Eric Stoltz Movies
Eric Stoltz has appeared in a number of major and minor features and on television. While growing up, the pale, slender, and red-haired Stoltz spent time in American Samoa. His interest in acting began in high school where he not only acted in productions, but also occasionally accompanied them on piano. While attending U.S.C., Stoltz studied theater arts but left the program to study under Stella Adler, William Taylor, and Peggy Feury. Afterward, Stoltz spent a season in Edinburgh performing with an American repertory company.Upon his return stateside, Stoltz appeared in the television movie version of humorist Erma Bombeck's novel The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank (1978). He would appear in three more television films before making his film debut in Amy Heckerling's Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) alongside such other would-be stars as Sean Penn, Anthony Edwards, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. From there, Stoltz appeared in a series of low-budget films such as Running Hot (1982) and Surf 2 (1984), and he might well have remained at that level had he not been cast as Rocky Dennis in Peter Bogdanovich's Mask (1986). Playing a young teen suffering from lionitis, a terminal disease that drastically deforms the skull, Stoltz had to wear pounds of makeup and prosthetics (the makeup won Oscars for designers Zoltan Elek and Michael Westmore) that left him with only his voice, his eyes, and his body with which to convey emotions. Starring opposite Cher, who played his drug-addicted biker-chick mother, Stoltz gave a moving performance that earned him critical and audience acclaim. But though it made Stoltz popular, full-fledged stardom eluded him and he continued appearing in moderately successful and low-budget films, including John Hughes' romantic drama Some Kind of Wonderful (1987).
In addition to his film work, Stoltz has had a busy Broadway career that began in 1988 with a Tony-nominated starring role in a revival of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, and a sporadic television career making guest appearances on such series as Mad About You and in TV movies. Stoltz has occasionally produced films such as Mr. Jealousy (1997). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1998
The title of this episode refers to the comedian's basic definition of comedy -- and also, indirectly, to the unexpected demise of Alan Tofsky (Eric Stoltz), former flame of Jamie Buchman (Helen Hunt). In a videotaped will, Alan leaves all his worldly goods to Jamie -- and, much to the dismay of her husband, Paul (Paul Reiser), the decedent declares his eternal love for his ex-sweetie. Equally unhappy is Paul's "outed" sister, Debbie (Robin Bartlett), whose impending marriage to her partner, Joan (Suzie Plakson), may not come off as planned. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1998
A man is forced to find the truth behind a tragic accident that has effected him personally in this made-for-TV drama. Henry Drake (Charles Martin Smith) is a high-strung and somewhat eccentric air traffic controller who is trying to clear airliners for landing stacked up in a pattern over Chicago. Something goes awry, and an airliner and a cargo plane crash in mid-air, causing the death of 185 people. John Dantley (Eric Stoltz) is a National Transportation Safety Board officer who is assigned to investigate the incident, despite the fact he has a personal interest in the matter -- his former girlfriend was aboard the ill-fated airliner. Drake insists that the accident was caused by a technical failure, claiming his radar monitor went blank while he was trying to clean the planes for landing, but his co-workers don't believe his story, with some going so far as to tell Dantley they believe Drake caused the crash on purpose. It's up to Dantley to determine who is right -- and if Drake is telling the truth, he must find the glitch in the system before it can cause another accident. Blackout Effect also features Leslie Hope and Lorraine Toussaint. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Stoltz, Charles Martin Smith, (more)
Roger Hedden wrote and directed this indie romantic comedy about a group of New Yorkers on the Upper West Side as Christmas nears. Unemployed actor Jimmy (Eric Stoltz), who owes $900 to local bookie Fatty (Charles Durning), tells his girlfriend Susan (Moira Kelly) that the money is for an abortion for sis Maggie (Daryl Hannah) -- who jilted bartender Ray (Campbell Scott). Ray and one of his regular customers April (Katrin Cartlidge) visit bars trying to raise the money, and eventually a half dozen others are drawn into the treasure hunt. Shown at the 1998 Mill Valley Film Festival and the 1998 Chicago Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katrin Cartlidge, Charles Durning, (more)
A group of filmmakers looking for a lost native tribe instead find a man-eating monster in this thriller. Terri Flores (Jennifer Lopez) is a documentary filmmaker on assignment to make a film about the Shirishama Indians of the Amazon, a mysterious tribe known as "the People of the Mists." As Terri and her crew -- cameraman Danny Rich (Ice Cube), sound recordist Gary Dixon (Owen Wilson), anthropologist Steve Cale (Eric Stoltz), production manager Denise Kahlberg (Kari Wuhrer), and host Warren Westridge (Jonathan Hyde) -- head down the river, they discover a man whose boat has sunk and desperately needs rescue. Paul Sarone (Jon Voight), the mysterious stranger that they save from the waters, claims to know something of the Shirishama and says he will take the crew to them. Instead, he guides the group to the hiding place of the fearsome Anaconda, a gigantic snake that swallows a man whole, vomits him up, and eats him again (no small accomplishment, that). The snake is worth a fortune if captured, but can a creature so dangerous be captured at all? ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, (more)
In this Canadian documentary, two young filmmakers attend the Toronto Film Festival and pitch a film concept to various celebrities. Their film idea, titled The Dawn, concerns a Mafia don who goes for a hernia operation but gets a sex change instead. During the 1996 Toronto fest, they approach Roger Ebert, Norman Jewison (at a packed press conference), Eric Stoltz (leaving a limo), Al Pacino, and others without much success. On a roll, they leave Toronto for Hollywood, getting advice from Arthur Hiller and Neil Simon and finding an agent who expresses interest. Shown at the 1997 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- 1997
After innumerable false alarms, it looks as though Jamie (Helen Hunt) is going to have her baby. But before this blessed event can take place, Jamie is unexpectedly reunited with old flame Alan (Eric Stoltz), while her husband, Paul (Paul Reiser), is given a guided hospital tour by a very big movie star. Originally telecast as the hour-long finale of Mad About You's fifth season, this episode has since been divided into two half-hour installments for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Pembleton (Andre Braugher) is impressed by reporter Elizabeth Wu (Joan Chen), who is covering his investigation of a drug-related cop killing. He is, however, less than impressed when the inquisitive Wu proves to be a monumental nuisance. Elsewhere, Kellerman's (Reed Diamond) wild country-boy brothers Drew (Eric Stoltz) and Greg (Tate Donovan) show up in Baltimore, insisting that he return to Miami and join them in setting up a charter-boat service. What his brothers have neglected to tell them is that they are on the lam from a pair of murderous bookies -- and that they have stolen a valuable souvenir baseball. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, (more)
In this dark comedy, former broadcast journalist and current substitute teacher Lester Grimm (Eric Stoltz) is not especially good at displaying a healthy trust in his relationships. Ever since the age of 15, when Lester's first girlfriend ditched him for a 24-year-old, Lester has displayed an overpowering jealousy toward the women in his life -- which explains why he's still single. When Lester meets Ramona Ray (Annabella Sciorra), he's determined that this time he'll keep his emotions in check, until he learns that she has a rather checkered sexual history -- and her most recent boyfriend was a best-selling novelist, Dashiell Frank (Christopher Eigeman). Desperate to know if they still have feelings for each other, Lester starts crashing Dashiell's group therapy sessions in hopes of getting an inside scoop on what he has to say about his ex. Mr. Jealousy was written and directed by Noah Baumbach; it was his first film after his acclaimed independent debut Kicking and Screaming. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Stoltz, Annabella Sciorra, (more)
Illeana Douglas delivers a superb performance as Denise Waverly, a fictional singer and songwriter whose life bears more than a passing resemblance to that of real-life pop star Carole King. Edna Buxton, the daughter of a Philadelphia steel tycoon, aspires to a career as a singer, and when against her mother's bidding she sings a sultry version of "Hey There (You With the Stars in Your Eyes)" (instead of Mom's choice, "You'll Never Walk Alone") at a talent contest, she wins a recording contact and moves to New York City. She cuts a record and gains a new stage name, Denise Waverly; however, she soon finds that girl singers are a dime a dozen in the Big Apple and her career as a vocalist goes nowhere. But she has a knack for writing songs, and eccentric producer Joel Milner (John Turturro) asks her to pen some songs for his upcoming projects. Teamed with Howard Caszatt (Eric Stoltz), a hipster songwriter who wants to express his political and social ideals through pop tunes, she finds both a successful collaborator and husband. While her work with Howard gains Denise writing credits on a string of hit records and respect within the industry, their marriage falls apart, and she becomes involved with Jay Phillips (Matt Dillon), the gifted but unstable leader of a popular West Coast surf music combo. Students of pop music history will have a ball with the various characters modeled after real-life rock legends, and the 1960s-style song score includes numbers written by Joni Mitchell and J. Mascis (of the band Dinosaur Jr.), as well as one-time King collaborator Gerry Goffin; a collaboration between Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach, "God Give Me Strength," led to a full album written by the two great tunesmiths. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Illeana Douglas, John Turturro, (more)
Combining drama, comedy, and romance, Jerry Maguire was a critical and commercial success built on an original script by writer/director Cameron Crowe and an Oscar-nominated performance by Tom Cruise. Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) is an agent with a major sports management firm. He's enthusiastic, successful, a great negotiator and people like him. But it begins to dawn on Jerry that there's something wrong with what he's doing, and not long after a troubling encounter with the son of an injured athlete he represents, Jerry has a serious crisis of conscience. In the midst of a sleepless night, Jerry writes a memo calling on himself and his colleagues to think more about the long-term welfare of the clients they represent and less about immediate profits. While everyone around him applauds the sentiment, Jerry's superiors think his ideas are bad for business; Jerry is fired, and, rather than standing in solidarity with him, his "friends" in the firm scramble like sharks to claim Jerry's clients. At the end of his last day, the only people willing to join Jerry as he strikes out on his own are staff accountant Dorothy (Renee Zellweger), a single mother secretly in love with him, and Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.), a football player whose pride and arrogance have gotten in the way of his reaching his potential. Jerry Maguire earned an Academy Award for Cuba Gooding Jr.'s performance as Tidwell and provided a breakthrough role for Renee Zellweger; it also made "Show me the money!" an unavoidable catchphrase for several months. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding, Jr., (more)
A drug addict gets more than a quick fix in this made-for-cable thriller. Eric Stoltz stars as Jesse Parish, a musician and druggie who leads a mobster to his old stomping grounds after stealing a case of cash and going on the lam. Oscar-winner Billy Bob Thorton co-stars and co-wrote the script. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Stoltz, John Corbett, (more)
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)
A solemn look at South African apartheid, Arthur Penn's claustrophobic drama centers on a pair of political interrogations, separated by a decade. The film's first part, set in 1988, centers on the imprisonment of Marty Strydom (Eric Stoltz), an Afrikaaner university professor held as a political prisoner under suspicion of conspiring with anti-government forces. His case falls into the hands of the villainous Colonel Kruger (Nigel Hawthorne), a brilliant and evil torturer determined to break the idealistic Strydom's spirit. The conclusion takes place nearly a decade later, after apartheid's fall. Now it is Krueger who is under confinement, and subjected to unrelenting questioning from a black South African (Louis Gossett Jr.) looking to beat Kruger at his own manipulative game. While offering numerous powerful confrontations between its characters, Bima Stagg's screenplay provides few narrative surprises, and some may find the film's limited setting and bare-bones treatments monotonous. However, Penn's stark style suits the harsh subject matter and keeps the focus strongly upon the cast, who provide appropriately intense performances. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Stoltz, Nigel Hawthorne, (more)
A man learns to be a better person when he turns into a dog in this thoughtful and surprisingly somber drama for the family. Tom (Matthew Modine), a businessman, is so driven to succeed that he all but ignores his wife Carol (Nancy Travis) and their son Brian (Max Pomeranc). Tom's perspective changes when he dies in an auto accident and is reincarnated as Fluke, a big brown dog. Fluke wants nothing more than to be with Carol and Brian, but he gets lost as he tries to make his way home. He's adopted by a homeless woman, and with her, Fluke truly learns to give and receive love for the first time, but when she dies, the dog is left with nowhere to go. Fluke is soon befriended by Rumbo (voice of Samuel L. Jackson), a guard dog at a junkyard who teaches him how to survive on the street, but before long, Fluke once again hears the call from his heart to find Carol and Brian. Fluke also stars Eric Stolz, Ron Perlman, and Jon Polito. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Modine, Nancy Travis, (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)
The directorial debut from Highlander screenwriter Gregory Widen stars Christopher Walken as the angel Gabriel, who, fed up with God giving all of his attention to humans, decides to stage a sort of coup. With plans of killing all of the good angels, Gabriel decides to enlist the help of a recently deceased and inhumanly malevolent army general. In order to prevent Gabriel from obtaining the help of the vicious Korean War vet, good angel Simon (Eric Stoltz) stashes the general's soul in an unsuspecting young Native American girl named Mary (Moriah Snyder). As Gabriel gets closer to finding Mary, an ex-seminary-student-turned-cop and a school teacher, played by Elias Koteas and Virginia Madsen, team together to protect her. Meanwhile, Satan (Viggo Mortensen) enters into the mix, concerned over the implications the heavenly war may have on his dominion. Later spawning a series of sequels, The Prophecy was released in the U.K. under the title God's Army. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Walken, Elias Koteas, (more)
The 18th century Scottish legend of Robert Roy MacGregor comes to life in this stylish adaptation of the swashbuckling novel by Sir Walter Scott. Liam Neeson stars as the title character, a cattle drover and proud head of a Highlands clan who takes a one thousand pound loan from the royal Marquis of Montrose (John Hurt) in order to make a profit on some livestock that will keep his struggling people alive through the coming winter. One of the Marquis' henchmen, wily expert swordsman Archibald Cunningham (Tim Roth) learns of the loan from the nobleman's factor, Killearn (Brian Cox), and steals the money by murdering Rob Roy's best friend MacDonald (Eric Stoltz). Unable to repay the loan and unwilling to give up his land, Rob Roy becomes a fugitive, hunted by none other than Cunningham, who rapes Rob Roy's wife Mary (Jessica Lange). Scotch-British politics come to a boil over the Rob Roy affair, leading to an officially sanctioned showdown between the stoic farmer and Cunningham. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liam Neeson, Jessica Lange, (more)
Inspired by the advent of Seattle's grunge music sound and popular films such as Slacker (1991) and Singles (1992), the Generation X comedy-drama was born. Typified by characters in their early twenties sharing an abundance of education, a lack of career direction, stunted romantic aspirations and an obsession with popular culture, one of the better examples of the genre was Kicking and Screaming. Josh Hamilton stars as Grover, a recent college graduate and aspiring writer depressed over the departure of his girlfriend Jane (Olivia d'Abo) for a fellowship in Prague. Josh's best friends are in a similar predicament. Skippy (Jason Wiles) is a classic slacker couch potato still attending classes despite having graduated, while the philosophical Max (Chris Eigeman) and Otis (Carlos Jacott), a mechanical engineer, both remain unemployed. Tenth-year student Chet (Eric Stoltz), who works at a local bar and has still not finished his education, serves as a cautionary tale for the four unmotivated pals. Kicking and Screaming was the debut of writer and director Noah Baumbach and the first of several cinematic collaborations between him and actors Eigeman and Stoltz. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Hamilton, Olivia D'Abo, (more)
- 1995
Looking for the perfect third-anniversary gift causes Paul and Jamie Buchman (Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt) to lose confidence in their relationship. In the course of events, Jamie receives a cryptic message: "This note entitles the bearer to one magical night." Truer words were never written. Originally telecast as the hour-long finale of Mad About You's third season, this episode has since been divided into two half-hour installments for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
This is the celebrated "cartoon" episode, with animation provided by Sony Imageworks. Jamie Buchman (Helen Hunt) is nonplussed when she learns that her former boyfriend Alan (Eric Stoltz) has been hired as a graphics artist for her new ad campaign. The result is a special edition of Alan's fabled comic-book character Talon, Queen of Outer Space -- a supremely bitchy extraterrestrial who bears a remarkable resemblance to someone we all know quite well. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Looking for the perfect third-anniversary gift causes Paul and Jamie Buchman (Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt) to lose confidence in their relationship. In a rare "alternate reality" situation, the Buchmans are permitted to experience what might have happened had they never met. Originally telecast as the hour-long finale of Mad About You's third season, this episode has since been divided into two half-hour installments for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Louisa May Alcott's classic novel about a family of women in Civil War-era New England is again brought to the screen in this adaptation. The focus is on the March sisters, four young girls raised by their mother (Susan Sarandon) after their father leaves for battle as part of the Union Army. At the center is Jo March (Winona Ryder), an idiosyncratic would-be writer said to be based on Alcott herself, but the film also focuses on the stories of her sisters -- the more conventional Meg (Trini Alvarado), the innocent Beth (Claire Danes), and the precocious Amy (Kirsten Dunst and Samantha Mathis, who represent Amy at different ages.) The film spans years, following the girls' struggles with life's challenges and illustrating how their family connection remains strong in the face of tragedies large and small. Australian director Gillian Armstrong emphasizes the story's feminist elements, particularly in Jo's journey to independence. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Winona Ryder, Gabriel Byrne, (more)
Outrageously violent, time-twisting, and in love with language, Pulp Fiction was widely considered the most influential American movie of the 1990s. Director and co-screenwriter Quentin Tarantino synthesized such seemingly disparate traditions as the syncopated language of David Mamet; the serious violence of American gangster movies, crime movies, and films noirs mixed up with the wacky violence of cartoons, video games, and Japanese animation; and the fragmented story-telling structures of such experimental classics as Citizen Kane, Rashomon, and La jetée. The Oscar-winning script by Tarantino and Roger Avary intertwines three stories, featuring Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta, in the role that single-handedly reignited his career, as hit men who have philosophical interchanges on such topics as the French names for American fast food products; Bruce Willis as a boxer out of a 1940s B-movie; and such other stalwarts as Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Christopher Walken, Eric Stoltz, Ving Rhames, and Uma Thurman, whose dance sequence with Travolta proved an instant classic. ~ Leo Charney, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, (more)
