Matthew Modine Movies

In this 9-minute short, the celebrated, offbeat animator Bill Plympton re-works and "re-imagines" Winsor McCay's 1921 short-subject film, Dreams of the Rarebit Field. Plympton's film features the voices of Matthew Modine, Patricia Clarkson and others. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A teen with an absentee single mother attempts to accelerate her transition into adulthood with the help of her best friend, and she learns some important lessons about growing up in the process. Ansiedad (Cierra Ramirez) doesn't have a father, and her mother Grace (Eva Mendes) is hardly an inspirational role model. Insulting, inconsiderate, and often too busy with work or men to give her daughter any real attention, Grace is in the midst of an affair with a married doctor (Matthew Modine) when her handsome co-worker (Eugenio Derbez) tries to sweep her off her feet. Meanwhile, Ansiedad begins to grasp the concept of the archetypal "coming-of-age" story in English class with the help of her concerned teacher, Ms. Armstrong (Patricia Arquette), and decides that it's high time she left adolescence behind. Together with her best friend Tavita (Raini Rodriguez), Ansiedad hatches a plan to speed up her development, even if it means willingly sacrificing some of her own innocence along the way. Little does Ansiedad realize that growing up isn't just about getting older, but getting wiser as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

An ongoing philosophical conversation provides a backdrop for a deadly game of cat and mouse in this comedy-drama from filmmaker Gregory Dark. Mr. Jack (Matthew Modine) and Sweet Stephen (Callum Blue) are two men who spend their days wandering the streets of Los Angeles and chatting. Jack and Stephen enjoy talking about the big questions of life -- love, hate, violence and mortality -- but their conversations are not quite what they seem to be on the surface. Mr. Jack is actually a hired killer and Sweet Stephen is his conscience, and as they explore the City of Angels they frequently pass the bodies of women Jack has murdered. As the body count rises as Jack and Stephen ponder the imponderable, Tommy (Adam Baldwin), a police detective with a renegade streak, is on the trail of the killer. Little Fish, Strange Pond also stars Zach Galifianakis, Liza Weil and Paul Adelstein; the film was an official selection at the 2010 Cinequest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In order to care for her children and maintain her standard of living, a young woman becomes her wealthy neighborhood's pot dealer after her husband's sudden death.

Season 4 of the offbeat comedy drama picks up where the third ended: Agrestic is burning, as is the Botwin house and evidence of Nancy's illegal activities. But the drug-dealing widow doesn't stay to play the fiddle while her hometown goes up in flames. Instead Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) packs up her family and heads south to Ren Mar, California (near the Tijuana border), to hide out with her estranged, despised father-in-law Len (Albert Brooks in a four-episode story arc) and his comatose mother. Needless to say, the reunion doesn't go well, since Len never cared for his daughter-in-law and isn't very fond of son Andy (Justin Kirk) either. Nancy wastes no time jumping back in the drug game, but soon learns that selling pot in suburbia and joining a cartel in Mexico are two totally different things. She also falls in love with cartel leader Esteban Reyes (Demián Bichir), who just happens to be Tijuana's mayor. But their romance goes to pot when Nancy discovers even she can't stomach trafficking in guns, cocaine...and young women. Her preoccupations make her already shaky skills as a parent go farther downhill, as Silas (Hunter Parrish) becomes involved with a beautiful neighbor (Julie Bowen), and Shane (Alexander Gould) becomes quite a Lothario among the tween crowd. Meanwhile, Andy and Doug (Kevin Nealon) become partners in a human-smuggling operation. And Celia (Elizabeth Perkins), left holding the (dime) bag for Nancy and facing prison time, strikes a deal with Capt. Till (Jack Stehlin) and turns informant. ~ Dianne Zoccola, Rovi

Matthew Modine and Michèle Laroque star as two warring neighbors who discover that they might just be a match made in heaven during a date that was originally devised to send them on their separate ways. Christine (Laroque) is a powerful real estate developer who longs to acquire the apartment of her upstairs neighbor Jeff (Modine). Jeff is a businessman and artist who recently learned that his ex-wife is about to marry his ex-best friend. Recognizing that Christine wants him out of the building he has lived in for many years, Jeff agrees to move out if Christine will pose as his fiancée at his ex-wife's upcoming wedding. Christine realizes that this may be her only chance to rid herself of her longtime nemesis, and reluctantly agrees to take part in the ruse. Things get complicated, however, when Jeff and Christine step out onto the dance floor and lock lips during a slow dance. In the complicated aftermath of that confusing dance, Christine begins to rethink her renovation plans and Matthew realizes that he may have finally found the perfect mate. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

An "ensemble drama" along the lines of The O.C. -- but with characters who wore more clothes and stayed indoors more often -- the WB network's weekly, hour-long Bedford Diaries was set at fictional Bedford college, a liberal-arts establishment somewhere in Manhattan (the series was lensed on-location at Barnard College).The focus of the drama was "Sex and the Human Condition," a seminar presided over by Kinsey-like professor Jack Macklin. Heading the cast was onetime Gilmore Girls co-star Milo Ventimiglia as Richard Thorne III, a wealthy student and recovering alcoholic, who was rather sweet on straight-A student Sarah Gregory (Tiffany DuPont) -- who in turn was having an affair with one of the teachers. Owen Gregory (Penn Badgley), Sarah's brother, was dating the resident (and self-proclaimed) "nutcase," Natalie Dykstra (Corri English). Other enrollees included freshman Lee Rasmussen (Ernest Waddell), torn between his high-school sweetheart and classroom seductress Zoe Lopez (Victoria Cartagena); Macklin's assistant, Prof. Carla Bonatella (Audra McDonald); and Harold Harper (Peter Gerety), Bedford's dean. Originally slated to debut in February 2006, Bedford Diaries did not make its WB bow until March 29 of that year, due to its producers' trepidations over presenting such raw, uninhibited material in an era of heavy FCC fines (virtually all of the episodes dealt with a particularly lurid aspect of contemporary sexuality, albeit always stressing personal responsibility over the antiquated "if it feels good, do it" attitude). However, the series was telecast uncut in Canada, and was likewise uncensored on the WB's Internet web stream. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Bad Lieutenant director Abel Ferrara takes the helm of this allegorical drama concerning an actress locked in the throes of a profound spiritual crisis, and the affect that it has on both the director of her latest film and a New York journalist. Marie Palesi (Juliette Binoche) is a major European screen star who has just finished shooting her latest film, a revisionist religious drama directed by maverick American film director Tony Childress (Matthew Modine). In the film, Palesi portrayed the character of Mary Magdalene not as a common prostitute, but a full-fledged disciple whose power struggle with Peter set the stage for centuries of controversy. But the role has had a greater impact on Palesi than anyone could have foreseen, and after the shoot wraps, she makes the decision to remain in the Middle East and make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. A year later, New York investigative journalist Ted Younger (Forest Whitaker) is producing a week-long network series examining the historical facts about Jesus Christ. After attending a screening for Childress' film, Younger contacts the director about the possibility of interviewing both himself and Palesi for the project. Unfortunately for Younger, Palesi has disappeared and Younger has no idea how to track her down. But while married journalist Younger is currently having an affair with an actress (Marion Cotillard) who just happens to know Palesi's number in Jerusalem, convincing the elusive starlet to appear on his special will pose a whole new set of challenges. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Two young girls, Kerry Lynn Palmer and Dana McNamara, are raped and murdered--fourteen years apart. At the time of the first murder, Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) had nailed Gordon Rickett (Matthew Modine) as the perpetrator, only to let Rickett slip through his fingers. Now, Stabler is determined to sweat a confession out of Rickett for both murders, even if it means interrogating the suspect nonstop during the 24 hours he is able to keep him in the holding tank. But Stabler's colleagues are worried: will he be able to retain his professional detachment, or will his all-consuming hatred of Rickett get the better of the desperate detective? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Executive produced by Steven Spielberg, the sprawling six-part, 12-hour TV miniseries Into the West covers 65 years of American history, from the first major migration westward in the mid-1820s to the massacre at Wounded Knee in the early 1890s. The story is largely seen through the eyes of two protagonists (and their families): Jacob Wheeler (Matthew Settle), a wheelwright who leaves his Virginia hometown and his family's business in 1827 to seek his destiny in the company of legendary mountain man Jedediah Smith (Josh Brolin); and Loved by the Buffalo (George Leach), a Lakota Sioux holy man who spends a lifetime seeking the answers to his profound and disturbing images about the future of his country -- and his people. Eschewing the usual "old-age makeup" route often pursued in epic tales of this nature, the main characters are played by progressively older actors in the course of the story: for example, Loved by the Buffalo is portrayed by no fewer than four different performers! In a more traditionalist How the West Was Won vein, the miniseries is festooned with major stars, some cast in very brief roles: among these are Josh Brolin, Keri Russell, Matthew Modine, Beau Bridges, Gary Busey, Tom Berenger, and Judge Reinhold. Nor is How the West Was Won the only inspiration for the multi-plotted storyline: other films echoed and emulated throughout the saga include The Iron Horse, The Big Trail, Westward the Women, The Searchers, and Dances With Wolves. As mentioned, the story is divided into six parts: "Wheel to the Stars," in which the fates of Jacob Wheeler and Loved by the Buffalo become forever intertwined; "Manifest Destiny," chronicling the first major trek to California; "Dreams & Schemes," wherein the Lakota lands are despoiled by Gold Fever and war breaks out between the North and South; "Hell on Wheels," chronicling the postwar chaos and the coming of the railroad; "Casualties of War," wherein the conflict between Native Americans and the white man results in wholesale bloodshed -- and, surprisingly, a "counter-revolution" of compassion and understanding; and "Ghost Dance," the last great stand of the Lakota, which brings the story full circle. Largely filmed in the Canadian Rockies over a six-month period, and utilizing the talents of six directors, Into the West premiered June 10, 2005, on the TNT cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When a rogue CIA agent and a kung fu fighting chimp named Clemens stage a daring escape from a top-secret government testing facility, the stage is set for an adventure that's sure to please the entire family in this primate crowd-pleaser featuring Matthew Modine, Seth Adkins, and Roma Downey. Appalled at the conditions under which chimpanzees are transformed into kung-fu fighting soldiers in a high-tech government lab, sympathetic trainer Jack McCall (Modine) smuggles experimental test subject Clemens out of the lab -- but not before being noticed by the nefarious henchmen who guard the facility. As the government agents close in, Jack and Clemens seek refuge in the house of single mother Megan Dean (Roma Downey) and her young son, Michael (Adkins). When the escape plan goes sour and Clemens is taken back into custody, it's up to Jack and his new friend Michael to bust their hairy pal out of primate prison! ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Based on the 1997 National Book Award-nominated novel of the same name by Diane Johnson (co-writer of the script for Stanley Kubrick's The Shining), Le Divorce is a romantic comedy from director James Ivory. Revisiting the "Americans in France" theme that Ivory explored in 1998's A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, the film stars Kate Hudson as Isabel Walker. When she receives word that her pregnant poetess sister Roxy (Naomi Watts) has been left by her philandering French husband, artist Charles-Henri de Persand (Melvil Poupaud), Isabel offers her help and moral support. As the depressive Roxy struggles with the separation proceedings -- which include the rights to ownership of a work of art that's a family heirloom -- Isabel takes a job with author Olivia Pace and has a fling with the bohemian Yves (Romain Duris). But things get complicated when the younger, more impudent sister decides instead to pursue Charles' uncle, the snooty, married diplomat Edgar (Thierry Lhermitte), and when a mysterious man (Matthew Modine) starts stalking Roxy. Eventually, the rest of the plucky Walker clan has to come to the aid of the siblings. Stockard Channing and Sam Waterston co-star. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi