James Spader Movies
Often noted for his comment that he enjoys working in all of his films -- as long as he doesn't have to see any of them -- actor James Spader may have missed out on seeing a few good performances in some pretty memorable films.Though descended from a long line of scholars and professors, Spader, in ironic contrast to his theatrical image as the definitive terminal yuppie, dropped out of Phillips Andover prep school to pursue a career as an actor. Forsaking his formal education, Spader instead decided to focus his attention on acting by studying at the Michael Chekhov school in New York, while also working a variety of odd jobs to support himself until he found success as a thespian. Making his debut in the 1978 comedy Team Mates, Spader began the slow process of gaining more frequent work with roles of increasing substance. Spader's first role came in Franco Zeffirelli's soft-core teen melodrama Endless Love (1981) (also notable as the debut of another young unknown actor named Tom Cruise. After a brief, mid-'80s stint in teen exploitation including Tuff Turf and The New Kids (both 1985), Spader gained mainstream recognition with his first fore in yuppiedom as Molly Ringwald's insincere suitor in Pretty in Pink (1986). Over the course of the next few years, Spader would refine his slimy persona to perfection in Wall Street (1987) and Less Than Zero (1987), and take an interesting turn as a possible serial killer in the Jack the Ripper thriller Jack's Back (1988), but it was the end of the decade that brought the defining role in Spader's career.
Though his role in independent filmmaker Steven Soderbergh's voyeurism-obsessed sex, lies and videotape did little to propel his persona into more likeable territories, it showed an actor with considerable talent who wasn't afraid to take risks, winning him the Best Actor award at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. Spader's dark portrayal of the ominously seductive videophile struck a chord in audiences and critics alike and turned him into a household name. The '90s found Spader expanding his yuppie image into more sympathetic territory with roles in White Palace and Bad Influence (both 1990), and he continued his likeable trend in the first of the mega-budget Dean Devlin/Roland Emmerich collaborations, Stargate (1994), before reverting back as Jack Nicholson's manipulative lycanthropic rival in Mike Nichols' imaginative satire Wolf (1994). Controversy soon followed with David Cronenberg's widely panned study of fetishistic alienation Crash (1996), and Spader has worked steadily since, with roles in Supernova (2000) and Speaking of Sex (2001). With the release of Secretary (2002), Spader once again found himself in the favor of art house audiences for his portrayal of a demanding lawyer who hires a recently released mental patient for the eponimous duty. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
A young boy living in a cookie-cutter suburb gets hit on the head with a rainbow-colored rock that grants wishes to anyone who holds it in this family-oriented fantasy comedy from Spy Kids director Robert Rodriguez. All the houses in Black Falls look exactly the same, and everyone who lives in this suburban Shangri-la works for Black Box Unlimited Worldwide Industries Incorporated. A highly profitable company thanks to their latest invention, Mr. Black's Black Box -- an all-in-one communication device that's revolutionized the technological landscape -- Black Box Unlimited Worldwide Industries Incorporated also employs the parents of 11-year-old Toe Thompson. But Toe isn't entirely sold on the concept of this corporate conglomerate; all he wants is to make some new friends, and that wish comes true after Toe is struck in the head by a mysterious rainbow-colored rock that falls right out of the clear blue sky. A magical stone that puts Mr. Black's Black Box to shame, Toe's rock possesses the power to grant wishes. Now, as the rock begins to change hands, Black Falls is overrun by miniature spaceships, crocodile armies, boogers the size of boulders, and whatever other oddities the imaginative local kids happen to dream up. Who would have thought that the real trouble would start once the grown-ups in town get their hands on the mysterious rock? With the situation quickly spiraling out of control, it's up to Toe and his friends to save the townspeople from themselves by proving to them that the things you wish for may not actually be the best things for you. Jon Cryer, William H. Macy, Leslie Mann, and James Spader co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jimmy Bennett, Jake Short, (more)
The quirky characters at Crane, Poole and Schmidt are at it again, bringing the most outrageous and often times improbable cases to court.
- Starring:
- William Shatner, James Spader, (more)
- 2006
- Add Discovery Atlas: China Revealed to QueueAdd Discovery Atlas: China Revealed to top of Queue
For curious Americans looking to learn more about Chinese culture, this program offers an in-depth look at the people, traditions, and landscapes of contemporary China that is both visually engaging and intellectually arresting. Now viewers who may not have the means to travel to China and experience the beauty of the culture firsthand can study the people and traditions more closely than ever before as filmmakers offer a guided tour of this vast and wondrous nation. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Created by television mastermind David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal, The Practice, Picket Fences) and featuring an Emmy Award-winning cast including William Shatner, Candice Bergen, and James Spader, Season Two of Boston Legal is socially relevant, wickedly funny, and infectiously fresh...It's an open and shut case!
- Starring:
- James Spader, William Shatner, (more)
Led by an Emmy Award-winning cast (James Spader, Denny Crane and Candice Bergen), "Boston Legal" tells the professional and personal stories of a group of brilliant but often emotionally challenged attorneys. Fast-paced and darkly comedic, the series confronts social and moral issues, while its characters continually stretch the boundaries of the law.
- Starring:
- James Spader, William Shatner, (more)
When an underground society of powerful and dangerous men transforms from a secretive safe haven into a tangled web of lies and deceit, their unwavering desperation culminates in a shocking act of murder in this thriller from director Rich Cowan. Everyone in the secret society has committed a crime that could bring their fortune and public face crumbling to the ground, and Harrison French (Matt Davis) is no exception. Convinced by leader William Ashbury (James Spader) that the only way to make his troubles disappear is to confess his agonizing secret to the members of the group -- who will in turn exchange his confession for a "favor" designed to take the weight off his crushing conscience -- French soon discovers that the price for a future of lies and deception may be more than he is willing to pay. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Spader
An American abroad discovers that a series of crimes may have a greater significance than imagined in this drama. Rhodes (Jeff Daniels) is an American human rights activist who has come to a small Mexican border town to help oversee union elections at a factory owned by a United States firm. While in Mexico, Rhodes learns that things have not been quiet around town lately -- a number of people were found shot dead in a tunnel just across the border in the States, and a pair of Californians who came to Mexico to do some trail riding have disappeared without a trace. Rhodes has a hunch the recent crimes may have something to do with the hotly contested upcoming election, and with the permission of a pal from the State Department (James Spader), he joins up with Castillo (Clifton Collins Jr.), a police detective who is looking into the tunnel deaths. I Witness also co-stars Portia de Rossi. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Daniels, James Spader, (more)
It was certainly no coincidence that the made-for-cable historical film The Pentagon Papers was timed for released just when America was poised to wrestle with the question as to whether or not the President had the right to declare war on Iraq without full congressional and/or United Nations approval. The film covers several decades in the life of Harvard graduate Daniel Ellsberg (James Spader), who as a Pentagon official during two presidential administrations regards himself as patriotic as the next fellow. According to the unabashedly slanted teleplay by Jason Horwitch, it is this sense of patriotism that compels Ellsberg to release a 7,000-page classified report to The New York Times and The Washington Post, revealing that the official story of America's "success" in Vietnam was both exaggerated and distorted, and that the public has been egregiously misled for years. As a result of this act, Ellsberg, whose family life has already been destroyed by his devotion to his work, faces charges of treason from the Nixon administration. Ironically, it is Nixon's reaction to Ellsberg's security breach which leads him to create his team of gap-stopping "plumbers" -- who would of course bring about the President's downfall with the Watergate scandal. Surprisingly, The Pentagon Papers premiered March 9, 2003, over the FX network, a cable service owned by the markedly conservative Rupert Murdoch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
James Spader stars in the made-for-TV movie Alien Hunter. Berkley professor Dr. Julian Rome (Spader) is a former code-reader for the government project known as Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. His skills are needed to assist Dr. Alexi Gierach (Nikolai Binev) in the Antarctic, where strange radio signals are detected. As Julian tries to understand the hidden messages in the signals, he comes into conflict with his fellow scientists Dr. Michael Straub (John Lynch) and Dr. Kate Brecher (Janine Eser). Alien Hunter originally aired in the U.S. on the Sci Fi Channel. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Spader, Janine Eser, (more)
Wild Things director James McNaughton explores the doomed efforts of young couple to salvage their failing marriage in a dark romantic comedy starring Bill Murray, James Spader, Jay Mohr, Melora Walters, and Catherine O'Hara. In the grand scheme of things their relationship has only just begun, yet everything seems to be falling apart for a once-loving couple whose marriage has hit the skids. Despite the best efforts of an insightful marriage counselor, a depression expert, and two well-heeled attorneys, what was once an attempt at preserving their relationship soon devolves into a heated series of random affairs. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Sadomasochism provides the backdrop for a very unusual employer/employee relationship in this very offbeat romantic drama from filmmaker Steven Shainberg. Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a shy young woman, who, after a brief spell in a mental institution, is released in the care of her overprotective mother (Lesley Ann Warren) and hard-drinking father (Stephen McHattie). Hoping to make good on her own, Lee begins looking for a job, and in her free time indulges in her odd habit of inflicting pain upon herself in various ways. Lee is hired as a secretary by E. Edward Grey (James Spader), a grim and ruthlessly efficient attorney who warns her that her work will be both dull and demanding. Lee takes to the job with genuine enthusiasm, and while she's recently acquired a new boyfriend, Peter (Jeremy Davies), she's far more intrigued by Grey's coldly patrician demeanor. While Grey often criticizes Lee, she seems to thrive on his abuse, but one day he crosses a line when he insists upon spanking her after some minor mistake. Lee quite enjoys the treatment, and wants it to continue, but Grey can no longer take pleasure humiliating Lee when he knows that she likes it; he fires her, despite her pleas to be allowed to stay. Finally discovering the key to her sexual and emotional needs, Lee tries to persuade Peter to be rough with her, but he simply doesn't have the taste or talent for it, and Lee soon maps out a last-ditch effort to win back her position with Grey, whatever the cost. Secretary won a special award for "Originality" at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Spader, (more)
When a bank robber takes up residence in a small town after having gotten away with half a million dollars, country life is disrupted by a former cop (James Spader) and a local police officer (David Keith). The two set off on a cat-and-mouse hunt for the robber and his true identity, as he was wearing a clown mask at the time of the holdup. The Stickup also features Leslie Stefanson. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Spader, Leslie Stefanson, (more)
A detective is urged on by the lunatic he's trying to put behind bars in this crime thriller. Joel Campbell (James Spader) is a police detective who has recently relocated to Chicago after spending eight frustrating years trying to track down a vicious serial killer who has been terrorizing Los Angeles. However, the slayer, David Allen Griffin (Keanu Reeves), doesn't want the game of cat and mouse to end; even though he previously put his murderous activities on hold, Griffin has started murdering young women again -- and is sending clues to Campbell, mailing him photos of his intended victims and urging Campbell to save them while he still can. Also starring Marisa Tomei, Ernie Hudson, and Chris Ellis, The Watcher was directed by Joe Charbanic. It marked Charbanic's first feature project after directing videos for a number of alternative rock groups, including Soul Coughing, Sonic Youth, and Reeves' band, Dogstar. The film was produced under the title Driven. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Spader, Marisa Tomei, (more)
Greed and obsession fuel a deadly showdown in this thriller. When Trina (Minnie Driver) was a girl, her mother and father were determined to find a fortune in diamonds that had supposedly been buried in the desert in Mexico many years before. Now that her parents have passed on, Trina has inherited their obsession, and continues to search for the stones against the advice of Frank (Stuart Wilson), a geologist and longtime friend of the family. But Trina is not about to give up, and when she discovers that a pair of escaped convicts (James Spader and Josh Brolin) have happened upon the diamonds, she is grimly determined to steal the jewels from the fugitives. Incidentally, Slow Burn features characters named Frank Norris and Paulina McTeague, apparent references to Erich Von Stroheim's Greed, which also deals with thieves trying to outwit each other in the desert, and was based on the novel McTeague by Frank Norris.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Minnie Driver, James Spader, (more)
In the early years of the 22nd century, a medical rescue team is traveling the netherworlds of deep space, waiting to answer emergency calls aboard what amounts to an interstellar ambulance. Captain Marley (Robert Forster), pilot Vanzant (James Spader), medical officer Evers (Angela Bassett), medical technician Penalosa (Lou Diamond Phillips), paramedic Lund (Robin Tunney), and computer technician Sotomejor (Wilson Cruz) pick up a distress signal from a group of workers involved in a mining operation on a comet. But as they move in for a rescue, they discover that this isn't the mission of mercy they were expecting. They pick up Larson (Peter Facinelli), a mysterious and menacing man with a strange alien artifact, who draws the ship into the orbit of a huge star that is due to explode into a supernova at any time. Supernova had a production history that can be charitably described as "troubled." Australian filmmaker Geoffrey Wright was replaced by Walter Hill shortly before filming began. Actor Vincent D'Onofrio left the project shortly after Wright, replaced by Cruz. Hill then left the project in post-production and requested that his name be removed from the film. Francis Ford Coppola was hired to supervise a final re-cut, nearly a year after the completion of photography. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Spader, Angela Bassett, (more)
In this romantic comedy with supernatural touches, Stevenson Lowe (James Spader) works for a large publishing house, editing and acquiring new projects. Lowe's new boss is after him to buy fewer books that are good and more books that will sell, while his girlfriend Julia (Polly Walker) is trying to convince him that marriage might not be such a bad idea. But marriage is a tough sell for Lowe; in the hopes that a new home might make him think about settling down, Julia suggests that Lowe look at a brownstone that's just gone on the market. Lowe likes the place and buys it, without deciding if Julia should join him. However, Lowe quickly discovers that he's not actually alone in his new digs; the ghosts of Max Gale (Michael Caine) and Lily Marlowe (Maggie Smith), an acting couple who were the toast of the legitimate stage many years ago, are already in residence. Max and Lily are soon offering Lowe all sorts of unsolicited advice on winning the heart of his lady love, though given how much they bicker, they may not be the best people from whom to learn the art of romance. Buck Henry, Sam Shepard, Frank Whaley, and Marcia Gay Harden highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Spader, Michael Caine, (more)
Sidney Lumet filmed this hospital satire at a Canadian studio. Alcoholic Dr. Butz (Albert Brooks in old-age makeup) advises younger Dr. Werner Ernst (James Spader) to only treat patients with much insurance. "When the lawyers start crawling all over you," says Butz, "that's when you know you're a doctor." Ernst, a second-year resident working in the ICU with head nurse Stella (Helen Mirren), winds up in the middle of a dispute between two sisters (Kyra Sedgwick and Margo Martindale). One wants to pull the plug on their wealthy father; the other demands that he remain alive (at a cost of $112,800 a month). Soon events swivel from the money-mad medical mire to equally murky legalistics. Steven Schwartz's screenplay was adapted from the novel by Richard Dooling. Shown at the 1997 Chicago Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Spader, Kyra Sedgwick, (more)
A woman who skirts the edges of madness finds love, but under deceptive circumstances, in this drama from Ireland. Sarah (Anne Brochet) is a lonely sculptor who lives near the Irish seacoast. One day, while walking along a desolate beach, she discovers a man who has washed up on the shore (James Spader). Though nearly drowned and suffering with a broken leg, the man is alive, and Sarah brings him back to her cottage, nursing him back to health. She discovers that the man is suffering from severe amnesia; he isn't sure who he is or what has happened, and Sarah decides to tell him that they're the only residents of a remote island, which is visited only by a supply boat every few months. The man believes Sarah, and in time he comes to trust and love her, but while Sarah is determined to keep her lover for herself, he displays a growing desire to leave the island for more civilized circumstances. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Spader, Anne Brochet, (more)
- 1997
The Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step plan is the motivating factor of this episode. But there's more, much more, beginning with Jerry's naked girlfriend Melissa (Kathleen McClellan). Also, Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) goes head-to-head with a germophobic co-worker; George (Jason Alexander) is humiliated by an apology (not his own); and Kramer (Michael Richards) decides to put a garbage disposal in his bathtub. (Did we say Alcoholics Anonymous? It should have been R.A. -- "Rage Anonymous.") ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A variety of crooks, losers, and working stiffs living in the shadow of Hollywood find their various personal crises overlapping in this intricately woven melodrama. Lee Woods (James Spader) is a cold-blooded hit man and Dosmo Pizzo (Danny Aiello) a soft-at-heart gangster; they've been sent to murder Roy Foxx (Peter Horton), the former husband of also-ran Olympic skier Becky Foxx (Teri Hatcher). Lee's girlfriend Helga (Charlize Theron) is unhappy about his habit of killing people, and she attracts the attention of Alvin (Jeff Daniels) and Wes (Eric Stoltz), two cops who've been put on vice detail but don't have the heart to bust the prostitute they've been trailing. Alvin dreams of becoming a homicide detective, so when he discovers that he might be on the trail of a murder, it's like Santa Claus showed up in mid-July to hand him a present. Dosmo manages to escape the crime scene, only to foil a murder attempt by Lee, forcing him to hide out in the home of Hopper, a pretentious English art dealer (Greg Cruttwell), whom Dosmo holds hostage along with Hopper's long-suffering assistant, Susan (Glenne Headly). In the midst of all this, a down-on-his-luck television director (Paul Mazursky) contemplates suicide (the main stumbling block is finding someone to take care of his dog) while also being pestered by an actor with equally bad luck (Austin Pendleton) and meeting a compassionate nurse (Marsha Mason) on a visit to a cemetery. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Aiello, Greg Cruttwell, (more)
- 1996
- NC17
After surviving a brutal car wreck, commercial director James Ballard finds himself slowly drawn to a mysterious subculture of people who have transformed automobile accidents into erotic events. Like the J.G. Ballard novel that inspired it, David Cronenberg's study of the sexual dimension of man's relationship to technology was a magnet for controversy, drawing a NC-17 rating and criticism from several sources, including studio owner Ted Turner, who attempted to prevent the film's American release. But though some have leveled charges of pornography, James' descent into this fetishistic underworld is approached with cold, scientific detachment. Characters like Vaughn, the charismatic group leader who stages recreations of celebrity car crashes, seem more like driven researchers than sexual renegades, which is undoubtedly part of the film's point. This impression is reinforced by the pristine cinematography by Peter Suschitzsky, which proves particularly haunting during a crucial accident scene, and Howard Shore's superb score. Far from exploitative, Crash in fact proves less transgressive than the original novel, but is still undoubtedly not for all tastes. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Spader, Holly Hunter, (more)
The black sheep son of a wealthy family sinks deeper into corruption the harder he tries to pull himself out in this drama. Richter Boudreau (Eric Stoltz) is a small-time film critic with a checkered past and some bad debts who decides to return to his old home town of Tulsa in hopes of getting his life back in order, much to the dismay of his mother Cynthia (Mary Tyler Moore), who is sick of lending him money and would prefer to have nothing to do with him. Richter still carries a torch for his one-time girlfriend Vicky (Deborah Kara Unger), who these days is married (not especially happily) to Ronnie (James Spader), a low level drug dealer with loftier criminal ambitions. Richter owes Ronnie money from a long time ago and isn't in a position to say no when Ronnie asks him to help with his latest scheme; Cherry (Joanna Going), a stripper, was a witness to the murder of a prostitute, and since the killer, Bedford Shaw (Marco Perella), is the son of the richest and most powerful man in town, Harmon Shaw (James Coburn), Ronnie feels that this information has remarkable blackmail potential. Richter finds himself caught up in Ronnie's plan while fully aware of the danger of tangling with Harmon Shaw. He also finds himself falling into ill-advised romance with Cherry. Keys to Tulsa was the first directorial effort for producer Leslie Greif; Cameron Diaz and Michael Rooker also appear in supporting roles. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Stoltz, James Spader, (more)
