Rory Culkin
Often referred to as "the littlest Culkin," Rory Culkin came to acting with a family reputation that stands in inverse proportion to his diminutive stature. Born in 1989, as the youngest child of the infamously fractious Kit Culkin and Patricia Bentrup, Rory was only a year old when his eldest brother, Macaulay, found an almost obscene degree of fame and fortune thanks to his starring role in Chris Columbus' blockbuster Home Alone. Most of Rory's earliest screen appearances came courtesy of his resemblance to his famous brother; fans of The Good Son (1993) may recall his appearance as a younger version of Richard, Macaulay's bad seed alter ego. Likewise, Rory also played the more childlike version of his brother's title character in Richie Rich. Unfortunately, any talent the wee Culkin may have exhibited was, for a number of years, largely obscured by his family's various misfortunes. Following the bitter and widely publicized breakup of his parents, Culkin also had to endure the unfavorable publicity surrounding Macaulay's career burnout and a 1998 fire in his family's Manhattan apartment. In 2000, he finally earned recognition as a talented young actor, thanks to his role as Laura Linney's wry, observant son in Kenneth Lonergan's much-acclaimed directorial debut You Can Count on Me, causing both critics and audiences to remark that perhaps big screen bankability had not been limited solely to Culkin the Eldest. After a subsequent appearance in Showtime's made-for-cable film Off Season (2001), Culkin once again appeared as a younger incarnation of an older sibling, this time Kieran, in the art-house comedy Igby Goes Down (2002). As his first major feature role independent of his siblings, Rory appeared as alongside Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix in M. Night Shyamalan's rural alien invasion thriller Signs. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Filmography
A romance between a teenage girl and a thirtysomething drifter takes the young woman down a dangerous and unexpected path in this independent drama. Tobe (Evan Rachel Wood) is a pretty 18-year-old whose father, Wade (David Morse), is the sheriff of a town in California's San Fernando Valley. Tobe is driving to the beach with some friends when she stops at a filling station and meets gas jockey Harlan (Edward Norton), who dresses like a cowpoke and claims to have recently relocated to Los Angeles from South Dakota. Harlan is immediately and obviously taken with Tobe, and when she asks him to tag along for the day, he impulsively quits his job to follow her. Tobe and Harlan soon become a couple, but Wade is convinced Harlan is not all he claims to be, and Tobe begins to wonder if her father might be right when Harlan takes her horseback riding and their date is cut short after police inform them the horses have been stolen from an rancher (Bruce Dern) whom Harlan claims is a friend - and who promptly turns up with a gun to confront both of them, insisting that he has never seen Harlan before. Tobe's suspicions grow when Harlan offers to teach her little brother, Lonnie (Rory Culkin), how to shoot using a pair of real .45 revolvers, as his actions become less charming and more worrisome. Leading man Edward Norton also served as producer on this project. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
The cynical son of an upper-class New York family bedeviled by booze, pills and mental illness strikes out on his own in this caustic, darkly comic drama. Igby Slocomb (Kieran Culkin) and his older brother, Oliver (Ryan Phillippe), are are in the process of killing their mother, Mimi (Susan Sarandon). Flashbacks delineate Igby's troubled childhood: Speed-freak Mimi and her depressed husband, Jason (Bill Pullman), snipe at each other endlessly until Jason attempts suicide before Igby's very eyes and takes up residence in a mental hospital. Igby grows into a rebellious youth, gets kicked out of several boarding schools and ends up in a hellish military academy. After one failed escape attempt, he heads to New York City and hides out in the apartment of Rachel (Amanda Peet), the heroin-addled mistress of his godfather, D.H. (Jeff Goldblum). Oliver locates the young scoundrel and informs him that Mimi is suffering from cancer. Unperturbed, Igby continues his slacker existence -- and his romance with Sookie (Claire Danes), a hipper-than-thou undergraduate who finds herself torn between Igby and Oliver. As Igby gets drawn further into the mind games and hypocrisy of the adult world, his already jaded outlook grows even darker. He takes to dealing smack and hanging out with a cross-dressing performance "artist" (Jared Harris). Ultimately, though, Mimi's impending death draws him back into the family fold for unexpected revelations and realizations. Written and directed by first-time filmmaker Burr Steers, Igby Goes Down features Rory Culkin, Kieran's brother, as the young Igby. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
A family takes on the difficult task of learning how to get along with one another in this emotional comedy drama. Alex Gromberg (Michael Douglas) is a middle-aged man who feels caught in the middle of his familial obligations as he muddles he way through a midlife crisis. While a successful businessman, Alex sometimes still feels as if he's under the shadow of his father, Mitchell Gromberg (Kirk Douglas), a successful attorney whose skills in the courtroom outstripped his gifts as a parent. Elderly Mitchell has recently survived a stroke, and Alex and Mitchell want to mend their relationship while there's still time, but making it so proves difficult, even with Alex getting advice from his wife, psychologist Rebecca (Bernadette Peters), and Mitchell being prodded by his long-suffering wife, Evelyn (Diana Douglas). Alex is also trying to reach out to his two sons, who are as different as night and day; college student Asher (Cameron Douglas) is an aspiring club DJ who seems to be styling himself to bear no resemblance to his father, while 11-year-old Eli (Rory Culkin) is an overly serious lad who is having trouble navigating the first steps of adolescence. It Runs in the Family marked the first time Kirk Douglas acted in a film with his son Michael Douglas; adding to the family atmosphere was Michael's son Cameron Douglas, working with his family for the first time, and Diana Douglas, Kirk's former wife and Michael's mother. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Nearly a decade after impressing audiences at the 1999 Toronto International Film Festival with their engaging coming of age story Goat on Fire and Smiling Fish, filmmakers Derick and Steven Martini return to deliver this period drama following two families whose lives are profoundly affected by complex relationships, real estate woes, and Lyme disease. Set on Long Island in the late 1970s, Lymelife opens to find a suburban community swept up in fear after local resident Charlie Bragg (Timothy Hutton) is diagnosed with Lyme disease. Charlie's tightly-wound neighbor Brenda Bartlett (Jill Hennseey) is determined not to let her gentle fifteen year old son Scott (Rory Culkin) suffer a similar fate, and has taken to duct-taping his cuffs to ensure that he remains Lyme disease-free. Meanwhile, as Charlie convalesces, his wife Melissa (Cynthia Nixon) goes to work for Brenda's philandering husband Mickey (Alec Baldwin), a respected real estate developer. All the while, Melissa remains clueless to the fact that she was hired more out of lust than as a friendly favor to a neighbor in need. For years, Scott has pined after Charlie and Brenda's daughter Adrianna (Emma Roberts), and strangely enough it seems that she's finally starting to return his affections. Tensions are running particularly high in the neighborhood lately, and when Scott's older brother Jimmy (Kieran Culkin) arrives home on leave from the army, his confrontations with his tempestuous father Mickey threaten to trigger repercussions that will affect the lives of everyone involved. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Independent filmmaker Jacob Aaron Estes makes his feature debut with the coming-of-age drama Mean Creek. Rory Culkin, Ryan Kelley, Scott Mechlowicz, Josh Peck, Trevor Morgan, and Carly Schroeder are teenagers living in small-town Oregon. Some of the boys take a boat trip for a birthday celebration. When they get an idea to play a mean trick on the town bully, it suddenly goes too far. Soon they're forced to deal with the unexpected consequences of their actions. Mean Creek was workshopped at the Eugene O'Neill Center's National Playwrights Conference and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival as part of the American Spectrum program. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
In this made-for-cable comedy-drama, a ten-year-old boy (Rory Culkin), who is still coming to terms with the death of his parents, is sent to spend the summer with his aunt (Sherilyn Fenn), who works as a lounge singer at a Florida resort hotel that's seen better days. While living at the hotel, the boy makes the acquaintance of Sam (Hume Cronyn), an elderly man who is enjoying an extended vacation in the Sunshine State. As the boy becomes friendly with Sam, he begins to wonder if the older, bearded man might actually be Santa Claus looking to get away from the North Pole prior to the year's toy-building season. Off Season was directed by veteran actor Bruce Davison, who also appears in a supporting role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Awards
- 2004 - Mean Creek - Independent Spirit Awards - Special Distinction
Shopping Cart
Your cart is empty.
Any DVDs you add will
appear here until checkout.
Any DVDs you add will
appear here until checkout.
Latest in Blu-ray Movies
