Stephen Gyllenhaal Movies
A director with a reputation for taking a very unique perspective to the small screen, Stephen Gyllenhaal's name may be even more well known for his two children, Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal, both of whom have achieved success in the acting world. After graduating from Trinity College in Hartford, CT, Stephen Gyllenhaal began his career by working on industrial films in New York. After a little associate producing and editing, he directed his first short film, Exit 10, in 1979. He soon afterward made his first mark on television, directing the TV movie What Are Friends For? TV was obviously Gyllenhaal's strong suit, and he moved to Los Angeles with his family in 1980 to pursue a career in the industry. His reputation for the small screen would follow some time later, but first he directed the action film Certain Fury with Tatum O'Neal, Irene Cara, and Peter Fonda. The 1985 feature was a stinker at the box office, but Gyllenhaal's TV career was soon off and running, as he directed a string of TV movies stretching on into the '90s including Hothouse, Promised a Miracle, A Killing in a Small Town, Shattered Mind, and countless others. His work paired him with actors like Barbara Hershey, Heather Locklear, and Ed Harris, and made his name synonymous with television. During this time, Gyllenhaal also directed a select number of feature films, such as 1993's A Dangerous Woman with Debra Winger and 1995's Losing Isaiah with Jessica Lange. He also began directing select episodes of popular TV series, which he continued doing into the new millennium with shows like Felicity, The Shield, Robbery Homicide Division, and Everwood. Gyllenhaal also signed on as regular director for a series of critically acclaimed but short-lived series such as Wasteland, L.A. Doctors, The $treet, and Lucky. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi
A political neophyte recruits an out-of-work reporter to help take on a Seattle city councilman, waging a valiant fight to create an urban monorail system instead of a proposed ground rail train. The year is 2001, and Grant Cogswell (Joel David Moore) has a vision: he sees a state-of-the-art monorail system connecting the city of Seattle as it's never been before. But there's one man standing in his way, and that's Seattle city councilman Richard McIver (Cedric the Entertainer). Councilman McIver has drawn up plans for an ambitious rail system -- one that Cogswell believes will be bad for the environment, and divide the city even more. Short-fused, foul-mouthed, and determined to defeat the political incumbent at all costs, Cogswell hires unemployed alternative weekly columnist Phil Campbell (Jason Biggs) to launch a massive political campaign, and quickly finds a collection of rabid volunteers who are willing to rally for his cause. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 2011
A 16-year-old girl is beaten up by fellow high-school students and a tape of the attack soon surfaces on the Internet. Based on a true story. ~ Tim Holland, Rovi
A writer suffering from a creative block stumbles into a situation most middle-aged man would envy in this independent comedy-drama from writer and director Gary Walkow. Richard McMurray (Campbell Scott) is a novelist who enjoyed overnight success with the publication of his first book, The Trouble With Dick. Seven years later, Richard is working on his second novel but hates the story more with each passing day, while his marriage to a well-known actress is falling apart. Richard agrees to speak to the class of Diane (Alex Kingston), his former girlfriend who teaches a college literature course and inspired on of his novel's main characters. Spending the day with Diane is the last straw for Richard's wife, and she kicks him out of the house. During his lecture to the class, Richard comes clean about the sad state of his marriage and the fact he has no place to stay that night, and afterward one of the students, Kristin (Izabella Miko), offers Richard the use of the couch at her apartment. Jacqueline (Lizzy Caplan), Kristin's flatmate, is agreeable to Richard's presence, and offers a deal -- both Kristin and Jacqueline are aspiring writers, and in exchange for tutoring and "literary consultation," he's welcome to stay as long as he pleases. Before long, Richard's consultations with his new charges begin taking place in the bedroom, and Jacqueline informs him that she wants him to help her write a sexy novel that will help her become "the post-modern Jacqueline Suzanne." While Richard enjoys the ongoing ménage et trios at first, it doesn't take long for matters to become difficult and even dangerous. A sequel of sorts to Gary Walkow's first feature (called The Trouble With Dick), Crashing also features David Cross and Stephen Gyllenhaal. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Campbell Scott, Lizzy Caplan, (more)
- 2002
Danny (Catherine Dent) and Lemonhead (Kenny Johnson) are moonlighting, working security at a "shake club," where rap impresario Kern Little (Sticky Fingaz) is having a party with his girl and fellow recording artist, Tyesha (Chene Lawson). Kern's rival and former labelmate, T-Bonz (Dex Elliott Sanders), arrives, leading to a shootout in which two people are killed. To make matters worse for Mackey (Michael Chiklis), his own personal drug dealer, Rondell (Walter Jones), was on the scene and fired off a couple of shots. Mackey has him turn over a couple of guys from his side, and orders him to keep his dealers off the street until things settle down. But Rondell doesn't follow orders very well. Mackey gets Kern and T-Bonz to agree to a 24-hour truce while he (Mackey) arbitrates their financial disagreement. Things get more complicated for him when Danny identifies him (from a mug shot) for Acevedo (Benito Martinez). Mackey tells Rondell not to worry, but Rondell decides to take action on his own. Acevedo gets Dutch (Jay Karnes) and Claudette (CCH Pounder) to track down a missing illegal immigrant day worker as a favor to Jorge Machado (Efrain Figueroa), a political powerbroker who's thinking about helping Acevedo run for the city council. When the ceasefire is broken, Mackey comes up with a unique way to settle the dispute between Kern and T-Bonz. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Chiklis, CCH Pounder, (more)
- 2002
Michael Mann of Miami Vice fame was the principle guiding force behind the CBS cop drama Robbery Homicide Division. In a major casting coup, Mann managed to sign the extremely "hot" film star Tom Sizemore for the lead role of Sam Cole, a hard-nosed LAPD robbery-homicide investigator. As head of a crack team of gumshoes, the obsessive, relentless Cole solved all manner of baffling urban crimes. Lensed on high-definition film and possessed of the "cutting-edge" style which typified the Michael Mann ouevre, Robbery Homicide Division first aired on September 27, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Sizemore, Barry "Shabaka" Henley, (more)
This two-part CBS TV movie was filmed as Talking to Heaven, the title of the autobiographical book upon which it was based. Ted Danson stars as real-life psychic James Van Praagh, a man who spent much of his life ignoring or denying his clairvoyant gifts until it became impossible for him to suppress them any longer. After experiencing several "visitations" from dead people in his youth, Van Praagh was tagged as a freak and shunned by friends and family members alike. It is only during a particularly difficult period of his adult life that James is willing to acknowledge his special talents, and then only because he has had visions of a forlorn young boy with bound hands. Galvanized into action by such grim images, not to mention the plaintive voices of several additional ghostly youngsters, James agrees to assist the authorities in locating the buried victims of a serial killer who may still be at large. Living With the Dead originally aired on April 28 and 30, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, (more)
- 2001
James Caan stars in this made-for-cable Western as John Flinders, a former outlaw who by the year 1910 has settled down as the warden of Arizona's Red Rock Prison. Priding himself on his fair and humane treatment of his prisoners, Flinders finds his values -- and his loyalties -- sorely tested upon the arrival of convicted murderer Mike Sullivan, who happens to be John's old saddle pal from his wilder days. As Flinders resists Sullivan's never-ending efforts to escape, he also embarks upon a romance with the widow of executed convict Carl McVale. Executive producer Brian Dennehy appears in a small but significant role. Warden of Red Rock made its Showtime network premiere on March 18, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Caan, David Carradine, (more)
- 1999
Seriously injured in the auto accident that killed her husband, Clare Miller (Dana Delany) has a bizarre near-death experience while on the operating table. Confined to a wheelchair after the tragedy, Clare suddenly discovers that the dream may have been no dream at all: She now has the power to heal. First curing her own physical infirmities, Clare moves on to heal others who are suffering. Unfortunately, these "miracles" are limited: Clare seems totally unable to heal the emotional problems that have distanced her from her friends and loved ones, problems that only seem to be getting worse. First telecast by ABC on March 15, 1999, the made-for-TV Resurrection is a remake of the 1980 Ellen Burstyn film of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dana Delany, Brenda Fricker, (more)
In this comedy thriller, set in northern California, inept but lovable pot farmers Jack Madsen (Billy Bob Thornton) and Carter (Hank Azaria) work for San Francisco entrepreneur Malcolm Stockman (John Lithgow), who arrives for a visit via copter. As soon as Malcolm steps out, the copter pilot shoots him and takes off, leaving the two aghast along with apprentice Harlan (Ryan Phillippe). Minus a boss, the naive trio deduces no paychecks are forthcoming, so they collect cannabis for a big payoff and head to the nearby town where they meet up with go-between Lucy (Kelly Lynch). However, their explanations of Malcolm's whereabouts and their sudden need to sell some of the crop arouse suspicions, while their lazy days on the dope farm have left them unprepared as businessmen seeking buyers for millions in contraband. They soon find themselves in a shadowy new world of greed, paranoia, and duplicity. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Lithgow, Billy Bob Thornton, (more)
Though she has struggled to put her past behind her, a woman finds the task impossible. This drama chronicles the events that transpire after she must learn to let herself get close to the man who married her even though he was aware she was pregnant from another man. Instead of repeating her actions in that earlier relationship, she must learn to stay with a man who loves her. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dana Delany, Clancy Brown, (more)
- 1996
Actress Heather Locklear publicly stated that she hoped her bravura performance in the made-for-TV drama Shattered Mind would be a "career turner." Having endured an unhappy childhood from which she still carries unsavory secrets, young wife and mother Suzy (Locklear) goes completely around the bend after the death of her father. With her husband and two daughters looking on in helpless horror, the schizophrenic Suzy suddenly develops several alternate personalities--including a prostitute named Ginger, a frightened little girl named Bonnie, a haughty well-educated woman named Victoria, and even an abusive male teenager named D.J.! Though not exactly of Sybil caliber, Shattered Mind did manage to gain critical plaudits for star Locklear when it was first aired by NBC on May 27, 1996. Since that time, the film has been rerun on cable under the title The Terror Inside. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jessica Lange, Halle Berry, (more)
- 1994
Robin Williams guest stars on the first of Homicide's four second-season episodes. Williams is cast as tourist Robert Ellison, who can't cope with the fact that his wife was killed in a holdup right in front of him and their children. Angrily demanding justice, Ellison may well get it when the prime suspect confesses. But Howard (Melissa Leo) cannot shake her premonition that the killer, a young man from an excellent home environment and with seemingly everything to live for, may not be entirely guilty. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Daniel Baldwin, Ned Beatty, (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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Debra Winger, Barbara Hershey, (more)
Based on the novel by Graham Swift, this drama follows the past and present crises of schoolteacher Tom Crick (Jeremy Irons), who attempts to resolve the problems in his own life and the apathy of his students by relating stories of his troubled childhood in the English Fens (a marshy region in Britain). ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeremy Irons, Ethan Hawke, (more)
- 1991
- R
Peter Dexter adapted his National Book Award-winning novel for this probing made-for-cable film featuring Dennis Hopper in the title role as an unrepentant racist in 1949 Georgia. Trout is a greedy and paranoid shopkeeper who murders the sister and mother of a black man who refuses to repay Trout's IOU. When Trout is arrested for the crimes, he can't comprehend why he would be aprehended for his actions. Lawyer Harry Seagraves (Ed Harris) arrives to represent Trout in court, but Seagroves dislikes defending a man whom he feels deserves to be punished. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dennis Hopper, Barbara Hershey, (more)
- 1990
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The true story of American turncoat John Walker, Jr. is related blow-by-blow in this made-for-TV movie. Powers Boothe stars as Walker, a Navy petty officer who spends half of his career selling secrets to the Soviets. At first the soul of discretion, the hard-drinking, philandering Walker eventually becomes careless enough in his activities to arouse the suspicions of his in-the-dark wife Barbara (Lesley Ann Warren). With the skill and aplomb of the true sociopath, Walker also manages to convince his own son (Andrew Lowry) to join the "family business." The spy ring is ultimately smashed through the joint efforts of the FBI and Walker's embittered ex-wife. Based on the books Family of Spies by Pete Earley and I Pledge Allegiance by Howard Blum, Family of Spies: The Walker Spy Ring was originally telecast in two parts on February 4 and 6, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
To escape from the boredom of her small-town life, Sunday School teacher Candy Morrison (Barbara Hershey) engages in an affair with a fellow churchgoer. When his wife Peggy learns about the relationship, she attacks Candy with an axe; after a struggle, Candy kills Peggy, hitting her 41 times with the axe. In the resulting trial, her plea of self-defense is examined. This TV-movie is based on a true story. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
- 1988
A young woman learns that she has a lethal, rare kind of cancer. This fact-based, heart-wrenching made-for-TV drama chronicles her struggle to cope with her own personal feelings and those of her family. She then begins looking for alternative ways to treat her disease while her husband deals with his denial. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anne Archer, Sam Neill, (more)
- 1988
This fact-based TV drama recounts the trial of a California couple (Judge Reinhold and Rosanna Arquette) charged with manslaughter after their diabetic son died because they withheld his insulin due to their belief that a miracle from God would save him. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
- 1987
This made-for-television drama is based on the true story of a harrowing country abduction. Tracy Pollan stars as Kari Swenson, an Olympic biathlon athlete-in-training who is kidnapped by some reclusive, backwoods mountain men looking for marriage. The movie follows her captivity, the massive search and her recovery from both her physical injuries and the trauma of the experience. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi
- 1985
- R
This Canadian exploitational actioner offers a remake of the Defiant Ones with a contemporary twist: this time the fugitives are women. The Caucasian girl is a prostitute who was picked up for vagrancy, while the other is a wealthy African-American woman who, with her boyfriend, is arrested for riding in a stolen Jaguar. While both girls are awaiting their incarceration, they get a chance to escape when two gun-toting hookers create a diversion. The two heroines flee and later find that they have been accused of the shootings. Now they must escape from both the cops and drug dealers. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tatum O'Neal, Irene Cara, (more)
Abby (Lori Loughlin) and her brother, Loren (Shannon Presby), seem to have it all: good looks, lots of friends, and a great relationship with their loving mom and their heroic, discipline-minded military dad. When their folks are killed in a car crash, however, the siblings must move to small-town Florida to live with their sweet but cash-impaired Uncle Charlie (Ed Jones) and Aunt Fay (Lucy Martin), who own a gas station and a struggling, bargain-bin amusement park. For Abby and Loren, life in the Sunshine State proves to be a mixture of hard work, new faces, and harassment at the hands of drug-dealing, skirt-chasing local scion Dutra (James Spader) and his gang of trailer-park psychopaths. Dutra places a bet with the wiry, reptilian Gideon (John Philbin) about which of the young villains will be able to bed Abby first, leading to a series of increasingly vile sexual come-ons. Abby, however, has other romantic ideas involving a kindly boy named Mark (Eric Stoltz). Between bouts of defending his sister's honor, Loren finds a similarly wholesome romance with pretty, blond Karen (Paige Lyn Price). With the help of these new friends, Loren and Abby make some headway in the local social hierarchy, but their skirmishes with Dutra and his minions escalate, climaxing with attempted rape, kidnapping, and bumper-car violence on the night of a high-school dance. Director Sean S. Cunningham also directed the original Friday the 13th. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shannon Presby, Lori Loughlin, (more)
- 1980
Amy Warner (Melora Hardin) and Michelle Mudd (Dana Hill) are two 12-year-old girls with one thing in common: Their parents are going through the process of a divorce. Both girls are angry and resentful, especially because they feel they've been "deserted" by their fathers. Out of their grief the girls form a strong bond of friendship, promising eternal loyalty and respect, and never to betray their trust. But what will happen when circumstances cause Amy to believe that Michelle is turning her back on her? What Are Best Friends For? is based on a novel by Mildred Ames. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Melora Hardin, Dana Hill, (more)
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