Pulse-pounding thrillers

There are some actors who specialize in taut action thrillers. Take Jodie Foster. The woman thrives on going from terrified to take charge in two hours. This year, a spate of great actors follows her example, including Jake Gyllenhaal, Casey Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix. Don’t be surprised if some of these movies produce some Oscar contenders of their own.

“The Brave One”
Starring: Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard, Naveen Andrews, Mary Steenburgen
Director: Neil Jordan
Story: New York radio host Erica Bain’s (Foster) world is shattered when she and her husband (Andrews) are attacked by strangers and her husband is killed. After three weeks in the hospital, Erica wakes up a different person — a person bent on revenge. As she hunts for the killers, a different, more violent side of her emerges. But will she catch the real perpetrator before an NYPD detective (Howard) catches her?
Buzz: Foster basically becomes a vigilante, which begs the question: Is Jordan (“The Crying Game,” “The End of the Affair”) playing with the idea of what makes a hero? Much like David Cronenberg’s “History of Violence,” this film may have audiences questioning their own reactions to the hero.
Web site: http://thebraveone.warnerbros.com/
Release date: Sept. 14

“Rendition”

Gabriel Bouys / AFP/Getty Images

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin, Peter Sarsgaard, Christian Martin
Director: Gavin Hood
Story: When an Egyptian-born chemical engineer and terrorism suspect (Omar Metwalley), disappears on a flight from South Africa to Washington, D.C., his American wife Isabelle (Witherspoon) heads to Washington to try to find out what’s happened to him. Gyllenhaal plays a CIA operative who begins to doubt his own role when he becomes witness to unorthodox interrogation methods at a detention facility outside the U.S.
Buzz: The detention facility in the film is meant to be Guantanamo Bay, though the film was shot in Morocco. Don’t be surprised if you see director Hood or Witherspoon’s names on ballots come Oscar time. Hood (“Tsotsi”) is set to direct the Hugh Jackman-starring “Wolverine.”
Web site: http://www.renditionmovie.com/
Release date: Oct. 19

“We Own the Night”

Sony

Starring:  Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Robert Duvall, Eva Mendes, Alex Veadov
Director: James Gray
Story: Set in 1988 New York, the police find themselves outgunned by drug-dealing criminals. Bobby Green (Phoenix) is caught in the crossfire. The son of a cop (Robert Duvall), Bobby manages a Russian nightclub in Brighton Beach that’s frequented by gangsters like Vadim Nezhinski (Veadov). When his police-officer brother Joseph (Wahlberg) gets wounded, Bobby realizes he must join forces with Joseph to stop the drug war. Mendes costars as Bobby’s girlfriend.
Buzz: After seeing it a Cannes, Cinematical’s James Rocchi wrote, “‘We Own the Night’ seems a little torn: Is it a family drama or an action film, a showcase for performances or a knuckle-clenching exercise in tension?” Director Gray (“Little Odessa,” “The Yards”) is a talented filmmaker who hasn’t made a film in seven years — and who seems a bit obsessed with the Russian mob.
Web site: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/weownthenight/
Release date: Oct. 12

“Sleuth”

Sony Picture Classics

Starring: Jude Law, Michael Caine
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Story: This remake of the 1972 film that starred Laurence Olivier and Caine, now has Caine in the Olivier role and Law in the Caine role. Caine plays a mystery novelist who gets a visit from Law, an unemployed actor who’s having an affair with his wife. The two engage in a complicated game of one-upmanship that could turn deadly.
Buzz: Branagh (“Love’s Labors Lost”) steps in for Joseph L. Mankiewicz, while writer Harold Pinter (“The French Lieutenant’s Woman”) takes a crack at Anthony Shaffer’s play. Gone is the English country house with the automated toys and the hedge maze from the 1972 film; in the new film, the house is completely modern and full of electronics. Caine told Film Monthly that the film basically just follows the plotline of the 1972 film, but the characters are completely different. “I’m not playing the role that Olivier played,” he said.  “I’m playing a role that had been written by Harold Pinter.”
Web site: http://www.sonyclassics.com/sleuth/
Release date: Oct. 12

“Gone Baby Gone”

Miramax

Starring:  Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, John Ashton
Director: Ben Affleck
Story: Based on the Dennis Lehane (“Mystic River”) novel, this film tells the story of the abduction of a 4-year-old girl and two private detectives (Affleck, Monaghan) who take the case. The detectives grew up in the Dorchester neighborhood where the abduction took place, and are acquainted with the gun runner (rapper Slaine) who may know who’s behind the disappearance. Harris and Ashton play the cops on the case, while Freeman co-stars as Police Chief Jack Doyle.  
Buzz: Ben Affleck makes his directing debut; he also co-wrote the screenplay (he and Matt Damon won Oscars for their screenplay for “Good Will Hunting”). Look for lesser-known, but talented actors like Monaghan (“Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang”), Michael K. Williams and Amy Ryan (both from “The Wire”). Novelist Lehane told IGN.com that he was happy Monaghan was cast. “I think she's the perfect Angie Gennaro. I went and saw ‘Mission: Impossible III’ and when she started popping off rounds at the end she was very Angie-like.”
Web site: http://www.gonebabygone-themovie.com/
Release date: Oct. 19

“Lust, Caution”

Focus Features

Starring: Tony Leung, Tang Wei, Joan Chen, Wang Lee Hom
Director: Ang Lee
Story: Mr. Yee (Leung) is a powerful political figure in 1940s Shanghai. He gets involved with a young student activist (newcomer Tang Wei), who gets caught up in his dangerous game of intrigue.
Buzz: Lee (“Brokeback Mountain”) has proved to be a master of almost any genre he attempts (the glaring exception being “The Hulk”), particularly period pieces (“Sense and Sensibility”). That bodes well for this film, which has a stellar leading man in Leung (“In the Mood for Love”). Lee has never been one to let foreign language keep him from Oscar nominations (his “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” received both best foreign-film and best-picture nods, winning for foreign film).
Web site: NA
Release date: Sept. 28

“Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead”

THINKfilm

Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Marisa Tomei
Director: Sidney Lumet
Story: Andy (Hoffman) is a businessman in desperate need of money. He convinces his brother Hank (Hawke) to rob their parents’ jewelry store so they can split the money in the safe. But when their third accomplice ignores the “no guns” rule, their mother (Rosemary Harris) is fatally shot during the robbery. Not realizing who the robbers are, their father (Finney) swears vengeance. Tomei co-stars as Hoffman’s wife.
Buzz: Lumet is known for classic thrillers, such as “Prince of the City,” “Dog Day Afternoon” and “Network,” but he hasn’t made a really good film since 1988’s “Running on Empty.” Could it be comeback time for this great filmmaker? Back in July, New York magazine reported that the film didn’t have a U.S. distributor, which means a studio snapped this up at the last minute. After viewing the trailer, the magazine also referred to the film as a “rattly piece of claptrap.” Uh-oh.
Web site: NA
Release date: Oct. 26

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