Movies in the Thriller/Drama genre

The career aspirations of Mathilda (Natalie Portman) aren't those of the average 12-year old girl. Instead of wanting to be a doctor, fashion model, teacher, lawyer, or nuclear physicist, Mathilda has decided to follow in the footsteps of her best...

There's something almost old-fashioned about Michael Mann's Public Enemies, a mostly factual re-telling of the descent and death of John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), one of the 1930s most infamous bank robbers. More drama than thriller, the movie does...

Q & A is testimony to the validity of the old adage: a good story, when well told, can never be told too many times. With this movie, director Sidney Lumet doesn't bring anything radical to the screen. The premise - a decorated cop discovered to ...

It has been several years since I've read a book by John Grisham (I believe the last one was The Client). After three or four of Grisham's novels, I grew tired of the predictable repetitiveness and contrived suspense of the narratives. As a resul...

There are two commonly heard sayings about power. The first, "With great power comes great responsibility," sounds almost sanctimonious but represents the credo by which we expect heroic figures (such as policemen) to live. The second, "Power cor...

Upon its initial release, Scarface was savaged by many critics and suffered from tepid box office performance. Opened at the height of Oscar season with awards aspirations, it was shut out by the Academy - although it did receive three Golden Glob...

Spoiler Alert: Although every effort has been made to limit the revelations in this review, it's difficult to provide a coherent discussion of Shutter Island without giving away something, so readers are hereby placed on alert. If you're familiar...

It's not hard to argue that Edward Zwick is one of the best Hollywood film makers toiling in obscurity. Although the average movie-goer recognizes the names of directors like Scorsese, Spielberg, Zemeckis, and Stone, Zwick is relatively unknown. ...

1950 was a very good year for movies that took a look behind the showbiz scene. Both Sunset Blvd. (films) and All About Eve (theater) collected their share of Oscar nominations, with Eve beating out Sunset in the key Best Picture category. Howeve...

For thirteen days in 1962, from October 16 through October 28, the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war as the United States and the Soviet Union stood toe-to-toe, neither bending, each waiting for the other to blink. Despite public assu...