Will Patton Movies

A braggart meets his match in a courageous woman in this period drama from independent filmmaker Kelly Reichardt. It's 1845, and Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood) is a boastful, rough-hewn wilderness guide who has been hired by three families who want to start new lives on the other side of Oregon's Cascade Mountains. Meek constantly tells his charges that he knows the Oregon Trail like the back of his hand, but when they veer off for a shortcut he says is foolproof, they soon find themselves in forbidding territory, without water and with Indians on the horizon. While the men of the party travel with Meek, their wives are made to follow them in a separate wagon, and Emily Tetherow (Michelle Williams), the strong-willed wife of Solomon Tetherow (Will Patton), begins openly questioning Meek's competence among the other women, especially her friend Millie Gately (Zoe Kazan). While making their way through the wilderness, the party happens upon a Cayuse Indian (Rod Rondeaux); Meek captures the Indian and proposes they kill him, but Emily bravely speaks up for him, believing he has the right to live and perhaps the knowledge to lead them safely over the mountains. Meek's Cutoff was an official selection at the 2010 New York Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Training Day director Antoine Fuqua takes viewers on a dark ride through the streets of Brooklyn, following three New York Police officers as they wrestle with temptation, loyalty, and duty while attempting to uphold the law and deal with the pressures of the job. Eddie Dugan (Richard Gere) is days away from retirement, but he's been burnt-out for years. Unable to remember why he signed up for the job in the first place, all Eddie can think about is retreating to his fishing cabin in Connecticut, and forgetting the horrors that he's seen during his decades on the job. At the same time, undercover narcotics cop Clarence "Tango" Butler (Don Cheadle) is right in the thick of it. As hard as he tries to quit, however, his superiors always find a way of keeping him on the job. Much like Dugan, he's lost sight of his priorities, and these days Tango's loyalties seem to lie more with notorious inner-city drug dealer Caz (Wesley Snipes) than with the boys in blue. And Tango isn't the only cop who's being drawn to the dark side of the law; narcotics officer Sal Procida's (Ethan Hawke) wife is currently pregnant with twins, and he's barely making enough to keep his family afloat. When Sal learns that his wife is at risk of losing their unborn children, desperation drives him to consider unethical means of ensuring financial stability. In seven days, the lives of all three officers will converge at one crime scene as the NYPD attempts to clean up the BK projects, the epicenter of lawlessness in the highest-crime precinct. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A rebellious socialite defies social conventions for a once-in-a-lifetime shot at true love, only to see her hopes for the future shattered after a priceless diamond vanishes into thin air in this romantic drama adapted from a long-lost Tennessee Williams screenplay. Fisher Willow (Bryce Dallas Howard) is the debutant daughter of a wealthy Memphis plantation owner. She harbors a great distain for the narrow-minded elite who seem to worship the ground her father walks on, and takes great delight in shocking and insulting them whenever the opportunity to do so arises. Shortly after returning from studying overseas, Fisher is swept off her feet by lowly farmhand Jimmy Dobyne (Chris Evans), who works on her father's plantation. His father a hopeless alcoholic and his mother having long since lost her mental capacities, Jimmy seems destined to go nowhere in life until Fisher hires him as her escort for the lavish party season and attempts to pass him off as an upper-class suitor in order to placate her spinster aunt Cornelia (Ann-Margret), who's been placed in charge of the family fortune. When one of Cornelia's priceless diamonds suddenly goes missing, a storm of accusations and betrayals begins to brew, effectively threatening to destroy any hopes that Fisher and Jimmy may have had for a happy future together. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Nicole Beharie, Tim Blake Nelson, Will Patton, and Xzibit headline this fact-based drama about an innocent Texas mother caught up in a high-profile drug raid, and unjustly accused due to the uncorroborated testimony of a single informant. Dee Roberts (Beharie) is a young single mother of four living in a small Texas town. Arrested during a drug raid and accused of a crime she didn't commit, Dee goes against the wishes of her mother, Alma (Alfre Woodard), and rejects the plea-bargain that would free her from jail, but brand her as a felon for life. As word begins to spread that similar incidents are occurring in poor communities all across the country, Dee realizes that there are more mothers out there like her, and decides to take a stand against powerful district attorney Calvin Beckett (Michael O'Keefe). Now, despite being well aware of District Attorney Beckett's fierce reputation, Dee enlists the aid of ACLU attorney David Cohen (Nelson) and former narcotics officer Sam Conroy (Patton) in overcoming the seemingly insurmountable obstacles that, if not navigated with the greatest of caution, now threaten to destroy her life. With the custody of her children on the line, one brave mother wages a valiant battle to strike at the very heart of the corrupt Texas justice system. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A man who has lost his memory has a new and dangerous life thrust upon him in this comedy thriller. Jake (Cedric the Entertainer) is a janitor who finds himself stricken with a crippling case of amnesia. While Jake struggles to regain his memory and identity, he becomes convinced that he's an undercover spy who is trying to ferret out a ring of underground arms dealers wanted by the FBI and the CIA. As Jake is thrown into the world of international intrigue, he gains an unlikely ally in Gina (Lucy Liu), an actual U.S. intelligence agent who is tracking the same bad guys and develops a liking for the janitor. The Cleaner also stars Nicollette Sheridan, DeRay Davis, and Callum Keith Rennie. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Angelina Jolie stars as Mariane Pearl, wife of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, in director Michael Winterbottom's adaptation of Mariane's memoir recounting the abduction and murder of her husband (played in the film by Dan Futterman) by Pakistani militants. It was on January 23, 2002, that Mariane Pearl's life took a grim and unanticipated turn that no one could have seen coming. The South Asia Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal, Daniel Pearl, was in Pakistan with his pregnant wife, Mariane, when he set out to conduct one last interview for an upcoming article; the pair were due to fly back home to the U.S. shortly thereafter. By all accounts, it was the same type of interview he had conducted a hundred times before, and though the only concern that Daniel had voiced beforehand was that he might be a bit late for dinner, it would soon become obvious that something had gone horribly awry. Later, in an attempt to rise above the seething vengeance and cycle of violence that the post-9/11 world has fallen into and familiarize her newborn son with the father he will never know, Mariane penned A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Danny Pearl. The remarkable true story behind the murder that shook the entire world, Mariane's deeply personal novel is adapted for the screen by the BAFTA award-winning director of The Road to Guantanamo. ~ Jason Buchanan, 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

Inasmuch as the made-for-cable The Last Ride was assembled by the same folks responsible for such action films as The Fast and the Furious and XXX, one shouldn't be surprised that the picture is virtually one long thrill-packed car chase. Released from prison after three decades, modern-day outlaw Ronnie Purnell (Dennis Hopper) is determined to get even with Darryl Kurtz (Fred Ward), the cop who in 1974 put Ronnie away after a violent skirmish in which Ronnie's wife was killed. To this end, Purnell enlists the aid of his hero-worshipping grandson, Matthew (Chris Carmack), who brings along his sexy girlfriend (and ace auto mechanic) JJ Cruz (Nadine Velazquez). Wasting no time, Purnell revs up his beloved 1969 Pontiac GTO, in which he has the key to a safety deposit box containing damning evidence against Kurtz, and embarks on a spectacular crime-and-speed spree. Hoping to stop Purnell dead in his tracks is his own police officer son (and Matthew's father), Aaron Purnell (Will Patton), who had been raised by Kurtz after the arrest of his dad and the death of his mom. Described by one critic as "an 87-minute car commercial," The Last Ride originally aired June 2, 2004, on the USA cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on a book by paranormal investigator John Keel, this spooky, X-Files-type supernatural thriller is purportedly based loosely on true events that occurred in the small town of Point Pleasant, WV, in 1966-1967. Richard Gere stars as journalist John Klein, an up-and-coming reporter devastated by the death of his beloved wife Mary (Debra Messing) following a car accident. Mary saw a mysterious vision immediately before the crash, a haunting image of a moth-like creature. Two years later, Klein is driving to an interview with the governor of Virginia when he suddenly finds himself hundreds of miles out of his way in a small town on the West Virginia-Ohio border. He discovers that strange events are occurring there, including sightings of the "mothman," as well as UFOs and bizarre alien-like telephone calls. Klein stays to investigate, despite the protests of skeptical cop Connie Parker (Laura Linney) and the initial hostility of spooked local Gordon (Will Patton). He soon discovers that sightings of the mothman are historical portents of doom and disaster, omens that may foretell a terrible cataclysm about to strike Point Pleasant. The Mothman Prophecies reunites Gere and Linney, who previously starred together in Primal Fear (1996). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi