David Strathairn Movies
One of the more underrated actors in Hollywood, tall, soft-spoken David Straithairn has earned almost consistent critical appreciation for his work in a number of films, most notably his many collaborations with director John Sayles.Born in San Francisco on January 26, 1949, Straithairn gained an entrance into acting via his days at Williams College. It was there that he met fellow student Sayles, and the two had their first collaboration with Return of the Seacaucus Seven. The 1980 film, which told the story of a group of friends reuniting after college, inspired a number of similar efforts, including The Big Chill. Following his debut, the actor -- whose additional performing experience came from his training at the Ringling Brothers Clown College -- appeared in supporting roles in a number of films, including Silkwood (1983) and Dominick and Eugene (1988). He continued to collaborate with Sayles, acting in The Brother From Another Planet (1984), Matewan, (1987), and Eight Men Out (1988). Straithairn was also introduced to television audiences with his role as bookstore owner Moss Goodman on the popular dramedy series Days and Nights of Molly Dodd.
In the 1990s, Straithairn had prominent roles in a number of critically acclaimed films and television miniseries. In addition to his continuing work with Sayles, in 1991's City of Hope and Passion Fish (1992), the actor lent his talents to such films as Bob Roberts (1992), Sneakers (also 1992), The River Wild (a 1994 film which reunited him with Silkwood co-star Meryl Streep), and Losing Isaiah (1995). He also appeared in miniseries such as the 1991 O Pioneers! and In the Gloaming (1997), in which he played the father of an AIDS-stricken Robert Sean Leonard. In 1997, Straithairn had a memorable turn as a high-class pimp with a dodgy mustache in the wildly lauded L.A. Confidential and after a supporting role in Simon Birch (1998), once again collaborated with Sayles, this time playing a fisherman with a past in the 1999 Limbo. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- 2001
Following up on her crowd pleasing 1998 film Finding North, Tanya Wexler directs this tweaked coming-of-age drama about a troubled teen and his even more troubled family. Having just come out of detox for drugs and alcohol, JJ (Jonathan Tucker) returns home hoping for a little comfort and solace, but he finds little of both. Though his mother continues to dote on him, everyone else is out to get him -- his brutish step-father Bull who is still furious over the vintage car JJ wrecked while hopped up; his vampish step-aunt Dot (Jennifer Tilly); his effete uncle Ernie. Even his former dealer Bobby, his girlfriend, who dumped him for Bobby, and his high school guidance counselor Dr. Charlie (David Strathairn) has something against JJ. While JJ struggles to straighten out his life, he remembers fondly his stay in detox. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonathan Tucker, Jennifer Tilly, (more)
French director Elie Chouraqui adapts the novel of the same name into this drama, that, although set in 1991, became tragically topical in the weeks before its release due to the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Andie MacDowell stars as Sarah, a photo editor for Newsweek and the happily married wife of Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Harrison Lloyd (David Strathairn). Harrison has been reconsidering his career of covering the world's war zone "hot spots" in order to spend more time with his family, and is accused by his colleague, Kyle (Adrien Brody), of playing it too safe in his risky profession. Harrison elects to accept one more combat assignment to cover the simmering tensions in Croatia, a conflict that quickly erupts into a full-scale, genocidal Civil War. Informed that Harrison is believed to have been killed in the fighting, Sarah refuses to accept her husband's death and becomes convinced that she's seen him, alive, in a news broadcast. She travels to Croatia on a quest to find him, and is eventually aided by Kyle, as well as two of Harrison's other colleagues, Yeager (Elias Koteas) and Stevenson (Brendan Gleeson). The group, armed with cameras instead of weapons, witnesses the horrors and atrocities unfolding in the region, while tracing the elusive path of Harrison, who may well be dead already. Harrison's Flowers was distributed by Universal Focus, the art house division of Universal Pictures that previously released Mulholland Drive (2001) and Billy Elliott (2000). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andie MacDowell, David Strathairn, (more)
Originally telecast November 12, 2000, on ABC, The Miracle Worker was the third film version of the classic biographical play by William Gibson. Following in the footsteps of Patty Duke and Melissa Gilbert as the young Helen Keller is Hallie Kate Eisenberg, who skyrocketed to TV fame in 2000 as star of a series of well-circulated cola commercials. Alison Elliot co-stars as Annie Sullivan, the dedicated, no-nonsense teacher who ultimately draws the blind, deaf, and mute Helen out of her lonely shell (literally kicking and screaming at times) and into the "normal" world. Filmed in Mississauga, Ontario, The Miracle Worker was shown as a two-hour episode of ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Alison Elliott, (more)
This made-for-TV movie focuses on the grassroots efforts of a Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to combat the entrenched racism of the segregated South. The film focuses on Owen Walker (Vicellus Reon Shannon), a youth who longs to address the injustices of his hometown in rural Mississippi. His father Will (Danny Glover) forswore his own previous attempts to organize local blacks. Owen resents his father, until he too realizes the true cost of protesting. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Glover, Vicellous Shannon, (more)
In this contemporary drama, Sigourney Weaver plays a woman out of her element and at the end of her rope. Alice Goodwin is a wife and mother who finds that the pressures of her life are starting to become more than she can bear. Alice works part-time as a school nurse while her husband Howard (David Strathairn) runs the family farm; they both look after their two daughters. Alice, who wasn't raised in farm country, still feels like an outsider, and she embraces a cynical, sarcastic humor as a defense mechanism. Alice's only real friends in town are Dan and Theresa Collins (Ron Lea and Julianne Moore), who live nearby and often babysit Alice's kids; Alice does the same for the Collins children as well. One day, while watching Theresa's two-year-old daughter Lizzie, Alice has to step away for a few minutes, and she returns to discover Lizzie has fallen into a pond near the house; the child falls into a coma and dies several days later. Lizzie's death puts a permanent wedge between Alice and Theresa, and most people in the community believe Alice is to blame for the girl's death. Any support she might have had is driven away when Robbie (Marc Donato), a boy who lives nearby, claims Alice molested him. Alice is sent to jail while awaiting trial, and Howard (who can't afford her $100,000 bail) must watch over their daughters and keep house by himself as he tries to keep the farm afloat. As Alice falls into a deep depression behind bars, Howard and Theresa begin edging into a romance. Based on the best-selling novel by Jane Hamilton, A Map of the World was adapted for the screen by Peter Hedges and Polly Platt and director Scott Elliott. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sigourney Weaver, Julianne Moore, (more)
With William Shakespeare now a hot commodity at the box office (and his body of work conveniently out of copyright), the usual trickle of film adaptations of the Bard's work is becoming a small flood, and director Michael Hoffman has assembled a cast of leading stage and screen actors for this whimsical film version of one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies. This interpretation of A Midsummer Night's Dream moves the action to Tuscany near the turn of the 20th century, as both mortals and enchanted creatures deal with romantic problems. Among the flesh-and-blood crowd, Duke Theseus (played by David Strathairn) is preparing for his wedding to Hippolyta (Sophie Marceau), while having to counsel Egeus (Bernard Hill), who has promised the hand of his daughter Hermia (Anna Friel) to Demetrius (Christian Bale). Hermia, however, wants to elope with her true love, Lysander (Dominic West), while her best friend Helena (Calista Flockhart) is mad about Demetrius. Meanwhile, fairies living in the forest are watching these romantic misadventures. Puck (Stanley Tucci) serves up love potions that mix and match the already confused lovers, while the Queen of Fairies, Titania (Michelle Pfeiffer), and her King, Oberon (Rupert Everett), have to deal with a group of hapless actors rehearsing a play in the forest -- one of whom, Bottom (Kevin Kline), has fallen under Puck's spell and becomes Titania's new lover. Will anyone end up with the person they really love? Who will get hurt riding their bicycles in the woods? Will Helena sit down and eat a square meal? Director Hoffman, a longtime Shakespeare buff, appeared as Lysander in a production of the play while a college student, and has since spearheaded a campaign to build a new $3 million theatre for his alma mater in Boise, ID. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, (more)
Writer/director John Sayles once again takes his audience to a place they may never have been before (this time both psychologically and geographically). Joe Gastineau (David Strathairn) lives in Juneau, Alaska, where his life has been stuck in neutral for about 25 years. When he was young, Joe was involved in an accident on a fishing boat that led to the death of two crewmembers, and he's never recovered from the blow. When Joe meets Donna De Angelo (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), however, he starts to come out of his shell. Donna is a lounge singer who goes from job to job, wherever she can get work. Her life has been built around being able to pick herself up when she falls and learning to be comfortable wherever she lands -- a gift that her teenage daughter, Noelle (Vanessa Martinez), does not share. Donna and Joe become attracted to each other, and her example leads Joe to take a job on a boat again. However, just as Joe's life is starting to get back on track, his ne'er-do-well half-brother Bobby (Casey Siemaszko) arrives to ask Joe a favor. One disaster leads to another, and Joe soon finds himself stranded on an island with Donna and Noelle, trying to hide from a group of men out to kill him. Shot on location in Alaska by award-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler, Limbo also features a soundtrack with a new song by Bruce Springsteen, "Lift Me Up"; Sayles directed three Springsteen music videos in the 1980s. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, David Strathairn, (more)
A small town's secrets prove deeper and more mysterious than they initially seemed in A Good Baby. Toker (played by Henry Thomas) is a young man living in a small North Carolina community, where he prefers to keep to himself. One day, while taking a walk in the woods, Toker finds a baby, and ventures into town to find out to whom it belongs. However, no one seems to know who the child's parents are, and no one will claim it as their own. Toker soon draws the attention of an attractive woman named Roby (Cara Seymour), who is interested in him, but will have nothing to do with the baby. Toker, however, has grown to love the child and does not want to turn it away. The arrival of a mysterious salesman (David Strathairn) eventually leads to the discovery of the child's true parentage. The directorial debut for Katherine Dieckmann, A Good Baby was screened at the 1999 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Thomas, David Strathairn, (more)
This comedy-drama features a narration by Jim Carrey, looking back to childhood in a manner similar to the narration on TV's The Wonder Years. The film is the directorial debut of writer Mark Steven Johnson, scripter of Grumpy Old Men and its sequel. Johnson adapted only a small portion of John Irving's 600-page novel A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989), but Irving requested a credit other than "based on" and also asked that the character name of Owen Meany be changed. So Owen became Simon Birch -- which then required a title change. In the title role is 11-year-old Ian Michael Smith, who is afflicted with Morquio's syndrome, a genetic disorder which causes dwarfism. The story begins when Joe Wenteworth (Jim Carrey) visits the grave of his childhood friend Simon Birch, whose stone is marked 1952-64. Joe explains that Simon is "the reason I believe in God." This is followed by a flashback to their friendship during the early '60s. In Gravestown, New Hampshire, young Joe Wenteworth (Joseph Mazzello) doesn't know who his father is, and his loving mother Rebecca (Ashley Judd) won't tell him. Joe's best buddy is young Simon Birch, born so tiny that his classmates pass him about like a "doll." Neglected at home, Simon turns to Rebecca as a surrogate mother, and he often has dinner with the Wenteworths. One night, Rebecca brings her friend Ben Goodrich (Oliver Platt) home for dinner, which annoys her crotchety mother (Dana Ivey). Later, the lives of the two 12-year-olds receive a cruel twist, and the two then become more curious to learn the secret of Joe's father. Shown in competition at the 1998 Montreal Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Michael Smith, Joseph Mazzello, (more)
- 1998
- PG13
When a local sheriff mysteriously dies, a world-famous, award-winning crime novelist launches a private investigation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Strathairn, Mary McDonnell, (more)
- 1998
- R
Life among insecure, middle-aged character actors, former New Yorkers in L.A., is the main plot focus of this Philip Frank Messina comedy about four friends who want the same role in the next Martin Scorsese gangster flick. Balding Johnny DiMartino (Robert Costanzo) is so excited by the news of a possible part as Al Capone in a Scorsese film that he informs ladies' man Dorian Masstandrea (Jon Tenney), who cheats on his wife Samantha (Elle Macpherson). Dorian immediately makes moves to get his own audition. Johnny goes to Armand (David Strathairn) for coaching in Sicilian characteristics, and he worries that his look-alike, Rudy Ptak (Jon Polito) will get the part. Steve Hersh (Adam Arkin) tries to get through to Scorsese, although his wife Joanne (Laura San Giacomo) is convinced he doesn't have a chance. Cameos by Bill Murray and Scorsese (portraying himself at the audition). Shown at the 1998 Santa Barbara Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Arkin, Robert Costanzo, (more)
- 1998
Dani Levy directed and co-stars in this German-Austrian political thriller. Lena Katz (Maria Schrader), living in New York, is the granddaughter of Jewish chocolate-factory owner Eliah Goldberg (Lukas Ammann), whose factory in Germany has been recently set on fire by some anti-Semitic thugs. In NYC, German émigrée Mrs. Fish (Lynn Cohen) reads about the fire and recognizes Goldberg as her father, who she thought was long dead, a victim of the Holocaust. Mrs. Fish phones her son David (Dani Levy), who hires Jewish activist attorney Charles Kaminski (David Strathairn) to contact Goldberg. At the same time, Lena's mom (Nicole Heesters) is visiting New York, and when Lena goes to see her at her hotel, she finds Mrs. Fish near death in the hallway, the victim of an attempted murder. She's taken to the hospital -- where David and Lena meet and begin to learn about their mysterious shared backgrounds and past history. Made with English and German dialogue, this film was shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Schrader, Dani Levy, (more)
- 1997
- PG13
Directed by Bob Swaim, The Climb chronicles the efforts of a father and son trying to prove their bravery. Set in the 1950's and shot in New Zealand, 12-year-old Danny (Gregory Smith) is determined to reach the highest point of the town, which, in this case, is a 203-foot radio tower. The tower in question, however, is scheduled to be demolished due to the accidents created by kids who had already attempted the climb. Despite the danger, Danny (Smith) feels that climbing the tower would prove once and for all that his father is not the cowardly war-dodger he's reputed to be, and that Danny himself is not one to be bullied. Though Danny had expected to plan and execute the climb in full, he finds an unlikely ally in Mr. Langer (John Hurt), his ill-tempered, hard-drinking neighbor. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
This screen adaptation of the epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow tells the tale of Hiawatha (Litefoot), a Native American brave, and his great love for the beautiful Minehaha (Irene Bedard). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Litefoot, Irene Bedard, (more)
Based on the best-selling novel by James Ellroy and directed by Curtis Hanson, this award-winning crime drama explores both the dark side of the Los Angeles police force and Southern California's criminal underbelly in the early '50s, when Hollywood was still seen as America's capital of sophistication, glitter, and glamour. Dudley Smith (James Cromwell) is the head of the LAPD and is loyal to his officers and eager to turn a blind eye to violence or corruption within his department, as long as it's the "bad guys" who are getting hurt. Bud White (Russell Crowe) is a police detective whose violent and cynical nature is often at war with his basic sense of decency and justice. Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) is a beat cop-turned-detective whose strict by-the-book philosophy and willingness to blow the whistle on other officers is balanced by a shrewd and opportunistic understanding of the internal politics of the department. And Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) is a flashy "Hollywood" detective who serves as technical advisor for the TV series Badge of Honor. He is also in cahoots with Sid Hudgeons (Danny DeVito), publisher of the scandal sheet Hush Hush, who throws kickbacks to Vincennes in exchange for being brought along when showbiz figures get busted. White, Exley, and Vincennes find themselves drawn into a tangled and sticky web of violence and betrayal following a multiple murder at a coffee shop that is believed to be part of an effort by Mickey Cohen (Paul Guilfoyle) to consolidate his hold on organized crime in L.A. This lead appears to be connected to the discovery of a bizarre pornography and call-girl ring operated by Pierce Patchett (David Strathairn), whose women are given plastic surgery so that they more closely resemble well-known movie stars. White's role in the investigation is complicated when he falls for Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger), one of Patchett's prostitutes, who is the spitting image of Veronica Lake. L.A. Confidential was nominated for nine Academy Awards and netted two, with Brian Helgeland honored for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Kim Basinger taking home a statuette as Best Supporting Actress. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, (more)
- 1997
- R
Two couples share an evening of bad karma in this domestic drama. Matt (Saul Rubinek) is a musicologist who has devised a computer program that can spontaneously compose music; however, one of the first pieces it comes up with features a prominent quote from "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." His girlfriend Kim (Caroleen Feeney) is a computer expert with a nasty sense of humor; Matt thinks she may have fudged his program just to make him look silly. Nancy (Bonnie Bedelia) is a distinguished college professor who has been granted tenure at Harvard. Her husband Wes (David Strathairn) has a fragile ego, and it hasn't been soothed by his recent denial of tenure at the less prestigious institution where he teaches. Nancy and Wes have invited Matt and Kim over for dinner; Nancy and Matt were once lovers, which puts Wes on edge at the outset, and Kim seems to find him an amusing target for her sarcastic sense of humor. Wes finally begins to lose his grip when he discovers that a $50 bill is missing and is convinced that Kim has pocketed it. Kim denies it, but even after the bill turns up, Wes is convinced that she -- or someone -- has it in for him. Bad Manners screenwriter David Gilman adapted this material from his play Ghost in the Machine. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Strathairn, Bonnie Bedelia, (more)
Actor Christopher Reeve made his directorial debut with this dramatic made-for-cable movie about the effects of AIDS on a family. Robert Sean Leonard stars as Danny, a son who returns home to his parents to be with them in the final days of his battle against AIDS. The stress of the situation brings out the tensions and anxieties that the family members have been quietly bearing for years. Glenn Close stars as Danny's mother, who grows closer to her son through the tragedy. David Strathairn stars as his father, who struggles with the reality of his son's life and illness. Whoopi Goldberg and Bridget Fonda appear as his nurse and his sister, respectively. Beautifully filmed in Westchester, New York and sensitively directed, this film was nominated for four Emmy Awards. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Close, Robert Sean Leonard, (more)
- 1996
- R
In this well-wrought, moving drama from Hallmark Productions, a wife and mother puts her home life on the line when she launches a campaign to keep her ex-boyfriend, a convicted killer, off death row. Pam O'Brien (Sissy Spacek) loved Russell Gates (David Strathairn) in high school, but afterwards, he went to Vietnam and she carried on with her life, marrying Keith (Arliss Howard) and starting a family. When she learns that Russell is about to be executed for murdering a cop and that he is not appealing his case, she visits him in prison. There she is shocked to find a man destroyed by his wartime experiences. She continues her visits and slowly finds herself contending with long unresolved feelings for Russell. Her increased attentions to the jailed man only adds greater tremors to an already shakey relationship with Keith, and for a while Pam is in danger of losing everyone important to her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sissy Spacek, David Strathairn, (more)
It's been said that while most people love their families, they don't always like them very much, and that emotional dividing line is the heart of this comedy directed by Jodie Foster. Claudia Larson (Holly Hunter) usually approaches family reunions with a certain trepidation, but as she prepares to fly from her home in Chicago to her parent's place in Baltimore for Thanksgiving, she is more apprehensive than usual. Claudia has just lost her job, she's not feeling at all well, and her teenage daughter, Kitt (Claire Danes), who is staying behind, informs Claudia on the way to the airport that she plans to use the weekend to lose her virginity with her boyfriend. The family festivities are already under way when Claudia arrives at the home of her mother, Adele (Anne Bancroft), and father, Henry (Charles Durning). Claudia's brother, Tommy (Robert Downey Jr.), whose homosexuality is tolerated without being discussed on a practical basis, has brought along his new friend Leo Fish (Dylan McDermott). Tommy doesn't get along well with his fussbudget sister, Joanne (Cynthia Stevenson), who wears her self-sacrifice like a badge of honor, and he simply hates her husband, Walter (Steve Guttenberg), who has often been the target of Tommy's barbed sense of humor. While the siblings and in-laws struggle to remain civil, their quite eccentric aunt Gladys (Geraldine Chaplin) arrives; she insists on discussing her digestive problems, and after a few drinks, she confesses her long-ago lust for Henry. Home for the Holidays was Jodie Foster's second film as a director, and the first in which she didn't also star. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Holly Hunter, Robert Downey, Jr., (more)
Two women of dramatically different social, economic, and ethnic circumstances find themselves locked into a bitter child custody dispute in this emotionally powerful drama. Khailia Richards (Halle Berry) is a poor and drug-addicted single mother who, while stumbling out of a crack house one night, accidentally leaves her infant son Isaiah in a cardboard box near a trash heap. The next morning, Khailia realizes to her horror that she left her baby behind, and she runs back to the crack spot to retrieve him. However, the baby is missing, and after much search, she presumes that he must be dead. As it turns out, the baby was spotted in the nick of time by sanitation workers and rushed to a hospital, where at the insistence of social worker Margaret Lewin (Jessica Lange) the baby's life was saved. Margaret's heart goes out to the baby, who, along with illnesses brought about by neglect, suffers from emotional and educational problems often associated with children whose mothers used cocaine during pregnancy. Margaret adopts Isaiah and raises the child with the help of her husband Charles (David Strathairn). Four years later, Khailia has successfully gone through drug rehabilitation and holds down a steady and responsible job as a nanny and housekeeper. She learns by chance that Isaiah is still alive, and she quickly hires an attorney, Kadar Lewis (Samuel L. Jackson), to help her reclaim custody of her son. However, Margaret loves the child and is not about to give him up without a battle in court. LaTanya Richardson plays Caroline Jones, the attorney Kadar Lewis squares off against in court; in real life, Richardson and Jackson are married. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jessica Lange, Halle Berry, (more)
A daughter who has come to imagine the worst about her mother learns the facts are quite different -- and more shocking than she ever imagined -- in this adaptation of Stephen King's best-selling novel. Dolores Claiborne (Kathy Bates) has spent nearly a quarter of a century looking after a mean-spirited woman named Vera Donovan (Judy Parfitt) on a small island off the coast of Maine; when Vera is found dead after falling down a flight of stairs, Dolores is considered a prime suspect in her murder. Word of the affair reaches New York-based journalist Selena St. George (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Dolores's estranged daughter. Though she's about to leave on an important assignment, Selena instead flies to Maine to find out what's happened with her mother. Selena's father, Joe St. George (David Strathairn), died under mysterious circumstances 15 years before; more than a few people believe Dolores killed Joe, and many feel she did the same with Vera. Though the strong and tough-talking Dolores stands her ground, police detective John Mackey (Christopher Plummer) is convinced that there's more to her story than she's letting on, and in time Selena learns the ugly truth about her mother's connection to both deaths. This was Kathy Bates's second starring role in a film based on Stephen King's work; she earned an Academy Award for her breakthrough role in the movie version of King's Misery. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, (more)
In a change-of-pace role designed to prove that she could carry high-concept genre films as well as character-driven dramas, Meryl Streep headlined this fast-paced adventure as Gail, a whitewater rafting guide. For a vacation, Gail is accompanying her son Roarke (Joseph Mazzello) and workaholic husband Tom (David Strathairn) on a river trip. Gail and Tom are experiencing marital troubles and contemplating divorce, but their problems take a back seat when they encounter some menacing rafters led by Wade (Kevin Bacon). After Tom saves Wade from drowning, they discover that the men are murderous fugitives using the river as an escape route. Kidnapped by the killers, Gail's forced to leave her husband stranded on shore and guide the villains through the "Gauntlet," a raging confluence of rivers that few rafters ever survive. Meanwhile, Tom proves to be wilier than anyone suspected, following the raft on foot and plotting his family's rescue. Following a quartet of popular B-grade thrillers, director Curtis Hanson attempted to break partially out of the genre with The River Wild, which, despite the presence of a psycho killer, played as more a stunt-filled action movie than a murder mystery. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon, (more)
- 1993
- R
Debra Winger's performance as a slow, mentally disturbed woman in A Dangerous Woman, raises the film far above its conventional, violence-ridden plot. Winger plays Martha, a quiet, lonely woman who has adjusted to a life without a man as she toils away at her small job at a dry cleaners in a small town. She lives in the guest cottage of the home of relative Frances (Barbara Hershey). Frances is a single woman who takes up with a variety of men as a cover for her loneliness and insecurity. When Anita (Laurie Metcalf) barrels her car into Frances' porch (thinking, correctly, that her husband is inside Frances' house), alcoholic handyman Mackey (Gabriel Byrne) appears on the scene and offers to fix Frances' porch. As Mackey works on the porch, Mackey becomes involved with both Frances and Martha. Into this melodramatic brew is added Getso (David Strathairn), a petty crook who works with Martha at the dry cleaners. When the four principles interact with each other, the disturbing results include an unwanted pregnancy, a murder, and some unsparing violence. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Debra Winger, Barbara Hershey, (more)
In this drama, based on the best-selling novel by John Grisham, Mitch McDeer (Tom Cruise) is a young man from a poor Southern family who has struggled through Harvard Law School to graduate fifth in his class. Mitch is entertaining offers from major firms in New York and Chicago, but when Memphis-based Bendini, Lambert, & Locke offer him a 20 percent higher salary than the best offer he's received, in addition to an enticing variety of perks and fringe benefits, he decides to sign on and remain in the South. Mitch's wife, Abby (Jeanne Tripplehorn), warns him that the deal sounds almost too good to be true, but it's not until after several weeks of working with Avery Tolar (Gene Hackman) that Mitch discovers that the vast majority of BL&L's business is tied to organized crime, with crime boss Joey Morolto (Paul Sorvino) using the firm to launder Mafia money. FBI agents Wayne Tarrance (Ed Harris) and F. Denton Voyles (Steven Hill) try to blackmail Mitch into helping them make a case against the firm, while BL&L's "security director" William Devasher (Wilford Brimley) is blackmailing him to do as he's told after Mitch foolishly allows himself to be seduced by a prostitute hired by the firm. The Firm was adapted for the screen by acclaimed playwright David Rabe and features performances by Hal Holbrook, Holly Hunter, and Gary Busey. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn, (more)
