Sheryl Lee Movies
American actress Sheryl Lee has come a long way since her screen debut as the enigmatic, beautiful corpse of Laura Palmer, a murdered homecoming queen in David Lynch's surreal TV soap Twin Peaks (1990-1992). Later in the series, Lee got to play Laura's twin cousin, Madeleine Ferguson, until she too was slain. Though playing a dead girl may not have been the most ideal role, it earned Lee considerable fame, though she claims passerby recognizing her on the street would "look startled and look at me as if I were a ghost." She made her feature-film debut playing a supporting role in Lawrence Kasden's I Love You to Death (1990) and then played Glinda the Good Witch in Lynch's Wild at Heart (1990). Lee got to play an alive Laura Palmer in Lynch's panned feature-film prequel to his series, Twin Peaks: Firewalk With Me (1992). She has gone on to play the swinging German photographer who caused the "fifth Beatle" to leave the group in Back Beat (1994) and as Helga Noth in the screen adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's Mother Night (1996).Though she has appeared in these and other relatively mainstream films, Lee is perhaps best known for appearing in American independent features such as Fall Time (1995) and Notes From the Underground (1996). In addition to her filmwork, Lee also performs in television movies and on-stage. One of her more famous stage roles was that of the title role in the New York production of Salome in which she starred opposite Al Pacino. As her career progresses, Lee has gained a reputation for appearing nude on stage, screen, and television. Though she claims she hates it, the nudity she displays is never exploitative, rather she imbues it with an ethereal quality that defies tawdriness. In 1997, she appeared in the sexually frank drama Bliss as a frustrated wife who visits a tantric sex therapist to learn how to find fulfillment with her spouse. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
A serial killer shifts his focus from hunting female victims to stalking the two detectives attempting to end his reign of terror in this tense crime thriller inspired by actual events. When a secluded Texas marsh becomes the dumping ground for a murderous maniac who preys on young females, local homicide detective Mike Souder (Sam Worthington) teams up with transplanted New York City detective Brian Heigh (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) to put an end to the vicious killing spree. Meanwhile, the cunning psychopath quickly turns the tables on his pursuers with a tantalizing series of carefully placed clues. But when the elusive killer makes the fateful mistake of abducting a young girl (Chloë Grace Moretz), he severely underestimates the detectives' determination to bring her home alive. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sam Worthington, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, (more)
Her family home in danger of being repossessed after her meth-cooking dad skips bail and disappears, Ozark teen Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) breaks the local code of conduct by confronting her kin about their conspiracy of silence. Should she fail to track her father down, Ree Dolly, her younger siblings, and their disabled mother will soon be rendered homeless. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, (more)
Timothy Bottoms stars in this bittersweet drama about Mack Cameron, a famous Hollywood actor dealing with a midlife crisis and struggling marriage. When an on-location shoot lands him back in his small Texas hometown for the first time in years, Cameron gets answers to life's questions from some unexpected sources. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Timothy Bottoms, Sheryl Lee, (more)
- 2006
In an effort to teach House (Hugh Laurie) some humility, Cuddy (Lise Edelstein) and Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) neglect to tell him that he has correctly diagnosed (and indirectly cured) the previous episode's paralysis victim Richard--a strategy that enrages Cameron (Jennifer Morrison). Meanwhile, House's leg pains have returned and he's back on Vicodin, literally stealing the medication by forging prescriptions. The week's major medical mystery concerns seven-year-old Clancy (Skyler Gisondo), who has jumped from his bedroom window, convinced that space aliens are experimenting on him--and the boy's inexplicable bleeding, coupled with the titanium chip implanted in his neck, would seem to validate his fears. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Widely touted as NBC's answer to The Sopranos, the six-episode series Kingpin also drew heavily from the British mini-series Traffik. The nominal protagonist in this seamy, violent tale of a Mexican drug-trading family was Yancey Arias as Miguel Cadena, the Stanford-educated heir apparent to the Cardena criminal dynasty. Together with his icy, coke-addicted wife, Marlene (Sheryl Lee), Miguel coolly guided the destinies of his worldwide family business, eliminating enemies, friends, and loved ones alike to maintain his empire. Others in the cast included Bobby Cannavale as Miguel's vicious "enforcer" brother, Chato; Ruben Carbajal as Miguel and Marlene's disillusioned eight-year-old son, Joey; Angela Alvarado Rosa as relentless DEA agent Delia Flores; Brian Benben as the Cardenas' personal plastic surgeon, Dr. Heywood Klein; and Shay Roundtree as Texas-born torpedo Junie Gatling, who acted as a sounding board for the other characters. Among the creative contributors to the series was Allen Coulter, who direct several episodes of The Sopranos. Originally slated for a March 2003 debut, Kingpin was moved up to February 2, 2003 to take advantage of a traditional network "sweeps week." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Yancey Arias, Sheryl Lee, (more)
A boy in the deep South learns the joys and sorrows of first love in this comedy-drama based on the short story by Truman Capote. Billy Bob Murphy (Joe Pichler) is a thirteen-year-old boy growing up in a small Alabama town in 1947. Billy Bob's mother Elinore (Sheryl Lee) lost her husband during World War II, and has been struggling to raise her son on her own. Billy Bob's best friend is Preacher Star (Jesse Plemons); Preacher has a pronounced mischievous streak, which is hardly tempered by the fact his Dad has a drinking problem and his older brothers are teenage thugs in training. When thirteen-year-old Lily Jane Bobbitt (Tania Raymonde) moved into town with her mother, a strange woman who never speaks, both Billy Bob and Preacher are entranced; groomed to act like a "lady" and convinced she's destined for stardom in the movies, Lily Jane isn't like any of the girls in town. But Billy Bob not only has Preacher as a rival for Lily Jane's affections, his best friend's coarse personality makes her wonder if Billy Bob is the sort of young gentleman who is worthy of her company. Lily Jane also earns the enmity of many of her schoolmates when she befriends Sister Rosalba, a girl her age from the town's African-American neighborhood. As Billy Bob struggles with first love, he also has to deal with his mother's budding romance with Speedy, the local auto mechanic (Christopher McDonald. Children On Their Birthdays was the first film directed by Mark Medoff, a noted screenwriter and playwright who received an Oscar nomination for his work on the film Children Of A Lesser God. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 2001
Noted screenwriter Wesley Strick made his directorial debut with this offbeat suspense story. Ted (Anthony Michael Hall) and Eve (Sheryl Lee Diamond) are a couple who've just moved into a beautiful old house, which has an unusual feature in the basement -- a hidden bar room which was used as a "speakeasy" during Prohibition. Eve has for some time wondered if Ted is entirely faithful to her and she gets an answer when she's called to the hospital after Ted's been in a serious auto accident, and discovers his mistress is already at his bedside. Eve discovers Ted has been cheating on her with a variety of women for years and she decides to do something about it. Shortly after Ted is released, he mysteriously disappears and no one has any idea of where he's gone. While she isn't telling, Eve knows the truth about Ted -- she's locked him up in the basement speakeasy, and is keeping him captive so he can't run around on her. While Eve is happy to know where Ted is at all times, Police Detective Grant (Alex Carter) keeps popping by to ask questions, and Eve finds herself tempted by another man while struggling not to let down her guard. Hitched was produced for the USA cable network, where it first aired in 2001. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anthony Michael Hall, Sheryl Lee, (more)
- 1999
- NR
Love blooms for a would-be hired killer in Angel's Dance, which blends elements of a crime thriller with black comedy. Tony (Kyle Chandler) is offered a job with a powerful Mafia family after he saves the life of the capo's nephew, even though Tony isn't sure he's really interested in a life of crime. To give him a crash course in his new line of work, Tony is sent to L.A. to study with Rosellini (James Belushi), a hired killer of no small reputation. After assigning him Nietzsche as required reading and staging a few practice sessions with water pistols, Rosellini gives Tony his final homework project -- pick a name at random from the phone book, find the person, and kill him or her. The name Tony comes up with is Angelica Chase (Sheryl Lee), "Angel" to her friends. Tony finds Angel just in time to interrupt her latest suicide attempt; Angel is beautiful and charming, but an emotional wreck with eccentric tastes, a caffeinated personality, and a job at a mortuary (she even lives next door). Tony is immediately infatuated and can't bring himself to kill her, so Rosellini decides he has to take over the job, but to the surprise of everyone, Angel knows how to handle herself in a time of crisis. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Belushi, Sheryl Lee, (more)
A cold-blooded jewel thief seduces an innocent Death Valley girl longing to escape her bleak surroundings in this thriller, which proves temptation can come in all forms. In the aftermath of a jewel heist gone awry, Samantha leaves her dying boyfriend at the scene of the crime. Later, when Samantha's truck breaks down in the scorching heart of Death Valley, young, innocent June approaches her and the pair strikes up a fast friendship. Though June is immediately drawn to Samantha's free spirit, it doesn't take long for the murderous thief's dark side to emerge and plunge the pair into a harrowing journey from which there may be no return. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Barry Del Sherman, Brett Harrelson, (more)
Jeff (William L. Petersen) and Marty (Gary Cole) are two businessmen who are sent to the Philippines for a project. The two men share a growing disenchantment with their professional lives and the responsibilities of adulthood, so they impulsively go on a drug and alcohol-fueled bender in search of the lost freedom and joie de vivre of youth. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gary Cole, William Petersen, (more)
- 1998
This TV medical drama examines egos and ethics as a trio of doctors enter private practice. Doctors Roger Cattan (Ken Olin), Tim Lonner (Matt Craven), and Evan Newman (Rick Roberts) recruit Dr. Sarah Church (Sheryl Lee) to join their team, and they're in business -- occupying a posh office with dubious decor, and ready to display their bedside manners while building bank accounts. Will workaholic Sarah and sensitive, single-dad Newman become a twosome? Filmed in L.A., this series premiered September 21, 1998 on CBS. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ken Olin, Matt Craven, (more)
John Carpenter directed this horror-western, adapted from the novel Vampire$ by John Steakley, illuminating the pivotal figure of fearless vampire killer Jack Crow (James Woods), who lost his parents to the creatures. In a remote New Mexico location, Crow and his team, protected with chain-mail fang shields on their throats, blast away at a vampire nest, haul them out with the Jeep's winch, and then celebrate by pulling on other wenches at the Sun God Motel. Their revels are soon brought to an end by king vampire Valek (Thomas Ian Griffith), who became invulnerable after a bungled "inverse exorcism" during the 14th Century. Amid the motel mayhem, Jack escapes, along with his buddy Montoya (Daniel Baldwin) and hooker Katrina (Sheryl Lee). Since Katrina was already bitten by Valek, they use her as a decoy to locate Valek. Cardinal Alba (Maximilian Schell) sends padre Guiteau (Tim Guinee) to join Crow, who is unaware that Montoya has been bitten by Katrina. The hunt begins. Director Carpenter composed the film's music. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Woods, Daniel Baldwin, (more)
This made-for-tv relgious epic relates the life story of David, one of the Bible's most fascinating figures. David's life included a passionate affair with Bathsheba, an odds-defying defeat of Goliath, to a struggle with King Saul. This film, co-starring Jonathan Pryce, Leonard Nimoy, and Sheryl Lee touches upon these and many other aspects of his existence. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- 1997
- R
Pulp fiction writer Jim Thompson's novels have been adapted into noirish movies such as The Grifters and this one, directed by Michael Oblowitz. This unusual dark tragedy is narrated by Marty (Billy Zane), a successful investigative reporter who is unhappy with his shy and sick wife. As children, Marty and his twin sister Carol (Gina Gershon) saw their father and his mistress murdered in their home. Their mother (Rue McClanahan) took the children on the road, and they had a tumultuous childhood before finally settling in a small town in California. Marty and Carol had an incestuous relationship, and now they resume it after Marty leaves his wife and job to visit his sister and mother. Carol has been divorced and has become a cheap hooker. Marty soon hooks up with a classy, highly professional policewoman, Lois Archer (Sheryl Lee), who has a secret need to treated abusively, and they spend decadent weekends together at a beach cottage that Lois and her husband own. Marty and Carol plot to get the cabin for themselves after Carol poisons a couple of gangsters who are horning in on her prostitution business. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Starring:
- Billy Zane, Gina Gershon, (more)
In this erotic drama, a couple who have devoted themselves to sexual freedom discover that their open relationship may have led them into dangerous waters. Fiona (Sheryl Lee) and Cyril (Charles Dance) are a married couple with an open relationship; they allow each other to pursue erotic pleasures with other partners at will, and they're eager to make the most of the opportunities that present themselves as they vacation in Italy. While in town, they meet Hugh (Colin Lane), a photographer travelling with his wife Catherine (Laila Robins) and their children. Fiona and Cyril discover that Hugh likes to photograph nude couples, and they eagerly invite him along for some fun and games at their rented villa, with blood oranges scattered around the floor. Before long, Fiona and Cyril discover that Hugh has a secret they never counted on. Based on a novel by John Hawkes, Blood Oranges has rather ornate dialogue that earned it some unintended laughs in its early screenings, especially when Cyril uses his favorite euphemism for having sex, "Tasting the love lunch." ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charles Dance, Colin Lane, (more)
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. once summarized the moral of his novel Mother Night like so: "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." In Keith Gordon's film adaptation of Vonnegut's book, Nick Nolte stars as Howard W. Campbell Jr., an American playwright living in Germany shortly before the U.S. entered World War II. Campbell is essentially apolitical; if he sometimes hobnobs with Nazi leaders, it's only because they're VIPs in his time, place, and social circle, and he cares for little besides his writing and his beloved wife Helga (Sheryl Lee). One day, Campbell is approached by Frank Wirtenan (John Goodman), an American intelligence agent who offers Campbell an unusual assignment -- a position as a radio commentator beaming Nazi propaganda broadcasts to U.S. troops across Europe, which in fact feature coded information that will aid the American war effort. Campbell agrees, but succeeds all too well -- he makes such a convincing Nazi sympathizer that at the end of the war, he finds it impossible to convince people he wasn't really a Nazi, and even those inclined to believe him feel he aided Germany as much as the Allies. After 15 years as a recluse in New York City, a racist tabloid prints a story about Campbell, and in 1961 he discovers himself behind bars, awaiting trial as a war criminal. Besides Nick Nolte, who gives an outstanding performance, the supporting cast also includes Alan Arkin, Frankie Faison, and Kirsten Dunst; Kurt Vonnegut Jr. also makes a cameo appearance. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nick Nolte, Sheryl Lee, (more)
A provocative drama about sex, love, and trust, Bliss concerns Joseph (Craig Sheffer) and Maria (Sheryl Lee), a young married couple whose relationship is in serious trouble. While they love each other, Maria has difficulty opening up to Joseph, and, after six months of marriage, he makes the unhappy discovery that she's been unable to have an orgasm with him (though she's been willing to let him think otherwise). At work, Joseph and his co-workers notice a steady stream of beautiful women visiting an apartment across the street; the scuttlebutt around the office is that some sort of shady sex therapist works out of the building. One day, Joseph is shocked to see Maria visiting the apartment, and he bursts in and demands to know what's happening. The apartment does indeed house an unlicensed sex therapist, who goes by the name of Balthazar (Terence Stamp), and, before long, Joseph realizes that Balthazar's teaching are about the mind as much as the body, and that he's less concerned with orgasm than with "bliss," which he considers an emotional and spiritual as well as physical state. Before long, Joseph has convinced Balthazar to teach him what he knows about tantric healing and sex, in the hope that he can help heal Maria's emotional scars, as well as help himself become a better man. Bliss was the debut feature for writer/director Lance Young. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Craig Sheffer, Sheryl Lee, (more)
In this violent thriller, three young men start a joke that quickly becomes more real (and more dangerous) than they'd ever anticipated. It's 1957, and three high school seniors celebrating their graduation think it would be fun to pull a prank; David (David Arquette), Tim (Jason London), and Joe (Jonah Blechman) will fake a robbery by driving up to a bank, "shooting" one of their number with a blank gun, and throwing him in the trunk before speeding away. But just as they're playing their practical joke, Florence (Mickey Rourke) and Leon (Stephen Baldwin) are pulling an actual armed robbery at the same bank. In the confusion, the boys get mixed up with the real criminals, who take the teenagers hostage. Florence, unstable and given to sadistic tendencies, subjects the boys to torture with a clear homoerotic undercurrent; eventually, Florence and Leon tell the boys they'll release them only if they pull an actual bank job. The boys grudgingly agree, but Tim ends up grabbing window teller Patty (Sheryl Lee) instead of the cash. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mickey Rourke, Stephen Baldwin, (more)
In the opening moments of this drama, we see a man brutally murder a woman, and in the story that follows, we look back at the events that led up to this tragedy as the killer awaits trial. Archie Landrum (Frank Whaley) is a brilliant mathematician who is socially inept and doesn't interact well with others. He takes a job as a caretaker at a ranch in New Mexico owned by Katherine Samuel (Blythe Danner). Archie has a good reason for wanting to work for Katherine; her daughter Lucy (Sheryl Lee) is the star of the TV show "Banyon's Band" and has appeared in a series of R-rated sexploitation films; Archie is obsessed with Lucy, and he hopes that working for her mother will bring him closer to her. Sure enough, Lucy comes to New Mexico to pay her mother an extended visit, but familial warmth is less a factor than Lucy's need to dry out from her periodic bouts with alcohol and drug abuse. Archie tries to ingratiate himself with Lucy, hoping that she might develop a romantic or sexual interest in him, but it soon becomes obvious that this is not to be. This does nothing to ease Archie's fascination with her; he begins spying on her and reading her diary, until the inevitable day when his obsession turns violent. Mark Medoff wrote the screenplay, adapted from his own play "The Homage That Follows;" Bruce Davidson appears as the public defender assigned to represent Archie in court. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Blythe Danner, Frank Whaley, (more)
This adaptation of Dostoevsky's novella does an exceptional job of retaining the multi-textured richness of the original story about the intimate thoughts of an anonymous lonely building inspector known only as the Underground Man. Everything about the misanthropic civil servant is dull and unpleasant. His job is boring and his only joy comes in using bureaucracy to spitefully torment contractors and architects who despise him. Realizing that he has no friends, the Underground Man does try to ingratiate himself with acquaintances and only ends up even more lonely and bitter. It does not help that he believes himself intellectually superior to those he encounters. He gets involved with a prostitute, Liza, whom he sees at a local brothel. His relationship with her is as complex as he is. On one hand he inflicts his seething rage and the pain of his isolation upon her; on the other, he cares about her and wants to help her escape her sordid situation. He decides to take her to his home, but once she is there, he finds that he is unable to overcome his misanthropy and ends up making her even more miserable. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Henry Czerny, Sheryl Lee, (more)
Sheryl Lee stars in this fact-based story of a colonial woman taken prisoner by a tribe of Shawnee Indians during the French and Indian War. After being abducted to the tribe's settlement in the wilds of Virginia, Mary Ingles (Lee) befriends a Dutch woman who is also being held captive, and the two manage to escape and work their way back home through the dangerous Virginia wilderness. Based upon the novel by James Alexander Thorn. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sheryl Lee, Ellen Burstyn, (more)
- 1994
- R
The secret longings of three young, hip L.A. couples provides the impetus of the conversations in lightweight drama which focuses upon the issue of commitment. One member of each couple, Suzanna and Dodger, Alicia and Robert, and Michelle and Charles secretly carries a torch for former lovers. It seems that while Suzanna begs for Dodger's attention, he is still attracted to Alicia, who's pregnant with Robert's child but hesitates to tell him because Robert is attracted to Michelle who is with Charles who still yearns for Suzanna. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Heather Graham, James LeGros, (more)
This made-for-TV romance is a reworking of the legend of King Arthur's queen and tells how she forsook her real love and married Arthur in order to bring England together. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sheryl Lee, Sean Patrick Flanery, (more)
The Beatles' early days as a struggling bar band are depicted in this fact-based drama, which tells the little-known story of original member Stuart Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff). A close friend of John Lennon, Sutcliffe acts as the band's original bassist, accompanying them on their early gigs in Liverpool and Hamburg, Germany. The friendship becomes strained, however, when Sutcliffe falls in love with a German art student and starts to question his commitment to the band. With Sutcliffe's story taking center stage, the stories of the more famous Beatles largely fade into the background. The exception is John Lennon, thanks to a fierce performance by Ian Hart, who had previously portrayed the musician in the more intimate and provocative The Hours and the Times. While Backbeat does provide a new perspective on the band's beginning, and numerous opportunities for a group of modern rock musicians to recreate the band's energetic early performances, it never makes Sutcliffe's story seem more than a footnote to musical history. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sheryl Lee, Stephen Dorff, (more)
The title character, a manic depressive prone to very irrational behavior (Richard Gere), is hospitalized for treatment. While there, the psychiatrist responsible for his rehabilitation (Lena Olin) becomes involved with him and cannot stand to allow his check-out. ~ John Bush, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Lena Olin, (more)
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