Amber Heard Movies
An actress who first fell into her screen niche playing beautiful and voluptuous teenage girlfriends, Amber Heard was blessed with a visage that seemed tailor-made for modeling, and indeed she began her ascent to fame on that route. The Austin, TX, native reportedly dropped out of high school a year early and made a beeline for Los Angeles, her eyes fixed on glossies and catwalks. That dream failed to materialize, but in seemingly no time at all, Heard received a bid to act instead. She garnered two of her first major breaks when cast as the lead in the teen slasher movie All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (produced 2006, released 2008) and when she landed a key regular role on Kevin Williamson's short-lived prime-time soap Hidden Palms (2007). The cancellation of that series aside, 2007-2008 actually represented a watershed period for Heard, and one that witnessed the actress' enlistment in such big-screen features as Day 73 With Sarah (2007), The Beautiful Ordinary (2007), Never Back Down (2008), and the David Gordon Green-Judd Apatow crime comedy The Pineapple Express (2008), as the love interest of a stoner played by Apatow mainstay Seth Rogen. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
An unattainable teenage beauty whose etherial allure is so potent that it has drawn some men to their doom goes on a weekend trip with her popular new friends with tragic results in the feature debut of filmmaker Jonathan Levine. Sixteen-year-old Mandy Lane (Amber Heard) is an earthbound angel who has been courted by every available man in her small Texas town to no avail. When the normally reclusive enchantress reluctantly agrees to accompany her new friends on a weekend getaway, the initially irritating adolescent advances made toward her rapidly turn menacing. As the sun falls behind the hills and a volatile mix of drugs, alcohol, and hormones turns explosive, the irreversible propositions of her peers lead to unexpected, and horrifying, consequences. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amber Heard, Anson Mount, (more)
- 2007
Prolific screenwriter Brent Hanley (Frailty, Masters of Horror: Family) makes the leap into the director's chair with this short film concerning a young girl (Elle Fanning) who teams with her dead father (Jonathan Tucker) to free herself and her mother (Amber Heard) from an abusive relationship. In attempting to escape the tyrannical grip of her violent stepfather, however, the girl soon finds that her unique plan has some unexpected consequences. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elle Fanning, Amber Heard, (more)
H.G. Bissinger's best-selling true-life account of a few months in the life of a high-school football team comes to the screen in this adaptation written and directed by Peter Berg. Odessa, TX, is an oil town in the western part of the state that's home to the Permian High School Panthers, the football team with the best winning record in the state. Odessa is a town with more than its share of problems; the decline of the oil business in Texas has set the city's economy into a tailspin, and racial tensions still erupt into violence on occasion. But football is the one thing that brings all the people of Odessa together, and on Friday nights every fall, as many as 20,000 people fill Permian's football stadium to watch Coach Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton) and his boys try to lead the team to victory. As Gaines works to build a winning team in a town where victory is prized above all else, however, his players struggle through the emotional trials common to any teenager and ponder the fact that there is little future in their hometown...and that a championship season can be as much a burden as a triumph. Friday Night Lights also stars Lucas Black, Derek Luke, Jay Hernandez, and country singer-turned-actor Tim McGraw. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Bob Thornton, Derek Luke, (more)
- 2007
Originally titled Palm Springs, the CW teen-angst series Hidden Palms would seem to have been a bid by producer-creator Kevin Williamson to replicate the success and appeal of his earlier TV hit Dawson's Creek. The series also served to reunite two former stars of the similar series The O.C., Taylor Handley and Michael Cassidy. Handley was cast as rebellious high schooler Johnny Miller, who after witnessing his dad's suicide and spending a lot of time in rehab, was relocated by his mother Karen (Gail O'Grady) and his stepdad Bob (D.W. Moffett) to one of the wealthier sections of Palm Springs, California. During an inordinately troublesome period of adjustment, Johnny made the acquaintance of Cliff Wiatt (Handley), a handsome preppie with a pronounced "dark side." Along the way, our hero dallied with Greta Matthews (Amber Heard), whose gorgeousness was counterbalanced by her weirdness, and with Nikki Barnes (Tessa Thompson), another misfit fresh out of rehab. Also carrying a torch for Johnny was the community's resident science nerd Liza Witter (Ellery Porterfield), who spent much of her leisure time mixing strange chemicals. Amidst all the raging hormones and intramural romances and rivalries, the cast members managed to get themselve involved in a murder mystery. And oh yes, all the younger characters paraded around in microscopic swimwear (surprise, surprise). Debuting May 30, 2007, Hidden Palms bounced all over the CW nighttime schedule until its cancellation on July 4 of that year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Cassidy, Taylor Handley, (more)
An outsider teen acclimating to a new school finds a home in a reclusive teenaged fight club in this drama from Cry_Wolf director Jeff Wadlow. Jake Tyler (Sean Faris) has just moved with his family to Orlando, FL. While Jake isn't exactly comfortable being the new kid in town, his younger brother, Charlie (Wyatt Smith), is an aspiring professional tennis star who might just have what it takes to break big. But Charlie isn't the only talented athlete in the family, because Jake used to be something of a hotshot on the gridiron -- at least back home. Here in Orlando, Jake is considered something of a hothead thanks to his penchant for brawling. In an attempt to better fit in with his new classmates, Jake accepts flirtatious classmate Baja's (Amber Heard) invitation to a raucous party. There, the short-fused newcomer is lured into a fight and badly beaten by local bully Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet). But a beam of hope shines through the humiliation when a classmate who sees potential in the defeated fighter informs Jake of a local MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) program run by Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou). Despite Jake's preconceived notions regarding MMA, he quickly discovers that it's not just another form of street fighting but a rich new art form that he longs to master. As Roqua takes Jake under his tutelage, it soon becomes apparent that in order to become a true MMA champion, Jake will have to learn patience, discipline, willingness, and reason. This isn't just a quest for revenge, but an opportunity for Jake to finally find out what kind of man he truly is. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Faris, Amber Heard, (more)
A fictionalized account of one of America's most groundbreaking sexual harassment lawsuits comes to the screen in this hard-hitting drama. In the late '80s, Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron) fled her abusive husband, and needed to find a way to support her two children. Aimes returned to her hometown in Minnesota and followed the lead of her old friend Glory (Frances McDormand), who had bucked tradition and found a job in the iron mines that had long provided employment for much of the community. Aimes found honest labor and a living wage working the mines, but she also discovered she was working with men who were uncomfortable working with women (whose right to work in the mines had been mandated by law almost 15 years prior), and didn't care to show them much respect. However, as Aimes found herself the growing target of sexist jokes and abhorrent behavior, she found that many of her female co-workers were reluctant to stand beside her, afraid of losing a good-paying job at a time when they were increasingly hard to find. But as a personal crisis became a public war of words, Aimes became the center of a nationwide controversy when she attempted to file a class action sexual harassment suit against the mine owners, which put her and her family in a position of scrutiny beyond her worst expectations. North Country also stars Sean Bean, Sissy Spacek, and Woody Harrelson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlize Theron, Frances McDormand, (more)
Critically acclaimed director David Gordon Green takes a break from the brooding drama that defined such early efforts as George Washington and Undertow for this action-flavored buddy comedy concerning two pot-smoking friends (Seth Rogen and James Franco) who unwittingly become involved with a vicious gang of drug dealers. Judd Apatow and Shauna Robertson produce a script co-penned by star Rogen and Evan Goldberg. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Seth Rogen, James Franco, (more)
- 2007
- R
The feature debut from writer/director Jess Manafort, this bittersweet teen comedy centers on a group of kids on the last day of school in 1999. With an ensemble cast featuring Lyndsy Fonseca, Amber Heard, and Alexa Vega, the film follows several students as they relish the advent of summer vacation and struggle with drugs, sex, and the unpredictability of the future before them. The Beautiful Ordinary screened at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amber Heard, Alexa Vega, (more)
A collection of Bret Easton Ellis' short stories are adapted for the screen by Ellis and Nicholas Jarecki and helmed by Gregor Jordan in The Informers, a Senator Entertainment ensemble film featuring Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, and Winona Ryder. The film observes the goings-on during a week in Los Angeles in 1983, with many intersecting characters including a kidnapper, movie executives, rock stars, and other freewheeling, morally loose individuals. Austin Nichols, Jon Foster, and Amber Heard co-star. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, (more)
- 2010
Matt Leutwyler directs this adaptation of David James Duncan's novel surrounding a young man's (Zach Gilford) search for a rainbow trout. William Hurt co-stars as the man's father, while Amber Heard fills the role of the character's tomboy love interest. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zach Gilford, William Hurt, (more)
- 2009
- PG13
- Add The Stepfather to Queue
When a teenage boy (Penn Badgley) begins to suspect that his new stepfather (Dylan Walsh) is a notorious serial killer who preys on broken families, he races to gather the evidence that will back up his radical claim before it's too late. The 1987 thriller that shot Lost star Terry O'Quinn to cult stardom serves as inspiration for this remake penned by J.S. Cardone and directed by Nelson McCormick. Sela Ward, Jon Tenney, and Amber Heard co-star in a Screen Gems release. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dylan Walsh, Sela Ward, (more)
- 2009
- R
- Add Zombieland to Queue
A cowardly shut-in named Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) is forced to join up with a seasoned zombie slayer named Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) in order to survive the zombie apocalypse. As Tallahassee sets out on a mission to find the last Twinkie on Earth, the duo meets up with Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), two young girls who have resorted to some rather unorthodox methods to survive amidst the chaos. Reluctant partners in the battle against the undead, all four soon begin to wonder if it might be better to simply take their chances alone. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, (more)
