Daryl Hannah Movies
The older sister of actress Page Hannah and niece of cinematographer Haskell Wexler, athletic, blonde leading lady Daryl Hannah trained for the ballet before switching to acting at the Goodman Theatre. Taking the stage would prove quite a daunting task for the girl who suffered from agoraphobia and was once such a wallflower that she was diagnosed as borderline autistic, and though it would take Hannah a few years to become truly comfortable in front of an audience, she eventually overcame her fear to stunning results. In addition to ballet Hannah also exuded a certain grace on the high school soccer field. Her interest in film was sparked by a severe case of insomnia early in life, and young Hannah would spend hours on end soaking in film into the wee hours of the night. Before completing her theatrical training under the guidance of Stella Adler, the young hopeful appeared in the Brian De Palma film The Fury (1978) at the age of 18 . After delivering a remarkable performance as a tough android in Blade Runner (1982), Hannah achieved full stardom with her winsome portrayal of a mermaid in Splash (1983). Not all of her subsequent films -- nor her performances -- have been as successful, though she was highly praised for her interpretation of a nerdish hairdresser in Steel Magnolias, and was treated kindly by the press and public for her characterization in the title role of the made-for-TV Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman (1992).Her often turbulent private life achieved an even keel with her long-term relationship with lawyer/ publisher John F. Kennedy Jr. Sadly, their relationship was doomed from the start due to Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis' disapproval of her son marrying an actor, the two eventually parted ways. In 1996 Kennedy wed Carolyn Besette, and the rest of their story is history. Despite public perception that Hannah withdrew from acting in the later 1990s, it was simply an unfortunate series of career missteps that kept the enigmatic actress out of the multiplexes and in such mediocre fare as The Last Days of Frankie the Fly and Gun (both 1997). Of course not all was lost during the 1990s, and audiences could indeed catch memorable performances by Hannah in Grumpy Old Men (1993) (as well as that film's 1995 sequel), the Emmy-nominated mini-series The Last Don and the Robert Altman thriller The Gingerbread Man.
As the millennium turned Hannah was still stuck in a sort of celluliod limbo, though such edgy efforts as Cord and Dancing at the Blue Iguana (both 2000) showed the actress had a fearless side that had been left virtually unexplored since her days in The Fury and Blade Runner. Of course Hannah still had a soft spot, and following a supporting performance in Mark and Michael Polish's quirky 2001 drama Jackpot she went family friendly with the mini-series Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story and the comparitively earnest and innocent teen drama A Walk to Remember (2002). Having formed a friendly working relationship with the Polish brothers with Jackpot, Hannah returned to the screen for the filmmakers in their acclaimed 2003 drama Northfork. The critical success of Northfork marked the beginning of a critical year for the veteran actress. A turn as a contract killer with a conscience followed with The Job, and after a trip to the middle of nowhere in The Big Empty Hannah aspired to adopt a Mexican orphan in John Sayles Casa de los Babys. Teamed with a powerhouse cast that included Lili Taylor, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Marcia Gay Harden, the critically acclaimed drama cemented the comeback that would continue with Kill Bill Vol. 1 just a few short months later. Cast as deadly assassin Elle Driver (Codename: California Mountain Snake), Hannah's eye-patch wearing killer was inspired by the exploitation roughie Thriller (also known as They Call Her One Eye). Though Hannah was still breathing at the end of Kill Bill Vol. 1, audiences held their breath to discover the ultimate fate of her viscous character until the release of Kill Bill Vol. 2 four months later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
In a remote branch of the Brazilian Amazon, Americans Lewis (Tom Berenger) and Wolf (Tom Waits) are stranded when their plane runs out of gas. They are kept company by an evangelist missionary (John Lithgow) and his wife (Darryl Hannah). The preacher and his followers want to preach to the primitive Niaruna Indians, while others are interested in the Niaruna for more diabolical reasons-specifically, business concerns that would like to claim the Indians' land for development. The local police chief cuts a deal with the mercenaries Lewis and Wolf: if they will agree to bomb the Niarunas out of existence, they will be paid enough money to leave the country. Instead, Lewis, part Native American himself,aligns himself with the Niarunas. From this moment on, he and the tribe are doomed. A long-standing pet project of producer Saul Zaentz, At Play in the Fields of the Lord was adapted from the best-selling novel by Peter Matthiesen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Berenger, Aidan Quinn, (more)
- 1991
- R
In a futuristic world, the U.S. is ruled by a repressive government that bans most forms of media. As part of the enforcement, a cop (Billy Zane) is sent to the rebel state of Megaville on an undercover mission to infiltrate an unlawful media organization. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Zane, J.C. Quinn, (more)
Dudley Moore stars as Emory Lesson, an advertising genius whose finds himself committed to an insane asylum in Tony Bill's Crazy People. Emory becomes tired with creating phony ad campaigns and decides to create his own campaigns that tell the brutal truth. Since sex sells, Emory designs an explicit ad campaign consisting of unadorned sexuality. The campaign is so offensive that his colleagues have Emory put in a mental institution. At first Emory resists, but under the tutelage of a concerned psychiatrist, Dr. Liz Baylor (Mercedes Ruehl) and the tender love of Kathy (Daryl Hannah) a beautiful patient, Emory begins to like it in the mental home. Befriending the cute and lovable patients in the mental ward, Emory discovers that the crazy people are natural-born advertising geniuses and Emory utilizes their genius for a new ad campaign. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dudley Moore, Daryl Hannah, (more)
The title refers to those seemingly frail Southern belles who survive any and all deprivations through whims of iron. Robert Harling's original stage play was set exclusively in a Louisiana beauty parlor where an all-female cast of characters laughed, cried and compared menfolk. The film expands the playing field by including scenes at picnics, hospitals and the like, and by visually depicting the males who never appeared in the stage version. Dolly Parton plays the goodnatured beauty-shop owner, while Shirley MacLaine is the cantankerous town eccentric, decked out in grungy overalls and speaking fluent Trash. Well-to-do Sally Field bravely endures several assaults to her sensibilities, not the least of which is the illness (and subsequent death) of daughter Julia Roberts. The performances are first-rate, with the possible exception of Daryl Hannah's overemphatic portrayal of a gawky hairdresser. The film stumbles a bit in its depiction of the male characters as fools and deadheads, and in the final overlong hospital scenes involving the comatose Roberts, which play like a road company version of Terms of Endearment. Otherwise, Steel Magnolias is a prime example of ensemble filmmaking, lovingly coordinated by director Herbert Ross. (Sidebar: Herbert Ross was reportedly rather rough on Julia Roberts, deriding her lack of experience. The rest of the female cast rallied around Roberts and told the director to lay off or pay the price). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sally Field, Dolly Parton, (more)
The owner of an Irish castle decides to attract visitors by falsely claiming that the building is haunted, only to have a pair of real ancestral spirits start causing trouble in this uneven attempt at fantasy-comedy. The story centers on Jack and Sharon (played by Steve Guttenberg and Beverly D'Angelo), naive American tourists who are initially unimpressed by the owner's attempts at fraud but become more interested in the real ghosts, Mary and Martin (played by Daryl Hannah and Liam Neeson). This is especially true for Jack, who falls in love with the beautiful Mary, despite several centuries' difference in their ages. After the film's initial unsuccessful release, people involved with the production blamed studio interference for damaging director Neil Jordan's original vision, although Jordan is better known as a director of quirky, dark dramas (Mona Lisa, The Crying Game, Interview With a Vampire, The Company of Wolves). For whatever reason, the end result was an awkward, forced comedy that more often than not falls flat, squandering a strong collection of talent. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daryl Hannah, Peter O'Toole, (more)
"Greed is Good." This is the credo of the aptly named Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), the antihero of Oliver Stone's Wall Street. Gekko, a high-rolling corporate raider, is idolized by young-and-hungry broker Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen). Inveigling himself into Gekko's inner circle, Fox quickly learns to rape, murder and bury his sense of ethics. Only when Gekko's wheeling and dealing causes a near-tragedy on a personal level does Fox "reform"-though his means of destroying Gekko are every bit as underhanded as his previous activities on the trading floor. Director Stone, who cowrote Wall Street with Stanley Weiser, has claimed that the film was prompted by the callous treatment afforded his stockbroker father after 50 years in the business; this may be why the film's most compelling scenes are those between Bud Fox and his airline mechanic father (played by Charlie Sheen's real-life dad Martin). Ironically, Wall Street was released just before the October, 1987 stock market crash. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, (more)
This modernization of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac casts Steve Martin as C. D. Bates, the fearless, quick-witted fire chief of a Washington State resort town. Bates' most trusted fireman is the handsome but tongue-tied Chris McDonell (Rick Rossovich). Both men are in love with the beautiful Roxanne Kowalski (Darryl Hannah), but Bates, adorned with a huge nose that makes Bob Hope look like Nanette Fabray, is convinced that he's too homely to win Roxanne's heart. Thus, in the self-sacrificing tradition of Cyrano de Bergerac, Bates courts Roxanne vicariously by feeding his rival Chris the proper romantic words and phrases. The inherent pathos in Roxanne is offset by moments of slapstick, notably the scene wherein C. D. Bates vanquishes a pair of hooligans with a tennis racket. Steve Martin himself is credited with the screenplay for Roxanne, though he generously cites Edmond Rostand as his inspiration. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Daryl Hannah, (more)
Ivan Reitman directed this film, starring Robert Redford, Debra Winger, and Daryl Hannah, that is an amalgam of a thriller, courtroom drama, mystery and Tracy-Hepburn romantic comedy, with a little Mark Rothko-type scandal thrown in. The film revolves around troubled Chelsea Deardon (Daryl Hannah) who as an eight-year-old girl witnessed her father, a famous artist, perishing in a blaze along with his valuable art works. Twenty years later, Chelsea is arrested for stealing one of her father's paintings from an unscrupulous New York art dealer. She claims many more of her father's paintings survived the fire long ago. Defending Chelsea is lawyer Laura Kelly (Debra Winger). Pitted against her is suave district attorney Tom Logan (Robert Redford). Laura thinks if Tom knew the facts behind the case, he would reconsider and exonerate Chelsea. He doesn't, but one night when Chelsea appears at his doorstep, he does permit her to seduce him. The next morning, one of the art dealers involved in the case is found dead, and Chelsea is found in Tom's apartment. Chelsea becomes the prime suspect in the murder and Tom's career is ruined. Inexplicably, Laura hires Tom to help her defend Chelsea. The two lawyers, in researching their defense, not only uncover a scandal involving art dealership, but also fall in love. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Redford, Debra Winger, (more)
Cinematographer Michael Chapman directed this John Sayles adaptation of Jean M. Auel's best-selling ode to Cro-Magnon women. The story begins at the moment in pre-history when the last of the Neanderthal men were becoming extinct and the superior race of Cro-Magnons were starting to supersede them. Focusing on a tribe of wandering Neanderthals who adopt a young girl named, Ayla (played as an adult by Daryl Hannah). She grows tall, lithe, and smart. The Neanderthals quickly accept her into their tribe, but once a tribal member, Ayla begins to question the tribe's male chauvinistic presumptions. Unable to conceive of why only men are given weapons, she takes it upon herself to learn how to use a slingshot. She then questions the tribe's assumptions concerning sexual politics. She learns to count and becomes the assistant to the local medicine expert. As the seasons wear on, the tribe utilizes Ayla's knowledge for their own good while Ayla's continues to try the patience of the tribe with her unspeakable feminist demands. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daryl Hannah, Pamela Reed, (more)
"I'm in love with a mermaid!" read the opening line of Leonard Maltin's original review for Splash. And with the delightful Darryl Hannah in the lead, who could fault Maltin for his public declaration of ardor? The story begins in 1959, when a young boy is rescued from a watery grave by an adolescent mermaid. Twenty-five years later, the boy has grown up--and lo and behold, it's Tom Hanks. Meanwhile, the mermaid, likewise grown up, has surfaced in search of Hanks, her long-lost love. On dry land, the mermaid is able to walk about on legs; any contact with salt water, and she reverts to her half-fish form. Adopting the name of Madison from a New York street sign, the girl manages to win Hanks' heart. Alas, a secret government lab, populated by such smarmy types as Richard B. Shull and Eugene Levy, captures Madison for research purposes--and possible vivisection. Egged on by his brother John Candy, Hanks rescues his beloved, joining her in the ocean depths as a mer-man (mer-fellow? mer-guy?) A captivating confection from the peerless creative team of director Ron Howard and screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, Splash was a winner all the way--especially at the box office, where the $11 million film racked up a huge profit. Historical sidebar: Splash was the first release from Disney's Touchstone Pictures division. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, (more)
Set on the streets of New York's Little Italy, this dramatic series of character studies chronicles the lives and relationships between a disparate pair of Italian American cousins. Both of them want to leave the poverty of ghetto life, but each takes a dramatically different route when one of them joins the mob and the other accidentally impregnates his girlfriend. When the young gangster gets into deep trouble, the other must reevaluate his goals and his true feelings about his family. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke, (more)
- 1984
- R
Reckless is the word for rebellious teenaged Johnny Rourke (Aidan Quinn). With a drunken dad and a police-blotter rap sheet as long as his arm, Quinn pursues an "impossible" romance with Tracey Prescott (Daryl Hannah), a girl from a wealthy, highly respected family. Tracey is thrilled at the prospect of kicking over the traces with Johnny, and soon proves to be as big a hellraiser as he is....if not more so. Reckless was written by Chris Columbus, just before he hit pay dirt with Gremlins and The Goonies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aidan Quinn, Daryl Hannah, (more)
- 1982
The pilot film for the ABC series of the same name, Paper Dolls concentrates upon two pretty teenagers: Taryn Blake (Daryl Hannah) and Laurie Caswell (Alexandra Paul). Prodded on by their ambitious mothers (played by Joan Hackett and Jennifer Warren) and further exploited by a ruthless agent (Joan Collins), the two otherwise normal girls are transformed into 2,000-dollar-per-day fashion models. Although the glamour and excitement of the modeling world is thrilling at first, both Taryn and Laurie suffer mightily at the hands of those older than themselves. To make matters worse, both girls are thoroughly ostracized by their fellow teens. First telecast May 24, 1982, Paper Dolls became a weekly series over two years later, by which time the original stars had been replaced by Nicollette Sheridan (as Taryn), Terry Farrell (as Laurie), Brenda Vaccaro (as Taryn's mother), and Morgan Fairchild (as Racine, the agent); only Jennifer Warren was carried over from the original film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daryl Hannah, Alexandra Paul, (more)
A blend of science fiction and noir detective fiction, Blade Runner (1982) was a box office and critical bust upon its initial exhibition, but its unique postmodern production design became hugely influential within the sci-fi genre, and the film gained a significant cult following that increased its stature. Harrison Ford stars as Rick Deckard, a retired cop in Los Angeles circa 2019. L.A. has become a pan-cultural dystopia of corporate advertising, pollution and flying automobiles, as well as replicants, human-like androids with short life spans built by the Tyrell Corporation for use in dangerous off-world colonization. Deckard's former job in the police department was as a talented blade runner, a euphemism for detectives that hunt down and assassinate rogue replicants. Called before his one-time superior (M. Emmett Walsh), Deckard is forced back into active duty. A quartet of replicants led by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) has escaped and headed to Earth, killing several humans in the process. After meeting with the eccentric Eldon Tyrell (Joe Turkel), creator of the replicants, Deckard finds and eliminates Zhora (Joanna Cassidy), one of his targets. Attacked by another replicant, Leon (Brion James), Deckard is about to be killed when he's saved by Rachael (Sean Young), Tyrell's assistant and a replicant who's unaware of her true nature. In the meantime, Batty and his replicant pleasure model lover, Pris (Darryl Hannah) use a dying inventor, J.F. Sebastian (William Sanderson) to get close to Tyrell and murder him. Deckard tracks the pair to Sebastian's, where a bloody and violent final confrontation between Deckard and Batty takes place on a skyscraper rooftop high above the city. In 1992, Ridley Scott released a popular director's cut that removed Deckard's narration, added a dream sequence, and excised a happy ending imposed by the results of test screenings; these legendary behind-the-scenes battles were chronicled in a 1996 tome, Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner by Paul M. Sammon. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, (more)
Set upon a romantic Greek island, this drama chronicles the experiences of a pair of young American adults who go there for summer vacation. Their idyll is interrupted by a sexy archaeologist who has come there to work on a dig. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Gallagher, Daryl Hannah, (more)
This mediocre slasher film from director Andrew Davis is worth watching more for its cast than for its cliched story. The film is set in the usual isolated forest, where a ratty-looking killer (who seems to be covered with Spanish moss) makes survival difficult for some foul-tempered campers. Among the doomed are future luminaries Rachel Ward, Daryl Hannah, and Adrian Zmed. The leaders, played by Joe Pantoliano and Mark Metcalf, are some of the most irritating characters in any 1980s slasher film, bickering until they sound like tenderfoot versions of Barnes and Elias from Platoon. The characters' constant ill temper is designed to add to the tension, but serves only as a distraction. The murders are low-key and dull, save for Metcalf's well-handled death scene, and the obligatory "telling of the legend" is less spooky than obnoxious. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Friedrich, Adrian Zmed, (more)
Jan-Michael Vincent stars as Kyle Richardson, who works at a dead-end job in a Texas chain-link fence factory. In the tradition of such earlier films as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Richardson enjoys himself only on weekends when he whoops it up with his buddies at the local saloon. His carousing exacts a toll on his relationship with Jodie Lynn Palmer (Kim Basinger, in her film debut). Finally, Jodie delivers an ultimatum: either settle down and get married, or she'll skeedaddle to California, there to try her luck as a country-western singer. Real-life C&W star Tanya Tucker co-stars as Jodie's best friend and role model. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jan-Michael Vincent, Kim Basinger, (more)
Brian De Palma returns to the mind-blowing potential of telekinesis in the follow-up to his 1976 horror hit Carrie. While vacationing with his psychic son, Robin (Andrew Stevens), and close associate Childress (John Cassavetes), government agent Peter Sandza (Kirk Douglas) survives a terrorist attack, only to discover that it was staged by Childress so he could kidnap Robin for his own nefarious purposes. With the assistance of another psychic (William Finley) and Hester (Carrie Snodgress), an employee at the Paragon Institute for Psychic Research, Peter discovers a telekinetic Chicago high-school girl named Gillian (Amy Irving), who may be able to help him find Robin. Even though they have never met, Gillian can see Robin's memories and experiences telepathically, and she knows that he is in trouble. But Childress knows all about Gillian, too, and he is not about to let Peter's paternal quest get in the way of his plans for harnessing their psychic power. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, (more)
