Clive Owen Movies
A suave, darkly handsome actor reminiscent of the young Sean Connery in looks and charisma, Clive Owen first came to international attention with his sinuous, understated portrayal of the amoral protagonist of Mike Hodges' Croupier (1998). A flop in Britain, where Owen had long been a staple of various BBC TV series, the film was a sleeper hit in the States, its success duly generating a flurry of interest in the relatively unknown actor who lent the film its seductive intensity. A product of Coventry, Warwickshire, Owen got a bumpy start in his chosen career, living on the dole for two years after he left school. Fortunately, respite arrived in the form of an acceptance to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1984, and following his graduation from RADA, the young actor joined the Young Vic Theatre Company, where he performed a number of the classics.Owen broke into TV in 1986 with a guest appearance on the series Boon, and subsequently made his film debut in Beeban Kidron's Vroom (1988), a road movie co-starring David Thewlis and Diana Quick. More television work followed in the form of Chancer, a popular miniseries that cast Owen as its heroic protagonist. The actor also found himself increasingly busy with big-screen performances, turning in a complex portrayal of a man involved in an obsessive and incestuous relationship with his sister (Saskia Reeves) in Close My Eyes (1991). Owen received one of his biggest roles to date in Sean Mathias' 1997 screen adaptation of Martin Sherman's Bent, a Holocaust drama in which Owen starred as a bisexual concentration camp inmate who falls in love with a fellow prisoner (Lothaire Bluteau). Although the film earned a substantial degree of critical acclaim and boasted the talents of such luminaries as Ian McKellen and Mick Jagger, it failed to garner much commercial notice.
Owen finally broke through to an international audience with Hodges' Croupier, earning almost unanimous acclaim for his portrayal of a struggling writer who becomes caught up in an intricate scam after taking a job in a casino. He subsequently starred as a prisoner who takes up gardening in Greenfingers, a comedy that also starred Helen Mirren and had its premiere at the 2000 Toronto Film Festival. The actor also remained active on the stage, even as his screen work thrived, starring in the original 1997 London production of Patrick Marber's highly feted Closer, and performing alongside Rachel Weisz and Paul Rhys in Sean Mathias' acclaimed revival of Noël Coward's Design for Living at London's Donmar Warehouse.
The new millennium saw Owen appearing in an eclectic range of projects. In 2001, he starred as the only recurring character in BMW's Hire series of ambitious short films by directors such as Ang Lee and Guy Ritchie and also appeared in Robert Altman's acclaimed Gosford Park. Following a memorable supporting performance opposite Matt Damon in 2002's popular The Bourne Identity, Owen moved up to a starring role as an international relief worker who has an affair with Angelina Jolie in 2003's Beyond Borders. The next year, he took on the title role in King Arthur, Antoine Fuqua's non-fantasy retelling of the legendary story, with then it-girl Keira Knightley as his Guinevere. Both Beyond Borders and King Arthur failed to garner much of an audience, with the latter especially disappointing in light of its 120-million-dollar budget. Despite buzz about the possibility of Owen taking over the James Bond role in the iconic series, his prospects as a Hollywood leading man seemed to be faltering.
Also in 2004, Owen appeared stateside in a smaller-budget U.K. film from Croupier director Mike Hodges called I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, about a former gangster investigating the mysterious death of his younger brother. Starring an impressive cast that included Charlotte Rampling, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, and Malcolm McDowell, the film was well-received by critics but relegated to only small arthouse exposure in the States. Later that year, Owen appeared in the big-screen adaptation of Closer, directed by Mike Nichols and co-starring such big names as Julia Roberts, Jude Law, and Natalie Portman. In 2005, Owen joined an even more star-studded cast with a role in Robert Rodriguez' adaptation of Frank Miller's comic Sin City, and he would also star opposite Julianne Moore in Savage Grace and Jennifer Aniston in Derailed.
His biggest success to date came in early 2006, when he played the criminal mastermind behind a savvy bank heist in director Spike Lee's first blockbuster genre picture, The Inside Man. He would follow that with Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men, a futuristic thriller where Owen plays a man protecting a pregnant woman at a time when no human beings have been born in nearly two decades. Owen also took a part in Shekar Kapur's Elizabeth: The Golden Age, a sequel to his Oscar nominated biopic Elizabeth. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Clive Owen and Naomi Watts star in Run Lola Run director Tom Tykwer's action thriller concerning an ambitious Interpol agent who targets corruption at the top levels of the world's largest banking institutions. The world's most powerful banks have become hopelessly corrupt, prompting Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Owen) and Manhattan assistant district attorney Eleanor Whitman (Watts) to follow a dangerous money trail from Berlin to Milan to New York and Istanbul. But as determined as Agent Salinger and ADA Whitman are to ensure that justice is served, their targets are equally determined to ensure that war and terror continue to propagate so the powers that be can continue to profit. John Woo, Terence Chang, and Jeff Lurie executive produced the film, which was penned by emerging screenwriter Eric Warren Singer. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, (more)
Closer co-stars Julia Roberts and Clive Owen reunite for Oscar-nominated director Tony Gilroy's drama tracing the illicit love affair between two spies-turned-corporate operatives. The Cold War has thawed, and for CIA agents seeking to make an easy mint, the real money is in multinational corporations. CIA officer Claire Stenwick (Roberts) and Ray Koval (Owen) are both racing to secure the formula for a product that will bring untold wealth to the company that lands the patent first as the stakes begin to rise, and their passions start to flare. Meanwhile, their mutual employers, industry giant Howerd Tully (Tom Wilkinson) and trailblazing CEO Dick Garsil (Paul Giamatti) start resorting to some seriously underhanded tactics in hope of gaining an advantage over the competition. Loners by definition of their own careers, Claire and Ray engage in a series of schemes and double-crosses while contending with the fact that their mutual attraction could ultimately jeopardize their entire missions. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, (more)
- 2009
Sin City creator Frank Miller adapts author Raymond Chandler's brooding noir novella set in 1940s Los Angeles and following the adventures of legendary gumshoe Philip Marlowe. Clive Owen stars. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clive Owen
- 2009
- PG13
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Prime Suspect writer Allan Cubitt adapts U.K. sportswriter Simon Carr's popular novel about a successful sports journalist who is suddenly saddled with the responsibility of raising two sons from different marriages in this single-parent drama from director Scott Hicks. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clive Owen
Clive Owen stars in this gritty, over the top action thriller as Mr. Smith, a gun-toting badass with a hair trigger and an unknown past. He's far from a doctor and farther from a parent, but when he unwittingly discovers an innocent woman delivering a baby right in the middle of a gunfight, Smith enters the fray to save her and though the woman expires, he is the one left in care of the orphaned child. He thinks that the killers were after the woman, but soon he realizes that they had a far more unlikely target: the baby. Smith's regular company is a seedy underworld full of unsavory characters, so he takes the child to the closest thing he knows to a mother: a sultry prostitute played by Monica Bellucci, who specializes in clientele with a mommy fetish. Teamed with his hot but unlikely partner, Smith unloads barrel after barrel to protect the mysterious baby from Mr. Hertz, a ruthless criminal mastermind played by Paul Giamatti. Smith plans to figure out why Hertz and his thugs are after the baby, but if he can't uncover the truth, he'll settle for leaving them all dead in the process. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, (more)
Actress Cate Blanchett returns to her Oscar-nominated role and director Shekhar Kapur steps back into the director's chair for this belated sequel to the critically acclaimed 1998 biopic Elizabeth that explores the 16th century romance between the "Virgin Queen" and noted adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen). Michael Hirst teams with William Nicholson to pen the screenplay, and actor Geoffrey Rush returns to the role of Sir Francis Walsingham. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, (more)
The volatile showdown between a determined cop and a perfectionist bank robber is sent spiraling toward disaster when a scheming power broker steps in to take control of the situation in this hair-raising heist flick directed by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, and Jodie Foster. Dalton Russell (Owen) is a bank robber with a difference. In his quest to execute the perfect heist, Dalton has taken every possible factor into consideration. Dalton's uncanny ability of staying one step ahead of the law thwarts even-tempered Detective Keith Frazier's (Washington) best efforts. But there's another factor at play. The bank president (Christopher Plummer) has requested the services of high-profile negotiator Madeline White (Foster). Despite her commendable track record, Madeline is something of a wild card, and before the day is over, this bank robbery will go down in history as one of the most elaborate heists ever executed. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, (more)
Y Tu Mamá También and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban director Alfonso Cuarón returns to the helm to tell this futuristic tale in which society is without hope since humankind lost its ability to procreate. The year is 2027, and women can no longer give birth. The youngest inhabitant of the planet has just died at the age of 18, and all hope for humanity has been lost. As civilization descends into chaos, a dying world finds one last chance for survival in the form of a woman who has become inexplicably pregnant. Now, as warring nationalistic sects clash and British leaders try to maintain their totalitarian stronghold on the country, a disillusioned bureaucrat (Clive Owen) is brought back into the fold of activism by his guerrilla ex-wife (Julianne Moore). Reluctantly, he takes on the daunting task of escorting Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey), the refugee who represents humankind's last hope for survival, out of harm's way and into the care of a mysterious organization known as The Human Project. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam, and Michael Caine co-star in this adaptation of author P.D. James's gripping 1992 novel. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, (more)
A clandestine love affair may claim a terrible price from two desperate people in this psychological thriller. Charles Schine (Clive Owen) is an advertising executive who is married to Deana (Melissa George) and has a young, diabetic daughter whose third kidney operation just failed. Charles's life turns a most unexpected corner when he meets Lucinda Harris (Jennifer Aniston) on a commuter train. Lucinda, who is also married with a daughter, keeps bumping into Charles on the train, and they strike up a friendship that soon grows into something deeper. Eventually Charles and Lucinda meet for lunch, then dinner, then check into a posh hotel, but the consequences turn out to be greater than they imagined; the dangerous criminal Philippe Laroche (Vincent Cassel) breaks into the couple's hotel room, beats Charles nearly unconscious, and rapes Lucinda. The problem doesn't end there, however; Laroche soon unveils both his certainty that the couple avoided calling the police, and - more troublingly - his possession of Charles's personal information. When he makes the ill-advised attempt to blackmail the couple, Charles turns to a rough-cut friend from his workplace who offers to help out -- for a small commission.Derailed was the first American project for Swedish filmmaker Mikael Håfström. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clive Owen, Jennifer Aniston, (more)
The Eisner Award-winning comic series Sin City comes to life in this live-action feature adaptation from director Robert Rodriguez and creator Frank Miller. Interweaving multiple storylines from the series' history, this violent crime noir paints the picture of the ultimate town without pity through the eyes of its roughest characters. There's the street thug Marv (Mickey Rourke), whose desperate quest to find the killer of a prostitute named Goldie (Jaime King) will lead him to the foulest edges of town. Inhabiting many of those areas is Dwight (Clive Owen), a photographer in league with the sordid ladies of Sin City, headed by Gail (Rosario Dawson), who opens up a mess of trouble after tangling with a corrupt cop by the name of Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro). Finally, there's Hartigan (Bruce Willis), an ex-cop with a heart problem who's hell-bent on protecting a stripper named Nancy (Jessica Alba). Featuring a who's who supporting cast that includes Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy, Devon Aoki, and Nick Stahl, Sin City promises to be one of the most direct translations from page to screen of a comic series, with shots and dialogue adapted straight from the original comic's panels. Rodriguez quit the Director's Guild when they refused to let Frank Miller co-direct the film, a deal hashed out after the two collaborators developed and shot the opening scene utilizing a green-screen process to harness the stark, black-and-white look of the books as a litmus test for the rest of the production. Quentin Tarantino was brought in and reportedly paid one dollar to direct an extended scene between Del Toro and Owen that amounts to one issue of The Big Fat Kill miniseries. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jessica Alba, Devon Aoki, (more)
An ambitious attempt to wed the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table with known historical facts of the era, this action adventure drama begins with the fall of the Roman Empire in 450 A.D. as Roman armies flee the British Isles. Arthur (Clive Owen), a heroic knight and devoted Christian, is torn between his desire to travel to Rome to serve his faith and his loyalty to the land of his birth. As England falls into lawlessness, Arthur throws in his lot with a band of knights who hope to restore order to their fair and pleasant land and hopes to win freedom for his comrades, among them Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd), Galahad (Hugh Dancy), Tristan (Mads Mikkelsen), Gawain (Joel Edgerton), Bors (Ray Winstone), and Dagonet (Ray Stevenson). In time, Arthur and his men join forces with Merlin (Stephen Dillane), a shaman whose band of renegade knights were often pitched in battle against Roman forces. Forming a united front as loyal Englishmen against the invading Saxon armies, Arthur, Merlin, and the brave and beautiful Guinevere (Keira Knightley) are determined to unite a sovereign Britain under one army and one king. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clive Owen, Keira Knightley, (more)
Patrick Marber's acclaimed stage drama about the romantic interactions of four people has been given a reverent screen adaptation by director and producer Mike Nichols. Dan (Jude Law) is a writer in London who wants to finish a novel, but in the meantime supports himself by writing obituaries. One day he chances upon Alice (Natalie Portman), a beautiful young American expatriate, working as a stripper, when he sees her get hit by a car. Alice immediately falls for Dan, and gives him her love without reservation. Dan is initially enchanted with Alice, and returns her affection, but while she inspires him to write his novel (based on her life), her neediness begins to wear on him. Anna (Julia Roberts) is a photographer who is hired to take a portrait of Dan for the dust jacket of his book; Dan is attracted to her easy confidence, and while the two of them flirt, Anna soon (inadvertently through Dan's playful machinations) meets Larry (Clive Owen), a dermatologist, and marries him. Dan can't get Anna out of his mind even though she's married, and the two become lovers, but Dan is frustrated by the fact that Anna is reluctant to leave Larry for him. Patrick Marber wrote the screenplay for this adaptation of Closer; it was the playwright's first feature-film credit. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julia Roberts, Jude Law, (more)
For I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, director Mike Hodges re-teams with Trevor Preston, the respected British television writer with whom he made a series of documentaries for ITV back in the 1960s. The film also brings the director together again with actor Clive Owen, the star of his previous film, Croupier, which signaled Hodges' resurgence. Owen plays Will Graham, a former London gangster who moved out to the country after suffering a breakdown of some sort. Will works clearing forests, and lives out of his van, until he loses his job over a lack of proper documentation. Meanwhile, Will's younger brother, Davey, is enjoying his life as a womanizing man about town, and dabbling in drug dealing, until one night, when an older man, Boad (Malcolm McDowell), has him followed and brutally assaults him. The traumatized Davey returns home and takes his own life. Will, uncertain as to where to go, finds himself drawn back to London, where he learns of Davey's death from Mrs. Barz (Sylvia Syms), his landlady. Will investigates what happened that night with his old friend, Mickser (Jamie Foreman). As Will tries to piece together what happened, he goes to visit Helen (Charlotte Rampling), his former lover, who is less than thrilled to see him after he abandoned her years earlier and eventually cut off all contact. The current neighborhood crime boss, Turner (Ken Stott), knows what Will is capable of, and sees him as a threat. Eventually, Will uncovers the truth, and is faced with the unpleasant prospect of avenging Davey's death. Screenwriter Preston took the title for the film from a sardonic song by the late Warren Zevon. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clive Owen, Charlotte Rampling, (more)
Martin Campbell directs the romantic adventure Beyond Borders. Angelina Jolie stars as Sarah Jordan, a American living with her wealthy British husband, Henry Bauford (Linus Roache), in London during the early '80s. At a charity benefit, she meets passionate relief worker Nick Callahan (Clive Owen), who chastises the rich people for not helping out the needy in war-torn countries. Sarah is quickly compelled to join his humanitarian cause to fight the famine in Ethopia. She then follows him to Cambodia, where they start up a love affair and Nick gets involved in an arms-smuggling operation before they finally end up in Chechnya. Teri Polo appears as Sarah's international journalist sister, Charlotte. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angelina Jolie, Clive Owen, (more)
The best-selling suspense novel by late author Robert Ludlum comes to the screen for a second time, following a 1988 made-for-TV movie. Matt Damon stars as Jason Bourne, a barely alive amnesiac with a pair of bullet wounds in his back, pulled from the Mediterranean by Italian fishermen. Bourne's only clue to his own identity is a bank account number etched on a capsule implanted in his body. He quickly finds the Zurich bank where money, a gun, and a few identification documents await, but after he's pursued by security goons at the American consulate, Bourne realizes he can trust no one and offers a German gypsy named Marie (Franka Potente) ten thousand dollars for a ride to Paris. Encountering more professional killers bent on his destruction, Bourne discovers that he possesses a surprising degree of skill in combat, martial arts, and linguistics -- handy talents that clearly indicate his past includes work as a spy and assassin, but for whom? With Marie's reluctant help, Bourne edges closer to the truth, something CIA officials want concealed at all costs. The Bourne Identity co-stars Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, Brian Cox, and Julia Stiles. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matt Damon, Franka Potente, (more)
- 2001
A driver-for-hire (Clive Owen) is asked to spy on the wife (Adriana Lima) of an obsessively jealous husband (Mickey Rourke). The third of the five films in the BMW promotional series, The Follow was directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai and written by Seven scriptwriter Andrew Kevin Walker. ~ All Movie Guide
Maverick American filmmaker Robert Altman takes a witty and absorbing look at the foibles of the British class system in this intelligent murder mystery set in the early '30s. Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon) and his wife Lady Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas) are a pair of wealthy British socialites who have invited a variety of friends, relatives, and acquaintances to their mansion in the country for a weekend of hunting and relaxation. Among the honored guests are Constance (Maggie Smith), Lady Sylvia's matronly aunt; Ivor Novello (Jeremy Northam), William's cousin who is also a well-known actor and songwriter; and Morris Weissman (Bob Balaban), an American film producer who is friendly with Ivor and researching an upcoming project. Observing the proceedings are the domestic staff of the mansion, including imperious butler Jennings (Alan Bates); footmen George (Richard E. Grant) and Arthur (Jeremy Swift); Probert (Derek Jacobi), a valet to Sir William; housekeeper Mrs. Wilson (Helen Mirren); Mrs. Croft (Eileen Atkins), who oversees the kitchen; and Elsie (Emily Watson), a maid. Also on hand are the guests' personal servants, including Mary (Kelly Macdonald), Constance's maid; Henry (Ryan Phillippe), Weissman's valet; and Parks (Clive Owens), a butler. While the servants are required to display a high level of decorum, they are expected to be passive observers who do not comment on what they see, though the gossip among them travels thick and fast once they retire to the servants' quarters downstairs. And it turns out that there's plenty worth gossiping about, especially after Sir William turns up dead, and everyone is ordered to stay at the mansion while the police investigate the killing. Gosford Park also features Charles Dance, Tom Hollander, Natasha Wightman, and Ron Webster; the screenplay was written by Julian Fellowes, based on a story by Altman and co-star Bob Balaban. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, (more)
- 2001
When a driver-for-hire (Clive Owen) is confronted by hijackers, he must decide whether to surrender his passenger (Tomas Milian) or attempt to flee. The first of the five films in the BMW promotional series, Ambush was directed by action film veteran John Frankenheimer and written by Seven scripter Andrew Kevin Walker. ~ All Movie Guide
A fish-out-of-water comedy in the vein of 1997's oft-imitated The Full Monty, Greenfingers takes as its inspiration the true story of a group of British criminals who bettered themselves through the delicate art of gardening. Croupier's Clive Owen plays Colin Briggs, a taciturn inmate doing time for murder. When it's suggested he transfer to a minimum-security prison, Colin is reluctant; at the idyllic Edgefield compound, he's slow to warm to his gregarious, botanically inclined roomie Fergus (Waking Ned Devine's David Kelly). When the warden forces Colin and his prison mates to cultivate the prison's grounds, however, the men decide it's a fate better than mopping the lavatory, and begin to take pride in their work. Their stellar efforts attract the attention of haughty celebrity gardener Georgina Woodhouse (Helen Mirren), who arranges furlough work for the men. Colin becomes particularly fervent with his bulbs and seeds, not to mention his affection for Georgina's daughter Primrose (Natasha Little). When he's offered the chance to go straight, Colin is torn between the freedom of the outside world and the comforts of his lockup flowerbed. Greenfingers made its North American premiere at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival before making the U.S. festival rounds. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clive Owen, David Kelly, (more)
A co-production of Britain's BBC1 and Boston PBS outlet WGBH, Second Sight starred Clive Owen as Chief Inspector Ross Tanner and Claire Skinner as Tanner's deputy inspector, Catherine Tully. While investigating the murder of a troubled 19-year-old boy, Tanner comes to the daunting realization that he is going progressively blind. Relying on Catherine to be his "eyes," and counting upon his own inborn "second sight" as a veteran detective, Tanner feelts determined not to let his encroaching handicap impede his investigation. The drama's verisimilitude is enhanced by the presence on the set of police consultant Jon Bound and ophthalmic consultant Bob Cooling. In a reversal of the usual procedure attending Anglo-American TV productions, Second Sight aired first in America on September 30, 1999, then in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2000. After its initial brace of 90-minute episodes, the series settled into a weekly 50-minute BBC1 berth, its subsequent chapters bearing such titles as "Hide and Seek," "Kingdom of the Blind," and "Parasomnia." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claire Skinner, Clive Owen, (more)
A corporate lawyer on the brink of collapse finally snaps when a typical road-rage incident sends him spiraling into a murderous fury in this pressure-cooker tale of slow-burning tension starring Sin City and Inside Man's Clive Owen. With demands at both work and home weighing heavily on his tired shoulders, attorney Michael Anderson (Owen) is a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode. When the moment comes and Anderson does finally snap, the result is a chilling act of intentional violence that sparks headlines across the city. Now determined to cover up his actions and duck the consequences of his impulsive brutality, Anderson sinks ever deeper into a soul-corrupting world of dangerous deception that threatens not only to consume him but his unsuspecting friends, family, and co-workers as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
