Ed Lauter Movies
An English major in college, Ed Lauter worked as a stand-up comic before entering films in 1971. The tall, menacing Lauter has generally been typecast as humorless, easily corruptible authority figures. He was at his meanest as the vindictive Captain Knaur in Robert Aldrich's The Longest Yard. His TV credits include such roles as Sheriff Cain in BJ and the Bear (1979-80) and General Louis Crewes in Stephen King's The Golden Years (1991). In 1976, Ed Lauter was afforded a rare leading role--and a sympathetic one to boot--in the made-for-TV murder mystery Last Hours Before Morning (1976). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Michel Hazanavicius' stylistically daring, dialogue-free comedy-drama The Artist stars Jean Dujardin as George Valentin, a matinee idol in Hollywood before the dawn of talkies. His marriage is far from perfect, and one day he meets ambitious chorus girl Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) and is smitten. Very quickly thereafter, sound comes to movies, and George sinks all his money into one last epic silent film, while Peppy becomes a star in the new era. John Goodman co-stars as the head of the film studio working with Valentin. The Artist played at both the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, (more)
Brilliant scientist Elizabeth Barnes develops a reanimation serum while researching stem cells, and uses it to resurrect a murdered security guard. Unfortunately, the miraculous serum has some unexpectedly horrific side effects. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tiffany Shepis, Louis Mandylor, (more)
A man learns too well that one shouldn't promise more than he can actually deliver in this independent thriller. Charlie (Joseph McKelheer) lives in Alaska with his wife, Rebecca (Jessica Ward), and young son, James (Ben Loosli). Charlie makes a modest living as a preacher and faith healer, but he's come to question his faith, and tries to dull the pain of doubt with alcohol and affairs with other women. Charlie's life is turned upside down when Rebecca and James are brutally murdered; six months later, he's living in isolation in a trailer in the wilderness, having turned his back on his old life and given up on religion. Charlie receives an unexpected visitor in Sarah (Courtney Halverson), a lovely young woman who tells him her father is severely ill and could use his help. Against his better judgment, Charlie agrees to join Sarah for the long trip back to her family's home, but when they arrive, her brothers, Luke (Cory Knauf) and Tim (Hallock Beals), make it clear they have some unpleasant business with Charlie. Directed by Robert Saitzyk, Godspeed received its world premiere at the 2009 CineVegas Film Festival, where it received a prize for "Exceptional Artistic Achievement." ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Joseph McKelheer, Courtney Halverson, (more)
- 2007
- PG
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A poor boy who spends most his spare time playing stickball in the streets suddenly finds himself returning volleys to his butler in this contemporary take on the classic Mark Twain tale starring Cole and Dylan Sprouse. Running away to the east side in his chauffer-driven limousine, thirteen year old Matthew hatches an ingenious identity-switch scheme after running into his spitting image - a fun-loving inner city youth named Jeff. Intent on making his mother pay for a series of minor infractions he may have been responsible for while studying at an ultra-posh boy's academy, Matthew sends Jeff to live with his self-made millionaire mother as he prepares to spend Spring Break with his new stepfather and two stepsisters. While Jeff is dumbfounded to discover that stores actually sell clothes that have never been worn before, Matthew is thrilled to take the field for his first rain-soaked baseball game. Yet despite the fun these two kids have on the opposite side of the social spectrum, they quickly learn that life just isn't the same when you can't go home to your true loved ones. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cole Sprouse, Dylan Sprouse, (more)
Upon acquiring a mysterious book in which the number 23 seems to take on powerful cosmic significance, a once-sane man gradually becomes obsessed with the idea that the frequently recurring number may in fact hold a deadly secret in this intense mystery-thriller starring Jim Carrey and Virginia Madsen, and directed by Joel Schumacher. Walter Sparrow (Carrey) is a middle-aged dogcatcher whose wife Agatha (Madsen) has bestowed him with an obscure mystery novel detailing the investigation launched by a tough-talking gumshoe named Fingerling (also Carrey) whose every move seems to be overshadowed by the enigmatic eponymous number. After noting a series of alarming parallels shared between the fictional detective and himself, Walter is quickly drawn in to the story as the hard-boiled private investigator murders raven-wigged moll Fabrizia (also Madsen) and pins the crime on her unsuspecting lover (Danny Huston). Back in the real world, fiction seems to merge with reality as Walter and Agatha's close friend Isaac (also Huston) begins to ingratiate himself ever deeper into the couple's relationship and Walter begins experiencing a gruesome series of visions in which he violently murders an unfaithful Agatha. His mind fast descending into a dark and violent whirlwind of madness, Walter enlists the aid of Agatha and the pair's adolescent son Robin (Logan Lerman) in seeking out the author of the mysterious tome and uncovering the sinister truth behind the so-called "23 enigma." ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, (more)
Sienna Miller and James Franco star in first-time producer/director Gregory Mackenzie's twisted romance about a honeymooning couple who discovers that sometimes love is stronger than death. Recent parolee Silas (Franco) has just been blackmailed into marrying the beautiful Camille (Miller), and he's none to happy about the arrangement; despite the fact that he can't stand her, she still worships the ground he walks on. But now the law is family, and should the union fail, Silas' new uncle-in-law, Sheriff Foster (Scott Glen), will ensure that the disgruntled groom is sent back to the slammer in a flash. Immediately after the wedding, however, things get complicated when Silas and Camille are run off the road by a reckless truck driver. When Silas regains conscious and stumbles over to Camille's contorted body, it's obvious that she's suffered a fatal injury in the accident. After fleeing the scene and attempting to summon help, Silas returns to the sight of the crash and finds Camille nursing a serious neck injury down by the river while frantically trying to get the grass stains out of her wedding dress. Desperate, the couple hitches a ride with the nomadic Cowboy Bob (David Carradine), eventually realizing that Camille didn't survive the accident despite the fact that she's somehow able to walk and talk with the living. As Camille's body begins to decay, the situation grows complicated when the couple learns that the police are on their trail for an imagined robbery and murder. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Franco, Sienna Miller, (more)
Frequent television director David Von Ancken (Oz and The Shield) offers a thrilling meditation on the true nature of revenge with this post-Civil War era tale of a one man's quest to put his nemesis in the ground, and another man's struggle to survive at any cost. Deep in the snowy mountains of the American West, a lone man named Gideon (Pierce Brosnan) basks, lost in thought, in the warm glow of a small fire. When a shot suddenly rings out and a bullet whizzes just inches from his head, Gideon is suddenly pulled from his repose. His reaction is too slow, however, to save him from the impact of a second bullet fired immediately thereafter; a bullet that painfully lodges itself into the soft flesh of Gideon's tired shoulder. The man who fired these bullets is Colonel Morsman Carver (Liam Neeson), and Carver's goal is to hunt Gideon down like an animal and extract painful revenge for a past transgression that left Colonel Carver forever changed. From this point on, there will be no peace in either man's life as a harrowing game of kill-or-be-killed is played out against the backdrop of the awe-inspiring and deceptively treacherous wilderness where the unforgiving law of the land takes deadly precedence over the civility of modern society. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Liam Neeson, Pierce Brosnan, (more)
William Sadler and Ed Lauter star in this war drama about a Marine sniper who is captured by the Iraqi government while on a covert mission to assassinate Saddam Hussein, and the threat he faces from his own superiors after he returns to the United States and escapes the psychiatric hospital where he is being held for evaluation. Epsilon Force is a shadowy military unit created for the sole purpose of assassinating foreign leaders who are thought to threaten the interests of the United States. In 2003, just prior to the United States' invasion of Iraq, Epsilon Force leader Colonel Allen (Sadler) recruits twenty-four year old Marine Corps sniper Oscar Padilla (Demetrius Navarro) for the mission of assassinating Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Shortly after Padilla arrives in Iraq prepared to carry out his orders, however, he is captured by the enemy and tortured in a Baghdad prison. Miraculously, Padilla is eventually freed by his captors and returned to the United States, though the psychological scars he bears run deeper than any of his notable physical wounds. Upon his return home, Padilla is taken to a military hospital for psychiatric evaluation. When he escapes, the powers that be deem him an unacceptable risk due to the fact that the very existence of Epsilon Force goes in direct opposition to an Executive Order outlawing the assassination of foreign leaders. Now, as Padilla runs for his life, Colonel Allen is assigned the task of eliminating that risk before the entire classified operation comes crashing down all around him. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- William Sadler, Demetrius Navarro, (more)
A charismatic psycho suspected of killing two innocent campers in a cold-blooded double homicide grows increasingly unstable as his suburban empire starts to crack at the foundations in director Chris Sivertson's adaptation of author Jack Ketchum's chilling take on the 1960s-era Charles Schmid murders. Ray Pye (Chris Senter) may be well out of high school, but the kids in his sleepy town are strangely drawn to the drug-dealing outsider who stuffs cans in his boots to boost his stature and sports pancake make-up to cast a rock-star aura. But Ray Pye isn't just eccentric, he's downright dangerous. It was during a weekend camping excursion with his sometime-girlfriend Jennifer Fitch (Shay Astar) and best pal Tim Best (Alex Frost) that Ray shot a pair of pretty campers simply to satisfy his own morbid curiosity, and after bullying his friends into silence, the case would go strangely unsolved. Despite the fact that one of the girls eventually managed to escape, she lay comatose in the hospital for months on end before eventually succumbing to her wounds. Local detective Charlie Schilling (Michael Bowen) suspected Ray of the crime from the very beginning, and now that the girl has died without being able to identify her killer, Schilling is determined to ensure that justice is served. These days the womanizing Pye has turned his attentions away from Jennifer and toward newly arrived rich girl Katherine Wallace (Robin Sydney) and innocent Sally Richmond (Megan Henning) -- a recent high-school graduate who, unbeknownst to Ray, is involved in a tender May-December romance with retired cop Ed Anderson (Ed Lauter). Now, as Katherine and Sally reject Ray's advances, and Tim and Jennifer's once undying loyalty begins to slip, the increasingly unstable pied piper's fragile ego spirals into an explosive tailspin. With the rage that's bubbling up in Ray threatening to send him on a murderous rampage, Detective Schilling and Ed Anderson desperately attempt to gather the evidence needed to arrest the swaggering psychopath before more lives are lost. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marc Senter, Shay Astar, (more)
One of the toughest and best-remembered sports movies of the 1970s gets a humorous makeover in this comedy. Paul "Wrecking" Crewe (Adam Sandler) was once a famous professional football player, but after several years out of the limelight and an alcohol problem have taken their toll, Crewe is arrested for a serious traffic accident aggravated by the fact he was drunk. Crewe is sentenced to Allenville Penitentiary, where Warden Hazen (James Cromwell) is something of a football fan. Hazen had organized his guards into an impressive football team, and clears a healthy profit by taking bets on their games. Looking to make the competition more interesting, Hazen suggests that Crewe put together a team from the inmate population to play his guards. With the help of fellow prisoner Caretaker (Chris Rock), Crewe recruits the heaviest hitters from the cell block for the team, but the guys don't play like a unit until Crewe and Caretaker get some help from Nate Scarborough (Burt Reynolds), a former college and NFL coach doing hard time. Adapted from Robert Aldrich's 1974 box-office smash of the same name, The Longest Yard also features rap star Nelly and Nicholas Turturro; the film has previously been loosely remade in 2001 as Mean Machine, with the action moved to England and the game changed to soccer. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, (more)
Principled gangsters take on a corrupt moneyman in this period Western. Robert Driscol (David Carradine) is a ruthless and power-hungry man who owns a small New Mexico town lock, stock, and barrel, and isn't shy about dealing with anyone who gets in his way. Linc Malone (Gabriel Casseus) and his brother Zane (Antwon Tanner) are a pair of African-American cowboys who've run afoul of Driscol and are looking for revenge. Linc and Zane put together a team of gunmen to rob Driscol's bank, but the heist goes awry when Driscol's men surround the building, and the gunfighters are trapped inside. Brothers in Arms also features Ed Lauter, Kenya Moore, and rapper Kurupt. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Carradine, Gabriel Casseus, (more)
A man who has spent much of his life dealing with grief finally has more than he knows what to do with in this independent drama. Walter Hartwig Jr. (Sean Patrick Flanery) is a New York City cop who is haunted by the death of his sister, who drowned at Coney Island when he was a boy. Hartwig saw his sister die and has felt responsible ever since. Every year on her birthday, he has himself thrown into the ocean as penance, and works with the NYPD Harbor Unit in hope of someday paying back his act of childhood negligence. After a passenger jet crashes into the ocean near the city, Hartwig is sent out to help, and is mesmerized by the sight of Sabrina Hampton (Melina Kanakaredes), a musician who died in the accident. Sabrina reminds him of his sister, and he sets out to find her twin sister, who worked as a teacher but has been traumatized by her loss and now refuses to leave her apartment. As Hartwig begins losing touch with reality, he finds solace when he strikes up a friendship with June Sickles (JoBeth Williams). June lost her son, who was a police officer, on September 11, 2001, and since then has been raising his daughter, giving her plenty of experience in dealing with the harsh side of fate. Into the Fire was the first feature film from writer and director Michael Phelan. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sean Patrick Flanery, Melina Kanakaredes, (more)
- 2004
- R
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Humanity's war against the bugs continues in this sequel to Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi soap opera epic, Starship Troopers. This time, when a squad of troopers is stranded on a bug-infested planet, their only hope for survival lies in an abandoned outpost, where things take a turn for the worse. A lone survivor by the name of Captain Dax (Richard Burgi) awaits them there, locked away for killing his crazed commanding officer. When a group of strangers arrives at the base, the squad is faced with a new threat from their alien enemy that will pit every surviving human against each other. With an army of bugs surrounding the compound and mysterious internal forces plotting against the group, it's up to Dax and Pvt. Lei Sahara (Colleen Porch) to try and hold out before the rescue team arrives. Effects maestro Phil Tippett (Star Wars, Jurassic Park) makes his directing debut in this made-for-cable movie that features a script by the series' original scribe, Edward Neumeier. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Burgi, Lawrence Monoson, (more)
An aspiring filmmaker learns that success in Hollywood doesn't come as easy as she suspected as she attempts to discover the formula to success in this satirical comedy from director William Tannen. When the guidance of her helpful has-been uncle (Michael Lerner) fails to pave the way, Sarah Wilder (Alannah Ubach) must seek the advice of such Hollywood heavies as Mike Meyers, Ben Stiller, and Fred Willard -- only to discover that the old adage is true and Nobody Knows Anything about how to succeed in the cutthroat world of Los Angeles. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alanna Ubach, Michael Lerner, (more)
For his sophomore effort, director Gary Ross re-teams with Tobey Maguire and William H. Macy, stars of his directorial debut Pleasantville, for this depression-era sports drama about the legendary racehorse, Seabiscuit. Unlike 1949's fictionalized The Story of Seabiscuit starring Shirley Temple, this version attempts to present a factual account of the story, which centers around the three men who saw the famed horse to victory. Jeff Bridges stars as Charles Howard, an entrepreneur who owns the unlikely racehorse. Howard teams with partially blind boxer-turned-jockey Red Pollard (Maguire in his first performance since annihilating the 2002 box-office in Spider-Man) and horse trainer Tom Smith (Chris Cooper fresh off his best-supporting actor Oscar for Adaptation). Together, the three work to help the famed horse to several symbolic victories that helped to inspire a downtrodden 1930s America. The supporting cast, headed by Macy, includes Elizabeth Banks (Spider-Man) and real-life jockeys Gary Stevens and Chris McCarron. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, (more)
- 2002
Lopez (Lisa Vidal) tries to force Weaver (Laura Innes) out of the closet with a startling public display of affection. Romano (Paul McCrane) rehires Chen (Ming-Na), who has a long memory when it comes to getting even with Weaver. Abby (Maura Tierney) offers help to her new neighbor Joyce (Christina Hendricks), whose husband, Brian (Matthew Settle), is obviously beating her -- and who is in a severe state of denial. Carter (Noah Wyle) is trapped in the middle of his parents' acrimonious divorce. And should Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) attempt to save the life of a death-row inmate? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Jean Claude La Marre directs the urban comedy Go for Broke. Two guys win the New York lottery, then get held up by a robber at a cafe. The woman robbing the place gets caught, taking their winning lottery ticket with her to prison. In order to get the stolen ticket back, the two guys dress in drag to infiltrate a women's prison. Starring Pras, Michael A. Goorjian, and Marjorie Jean. Go for Broke was shown at the Urbanworld Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pras, Michael A. Goorjian, (more)
Jordan Alan directs this B-movie about a thief wanting to go straight. Nick (Charlie Mattera) and Manny (Peter Greene) are partners in crime, but only Nick winds up in prison after a setup. Eight years later, he gets released and goes to Los Angeles to reunite with his ex-girlfriend, Maria (Justine Miceli). While Nick was locked up, she married and divorced Manny, who had turned into a violent and abusive cop. In his quest to settle down with Maria and her daughter, Nick meets her landlord, retired criminal Harry (Ed Lauter), and the two begin a series of bank robberies before the inevitable battle with the crazed Manny. Also stars Ryan O'Neal. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ed Lauter, Justine Miceli, (more)
- 2002
An octogenarian woman, living in squalor surrounded by cats, is found stabbed to death in her decaying house. Grissom (Gil Gerard) and Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) have quite an aromatic time investigating this particular homicide. Meanwhile, two other CSI members, Nick (George Eads) and Sara (Jorja Fox), examine the evidence in a car bombing that may have been pulled off to cover up an earlier killing. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2001
April Fool's Day brings a combination of the silly and the serious to the ER, with emphasis on the latter. A police officer shoots an elderly patient with dementia, but full blame for the incident may actually rest with two of the ER staffers. Several teenagers are injured while trying to "huff" carpet cleaner. A pregnant teenager treated by Kovac (Goran Visnjic) suffers complications in more ways than one. Corday (Alex Kingston) faces another career crisis. And on the lighter side, Carter (Noah Wyle) tries to brush off Rena (Lourdes Benedicto) by telling a fib that may spell trouble for one of his colleagues. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Former MTV executive Joel Gallen makes his feature directorial debut with this broad spoof of the popular teen comedy genre, lampooning dozens of movies including American Pie (1999), American Beauty (1999), Bring It On (2000), Clueless (1995), She's All That (1999), Road Trip (2000), Can't Hardly Wait (1998), 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Never Been Kissed (1999), and even the teen films of an earlier era such as The Breakfast Club (1985). At the aptly titled "John Hughes High School," aspiring artist Janey Briggs (Chyler Leigh) is an outcast because of her plain, bespectacled looks and paint-splattered overalls. Football hero Jake Wyler (Chris Evans) makes a bet that he can transform Janey into a gorgeous prom queen, a wager he may come to regret as he discovers Janey's true inner beauty. As their relationship blossoms, several other characters are limned, including a Nasty Cheerleader (Jaime Pressly), a Token Black Guy (Deon Richmond), a Stupid Fat Guy (Ron Lester), an Obsessed Best Friend (Eric Jungmann), an Undercover Reporter (Beverly Polcyn), the Cruelest Girl in School (Mia Kirshner), a Cocky Blonde Guy (Eric Christian Olsen), and several others. A nod to the multiple films that inspired it, Not Another Teen Movie (2001) was originally to have been entitled "Ten Things I Hate About Clueless Road Trips When I Can't Hardly Wait to Be Kissed." ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chyler Leigh, Chris Evans, (more)
Director Roger Donaldson teams up with star Kevin Costner for another political thriller (after their 1987 pairing, No Way Out), only this time with a film based on the actual events surrounding the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, taking place during the titular thirteen days wherein the U.S. and the Soviet Union nearly engaged in full-scale nuclear war. After President John F. Kennedy (Bruce Greenwood) is shown photographs from a spy plane detailing the presence of missiles in Cuba capable of obliterating massive areas of the U.S., he must immediately decide the most effective course of action for the country. With the aid of best friend and special assistant Kenny O'Donnell (Kevin Costner) and brother Robert (Steven Culp), the President must avoid a dire chain of events that could be dictated by General Curtis LeMay (Kevin Conway), who would rather take immediate action and invade Cuba. After initial reticence about leaking the information to the nation, President Kennedy eventually tells of the conflict, leading to widespread panic and a blockade of Cuba. With the aid of Robert McNamara (Dylan Baker) and Adlai Stevenson (Michael Fairman), the leaders must find a way to alleviate the tension of the situation. Thirteen Days also features Walter Adrian as Lyndon Johnson. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood, (more)
- 2000
In this concluding episode of a two-part "crossover" story which began on Law & Order's sister series Law & Order: SVU, the D.A.'s office endeavors to connect the murder of a salesman with the politically influential Mulroney family. Despite pressure brought to bear by powerful matriarch Regina Mulroney (Jane Alexander), A.D.A. Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) refuses to drop the prosecution. Featured in the cast are SVU regulars Richard Belzer (as Detective John Munch), Christopher Meloni (Detective Elliot Stabler), Mariska Hargitay (Detective Olivia Bensen), and Dann Florek (Captain Don Cragen). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2000
Abby (Maura Tierney) and her bipolar mom, Maggie (Sally Field), have a tense confrontation just before Thanksgiving. In a less serious but similar vein, Chen (Ming-Na) uses a family Thanksgiving party as an opportunity to reveal her pregnancy to her mother (Nancy Kwan). Back at the ER, Abby barely survives an explosion in Exam Three; Carter (Noah Wyle) searches for a drug addict that has checked out of the hospital too soon; and Greene (Anthony Edwards) is informed of the severity of his current illness. "Rescue Me" is dedicated to the memory of guest star Anthony Lee (here seen in the role of Mr. Floryea), who was killed shortly before the episode aired. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1999
In this first episode of a two-part story, Ross' (George Clooney) maverick behavior catches up with him when his unauthorized treatment of ALD patient Ricky Abbott (Kyle Chambers) has fatal consequences. This tragedy has long-reaching consequences for others in the ER, beginning with the closing of Carol's (Julianna Margulies) free clinic. Elsewhere, former antagonists Carter (Noah Wyle) and Lucy (Kellie Martin) grow quite fond of one another; Benton (Eriq La Salle) all but depletes his bank account to pay for a sign-language tutor (Marlee Matlin) so that he can communicate with his son, Reese; and Nigerian janitor Mobelage (Djimon Hounsou) balks at telling his wife the real reason that he suffers from severe back pains and impotence. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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