Susan Sarandon Movies
Simply by growing old gracefully, actress Susan Sarandon has defied the rules of Hollywood stardom: Not only has her fame continued to increase as she enters middle age, but the quality of her films and her performances in them has improved as well. Ultimately, she has come to embody an all-too-rare movie type -- the strong and sexy older woman. Born Susan Tomaling on October 4, 1946, in New York City, she was the oldest of nine children. Even while attending the Catholic University of America, she did not study acting, and in fact expressed no interest in performing until after marrying actor Chris Sarandon. While accompanying her husband on an audition, Sarandon landed a pivotal role in the controversial 1970 feature Joe, and suddenly her own career as an actress was well underway. She soon became a regular on the daytime soap opera A World Apart and in 1972 appeared in the feature Mortadella.Lovin' Molly and The Front Page followed in 1974 before Sarandon earned cult immortality as Janet Weiss in 1975's camp classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the quintessential midnight movie of its era. After starring with Robert Redford in 1975's The Great Waldo Pepper, Sarandon struggled during the mid-'70s in a number of little-seen projects, including 1976's The Great Smokey Roadblock and 1978's Checkered Flag or Crash. Upon beginning a relationship with the famed filmmaker Louis Malle, however, her career took a turn for the better as she starred in the provocative Pretty Baby, portraying the prostitute mother of a 12-year-old Brooke Shields. Sarandon and Malle next teamed for 1980's superb Atlantic City, for which she earned her first Oscar nomination. After appearing in Paul Mazursky's Tempest, she then starred in Tony Scott's controversial 1983 horror film The Hunger, playing a scientist seduced by a vampire portrayed by Catherine Deneuve. The black comedy Compromising Positions followed in 1985, as did the TV miniseries Mussolini and I. Women of Valor, another mini, premiered a year later.
While Sarandon had enjoyed a prolific career virtually from the outset, stardom remained just beyond her grasp prior to the mid-'80s. First, a prominent appearance with Jack Nicholson, Cher, and Michelle Pfeiffer in the 1986 hit The Witches of Eastwick brought her considerable attention, and then in 1988 she delivered a breakthrough performance in Ron Shelton's hit baseball comedy Bull Durham, which finally made her a star, at the age of 40. More important, the film teamed her with co-star Tim Robbins, with whom she soon began a long-term offscreen relationship. After a starring role in the 1989 apartheid drama A Dry White Season, Sarandon teamed with Geena Davis for Thelma and Louise, a much-discussed distaff road movie which became among the year's biggest hits and won both actresses Oscar nominations. Sarandon was again nominated for 1992's Lorenzo's Oil and 1994's The Client before finally winning her first Academy Award for 1995's Dead Man Walking, a gut-wrenching examination of the death penalty, adapted and directed by Robbins. Now a fully established star, Sarandon had her choice of projects; she decided to lend her voice to Tim Burton's animated James and the Giant Peach (1996). Two years later, she was more visible with starring roles in the thriller Twilight (starring opposite Paul Newman and Gene Hackman) and Stepmom, a weepie co-starring Julia Roberts. The same year, she had a supporting role in the John Turturro film Illuminata.
Sarandon continued to stay busy in 1999, starring in Anywhere But Here, which featured her as Natalie Portman's mother, and Cradle Will Rock, Robbins' first directorial effort since Dead Man Walking. On television, Sarandon starred with Stephen Dorff in an adaptation of Anne Tyler's Earthly Possessions, and showed a keen sense of humor in her various appearances on SNL, Chappelle's Show, and Malcolm in the Middle. After starring alongside Goldie Hawn in The Banger Sisters, Sarandon could be seen in a variety of projects including Alfie (2004, Romance and Cigarettes (2005), and Elizabethtown (2006). In 2007, Sarandon joined Rachel Weisz and Mark Wahlberg in The Lovely Bones, director Peter Jackson's adaptation of Alice Sebold's novel of the same name. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 2008
Anna Politkovskaya was a Russian reporter who regularly wrote for Novaya Gazyeta, one of the country's few independent journals. In a nation where political corruption is widespread and exposing the misdeeds of the nation's leaders often has dangerous consequences, Politkovskaya was a fearless voice whose stories demanded responsibility from Vladimir Putin and his colleagues while decrying Russia's actions in Chechnya, which she labeled as genocide. While Politkovskaya writings earned her respect and made her one of the nation's best known journalists, they also angered many powerful people; she nearly died after she was poisoned in 2004 while covering the Beslan school hostage case, and in October 2006 she was shot and killed by an unknown gunman while riding an elevator in her apartment building; many of her friends and family believe she was assassinated by government agents. Filmmaker Eric Bergkraut struck up a friendship with Politkovskaya while making his documentary Coca: The Dove From Chechnya, and Ein Artikel zu viel: Der Mord an Anna Politkowskaja (aka Letter To Anna: The Story Of Journalist Politkovskaya's Death features archival interviews with the late reporter, as well as contributions from colleagues and loved ones who discuss her work and offer their views on her suspicious passing. Letter To Anna received its North American premiere at the 2008 Toronto Hot Docs Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon
- 2008
A seventeen year old screw up enters into a profitable partnership with a serious minded girl whose fiscally irresponsible mother may have just destroyed her chances of becoming a doctor in this romantic comedy starring Anton Yelchin, Eva Amurri, and Susan Sarandon. Dorian (Yelchin) is a rebellious teen from a wealthy background. Tired of bailing their son out of trouble time and again, Dorian's parents have finally decided to ship him off to live with his uncle for the summer. Once there, Dorian lands a job at a local water park and strikes up a friendship with the slightly older Grace (Amurri). The complete opposite of Dorian in everyway imaginable, Grace is a straight-A student who aspires to become a doctor, and who's spent the majority of the past six years looking after her little sister Taylor (Willa Holland) following their father's suicide. Grace's mother Rhonda (Sarandon) is a haggard force of nature who sees herself as a martyr for the sacrifices she's made to keep her family together after an earth-shaking tragedy, though in reality may have just cost Grace a future in medicine by taking out credit cards in the young girl's name and neglecting to make payments. In order to go to college Grace will need financial aid, but with numerous maxed out credit cards to her name that's next to impossible. Upon learning that she'll need to raise $12,000 in twelve weeks in order to cover tuition, Grace prepares to kiss her dreams for the future goodbye. Fate soon intervenes, however, when Dorian informs Grace that he's decided to deal pot in order to become financially independent from his parents. In order to turn a profit Dorian needs to expand his territory, and in order to expand his territory he'll need a car: Enter Grace. Realizing that she'll never make $12,000 in twelve weeks by working at the water park, Grace agrees to enter into a temporary partnership with Dorian. But while their business endeavor proves wildly profitable at first, things quickly start to unravel for the ambitious pot-dealers when Grace and Taylor discover a secret about their father's suicide, and Dorian summons the courage to tie up some loose ends from his distant past. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon, Anton Yelchin, (more)
Director Bob Balaban's fictional drama presents a speculative exploration of the relationship shared between wealthy tobacco heiress Doris Duke (Susan Sarandon) and her Irish butler Bernard Lafferty (Ralph Finnes) who, after just six years working as Duke's servant, was posthumously awarded complete control of his former boss' multi-million dollar fortune. Serendipitously showing up on Duke's doorstep just after the temperamental grand dame has dismissed her previous butler, Lafferty immediately lands a job tending to her vast estate. Penniless and openly homosexual, Lafferty immediately began to ingratiate himself into every area of his new boss' life. And while outward appearances would suggest that the two had little in common, the butler's unwavering loyalty continually found Duke seeking his judgment despite frequent warnings from her friends and closest advisers. Later, when Duke died, her friends, family, and lawyers were shocked to discover that she had left Lafferty the lion's share of her vast fortune. While few but Duke and Lafferty will ever know what truly went on behind closed doors, Balaban and screenwriter Hugh Costello use the facts of their relationship as a springboard to exploring the bond between the woman who had it all, and the man who eventually inherited it from her. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Fiennes, Susan Sarandon, (more)
- 2006
A group of dedicated female firefighters struggle for the right to battle blazes alongside the most macho firemen in the entire country, only to be ostracized, humiliated, abused, and tormented by the very co-workers who were supposed to stick with them through thick and thin. Narrated by Susan Sarandon, Taking the Heat documents the remarkable story of Brenda Berkman and the first female firefighters of New York City. The year was 1977. New York City was gradually emerging from a financial crisis, and the eleven year hiring freeze imposed by the FDNY was finally set to thaw. Recent amendments to the law made it illegal for the FDNY to prohibit women from applying for the job, but when the first female applicants showed up for their entrance exam they were faced with what one New York City Assistant Personnel Director described as " the most arduous test we have ever given to anyone." Each of the ninety women who showed up to take the test failed. Brenda Berkman was a marathon runner and law student who longed to give back to her community. She failed Test 3040 along with the rest of the female applicants, and subsequently brought a class action suit against New York City and the FDNY. It was a landmark gender discrimination case, though Berkman's victory in the courtroom was only the prelude to an unbearable nightmare of discrimination and cruel mistreatment. Many of the male firefighters resented the judge's decision to allow women into the FDNY, and once the women were in the firehouses things turned ugly fast. In addition to deliberately sabotaging their female coworker's firefighting equipment, the male firefighters were openly hostile to the new employees - even going so far as to make death threats in some cases. This is the story of that landmark case, and it's explosive aftermath, as told from the very women who were there to experience these well-documented events firsthand. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
A paranoid housewife finds that her worst fears are merely dwarfed be the terrifying reality of her dangerous obsession in director Ann Turner's psychologically bent study in fear starring Susan Sarandon, Sam Neill, and Emily Blunt. Convinced that her husband's beautiful co-worker Mara (Blunt) is seeking to rob her of her family and steal her identity, Sophie Hartley (Sarandon) finds nothing but incredulous stares when she voices her concern to her disbelieving family and friends. As Sophie struggles to maintain her slipping sanity and the grip of paranoia continues to tighten its constricting grip, her acute obsession finds Sophie becoming her own worst nightmare. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Adapted by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen from their own off-Broadway play, The Exonerated dramatizes the real-life stories of six innocent citizens who spent anywhere from three to 20 years on death row until DNA testing proved that they had all been falsely convicted. Each of the six stories is related in the first person, using free-flowing flashbacks to highlight selected events. Some critics felt that, by using such A-list actors as Susan Sarandon, Aidan Quinn, Danny Glover, Brian Dennehy, and Delroy Lindo to play the unfairly condemned protagonists, the text of the original play was thrown off balance; this may be the reason why the relatively unknown David Brown Jr., cast as the sixth main character, received some of the best reviews. In the tradition of Schindler's List, the actual people whose experiences are enacted in the film show up on camera for the final scene. Directed by veteran Broadway and Hollywood actor Bob Balaban (Seinfeld, A Mighty Wind), The Exonerated was produced for the Court TV cable channel, and was first broadcast on January 27, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon, Aidan Quinn, (more)
- 2004
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Discover how a social studies teacher from Concord, New Hampshire was selected to become NASA's first civilian astronaut as documentary filmmakers Renee Sotile and Jo Godges explore the remarkable life of Christie McAullife, the beloved educator who lost her life when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on January 12, 1986. Selected from thousands of applicants for the journey into the stars, McAullife's personal mission was to make space exploration exciting for school children everywhere. Intellectually curious and spirited from a young age, she displayed strong leadership skills early in life and strived to inspire the same in others. In addition to hearing McAullife describe her sense of inspiration in her own words, viewers also hear from her family and NASA officials, the latter of whom offer unique insight into the disaster and its lingering effects on the American space program. By working closely with McAullife's mother, Grace Corrigan, the filmmakers celebrate the life of the teacher who continues to inspire people everywhere even two decades after her untimely death. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon
A pair of pacifist-minded documentarians reach out to dozens of their generation's greatest thinkers in a bid to ensure a peaceful future for all in this documentary that encourages viewers to take an active role in the peace process. From September 2002 to May 2003, filmmakers Gabriele Zamparini and Lorenzo Meccoli conducted interviews with such internationally recognized thinkers as Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Gore Vidal, Jesse Jackson, Ossie Davis, and Desmond Tutu to explore peaceful solutions to global conflict. In addition to exploring various alternatives to war and weapons of mass destruction as a means of solving conflict, these interviews provide fascinating insight into the modern era while simultaneously offering a look inside the minds of some of the planets greatest tinkers, activists, and leaders. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Belafonte, Noam Chomsky, (more)
- 2004
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Buddhist leader His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet is the focal point of this panel discussion, in which a group of political, environmental, and spiritual activists discuss the dangers and dilemmas that face the global community at the dawn of the 21st century. Ethics and the World Crisis: A Dialogue With the Dalai Lama features discussions of ethical issues and how they relate to the media, global economics, the peace movement, and the environment. In addition to the Dalai Lama, panelists include U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Rev. Al Sharpton, Susan Sarandon, Russell Simmons, Amy Goodman, Ben Cohen, and more; the discussion is moderated by Robert Thurman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- The Dalai Lama (XIV), Robert A.F. Thurman, (more)
- 2004
Gini Reticker and Lesli Klainberg direct the 74-minute documentary In the Company of Women, a production of the Independent Film Channel. The film offers an introduction to the major women of independent filmmaking, starting in the 1980s. It includes commentary from directors Allison Anders, Lisa Cholodenko, and Nicole Holofcener. Actresses Patricia Clarkson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Rosie Perez also offer insight and comments. In the Company of Women was shown in a special screening at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival before making its broadcast premiere on the Independent Film Channel. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Allison Anders, Lisa Cholodenko, (more)
Officially based on two of Frank Herbert's science fiction novels, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, this three-part, six-hour miniseries was actually a sequel to the Sci-Fi Channel's multipart adaptation of the original Dune. The story was set in the year 10,103: Having deposed the evil emperor of the desert planet Arrakis, the messianic Paul Atreides (Scott Newman) was firmly installed as the planet's supreme "Muad'Dib," as well as the guardian of Arrakis' life-enhancing spice supply. Unfortunately, Paul's efforts to unify his kingdom have had the residual consequences of bloodshed and tyranny. It fell to Paul's twin children, Ghanima (Jessica Brooks) and Leto II (James McAvoy), to thwart the villainous machinations of the planet's deposed matriarch, Princess Wensicia (Susan Sarandon), and the beautiful but insane Princess Alia (Daniela Amavia). Like the previous Dune miniseries, this one was decked out with superlative special effects, excellent performances, on-target direction, and (most vital for any Herbert adaptation) a thoroughly logical and coherent teleplay. First telecast on March 16, 2003, Frank Herbert's Children of Dune was clearly designed as the pilot for a weekly Dune series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alec Newman, Julie Cox, (more)
- 2003
It is during the final months of 1999 that 46-year-old physician Jerri Nielsen (Susan Sarandon) finds herself stranded at the Amundsen-South Pole Research Station along with a tiny staff of researchers and technicians. Although, at first, there is little love lost between the somewhat aloof Nielsen and her more down-to-earth colleagues, a strong bond develops among them as the extreme Antarctic winter progresses. Nielsen, in particular, grows quite close to two of the "Polies": Big John Penny (Aidan Devine) and Claire Furinski (Cynthia Mace). It is Big John to whom Nielsen confides that she has discovered a lump in her breast, which, with the e-mailed assistance of her fellow physicians back in the States, she diagnoses as a cancerous growth. After a self-administered biopsy, Nielsen and her new friends construct a crude chemotherapy unit to treat her ever-growing cancer. Supplies are periodically air-dropped by the Air Force and both Big John and Claire are given a crash course in the treatment of Nielsen's affliction; but will she be able to survive her ordeal until the rescue party arrives? Inspired by a true story, as written by Nielsen herself in a best-selling autobiography, Ice Bound: A Woman's Survival at the South Pole was filmed on location near Ontario's frozen Lake Simone. This made-for-TV production originally aired April 20, 2003, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon, Aidan Devine, (more)
- 2003
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Host Susan Sarandon explores the common sense diet methods of Norris Chumley in this video designed to cut through the fads and get straight to the facts. By eschewing diet pills and starvation methods in favor of a sensible diet, embracing movement, and discovering a transformational self-love by surrendering himself to a higher power, Chumley shed 160 pounds and has kept the weight off for nearly a decade. In this release, Chumley shares his spiritually oriented approach to weight loss and offers a look at five ordinary people who successfully won the battle against obesity through practicing the methods that he prescribes. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norris Chumley, Susan Sarandon, (more)
Shortly after graduating from the University of California at Santa Barbara, filmmaker Tom Peosay and his wife Sue (an Asian Studies major) set out on a tour of Asia that culminated in an extended stay in the Chinese-occupied nation of Tibet. With that formative visit, the Peosays became actively interested in the small Himalayan nation's tempestuous history and, over the course of the next decade, made a number of return visits to document Tibet's story, as well as interview a number of its residents and higher-profile participants of the "Free Tibet" movement. Their completed documentary, entitled Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion, encompasses a brief history of China's invasion and subsequent five decades of rule, as well as the various uprisings that have occurred over the years -- with particular emphasis on the 1987 riots. A number of high profile Hollywood actors lent their voices to this project, including Martin Sheen (who narrated the film), Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, and Ed Harris. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Sheen
Filmmaker Liz Garbus (The Farm: Angola, USA) documents the extraordinary story of Edith Hahn in The Nazi Officer's Wife. Using old newsreel footage, personal photos, and interviews with Hahn, her daughter Angela, and various acquaintances, with narration by Susan Sarandon and Julia Ormond (who reads excerpts from Hahn's autobiography), the film explores how Hahn, a Jewish woman living in Vienna during the Nazi takeover of Austria, survived. The film begins the tale with Hahn's childhood, including her education, the death of her father, and her college romance with a half-Jewish intellectual. As the Nazis grew in power, and Hahn's sisters fled for Palestine, he insisted that they would be safe in Vienna. Soon, Hahn, a law student, found herself in a slave labor camp. By the time she returned to Vienna, her mother had been sent to a concentration camp in Poland. Certain to be deported herself, Hahn chose instead to remove the yellow star from her clothing and go into hiding. Finding help from the unlikeliest of sources (including two prominent members of the Nazi party,) Hahn took on a new identity as a young Aryan woman, and left Vienna, traveling to Munich, in the heart of the Third Reich, where she got a job working as a nurse's aide for the Red Cross. There, visiting a museum, she met a bright and well-spoken Nazi, Werner Vetter, who approached her. Soon, against Hahn's better judgment, the two had started a romance, which eventually led to an unlikely marriage and a child. All the while, Hahn kept up her disguise to all but her husband, even suppressing her own vital personality, and taking on the role of a subservient Aryan housewife. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon, Julia Ormond, (more)
- 2002
Filmmakers Phillip B. Kunhardt III, Nancy Steiner, and Peter W. Kunhardt explore the eternal struggle for liberty in America while simultaneously illuminating the hypocritical underlying factors that undermined the colonist's bold "experiment in freedom," in a revealing documentary featuring the voices of Brad Pitt, Martin Sheen, Michael Caine, Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins , Meryl Streep, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Robert Redford and many more. As the newly arrived British subjects staged the revolution that would cut loose their ties to Great Britain and give birth to a new era of freedom, a new hope for liberty emerged - but how then does one justify the presence of slavery in a society founded on the claim of all men being "created equal?" A blight on the quest for liberty and freedom that literally divided a struggling young nation right down the middle, slavery would be the last true obstacle in ensuring that the land of the free would truly live up to the ideals set forth by the founding fathers. As the north and the south set the stage for a bloody four-year war that would go down in history as one of the most brutal internal struggles ever waged, the resulting Civil War showed the willingness of Americans to actually stand up and fight to protect the rights of others as stated in the Constitution. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Susan Sarandon is the narrator for this documentary, which takes a close and compassionate look at children with multiple physical handicaps, and the parents who love and care for them. In addition to chronicling the lives of six families caring for severely challenged children, For Love of Julian also examines the medical facilities designed to help treat kids with handicaps. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon
Actors and political activists come together to take a long, hard look at the State of the Union during the 2000 U.S. Presidential election in this documentary, a follow-up to 1993's The Last Party, in which actor Robert Downey Jr. followed the 1992 presidential campaign. In The Last Party 2000, with Robert Downey Jr. unavailable due to drug convictions (he does make a brief appearance, and his legal problems as well as the current state of American drug laws are discussed), Philip Seymour Hoffman takes his place as he visits the 2000 Democratic and Republican National Conventions and talks to politicians and activists both famous and obscure as a pitched battle is fought between supporters of democratic candidate Al Gore, republican nominee George W. Bush, and the many voices who believed neither candidate represented a worthwhile or reasonable choice. Along with Downey and Hoffman, celebrities speaking out on the issues in this film include Courtney Love, Rosie O'Donnell, Reese Witherspoon, and David Crosby; the rock band Stone Temple Pilots also appear at a political rally. The Last Party 2000 was directed by actor and musician Donovan Leitch, who served as a producer on the first film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2001
In the third of four special 40-minute Friends episodes which originally ran in February 2000, Susan Sarandon guests as Jessica Lockhart, one of the stars of Days of Our Lives, the TV soap opera in which Joey (Matt LeBlanc) has returned in the role of the comatose Dr. Drake Ramoray. Under normal circumstances, Jessica and Joey -- who are clearly quite attracted to one another -- would have hit it off immediately, and everything would have been coming up roses. But alas, the daytime drama's plotline requires that Jessica's character be killed off, whereupon her brain is to be transplanted in Joey's head! ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon, Eva Amurri, (more)
