William H. Macy
A sheltered teenager with a weak heart discovers that there is more to life than he ever imagined when he becomes smitten with a world-weary, alcoholic ex-stripper. Milla Jovovich stars as the exotic dancer who becomes charmed by the infatuated teen's naïveté, with Mos Def, Steve Buscemi, and William H. Macy rounding out the cast of a coming-of-age drama that marks the directorial debut of longtime actor Macy. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Buscemi, Mos Def, (more)
A suburban boy gets everything he wishes for after being bonked in the head with a rainbow-tinted rock in this family comedy from writer/director Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids). Jon Cryer, William H. Macy, Leslie Mann, and James Spader topline the cast, which also includes Jimmy Bennett, Kat Dennings, and Rebel Rodriguez. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Cryer, William H. Macy, (more)
With prom right around the corner, a young man not only has to worry about finding a date, but is forced to wrestle with the crumbling marriage of his parents (William H. Macy and Cheryl Hines) in this Plum Pictures comedy from writer/director Brian Hecker (Family Attraction). ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William H. Macy, Cheryl Hines, (more)
- 2008
- PG13
- AddThe Lonely Maidento Queue
Three security guards (Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken, and William H. Macy) scheme to steal their favorite pieces of artwork that their museum is about to relinquish to another gallery in this Peter Hewitt-helmed crime-comedy. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken, (more)
His career in an uncontrollable downward spiral, a hapless Hollywood producer cons a major studio into financing a $100 million action film following the adventures of 19th century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, only to find his swindle taking a sudden turn for the worse when his star is kidnapped and the production is shut down. Now left with few other options for resuscitating his flat-lining career, the producer aligns himself with a well-connected Hollywood studio executive in a clandestine attempt to finance another, wholly different film by utilizing the blocked studio funds. William H. Macy and Meg Ryan star in The Wool Cap director Steven Schachter's comic look at the twisted side of Hollywood politics. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William H. Macy, Meg Ryan, (more)
A devoted Irish-American mother (Patricia Clarkson) wages a tenacious battle to get her two disabled twin daughters (Dakota and Elle Fanning) into the public school system in director Arvin Brown's heartfelt docudrama. William H. Macy, Chris Cooper, and Laura San Giacomo co-star in a film produced by Andrea Simon and written by Marianne Leone. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, (more)
The heart-rending documentary Darius Goes West: The Roll of His Life opens with the assertion that 15-year-old Darius Weems, a wheelchair-bound, African American young man stricken with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, has never left Georgian soil. To rectify this (and give Darius an experience he will never forget), 11 of his counselor friends from a grassroots organization called Project Reach pile into a handicap-accessible RV with Darius and hit the road, embarking on a cross-country trip from Athens, Georgia to Southern California, where they hope to convince the MTV network's Pimp My Ride series to customize Darius's wheelchair. The journey (which includes stops at such locales as The Grand Canyon; Windsor Springs, Colorado; and Las Vegas) draws the men closer together and gives them a renewed appreciation for life. Along the way, they encounter unexpected help and friendship from such celebrities as William H. Macy, Felicity Huffman and Michael Jackson, and raise much-needed public awareness of muscular dystrophy. Logan Smalley directs. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
A mismatched group of bored suburbanites longing to escape the stress of their daily lives and embrace the freedom of the open road finds that it takes more than polished chrome and leather jackets to truly experience the biker lifestyle in this revved-up road comedy starring John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, and William H. Macy. Upon trading the comfort of their couches for the thunderous rumble of two-wheeled street machines, these four adventurous riders cross paths with the notorious Del Fuegos -- an authentic biker gang that doesn't take kindly to the weekend warrior type. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Allen, John Travolta, (more)
Barry B. Benson (voice of Jerry Seinfeld) is your average honeybee. Despite having recently received his diploma from bee college and being virtually guaranteed a bright future in honey, Barry feels he has the skills to pursue a number of different career paths and resents the fact that his employment opportunities are strictly limited to producing the sweet nectar. Upon breaking away from the hive and developing a friendship with an insect-loving New York florist (voice of Renée Zellweger), Barry makes the shocking discovery that human beings eat honey in mass quantities. Having finally found his calling in life, the infuriated Barry decides to sue the human race for stealing all of the honey that his fellow bees work so hard to produce. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Seinfeld, Renée Zellweger, (more)

- 2006
- AddChoose Your Own Adventure: The Abominable Snowmanto QueueAddChoose Your Own Adventure: The Abominable Snowmanto top of Queue
For movie lovers who like to be put right in the middle of all the onscreen action, actors William H. Macy, Frankie Muniz, and Lacey Chabert team up to bring one of the most popular book series ever to the screen with an interactive release that allows viewers to explore the legend of the abominable snowman. Uncle Rudy (Macy) is an adventurer of the highest order, but something has gone horrible wrong during his latest excursion into the Himalayan Mountains, and now it's up to youngsters Benjamin (Muniz), Crista (Chabert), and Marco (Daryl Sabara) to venture into the harsh mountain terrain to save their uncle and find out if there's any truth behind the legend of the yeti. The voyage won't be easy, though, and in order to make it out of the mountains alive the kids will have to navigate thundering avalanches, thwart malevolent poachers, and fend off hungry tigers. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Inspired by the series of popular children's books created by H.A. Rey and Margret Rey in 1941, the daily, half-hour Curious George was the second animated TV version of the venerable property. Narrated by actor William H. Macy, the two short cartoon segments per half-hour episode found mischievous "four-handed" monkey Curious George going through his time-honored paces, all the while gleaning valuable insights about science, math, and design-engineering concepts. Generally George had to have his enthusiasm curbed by the ubiquitous Man in the Yellow Hat, but he always managed to absorb an educational concept that could be easily grasped by the series' two- to six-year-old target audience. The end of each episode featured live-action segments showing children applying whatever they'd learned during the animated segments. Produced by Universal Home Entertainment, Imagine Entertainment, and WGBH-Boston, Curious George made its PBS debut on September 4, 2006, not long after a CGI-animated feature-film version of the same property was released theatrically. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William H. Macy
A man at the end of his emotional rope finally explodes, but not in a way anyone would have expected in this offbeat independent drama. Bob Maconel (Christian Slater) is a middle-aged nebbish working in an office building where few people know who he is and fewer still care. Bob has developed a seething hatred and resentment of those around him, and has taken to carrying a gun to work in the hope that one day he'll have the courage to take down some of his co-workers. However, one day another man working in the office snaps and opens fire; Bob grabs his weapon and kills the shooter, but not before the gunman wounds Vanessa (Elisha Cuthbert), a pretty girl who works there. Bob unwittingly becomes a hero, and is applauded for stopping the menace and saving Vanessa's life. However, as Bob keeps an eye on Vanessa at the hospital (where she may now be paralyzed for life), his sudden transformation in the eyes of others only leaves him more unsettled and disturbed. Also starring William H. Macy and Jamison Jones, He Was A Quiet Man received its world premiere at the 2007 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christian Slater, Elisha Cuthbert, (more)
A young baseball fan sets out on a cross-country quest to recover Babe Ruth's stolen bat and restore his father's good name in a computer animated family adventure that shows you're never too young to be a hero. Yankee Irving (voice of Jake T. Austin) may not be the best base-runner in his neighborhood, but his love of the game is about to lead him on the adventure of a lifetime when a legendary baseball bat is stolen from Yankee stadium on his father's watch. Now determined to get back the bat from the crooked security guard who swiped it (voice of William H. Macy) and place it back in the grip of the best hitter in baseball history, young Yankee is about to find out just what it's really like to walk out on the diamond to the sounds of a thousand cheering fans. Filmed under the title Yankee Irving and originally slated to be directed by the late Christopher Reeve, Everyone's Hero was completed by directors Colin Brady and Dan St. Pierre when Reeve passed away as the result of a heart attack in 2004, and features additional voice work by actors Whoopi Goldberg, Mandy Patinkin, Raven, the late Dana Reeve, Rob Reiner, and Brian Dennehy. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rob Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, (more)
Cinema of the surreal icon David Lynch follows up the success of his critically acclaimed 2001 feature Mulholland Drive with this dark mystery, shot on a handheld Sony PD150 digital video recorder. It is the tale of an actress whose personality becomes increasingly fragmented as she delves ever deeper into her work for a high-profile filmmaker. Kingsley (Jeremy Irons) is a director looking to adapt for the screen a Polish gypsy folktale that was previously stalled when the two leads were viciously murdered. Having offered the female lead to devoted actress Nikki (Laura Dern), Kingsley warns her male co-star, Devon (Justin Theroux), to maintain his professional distance, as Nikki's husband (Peter J. Lucas) is known to be notoriously possessive. As the passionate co-stars quickly cross the line and become lovers, Nikki's slowly slipping sense of reality causes her to eventually become lost in her character while the mysterious story of a Polish couple and a trio of giant stage-bound rabbits (voices of Naomi Watts, Scott Coffey, and Laura Harring) lounge around on the sofa and tend to their domestic duties. Shot over the course of two and a half years and without a formalized script, Lynch's hallucinogenic look at a doomed film project features all of the abstract imagery and strange symbolism that have long made the director a favorite of film fans who embrace his disorienting approach to unconventional storytelling. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons, (more)
Twenty-two people become unwitting participants in a tragic and defining moment of the 1960's in this period drama from actor and director Emilio Estevez. It's early June in 1968, and the California presidential primary elections are occupying the minds of many in the Golden State, with Robert F. Kennedy in a close race against Eugene McCarthy and Hubert Humphrey. The Kennedy campaign staff has set up camp at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, while the staff and guests become observers as the brother of fallen president John F. Kennedy sets out to pick up where his sibling left off. Paul (William H. Macy) is the manager of the Ambassador, and his wife Miriam (Sharon Stone) is a hairdresser who runs's the hotel's beauty salon. Angela (Heather Graham) is a receptionist working the hotel's switchboard who has been sleeping with Paul behind Miriam's back. Timmons (Christian Slater) is in charge of the hotel's restaurant and catering department, and makes no secret of his dislike of the African-Americans and Latinos under his employ. Miguel (Jacob Vargas) and Jose (Freddy Rodriguez) are two young Chicanos on the kitchen staff who have it in for Timmons, while Robinson (Laurence Fishburne) is an older black man who counsels them on dealing with their rage. Virginia Fallon (Demi Moore) sings in the hotel's cocktail lounge and has a serious problem with alcohol; her husband Tim (Emilio Estevez) is a Kennedy supporter and also her manager, and he's nearing the end of his rope in dealing with her problem. William (Elijah Wood) is a young man desperate to avoid being drafted and sent to Vietnam; Diane (Lindsay Lohan) is a pretty young woman dating William's brother who agrees to marry him so William can avoid being drafted, though William is clearly infatuated with her while she considers this a marriage in name only. John Casey (Anthony Hopkins) is one of the owners of the Ambassador, and Nelson (Harry Belafonte) is an old friend who works at the hotel. And Jack (Martin Sheen) is a wealthy Kennedy campaign financier who is married to Samantha (Helen Hunt), an attractive but much younger woman. Bobby also features Joshua Jackson, Nick Cannon and Shia LaBeouf as young Kennedy campaign volunteers, while Ashton Kutcher, Joy Bryant, Kip Pardue and Mary Elizabeth Winstead also highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Belafonte, Joy Bryant, (more)
Matthew McConaughey stars as explorer and adventurer Dirk Pitt in this adaptation of the best-selling novel by Clive Cussler. Pitt thinks he may have found both a fortune and the answer to a long-standing mystery when he discovers a rare coin in the waters of a river in West Africa. During the Civil War, an ironclad battleship with a valuable cargo went missing, and Pitt's theory is that the coin places the ship somewhere in the Sahara Desert. Pitt and his goofy sidekick, Al Giordino (Steve Zahn), set out to find it, but along the way they make the acquaintance of Dr. Eva Rojas (Penélope Cruz), a scientist and physician who is trying to determine the source of a strange and deadly disease sweeping the nation. As Eva joins Dirk and Al, they begin to wonder if the mysteries they're trying to uncover might be somehow linked. Sahara was only the second of Cussler's Dirk Pitt adventures to be adapted for the screen; the first, 1980's Raise the Titanic, was publicly dismissed by the author. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew McConaughey, Steve Zahn, (more)
The first film by Duncan Tucker, Transamerica stars Felicity Huffman as a pre-operative transsexual named Bree (whose given name was Stanley). One week before going under the knife, Bree learns that she fathered a boy who is now 17 and is in trouble with the law. Bree would like to ignore this information, but is forced to meet the young man, Toby (played by Kevin Zegers), by her analyst Margaret (Elizabeth Peña), who will not allow the surgery to happen unless Bree meets him and confronts this aspect of her past. Upon meeting, the son believes that Bree is simply a do-gooder. She buys a car and the two road-trip back to her home in Los Angeles, Bree all the while attempting to keep from Toby the truth of the situation. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Felicity Huffman, Kevin Zegers, (more)
David Mamet wrote the screenplay for this adaptation of his play about a man who suddenly stumbles into a new and dangerous life. Edmond Burke (William H. Macy) is on his way home from work one evening when he impulsively stops to have his fortune read by a woman who informs him, "You are not where you belong." When he does arrive home, Edmond soon falls into an argument with his wife (Rebecca Pidgeon), and he storms out into the city, where he stops at a bar for a few drinks. There, Edmond finds himself talking with a man (Joe Mantegna) who freely shares his racist views about the role of African-Americans in society, and suddenly Edmond begins letting go of the sense of self-control that has always governed his actions. After a crawl through the city's underbelly of watering holes, strip clubs, gambling dens, and brothels, Edmond comes face to face with the violence of this world, and unexpectedly finds himself responding in kind. Edmond also stars Julia Stiles, Denise Richards, Mena Suvari, Bai Ling, and Dylan Walsh; it was directed by Stuart Gordon, who worked often with David Mamet during their early days at Chicago's Organic Theater Company. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William H. Macy, Joe Mantegna, (more)
The directorial debut from Jason Reitman, the media satire Thank You for Smoking stars Aaron Eckhart as Nick, a man who has turned spinning news and information into a successful career for the tobacco lobby. He plots strategies with his colleagues (Maria Bello and David Koechner) on how to make other dangerous products more appealing to the American public. Nick ends up going to Hollywood with his young son (Cameron Bright) in order to get a movie producer to include characters smoking in his newest film. Nick is kidnapped by a vigilante group concerned about the harmful nature of his product. The cast includes William H. Macy as a Senator who runs on a strong anti-tobacco position, Rob Lowe as the Hollywood bigwig, and Robert Duvall as the king of the tobacco industry. The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Christopher Buckley. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, (more)
Created for the TNT television network, The Wool Cap is a remake of the 1962 film Gigot, which was written by and starred the legendary Jackie Gleason. This time around, it's Academy Award-nominee and Emmy winner William H. Macy (Fargo) handling the lead role, as well as teleplay and producer duties. Macy stars as Gigot, a curmudgeonly mute who works as the super at a worn-down apartment building. After living a lonely existence for most of his years, Gigot finds his life turned upside-down when he unwittingly finds himself in the care of a precocious young girl named Lou (Keke Palmer). Also starring Ned Beatty and Catherine O'Hara, The Wool Cap netted a 2005 Golden Globe nod for Macy. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William H. Macy, Keke Palmer, (more)
A plucky little girl and her dog join their magical pals to save the world in the computer-animated comedy-adventure for the whole family. The Enchanted Village is a happy place ruled by the good-natured wizard Zebedee where young Florence and her dog, Doogal, come to play with their friends, including opera-singing cow Ermintrude, beatnik rabbit Dylan, and Brian the Snail, a sloppy sort who has a crush on Ermintrude. However, life in the Enchanted Village takes a turn for the worse when Zebedee's evil brother, Zeebad, arrives, freezing the town under a layer of ice and bringing the magic merry-go-round to a halt. Zeebad is searching for three magical jewels that will give him the power to freeze the whole world and rule the Earth, but Zebedee is able to thaw out himself, Florence, and her friends, and they join forces aboard the Magic Train in a bid to stop the villain before it's too late. Doogal is based on The Magic Roundabout, a children's television series from the 1960s in which a handful of wooden stop-motion figures enjoyed whimsical adventures; produced in France, the program enjoyed massive popularity in Great Britain, where actor Eric Thompson provided narration, voiced all the characters, and invented new stories to fit the action. (The film was also called The Magic Roundabout for its U.K. release.) In the film's British release, Kylie Minogue provided the voice of Florence, Ian McKellen voiced Zebedee, Robbie Williams spoke for Doogal, Joanna Lumley read Ermintrude, Bill Nighy voiced Dylan, and Jim Broadbent contributed the voice of Brian. Several characters were given new voices for the film's American release, with Whoopi Goldberg taking over as Ermintrude, William H. Macy as Brian, Jimmy Fallon as Dylan, and Jon Stewart as Zeebad. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Baker, Jon Stewart, (more)
Based on the best-selling novel by author Scott Turow, this four-hour miniseries tells the tale of a lawyer determined to find the evidence that will deliver the potentially innocent convicted murderer from a grim walk down the silent halls of death row. The date of execution is drawing ever closer, and mentally challenged convict Romeo "Squirrel" Gandalf's (Glenn Plummer) lawyer, Arthur Raven (William H. Macy), stumbles across evidence indicating that his client was framed for the murder. Though Raven sees the case as clear cut, he has underestimated the determination of original prosecuting lawyer Muriel Wynn (Monica Potter) and her lover, Larry Starczek (Tom Selleck), who also happens to be the original investigating officer in the case and is resolute in seeing the case followed through and the original verdict upheld. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William H. Macy, Tom Selleck, (more)
David Mamet writes and directs the political thriller Spartan. Respected Secret Service agent Robert Scott (Val Kilmer) is assigned to the kidnapping case of Laura Newton (Kristen Bell), the missing daughter of a high-ranking political figure. Scott is teamed up with rookie Curtis (Derek Luke). Aided by the FBI and the CIA, the team discovers a human trafficking operation that may lead to Laura's kidnappers. Meanwhile, political operative Stoddard (William H. Macy) refuses to cooperate with the rescue mission. Scott and Curtis are forced to quit the investigation when the media reports Laura's death. Believing her to be alive, Curtis is motivated to start up a dangerous unofficial investigation of his own. Spartan premiered at the Bangkok International Film Festival in 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Val Kilmer, Derek Luke, (more)
A thin thread of electronic data may be the only thing that can save a women and her family in this thriller. Jessica Martin (Kim Basinger) is a biology teacher who is kidnapped by Ethan (Jason Statham), a vicious criminal who has threatened to murder her husband and son if he doesn't get what he wants. Ethan destroys the only working telephone in the cabin where she's held, but Jessica manages to put enough of the pieces together to send out a call that's picked up by Ryan (Chris Evans), a college student, on his cellular phone. Jessica manages to convince Ryan of the gravity of her situation, but she has no idea of where she's being held, leaving his cell phone as the only link to her whereabouts -- and his batteries are starting to wear out. Cellular was scripted by Larry Cohen, the exploitation film auteur who enjoyed a major comeback with his script for another telephone-based story, Phone Booth. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kim Basinger, Chris Evans, (more)
Writer/director Wayne Kramer offers a glimpse into the aging Las Vegas casino world with the romantic drama The Cooler. Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy) is extremely unlucky at gambling, and he owes the Shangri-La casino over 100,000 dollars. He is so unlucky that he is hired as a "cooler," someone to gamble next to high rollers and give them some of his bad luck to stop them from winning. This arrangement works out for awhile, until Bernie has almost paid off his debt and meets cocktail waitress Natalie Belisario (Maria Bello). The two start to fall in love and Bernie's luck begins to change. However, the old-fashioned mob boss Shelly Kaplow (Alec Baldwin) isn't going to let Bernie go so easily. Meanwhile, Larry Sokolov (Ron Livingston) arrives on the scene to help update the business management of the old mobster-run casino. Also starring Joey Fatone and Paul Sorvino as lounge singers. The Cooler was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize in the dramatic competition at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William H. Macy, Maria Bello, (more)


























