Bros. Pictures. Set in an alternate universe circa 1985, the film's world is a highly unstable one where a nuclear war is imminent between America and Russia. Superheroes have long been made to hang up their tights thanks to the government-sponsored Keene Act, but that all changes with the death of The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a robust ex-hero commando whose mysterious free fall out a window perks the interest of one of the country's last remaining vigilantes, Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley). His investigation leads him to caution many of his other former costumed colleagues, including Dr. Manhattan, Night Owl (Patrick Wilson), Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), Sally Jupiter (Carla Gugino), and her daughter, The Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman). Heralded for bringing the world of superheroes into the literary world, Watchmen gave the super-powered mythos a real-life grounding that had been missing in mainstream comics to that point. The film adaptation had languished in one form of development hell or another for years after the book's release, with various directors on and off the project, including Terry Gilliam, David Hayter, and Darren Aronofsky, as well as Paul Greengrass, whose eventual dismissal stemmed from budget conflicts with the studio. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, (more)

- 2008
- R
- Add Barry Munday to Queue
Add Barry Munday to top of Queue
Patrick Wilson, Chloë Sevigny, Judy Greer, and Cybill Shepherd headline first-time writer/director Chris D'Arienzo's dark comedy concerning a die-hard womanizer who finds himself named as the defendant in a paternity suit after losing his testicles in a violent street attack. Adapted from author Frank Turner Hollan's novel of the same name, Barry Munday stars Wilson as the titular character -- a man known for having a special way with the ladies. One day, after waking up in a hospital room to discover that the family jewels have suddenly gone missing, Munday is shocked to find himself slapped with a paternity suit by a woman (Greer) he can't even remember sleeping with. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Patrick Wilson, Judy Greer, (more)

- 2008
- PG13
- Add Lakeview Terrace to Queue
Add Lakeview Terrace to top of Queue
An interracial couple moves into their California dream home, only to find themselves the target of their volatile next-door neighbor -- a racist LAPD officer -- in this tightly wound thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson and Kerry Washington. Newlyweds Chris and Lisa seem like they have the perfect marriage and now, with their new home in the exclusive community Lakeview Terrace, the perfect life as well, but things soon turn ugly in the posh neighborhood when they begin to receive threats from their neighbor Abel, a middle-aged LAPD officer who has obvious objections to the couple's interracial marriage. What starts as an attitude problem soon morphs into full-on harassment, and before long the couple finds that their worries go far beyond their property values -- or the encroaching California wildfire burning in view of their community -- as they begin to fear for their lives. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson, (more)

- 2007
- R
- Add Evening to Queue
Add Evening to top of Queue
As Constance (Natasha Richardson) and Nina (Toni Collette) gather at the deathbed of their mother, Ann (Vanessa Redgrave), they learn for the first time that their mother lived an entire other lifetime during one evening 50 years ago, one she kept secret all their lives. In vivid flashbacks, the young Ann (played by Claire Daines) spends one night with a man named Harris (Patrick Wilson), whom she'd remember so many years later as the love of her life. As her daughters try to face the loss of their mother and the struggle to be happy in their own lives, they piece together an idea of love, happiness, and the woman they called their mother. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Claire Danes, Toni Collette, (more)

- 2007
-
- Add Purple Violets to Queue
Add Purple Violets to top of Queue
An unhappy woman finds new love with her old boyfriend in this romantic comedy-drama from writer and director Edward Burns. Patti Selma Blair) is a woman in her early thirties living in New York City. For years, Patti chased after her dream of becoming a successful novelist, but recently she's had to put writing on hold and is unhappily working in real estate. Patti's ennui isn't helped by the fact her marriage has fallen into a rut and neither she nor her husband are interested in one another anymore. When she was in college, Patti was in love with Brian (Patrick Wilson), and while Brian is fortunate enough to support himself writing crime fiction, he's smarting from the uncharitable reviews given to his latest and most personal work. One night, Patti is having dinner with her best friend Kate (Debra Messing) when she bumps into Brian, who is out with his friend Murph (Edward Burns), who in turn used to be involved with Kate. As the former lovers talk about their past and where life has taken them, Patti finds herself falling for Brian all over again, but both she and Brian are still dealing with the differences and insecurities that drove them apart years before. Purple Violets received its world premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Selma Blair, Patrick Wilson, (more)

- 2007
- NR
- Add Life in Flight to Queue
Add Life in Flight to top of Queue
A successful New York architect (Patrick Wilson) with a beautiful wife (Amy Smart) and an adoring young son is forced to reevaluate his outwardly idyllic life after a chance meeting with an urban designer (Lynn Collins) reveals the cracks in the foundation of his paradise in an existential drama from first-time feature filmmaker Tracey Hecht. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Patrick Wilson, Amy Smart, (more)

- 2006
- R
- Add Brothers Three to Queue
Add Brothers Three to top of Queue
A man seeking to escape his turbulent family life is dragged kicking and screaming back into his dysfunctional past when his two siblings summon him to a remote cabin to discuss their late father's true fate, and finally call the lies of the past out into the open. When Peter (Patrick Wilson) took a wife and entered into a new career, he assumed his painful past would simply fade away. But old ghosts have a habit of lingering around even when they can't be seen, and as Peter arrives at a run down cabin at the request of his siblings Rick (Neal McDonough) and Norman (Scott Michael Campbell), it quickly becomes apparent that the specters of Peter's past are still very real in his former reality. As Peter's brothers relay the details of their final moments with their recently deceased father, those old familiar mind games come into play once again. Something about their story just doesn't seem right, because the presence of their father still looms heavy in the air around the brothers - stirring up the lingering lies that once protected them from the bitter truth of their lives. The joyful memories are fleeting, gradually giving way to revelations that will serve as the only honest moments these brothers ever shared. No one will leave this cabin until this volatile situation has reached its logical conclusion, and each man has finally ventured into the dark place they have spent their entire lives trying to avoid. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Patrick Wilson

- 2006
- R
- Add Running With Scissors to Queue
Add Running With Scissors to top of Queue
Screen newcomer Joseph Cross portrays Augusten Burroughs in director Ryan Murphy's film adaptation of author Burroughs' best-selling personal memoir of the same name. A child of the 1970s whose alcoholic father, Norman (Alec Baldwin), and delusional, unpublished poet mother, Deirdre (Annette Bening), serve as the dictionary definition of the word "dysfunctional," Augusten is sent by his mother to live with her eccentric psychiatrist, Dr. Finch (Brian Cox), when his disagreeable parents ultimately decide to terminate their turbulent marriage. Suddenly thrust into an environment that is as unfamiliar as it is unpredictable, young Augusten forms a curious relationship with the doctor's two whimsical daughters while learning to adapt and survive under even the most unusual of circumstances. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Annette Bening, Brian Cox, (more)

- 2006
- R
- Add Little Children to Queue
Add Little Children to top of Queue
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Todd Field teams with novelist Tom Perrotta to adapt Perrotta's acclaimed novel concerning the suburban malaise experienced by a handful of small-town individuals whose intersecting lives converge in a variety of surprising, and sometimes ominous, ways. Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, and Patrick Wilson star in a cinematic adaptation that doesn't aim so much to simply reproduce the book for the screen as it does to re-imagine the written word by exploring new possibilities for the characters and situations originally presented in Perrotta's 2004 best-seller. Sarah (Winslet) is a suburban outsider who, unlike the other playground moms, isn't afraid to approach the dreamy but long-absent father whom smitten housewives have taken to calling the "Prom King." Long days at the local community pool with their respective children soon find Sarah becoming acquainted with local husband and father Brad (Patrick Wilson) -- who seems to share in her seething discontentment with life in their quaint commuter town. An English literature major who never envisioned a fate as a soccer mom, Sarah has a growing dissatisfaction with her successful husband (Gregg Edelman) that parallels Brad's increasing frustration with his inability to pass the bar and connect with his wife, Kathy (Jennifer Connelly), a successful documentary filmmaker. It's not long before the dejected pair is meeting for a series of illicit afternoon trysts as their unsuspecting spouses work and their children lie quietly napping. Meanwhile, after the community is riled by the return of a convicted sex offender (Jackie Earle Haley) who leaves the concerned parents scrambling to protect their young ones, an attempt made by Sarah and Brad to legitimize their clandestine relationship by dining together with their respective spouses begins to awaken Kathy's suspicions about the fidelity of her husband. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, (more)

- 2005
- R
- Add Hard Candy to Queue
Add Hard Candy to top of Queue
A teenage girl agrees to meet a thirtysomething fashion photographer in person after becoming acquainted with him in an online chat room, and the resulting encounter finds the line between predator and prey slipping slowly out of focus in director David Slade's provocative and topical thriller. Hayley (Ellen Page) is a 14-year-old teen whose emotional maturity seems to betray her tender age. Jeff (Patrick Wilson) is a potential child predator whose intentions toward his young chat buddy seem less than honorable. After meeting in a coffeehouse and getting to know each other briefly in person, Jeff invites Haley back to his place, and it's not long before Jeff's underage guest is pouring drinks and posing provocatively for an impromptu photo shoot. As the evening's questionable activities take a decidedly sordid slant and the raptorial Jeff appears poised to strike, a sudden turn of events finds that his apparent victim has had a plan of her own from the very beginning. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Patrick Wilson, Ellen Page, (more)

- 2004
- PG13
- Add The Phantom of the Opera to Queue
Add The Phantom of the Opera to top of Queue
One of the most popular stage musicals in the history of Broadway and London's West End makes its long-awaited arrival on the motion-picture screen in this lavish adaptation directed by Joel Schumacher. Christine (Emmy Rossum) is a beautiful and gifted young woman who longs to join the company of the Paris Opera House. During rehearsals for one of the opera's grand productions, a backdrop falls and crashes to the floor, nearly crushing leading lady Carlotta (Minnie Driver). When several members of the company suggest this could be the work of the "Phantom of the Opera," a spectral presence said to haunt the building, Carlotta drops out of the show, and the fates permit Christine to step in as her replacement. Christine's performance is a triumph, and on opening night she becomes reacquainted with Raoul (Patrick Wilson), a former childhood friend who is now a wealthy and well-known nobleman. Christine soon finds herself smitten with the handsome Raoul, but the same evening she makes a startling discovery -- the story of the Phantom is not just a legend. A brilliant but horribly disfigured composer (Gerard Butler) lives deep in the depths of the opera house, and taken with the beauty of Christine's voice, he abducts her and brings her to his lair, where he offers to help her perfect her talents, offering to write an opera especially for her. As the terrified Christine is comforted by Raoul, the two fall in love, but the phantom sees her affection for Raoul as a tremendous betrayal, and the jealous phantom nearly kills Christine as he nearly killed Carlotta. When the phantom emerges to present the opera's management with the piece he has written for Christine, the singer is asked to put her life on the line in an effort to capture the mad genius once and for all. Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical version of Gaston Leroux's novel, which had already enjoyed several stage and screen adaptations in the past, opened in London in 1986 and has been a popular favorite around the world ever since; the show was still running in New York and London when the film version premiered in late 2004. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, (more)

- 2004
- PG13
- Add The Alamo to Queue
Add The Alamo to top of Queue
Re-teaming Dennis Quaid with John Lee Hancock, the director of 2002's The Rookie, The Alamo retells the story of the historic 1836 battle in the Texan War of Independence. Facing 4,000 Mexican troops, 186 Texan soldiers and volunteers -- including William Travis (Patrick Wilson), Davy Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton), and Jim Bowie (Jason Patric) -- retreat within the walls of the Alamo, a Franciscan mission that was converted into a military fort. Once inside, the men prepare themselves for what will be a bloody battle to the death, as General Sam Houston (Quaid) leads the charge from the outside. Emilio Echevarria and Jordi Molla co-star. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton, (more)

- 2003
-
- Add Angels in America to Queue
Add Angels in America to top of Queue
The epic HBO miniseries Angels in America is directed by Mike Nichols and written by the play's author, Tony Kushner. This six-part drama is adapted from the two full-length award-winning plays (Part I: The Millennium Approaches and Part II: Perestroika) originally performed on Broadway in 1993. Set in New York City during the mid-'80s, the story follows the interconnected lives of several people affected by the AIDS crisis, intense spiritual experiences, and the Reagan Administration. Newcomer Justin Kirk plays Prior Walter, a young man dying of AIDS. Things are made worse when he's abandoned by his lover, Jewish court clerk Louis Ironson (Ben Shenkman). Then he's visited by an Angel (Emma Thompson), who keeps crashing through his roof and insisting that he's a prophet.
Meanwhile, conservative power monger Roy Cohn (Al Pacino) is also dying of AIDS, but he's in serious denial about it. While in the hospital, he's continually visited by the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg (Meryl Streep), a woman he had sent to the electric chair. Roy's protégé is Mormon lawyer Joe Pitt (Patrick Wilson), who also tries to deny his own homosexuality. Joe's estranged wife Harper (Mary-Louise Parker) suffers from a Valium addiction and has an acute sensitivity to the world around her. Joe leaves her to start up a relationship with Louis, who works in his building. Jeffrey Wright reprises his stage role of the trusty friend and nurse Belize. Angels in America first aired in two parts on HBO during December of 2003. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
Read More
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, (more)