Adam Beach Movies
Adam Beach began his screen career by rowing the canoe that held the stars of the television adaptation of Farley Mowat's Lost in the Barrens (1990). A little over a decade later, the hardworking Native American actor -- who used to run home from school to watch Johnny Depp on 21 Jump Street -- had a coveted spot in Vanity Fair's notorious Hollywood Issue and was one of E! Entertainment Network's Sizzling Sixteen.A member of the Saulteaux Tribe, Beach was born on the Dog Creek Reserve, located north of Lake Winnipeg in Canada. He was only seven years old when a drunk driver killed his mother, who was eight months pregnant. Beach's father drowned only two months later. The tragic deaths of their parents forced Beach and his brothers to move south to live with relatives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. There, he attended Gordon Bell High School, where he became interested in music and theater. He formed a short-lived garage band called Lethic (which covered heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath) and took drama classes. He soon earned roles in local theater productions and eventually dropped out of school for a lead role in Red River Valley at the Manitoba Theatre for Young People.
Shortly afterward, Beach was cast as an extra in Lost in the Barrens, starring Graham Greene and Evan Adams. The next few years saw him playing the title role in Disney's family film Squanto: A Warrior's Tale (1994) and earning a Best Actor Award from First Americans in the Arts for his performance in the television film My Indian Summer (1995). He also frequently appeared on both Canadian and U.S. television, in shows such as Walker, Texas Ranger, Legend, Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years, Touched By an Angel, Dead Man's Gun, First Wave, The Rex, and Madison.
By 1998, Beach had a recognizable face and well-refined talent. He landed a starring role in Sherman Alexie's Smoke Signals (1998) after only his second reading. The film, which achieved international acclaim, earned both the Filmmaker's Trophy Award and the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, as well as re-teamed Beach with Lost in the Barrens star Evan Adams. He went on to play a small role in the Russell Crowe vehicle Mystery, Alaska (1999), which basically required that he play his favorite sport, ice hockey, for three months. After starring in the thriller The Last Stop (2000), Beach showed off his comedic skills as David Spade's sidekick, Kicking Wing, in 2001's Joe Dirt. That same year, he played the romantic lead in Helen Lee's comedy The Art of Woo and appeared in the independent film Now & Forever.
Beach was living in Canada when producers asked him to fly to Los Angeles to audition for the lead part in John Woo's big-budget action film Windtalkers. Only days later, he was introduced to Woo and cast as Ben Yahzee, a Navajo codetalker charged with deciphering crucial U.S. military dispatches during World War II. The star-studded production includes Nicolas Cage, Mark Ruffalo, and Christian Slater, and required that Beach, who speaks Saulteaux, learn Navajo for the part. The hype surrounding the film influenced Beach to make the permanent move to Los Angeles.
Besides future plans to star in the film version of the comic book and video game Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, and appear in a Leonard Peltier biopic, the actor hopes to go back to school and earn a degree in political science. He intends to act for two more decades and then to go into politics. Beach uses his present fame to visit Canadian schools and serve as an inspirational speaker to Native American children. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide
- 1995
- R
This drama chronicles the troubled life of a teenage boy living with his father in an L.A. suburb. Young Steve tattooed the word "hate" upon his arm after a brief skirmish with the police. It has become his nickname. His dad is neither an example nor much help for the boy. He spends his days scamming worker's compensation for a fake injury. Hate encounters more trouble when one night he is riding around with his motorcycle gang shooting billboards. Beneath one he see what seems to be an attempted rape. He shoots the nicely dressed middle aged man. The teenage victim, Cindy rides off with Hate. She asks him not tell anyone. More trouble ensues as the rapist did not die. It turns out that he is the assistant D.A. He goes to the cops and tells them Hate attempted to rob him. Now Hate and Cindy must get out of town. The frightened teens are stopped by a motorcycle cop who only wants to return a purse she left at a restaurant. The panicky Hate shoots him dead. Later Cindy tells him the rapist was her uncle who had been abusing her for years. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Caan, Missy Crider, (more)
This adaptation of Tony Hillerman's A Thief of Time keeps that book's original storyline. The protagonists Joe Leaphorn (Wes Studi) and Jim Chee (Adam Beach) are a pair of Navajo police officers whose beat is their reservation. They must investigate why some important historical artifacts have gone missing. This film was directed by Chris Eyre and produced by Robert Redford. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Beach, Wes Studi, (more)
- 2002
The first season of the provocative Canadian anthology Bliss offers eight different tales of erotica, written and directed by women, for women. The opening episode, "Valentine's Day in Jail," stars Tory Higginson as a compassionate teacher who arranges a special visit with her prize pupil -- a prisoner serving time for drug smuggling. In "Six Days," a farm woman who has never spent a day without her husband develops an intimate relationship with a hired hand (Collum Keith Rennie) while the "mister" is recovering from an accident. "Guys and Dolls" finds a successful and famous lawyer (Jenny Levine) having a fling with a stranger (Peter Wingfield) who is unaware of her true identity -- and would not be overly pleased if he found out. Tara Spencer-Naim appears in "The Value of X" as a high school senior who fantasizes about the school's most popular boy -- that is, she fantasizes what it would be like if he were a girl! In "Voice," Mikela J. Mikael is cast as a woman whose dreams are invaded by the wife (played by Veronica Hurnik) of her lover. "Leaper" concerns two lost souls (Michelle Lipper, Paula Ducharme) drawn together in an unexpectedly sinister fashion by the "suicide" of a third woman (portrayed by Mille Tresierra. Victoria Sanchez plays a mild, reserved young miss whose animalistic urges are unleashed by a martial-arts class in "The Footpath of Pink Roses." And in the season finale, "In Praise of Drunkenness and Fornication," a dinner party attended by six middle-aged couples devolves into an exercise in overindulgence (in more ways than one). ~ All Movie Guide
A Midwestern bar tender hungering for life in the fast lane enters a Hollywood King of the Bar contest in this fast-paced showbiz satire starring Jason Mewes and Paris Hilton. Owen Peadman (Mewes) is Minnesota's "Golden Boy" of bartending, but the Midwest has grown a little bland, and now Owen is looking make a name for himself in the thriving L.A. nightclub scene. When Owen gets word of a high profile bartender contest with a hearty cash prize, he sets his sights on Hollywood and prepares to knock the judges dead. Unfortunately for Owen things don't quite work out as planned, and after losing out to a well-known L.A. barman he is forced to seek the help of his flamboyant Uncle Earl. A fast-talking producer of a popular tabloid new program, Uncle Earl offers Owen a job and the pair soon set out to get the scoop on Hayden Field - the hottest young star around. Getting to Hayden isn't going to be easy though, and after hatching a plan to befriend Hayden's glamorous girlfriend Lisa Mancini (Hilton), the one-time drink slinger find out just how wild the west coast nightlife can truly get. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paris Hilton, Jason Mewes, (more)
Director Yves Simoneau explores the plight of the American Indian in the later half of the 19th century in this docudrama exploring the effects of westward expansion and based on the book by Dee Brown. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aidan Quinn, Adam Beach, (more)
- 1993
- R
Mia Kirshner plays Page, a troublesome teenager whose low self-esteem has manifested itself into petty thievery. After stealing a car, Page is hauled into court, where she is placed in the custody of her divorced mom (Jennifer Dale). Ordered to move into her mother's Nova Scotia home, Page is resentful of the restrictions placed upon her movements. Before long, she hatches a nasty revenge. The plan: to seduce mom's new boy friend (Gregory Harrison), then laugh in both their faces. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Dale, Mia Kirshner, (more)
This epic western starring Val Kilmer, Steve Zahn, Linda Cardellini, and Rachel Griffiths was adapted from Larry McMurtry's sprawling novel of the same name, and actually constitutes a prequel to Lonesome Dove. Texas Rangers Woodrow Call and Agustus McCrae may be getting up there in years, but their determination to capture Comanche war chief Buffalo Hunt, Comanche horse thief Kicking Wolf, and an elusive Mexican bandit king certainly hasn't faded with age. Now, as Gus attempts to resolve his personal issues with longtime love Clara Forsythe and Call comes to terms with his feelings for local prostitute Maggie Tilton, fellow Texas Rangers Deets, Jake Spoon, and Pea Eye Parker do their best to safeguard the advancing western frontier from the legions of Comanches who have vowed to defend their land to the death. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Val Kilmer, Steve Zahn, (more)
- 1996
- G
A good film for families and horse lovers, this touching drama centers on a teenage malcontent who is sent away from New York City to spend the summer on her aunt and uncle's Utah ranch. There the rebellious girl learns important life lessons, particularly after she forms a bond with a beautiful wild stallion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 2003
When gunshots ring out in a tragic roadside shooting, police officer Delbert Nez winds up dead. His close friend Officer Jim Chee (Adam Beach) is the first on the scene, and upon spotting an elderly, drunken Navajo Shaman named Ashie Pinto (Jimmy Herman) with the murder weapon tucked in his belt, he takes the man into custody as the prime suspect. Though Pinto does not confess to the crime, the case against him is strong, and Detective Joe Leaphorn (Wes Studi) begins to look into the case at the behest of his wife, Emma (Sheila Tousey) -- who remains staunchly convinced that her relative was set up. As Chee and Leaphorn investigate the case, they are troubled to discover a number of inconsistencies in the murder. How did Pinto get to the scene of the crime when he has no means of transportation? And how could the elderly Pinto be the man that Officer Nez said he apprehended as a vandal in his final communication to police headquarters? When their investigation leads Chee and Leaphorn to a local trading post run by a shady man named John McGinnis (Keith Carradine), the case soon begins to come into focus as the body count rises and the spirit of the coyote lurks in the shadows awaiting its next victim. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Beach, Wes Studi, (more)
This Canadian drama based on a book by W.P. Kinsella, examines the tension between Indians and Anglos in Canada from an Indian perspective. Silas Crow, who lives on a Northern Ontario reserve, wants to take a mechanic's course in Toronto with his friend Frank Fencepost. But before he can enroll, the teen must write a short narrative describing his home. The film is a series of vignette's from Crow's narrative. The vignette's are alternately funny and poignant. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryan Rajendra Black, Adam Beach, (more)
Clint Eastwood's adaptation of the non-fiction book Flags of Our Fathers concerns the lives of the men in the famous picture of soldiers raising the American flag over Iwo Jima during that historic WWII battle. Battle scenes are intercut with footage of three of the soldiers - played by Ryan Phillipe, Jesse Bradford, and Adam Beach -- who survived the battle going on a goodwill tour of the United States in order to sell war bonds. Many evening they are forced to reenact their famous pose, something each of them finds more and more difficult to do as they suffer from survivor's guilt. Eastwood frames the story by having one of the men's grown son (Tom McCarthy) interview his father's old comrades in order to find out more about what happened to his father. Eastwood followed this film with Letters from Iwo Jima, a second film about the battle of Iwo Jima, but told from the Japanese perspective. Flags of Our Fathers was produced by Eastwood and Steven Spielberg. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, (more)
As the title character of Joe Dirt, David Spade plays a "white trash" janitor at an L.A. radio station, whose mullet hairdo is just one of many personal oddities that make him the object of much ridicule. And the sanitation gig is just the most recent of Joe's many incarnations during a tumultuous life, which got off on the wrong foot when Joe was abandoned at the Grand Canyon by his parents as a young child. After stumbling into the on-air studio, Joe steadily recounts the sad and comical story of how he cared for himself and journeyed around the country trying to relocate his family, all while being prodded, teased, and eventually embraced by a sarcastic deejay (Dennis Miller) and a rapt listening audience. His travels involve stints selling fireworks, wrangling alligators, riding aloft in a car dealership display balloon, and being held captive by a Silence of the Lambs-style serial killer. Despite numerous setbacks and bruising physical injuries, Joe emerges from each episode with his spirit intact as he searches optimistically for his roots, and eventually for the chance to return to the one place he was accepted -- a rural farm where the girl of his dreams (Brittany Daniel) awaits. The directorial debut of Dennie Gordon, Joe Dirt was produced by Adam Sandler's production company, Happy Madison, and features musician Kid Rock, also debuting, in the supporting role of Joe's rival. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Spade, Dennis Miller, (more)
- 2005
A man struggles to reconnect with his family and community as he deals with the scars of war in this independent drama from writer and director Shirley Cheechoo. Johnny Tootall (Adam Beach) is a Native North American from Vancouver who joined the military when he found himself unable to handle his responsibilities at home. Johnny ended up serving as a soldier in Bosnia, and the war and devastation he witnessed has had a lasting impact on him; he's especially haunted by the death of a young boy he killed in battle. When his hitch is over, Johnny comes home and has to face the loose ends he left behind -- his girlfriend, Serena (Alex Rice), the members of his tribe, and especially his brother, RT (Nathaniel Arcand). RT is a scruffy political activist who long found himself at odds with Johnny, and the returning soldier discovers RT is in the midst of a campaign to save the sacred land of their people. RT wants Johnny to help him in this fight to save their culture, but as Johnny struggles to sort out his demons, he wonders how much he can really do for others. Johnny Tootall was named Best Feature Film at the 2006 Native American Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Beach, Alex Rice, (more)
- 2007
- Add Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Season 09 to QueueAdd Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Season 09 to top of Queue
Changes greet the SVU gang at the outset of the ninth season: Munch (Richard Belzer) is put in charge of the department after Capt. Cragen (Dann Florek) is temporarily removed from duty, and Det. Lake (Adam Beach) is now a full-time member of the squad. In Alternate, the season's first episode, Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Christopher Meloni) investigate a case involving a woman (guest star Cynthia Nixon) with multiple personalities. Before long Cragen is back in command, but the themes of people taking on new roles and different personalities continue in Avatar, which focuses on the case of a missing woman who portrayed an underage prostitute in an online video game. In Undercover, Fin (Ice-T) poses as a corrections officer while Benson poses as a prison inmate and has an eye-opening new experience. Benson then finds herself in another precarious situation when she is kidnapped in the series' 200th episode, Authority. This milestone episode features guest star Robin Williams as a man with an antiauthority agenda who attempts to trick people into committing criminal acts. When Williams' character abducts Benson, he uses mind games to try to get Stabler to inflict pain on her. Stabler is also no stranger to pain this season: In Blinded, he temporarily loses his sight after suffering a head injury courtesy of a suspect. That same episode finds ADA Novak (Diane Neal) confronting a dark part of her personal history as she attempts to convict a schizophrenic artist. While Novak faces her past, Stabler worries about his family's future in Paternity, which finds his wife, Kathy (Isabel Gillies), and their unborn child in jeopardy after being hurt in a car accident. An unconventional family of homeless children are at the center of Streetwise, which features guest star Mae Whitman as the clan's pseudo-mother. Other notable Season 9 guest stars include Aidan Quinn, Erika Christensen, and Melissa Joan Hart. ~ Jennifer Sankowski, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Meloni, Mariska Hargitay, (more)
An orphaned white teen and a Cree Indian boy must put their differences aside to survive when they get lost together in the Canadian wilderness. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
Adam Beach, Graham Greene, and Jason Priestly star in director Don McBrearty's fictionalized account of the events that took place in the harbor of a Vancouver Island village and shocked animal lovers around the world. When a government representative (Priestly) announces that he intends to reunite an orphaned orca with his pod by transporting him hundreds of miles over dry land, the Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nations Band, which believes that the spirit of their late chief resides in the majestic ocean mammal, does everything within their power to thwart the controversial plan. As the community grows increasingly divided over how to handle the situation, a young aboriginal boy wrestles with his own identity and new Band chief Mike Maquinna (Beach) prepares for the trial by fire that could shape his entire future. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Beach, Tantoo Cardinal, (more)
In this comic drama about fame, sports, and small-town life, Mystery, Alaska is a small town in one of the least accessible parts of the coldest state in the union. It's a town where everyone knows each other and there isn't much to do. In places like this, small things tend to become very important, and in Mystery, the one thing that keeps everyone sane is hockey. Most of the men of Mystery are obsessive hockey fans, and a local hockey league has sprung up, with pools of neighborhood talent facing off on the ice every week. When a national sports magazine does a story on the hockey fans of Mystery, Alaska, someone at the National Hockey League gets an idea for a publicity stunt: send the New York Rangers to Mystery to play the local all-stars in a nationally televised game. Most of the locals are thrilled; the game will give the people of Mystery a chance to bask in the limelight and make their sleepy town a household word. On the other hand, in a small town where everyone knows everyone else's secrets, this event could cause everyone to start airing their dirty laundry in public, with the whole world watching. Mystery, Alaska was directed by Jay Roach, who enjoyed considerable success with the two Austin Powers films, and stars Russell Crowe as John Biebe, Mary McCormack as his wife Donna, Burt Reynolds as Judge Burns, and Lolita Davidovich as Mary Jane. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Russell Crowe, Hank Azaria, (more)
Two young people learn an invaluable lesson about what love really means in this romantic drama. Angela (Mia Kirshner) and John (Adam Beach) have been close friends since childhood, and as they've grown into adulthood, John's feelings for Angela have matured into love. John is of Cree Indian heritage, and Ghost Fox (Gordon Tootoosis), a spiritual advisor of the tribe, tells John that it is his destiny to be with Angela. Angela, however much she cares for John, has other plans, and ends up involved with T.J. (Gabriel Olds), a mean-spirited man who shows her little respect. John saves the day for Angela after she's brutally attacked by T.J., but rather than stay by his side, Angela, who has always dreamed of being an actress, decides to move to Hollywood and try her luck, only to learn that her bond with John is deeper and more complex than she imagined. Now and Forever also stars Theresa Russell as Dori, Angela's mother. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mia Kirshner, Adam Beach, (more)
- 2008
The truths of the past come to light in a series of haunting visions in this drama starring Adam Beach, Tantoo Cardinal, and Wes Studi. Traumatized by the strange visions that grow more vivid with each passing day, a young woman of Native American heritage begins piecing together a Catholic priest's diabolical plot to prevent her mother from revealing the atrocities that unfolded at a Native Indian boarding school. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Beach, Tantoo Cardinal, (more)
- 2002
Adapted from Tony Hillerman's best-selling novel by James Redford (stepson of Robert Redford), Skinwalkers was the vanguard of the proposed PBS anthology American Mystery. Returning to the Navajo reservation of his birth after many years, police detective Joe Leaphorn (Wes Studi) investigates a series of bizarre murders. Though Leaphorn has no doubt that the killer is a human being, his young FBI-trained partner, Jim Chee (Adam Beach), has an entirely different theory. A medicine man-in-training, Chee believes that the murders have been committed by a mystical figure called the Skinwalker, who according to Navajo legend is an amalgam of all murdered Native Americans. Symbolic clues left at the scene of each murder -- some written in paint, some in blood -- confirm Chee's conclusion that the shapeshifting Skinwalker is seeking revenge on the modern-day despoilers of the Navajo's sacred land. Skinwalkers was filmed on location in Utah and Arizona by Native American director Chris Eyre, of Smoke Signals fame. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Beach, Wes Studi, (more)
This dramatic feature was written, directed, and co-produced by Native Americans. Native American writer Sherman Alexie scripted this adaptation of his 1993 short story collection The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Director Chris Eyre's previous short Someone Kept Saying Powwow is incorporated into the 88-minute feature. Developed at the Sundance Lab in 1995, the film was a winner of both the Audience Award and the Filmmakers' Trophy at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. In 1976, an infant survives a fire that kills his parents. In a flash forward to the present day, the infant has grown up to become the skinny, nerdy adult Thomas (Evan Adams). At Idaho's desolate Coeur d'Alene Indian reservation, the overeager youth is mostly ignored by others, including stoic athletic Victor Joseph (Adam Beach), even though it was Victor's father, alcoholic Arnold Joseph (Gary Farmer), who saved the infant Thomas' life in the fire. A drunken Arnold later abandoned his family, and Victor hasn't seen his father in a decade. When Victor learns of Arnold's death in Phoenix, Thomas offers to pay for the trip to Phoenix if he can accompany Victor. They make an odd couple since Victor is embarrassed by Thomas' geekiness. In Phoenix, they find that Arnold lived in a small trailer in the desert, and they meet Arnold's friend Suzy Song (Irene Bedard), who provides disturbing truths about Arnold that impact on Victor. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Beach, Evan Adams, (more)
A teenage Ojibway boy, who has been in foster homes for ten years, is placed back on his family's reservation with his grandfather. While the tribe tries to make his return happy, the boy's resentments and family tragedies get in the way. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Herbie Barnes, Gordon Tootoosis, (more)
Native American history got the Disney treatment in this biography aimed at younger audiences. Adam Beach stars as Squanto, an Eastern Massachusetts native of the 17th century, who befriends the English settlers who are starting to colonize the region. Naively trusting his new friends, Squanto and his best friend Epenow (Eric Schweig) offer to help some sailors load a vessel that's departing for England. The two Indians are shanghaied and taken across the ocean to serve as sideshow attractions for the greedy owner (Michael Gambon) of the shipping line. Squanto quickly escapes and finds refuge in a nearby cloister, where he is protected by the kindly monks, in particular Brother Daniel (Mandy Patinkin), who teaches Squanto to speak English. Squanto learns of a ship carrying more settlers to the New World, so he stows away and returns to his homeland, where he finds that his village has been wiped out by disease brought by the colonists. Nevertheless, Squanto brokers a peace deal between his hostile brothers and the settlers, and they celebrate the first Thanksgiving together. Beach went on to star in the Native American drama Smoke Signals (1998). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Beach, Mandy Patinkin, (more)
- 2001
Toronto-based indie filmmaker Helen Lee spins this frothy romantic comedy about an ersatz glamour girl who unexpectedly gets what she wants. Concealing her working-class upbringing, young, ambitious Alessa Woo (Sook-Yin Lee) poses as a high-rolling Asian heiress, even though she lives in a decidedly low-end apartment and cannot even make the rent. Fortunately, the landlady's son, Steph, is sweet on her along with a bevy of other potential suitors, including Nathan (Don McKellar), a particularly dogged would-be boyfriend who has camped out on her doorstep. She rejects one and all because they do not meet up with her rather strict fiduciary standards. One day, talented native-Canadian artist Ben Crowchild (Adam Beach) moves into the adjacent apartment. Inevitably, the romantic sparks fly just as Alessa catches the eye of a fantastically wealthy bachelor. Will Alessa choose love over money? This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sook-Yin Lee, Adam Beach, (more)
