Mary Stuart Masterson Movies

With short blonde hair and a lean frame, Mary Stuart Masterson has played many tomboys throughout her acting career. Born to director Peter Masterson and actress Carlin Glynn, she made her film debut in The Stepford Wives at the age of nine. As a teenager, she appeared on Broadway in Alice in Wonderland and played tough girl Dani in Heaven Help Us. She studied anthropology at N.Y.U. and returned to acting in 1987 to star in Some Kind of Wonderful as quintessential '80s tomboy Watt, her most recognizable role. After appearing with her folks in Francis Ford Coppola's Gardens of Stone and opposite Robert Downey Jr. in Chances Are, she played a pregnant woman who gives up her baby to Glenn Close and James Woods in Immediate Family. The '90s saw good roles in successful movies like the ensemble comedy Married to It, the tearjerker Fried Green Tomatoes, and the offbeat romance Benny & Joon. However, she also appeared in some unsuccessful films like the revisionist Western Bad Girls and the sentimental romance Bed of Roses. She then turned to television for a lead in the TV period drama Lily Dale (directed by her father) and her own short-lived series, Kate Brasher. In 2000, she married television director Damon Santostefano and went on to win a Tony for her work in the Broadway musical revival Nine. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
1993  
 
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Johnny Depp was nominated for a Golden Globe for his astonishing performance in Benny & Joon, though the entire cast is equally impressive. Benny (Aidan Quinn) runs a small car repair shop. He must also take care of his mentally ill sister Juniper, better known as Joon (Mary Stuart Masterson). After losing a bet, Benny is forced to bring another eccentric into his house: Sam (Johnny Depp), the cousin of a friend. Not inclined to conversation, Sam expresses himself by performing Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton routines (and brilliantly!) Not surprisingly, he immediately hits it off with Joon. As Sam and Joon fall deeper in love, Benny for the first time in life experiences the pangs of jealousy. As can be gathered by this synopsis, Benny and Joon may not strike responsive chord with everyone; those who like the film, however, are almost militant in their devotion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Johnny DeppMary Stuart Masterson, (more)
1993  
R  
In this humorous documentary, Robert Downey, Jr. shares his views of politics, attitudes and himself while travelling across the country in 1992. He spends a special amount of time at the Democratic and Republican conventions. Downey includes brief interviews by such luminaries as Oliver Stone, Spike Lee, Jerry Falwell, and his father, Robert Downey, Sr. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Robert Downey, Jr.
1993  
R  
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Arthur Hiller directed this comedy/drama concerning three couples, thrown together by fate, who become friendly and help each other through their marriage difficulties. Claire (Cybill Shepherd) and Leo (Ron Silver) are a wealthy couple having trouble with a daughter from a previous marriage. John (Beau Bridges) and Iris (Stockard Channing) are a couple from the '60s who have weathered a relationship involving sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. Chuck (Robert Sean Leonard), a securities analyst, and Nina (Mary Stuart Masterson), a child psychologist, are newlyweds needing guidance through the pitfalls of married life. The couples meet on a committee formed at a PTA meeting. They find they like each other and invite each other to dinner parties. As they meet and talk with one another, they reveal their problems and help each other. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Beau BridgesStockard Channing, (more)
1992  
 
This 1992 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Mary Stuart Masterson and features musical guest En Vogue. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Mary Stuart MastersonEn Vogue, (more)
1992  
R  
Director Martin Donovan (real name Carlos Enrique Varela y Peralta-Ramos) directed this beautifully photographed western/horror amalgam. The story takes places in the American West in 1892. Jenny Hill (Mary Stuart Masterson) longs for the love of the local rough-and-tumble outlaw James Miller (Stephen Blake), who is also in love with her. But Jenny's mother (Fionnula Flanagan) doesn't approve, and instead marries Jenny off to James's half-brother Miller Brown (Hart Bochner), a polite and inarticulate farmer. Miller is in love with Jenny, but she can't stand his touch. Jenny begins to lapse into boredom until the full moon rises and she discovers Miller is a werewolf who spends his nights growling and baying at the moon, while Jenny remains locked inside their cabin. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Mary Stuart MastersonHart Bochner, (more)
1991  
PG13  
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A woman learns the value of friendship as she hears the story of two women and how their friendship shaped their lives in this warm comedy-drama. Evelyn Couch (Kathy Bates) is an emotionally repressed housewife with a habit of drowning her sorrows in candy bars. Her husband Ed (Gailard Sartain) barely acknowledges her existence, and while he visits his aunt at a nursing home every week, Evelyn is not permitted to come into the room because the old women doesn't like her. One week, while waiting out Ed's visit, Evelyn meets Ninny Threadgoode (Jessica Tandy), a frail but feisty old woman who lives at the same nursing home and loves to tell stories. Over the span of several weeks, she spins a whopper about one of her relatives, Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson). Back in the 1920s, Idgie was a sweet but fiercely independent woman with her own way of doing things who ran the town diner in Whistle Stop, Alabama. Idgie was very close to her brother Buddy (Chris O'Donnell), and when he died, she wouldn't talk to anyone except Buddy's girl, Ruth Jamison (Mary-Louise Parker). Idgie gave Ruth a job at the cafe after she left her abusive husband, Frank Bennett (Nick Searcy). Between her habit of standing up for herself, standing up to Frank, and serving food to Black people out the back of the diner, Idgie raised the ire of the less tolerant citizens of Whistle Stop, and when Frank mysteriously disappeared, many locals suspected that Idgie, Ruth, and their friends may have been responsible. Evelyn finds herself looking forward to her weekly visits with Ninny, and is inspired by her story to take a new pride in herself and assert her independence from Ed. Fried Green Tomatoes was based on the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by actress-turned-author Fannie Flagg, who makes a cameo appearance as the leader of a self-help group. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Kathy BatesJessica Tandy, (more)
1990  
PG13  
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The once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between star Gene Wilder and director Leonard Nimoy resulted in the charmingly haphazard and anachronistic Funny About Love. Wilder plays political cartoonist Duffy Bergman, who falls in love with much-younger Meg (Christine Lahti) during a book-signing session. Once married, the old "clash of careers" bugaboo arises: Meg wants to continue working as a chef in a fancy New York restaurant, while Duffy would prefer that she think about starting a family. When it seems as though Meg may be incapable of bearing children, the self-involved Duffy impregnates earthy college coed Daphne (Mary Stuart Masterson). How a happy ending can grow from this complication is a puzzlement. Funny About Love was based--extremely loosely--on a speech once delivered by Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene. The laughs tend to be sporadic, though Stephen Toblowsky scores high marks as a jocular fertility doctor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Gene WilderChristine Lahti, (more)
1989  
PG13  
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Glenn Close and James Woods star in this artery-clogging schmaltz about a childless couple who desperately want to have a baby. Linda (Close) and Michael Spector (Woods) are an upscale couple who have everything -- except a child. Linda mists over after she takes her temperature, plans the correct time for conception, and then her period starts. Despite medical intervention, the Spectors cannot conceive. They finally decide to adopt a child and meet the pregnant 17-year-old Lucy (Mary Stuart Masterson), who decides that the Spectors can provide a better home for her child than she and her boyfriend Sam (Kevin Dillon) could. The Spectors look Lucy over and determine -- since Lucy's mother died when she was seven -- to take care of her during her pregnancy. The three bond as they await the birth of Lucy's child. But now Lucy has second thoughts about the decision to turn her baby over to the Spectors. The solution for this happy group? Adopt Lucy and become the "immediate family." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Glenn CloseJames Woods, (more)
1989  
PG  
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Handsome young Washington attorney Louie Jeffries (Chris McDonald) has it all: a promising career, a beautiful wife, and a baby on the way. But after discovering a local judge is in cahoots with the Mob, Louie bites it in a car crash and finds himself in Heaven. Unsatisfied with the customer service he's receiving, Louie jumps the gun and gets himself reincarnated -- before being administered the magic injection that will remove his memories of his former life. For the next quarter-century, Louie's museum curator wife, Corinne (Cybill Shepherd), remains true to her husband's memory, ignoring the frustrated devotion of Louie's best friend, Philip Train (Ryan O'Neal). Meanwhile, Louie's soul grows up in the body of Alex Finch (Robert Downey Jr.), an aspiring journalist. Alex's memories of his life as Louie return after he becomes romantically involved with Miranda (Mary Stuart Masterson) -- the daughter he never got to meet. Soon, Alex/Louie is romancing his wife, spurning his daughter's advances, and frustrating Philip's attempts finally to woo Corinne. Written by Mystic Pizza scribes Perry and Randy Howze and directed by Emile Ardolino of Dirty Dancing fame, Chances Are didn't score as well at the box office as those earlier comedies. Its soundtrack, however, generated the hit Peter Cetera and Cher ballad "After All." ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Cybill ShepherdRobert Downey, Jr., (more)
1988  
PG  
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A young man freshly graduated from Yale (Anthony Edwards) moves to Rhode Island and finds himself with a strange power: the ability to create mild electric shocks through his hands. He begins to make friends around the community, and tries to help those around him by healing several minor sicknesses. Mr. North was the directorial debut for Danny Huston, the son of John Huston. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Anthony EdwardsRobert Mitchum, (more)
1987  
PG13  
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In a gender-reversed version of his previous hit Pretty in Pink, John Hughes retreads all-too- familiar ground in Some Kind of Wonderful, the story of a sensitive, young would-be artist, Keith (Eric Stoltz), who vies for the affection of his high school's popularity queen, Amanda (Lea Thompson), seemingly out of some deep-rooted insecurity regarding his social ineptitude. He enlists the help of his butch best friend and fellow misfit, Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson), unaware that she secretly pines for him. While she goads him to give up his pointless pursuit of Amanda, he encounters one other small obstacle -- Amanda's rich bully of a boyfriend, Hardy (Craig Sheffer), who threatens Keith with a face rearrangement. Undeterred, Keith decides he will, by any means necessary, escort his dream girl to the prom -- but not before he buys her expensive jewelry with the money from his college fund in order to impress her. (Hughes expects the audience to side with Keith when his father protests.) Some Kind of Wonderful is pure fantasy, but the plot is too tired and flawed for it to be completely satisfactory escapism. Still, the performances are all-around good and the ending is slightly more likeable than its predecessor's. Hughes decided to use the original Pretty in Pink ending, which had been dropped from the original after poor audience response at the advance screenings. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Eric StoltzMary Stuart Masterson, (more)
1987  
R  
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Set in Washington D.C. during the Vietnam War era, Gardens of Stone concentrates on the trials and tribulations of the Arlington National Cemetery home guard. James Caan plays career soldier Sgt. Clell Hazard, who has come to the sad conclusion that Vietnam is unwinnable and that America should withdraw as soon as possible. His attitude is contrasted to that held by Private Jackie Willow (D.B. Sweeney), who wants nothing more in life than to go into battle for his country. Though Hazard cannot officially dissuade Willow from this yearning, he pulls a few surreptitious strings to change the lad's mind, including encouraging a renewed romance between Jackie and his former girlfriend Rachel (Mary Stuart Masterton). After so many big-budgeters, Coppola determined that Gardens would be a deliberately "small" picture, concentrating on personalities rather than opulence; the director's father, Carmine Coppola, supplied the music, while Peter Masterton and Carlyn Glynn, the real-life parents of Mary Stuart Masterton, play Mary's on-screen dad and mom. Gardens of Stone was adapted by Ronald Bass from the novel by Nicholas Proffitt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
James CaanAnjelica Huston, (more)
1986  
R  
This drama concerns a young teen's transformation as she works at a half-way house for troubled kids. Franny (Mary Stuart Masterson) leaves behind a pampered, rich kid's life of yachting parties and affluent pastimes to take up a summer job working under Mrs. Chopper (Anne Meara) at a temporary shelter for homeless teens. Even though the experienced Mrs. Chopper warns Franny about not getting too involved with her charges, Franny decides that if she can organize a talent show, the youngsters will see that they are really worth something. Needless to say, Mrs. Chopper was partly right, and partly wrong. Jennifer Lopez of 1997's Selena and 1998's Out of Sight makes a precocious film debut here as one of the young teens. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Mary Stuart MastersonJames Earl Jones, (more)
1986  
R  
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Amazingly, At Close Range was based on a true story. Bored teenager Sean Penn meets his prodigal father (Christopher Walken) for the first time in years. Though Penn is vaguely aware that his father is a criminal, he is nonetheless impressed by his dad's high life style and creature comforts. But Walken's veneer of charm is fragile indeed, and it becomes clear that he is willing to kill anyone--even his family--if they get in his way. When Walken rapes Penn's girl friend (Mary Stuart Masterson) to keep the boy from cooperating with the DA, it is only a warm-up for the horrors to come. The screenplay for At Close Range was written by Nicholas Kazan, the son of prominent film director Elia Kazan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Sean PennChristopher Walken, (more)
1985  
 
Love Lives On is the apotheosis of all made-for-TV "problem" films. The focus is on 15-year-old Susan Wallace (Mary Stuart Masterson), who in the course of the film's 97 minutes runs the gamut of crises from drug addiction to unwed pregnancy to cancer. In the climax, poor Susan must decide whether or not to bring into the world a baby that may be even less healthy than she. Add to this mixture the alcoholic father and battered mother of Susan's erstwhile boy friend, and one has the quintessential "disease of the week" flick--though, incredibly, it is all based on actual events. The film earned an Emmy award for "Lullaby", an original song by Douglas Brayfield and James Di Pasquale. Love Lives On made its ABC network debut on April 1, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1985  
R  
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Charles Purpura scribed this semi-autobiographical tale about his experiences in a Brooklyn Catholic school of 1965. The film focuses on several Catholic school boys who get into ever increasing amounts of trouble with the presiding priests of the Catholic school, St. Basil's. Andrew McCarthy plays Michael Dunn, a newly arrived student who latches onto the class egghead Caesar (Malcolm Danare), who is constantly picked on by the class bully Rooney (Kevin Dillon). Rooney intimidates Michael and Caesar to become his erstwhile chums and, along with a few other quiet students, they receive corporal punishment for minor infractions, disrupting communion and confession and, ultimately, their antics inspire changes in the strict school hierarchy. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Donald SutherlandJohn Heard, (more)
1980  
 
In his last appearance before the cameras, David Janssen plays an alcoholic journalist desperate for a comeback. Janssen hitches his star to ruthless publisher Robert Vaughn, who is exploiting a rash of brutal murders to sell papers. The danger here is that the unknown serial killer, who preys upon beautiful young women, is rapidly becoming a media celebrity--and may be prompted to continue killing just to see his name in print. Beyond its own potential for sensationalism, City in Fear raises several provocative questions about the responsibility (and culpability) of the press. For its March 30, 1980 premiere, City in Fear was given a two hour and fifty minute timeslot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1975  
PG  
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In the William Goldman-scripted, Bryan Forbes-directed adaptation of Ira Levin's savagely satiric sci-fi novel The Stepford Wives, housewife Joanna (Katharine Ross) moves with husband Walter (Peter Masterson) and their children to the "ideal" suburban community of Stepford, CT. Slowly, Joanna deduces that something is amiss; most of the other housewives are vapid creatures who speak in trivialities and live only to please their husbands. Together with new friend Bobby (Paula Prentiss), she investigates this curious status quo. When Bobby also succumbs to cloying sweetness, Joanna discovers that Stepford's husbands have conspired with male chauvinist scientists to replace all the wives with computerized android duplicates. The Stepford Wives became a massive, runaway hit, earning four million dollars domestically. Mega-producer Scott Rudin and director Frank Oz teamed up for a remake in 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Katharine RossPaula Prentiss, (more)

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