Virginia Madsen
Virginia Madsen is an American actress.
Virginia Madsen at a Glance
Virginia Madsen (born September 11, 1961) is an American actress. She came to fame during the 1980s, having appeared in several films aimed at a teenage audience. During the 2000s, she once again became known after an Academy Award- and Golden Globe-nominated role in the film Sideways.
The Number 23 Virginia Madsen
His wife, Agatha (Virginia Madsen), also plays Fingerling's girlfriend, sex-crazed Fabrizia, who taunts Fingerling until he stabs her. Back in reality, Walter aims to solve the unresolved crimes in the book, taking it as a murderer's diary rather than as an imagined work. The story is half-baked, though Carrey's portrayal of a mentally disturbed person is what makes The Number 23 comedic. Long, contemplative stares, and over-dramatized acting renders Sparrow a clichéd character, rather than one odd enough to engage viewers. For a better version of almost the exact plot but with a terrorist's twist, see Thr3e instead. -- Trinie Dalton
The Number 23 (Unrated Infinifilm Edition)
_The Number 23_ starring Jim Carrey as dog catcher Walter Sparrow is an extremely bizarre movie featuring a mysterious murder and a numerological obsession with the number 23. The movie offers a perplexing examination of delusion and madness, showing the power of obsession on the human mind. Numerology and the obsession with the magical power of numbers is an ancient discipline represented by such distinguished ancient thinkers as Pythagoras; however, as this movie shows such a discipline can often lead to unhealthy obsession. Many great thinkers have examined the phenomenon of synchronicity, including such founders of psychoanalysis as Freud and Jung; however, as is often noted there is a fine line between genius and madness. In particular, the alleged recurrence of the number 23 has played a role in the thought of such individuals as William S. Burroughs and Robert Anton Wilson (RAW). Indeed RAW devotes much of his otherwise pointless _Illuminatus!_ trilogy to an explication of the repeated occurrence of this mysterious number, 23. (This film must obviously have been influenced by the thinking of RAW and others, as we see reference made to the maverick psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich, theorist of orgone energy, and a noted obsession of RAW.) It is also well known though that numerological delusions frequently play a part in the ideation of schizophrenics and other disturbed individuals. Such a tendency to observe patterns where none are apparently present has been noted as a primary motivating factor behind both the delusions of the mentally disturbed and highly creative individuals.
This movie begins with Jim Carrey as dog catcher. He is having an otherwise ordinary day (February 2 (2-3) - his birthday) when he encounters a dog named "NED" who bites him in the process of trying to catch him. This synchronous event causes him to be late for a meeting with his wife, giving her ample time to peruse a book at a used bookstore called _The Number 23_. As it turns out, Carrey ends up purchasing this book, which begins his bizarre obsession with the number 23. As Carrey begins reading the book, he notices eerie resemblances to his own life, including similarities to his own family (which holds a dark secret). Ultimately, Carrey discovers that he must resolve a murder which can only be solved by unlocking the key in the book. However, this murder holds a dark secret linked forever to Carrey himself and the number 23. As the story continues, Carrey descends deeper and deeper into madness, until eventually he must make a profound choice which will alter his life forever. To understand the rest of the story you must watch the movie.
Unfortunately, the movie itself tends to drag in parts, and the ending is not very well done. I found myself imagining countless alternative endings, but was ultimately disappointed by what actually occurs. The movie does offer a good look into the mind of a madman, but it ultimately fails to be convincing in certain respects. At the end, I felt that several loose ends were not wrapped up, and remained largely confused about certain details. While the basic idea of this movie is interesting, it ultimately fails to deliver and becomes boring. Thus, I cannot say that I fully recommend it, despite the fact that the idea behind it is an interesting one.
Release Date: 07/24/2007
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Virginia Madsen Movies
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The Astronaut Farmer Virginia Madsen
Even though Charlie's deeply in debt and threatened with foreclosure, his wife (Virginia Madsen) and kids are deeply supportive of Charlie's Earth-orbit mission, even when he attracts the glaring attention of a seasoned Air Force colonel (played by Bruce Willis, in an uncredited role), the FAA, the FBI, and the national media. "If we don't have our dreams, we have nothing," says Charlie at a particularly desperate impasse, and this loopy, offbeat, and unabashedly sentimental drama embraces that message with disarming sincerity.
Suspension of disbelief is a challenge when the movie glosses over so many of its logistical details (like, where does one buy an old NASA space capsule?), and in trying for a kind of Capra-esque, eccentrically Western spin on the American dream, the Polish twins--director Michael and cowriter/actor Mark (making their mainstream debut after such indie hits as Twin Falls, Idaho and Northfork)--are only marginally successful in making Charlie's ambition genuinely believable. The film works much better as a kind of post space-age fable for families, and it's just involving enough to make its climax emotionally rewarding, mostly because Thornton, Madsen, and their costars (including Bruce Dern and Tim Blake Nelson) handle the delicate material with the earnestness it needs to be marginally convincing. Elton John's "Rocket Man" is predictably heard over the closing credits (accordingly, Charlie's launch-time is "zero hours, nine a.m."), and at a time when several adventurous entrepreneurs (including Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos) are gradually developing a civilian space-flight industry, The Astronaut Farmer is an admirable yet forgivably flawed reminder that we should never stop reaching for the stars. --Jeff Shannon
All systems are "Go" for Charles Farmer. He's faced bank foreclosure, neighborhood naysayers and a government alarmed by his huge purchase of high-grade fuel, but now he's ready to blast into space inside the homemade rocket he built in his barn. Just be home in time for dinner, Charlie. Billy Bob Thornton portrays Charlie in this charmer about chasing dreams...and about what it means to be a family. 10,000 pounds of rocket fuel alone can't lift Charlie into the heavens. He needs a launch/recovery crew, and he has one of the best: his wife (Virginia Madsen) and children, dreamers all. They have liftoff. Our spirits have uplift. Gravity cannot hold down our dreams. The Astronaut Farmer is that kind of movie.
Billy Bob Thornton, Virginia Madsen, Max Thieriot, Jasper Polish, Logan Polish
Director: Michael Polish
The Astronaut Farmer
More than ten years ago I wrote a book about a dreamer. Tonight I watched a movie about one. I read all the reviews about this movie, both good and bad. This is a good movie.
The key to enjoying this movie is believing in dreams. When John F. Kennedy first uttered those words about putting a man on the moon, many people thought he was crazy. His dream allowed Neil Armstrong to walk on the moon in 1969.
NASA and the Russian space agency may have been the forefathers of space travel, but the future is in OUR hands and based on OUR dreams. That is one reason why there are fledging private space agencies now. No one government will ever lead us beyond the moon, to other planets and beyond. It will be the dreams, hard word and intelligence of the ordinary man and woman that will get us there. It is our destiny.
Enjoy this movie for what it is; one man and one family's dreams of doing something extraordinary. Movies like this can inspire us to dream. That is what will pave our way into the future. -- Kevin Lee "Author of Gypsy Dreamer"
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However, the show's usual comedy sketches are never presented, save for the commercial parodies--this may be a PHC show, but Lake Wobegone is never mentioned. Instead, the sketches are played out as backstage banter that feautres the Johnson Sisters (Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin), a harried stage hand (Maya Rudolph), a former listener turned angel (Virginia Madsen), and Keillor himself (a crusty alter-ego named simply G.K.). A few characters from the real PHC are given life: the singing cowboys Dusty and Lefty and gumshoe Guy Noir are embodied by Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, and Kevin Kline, respectively. Old flames are fanned, stories are spun, new talents are found (Lindsay Lohan has a chance to shine as Streep's daughter) and everyone wonders if G.K. will do something to ebb the tide of cancellation (personified by Tommy Lee Jones as the corporate Axeman).
All of the actors do right as singers, and seem to be having the time of their life. Keillor's screenplay is perfect fodder for Altman's usual brand of storytelling, as characters babble on with the camera picking them up often in mid-thought. The film appeared a few months after Altman received an honorary Oscar, and the director is still at the top of his game, creating this smile-inducing, song-filled time, ending with an ethereal last musical number. -- Doug Thomas
A Prairie Home Companion
I wish I'd said this: A Prairie Home Companion is a lovely film about death, and with some great bad jokes. Death and how we deal with it drifts through the film like a dream, but it turns out to be real. Word has gotten around that the 30-year-old radio program is giving its last show. The theater where it has been broadcast from all these years has been sold and will be turned into a parking lot. A woman in a white trench coat moves dream-like through the place, searching for a person whose time has come, and then finds him. And then she finds another. Memories of past successes are talked about, but sometimes not. Reminiscences are wept over or laughed over. The backstage emergencies happen and are dealt with and the radio show goes on. It's just a marvelous movie. People who dislike the actual A Prairie Home Companion will probably not like this movie. Those who do like the radio show I'm sure are going to run out and buy the DVD of the movie as soon as it's available.
Garrison Keillor is not center stage so much as he's the imperturbable head guy who isn't always there, even when he's there. Most of the regular members of the radio show are present, as well as some new names. Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep are incredibly authentic and incredibly funny/poignant as the two remaining members, Rhonda and Yolanda Johnson, of a country-music family singing group. Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly are great as the dim cowboys, Lefty and Dusty. Their bad-jokes song is one of the highlights. Guy Noir looking like Kevin Kline tries to keep a lid on the crises. Streep and Tomlin (and Harrelson and Reilly) sing their own stuff and they are first class. Tomlin, in particular, gives a terrific performance as Rhonda, tough, funny, a little bitter and a trooper.
After 105 minutes you may find death not too frightening, may find a kind of comforting acceptance of life, and may find funny some awful jokes...like the name of the country song Lefty sang on last week's show, "I'll Give You My Moonshine If You Show Me Your Jugs." Or a great new wheezer, "Did you hear about the crate of Viagra that was stolen?" "No! Who took it?" "The cops don't know but they're looking for hardened criminals."
I also wish I'd said this, from the New York Times: A Prairie Home Companion isn't great, it's wonderful.
Release Date: 10/10/2006
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Firewall Virginia Madsen
Jack's the only one who can safely crack the system, so he's targeted by a would-be robber (Paul Bettany) whose jittery crew of thugs and hackers kidnaps Jack's wife (Sideways star Virginia Madsen), daughter, and young son, threatening to kill them if Jack doesn't transfer $100 million into the robber's secret offshore account. Like Bruce Willis in 2005's Hostage, Ford rises above the film's familiar generic trappings, and British director Richard Loncraine maintains a low-key escalation of tension that keeps Firewall on track toward a routine but satisfying conclusion.
Supporting roles for Alan Arkin, Robert Forster and Robert Patrick add little to the film's turnabout plotting, but fans of Mary Lynn Rajskub (better known as ace computer nerd "Chloe" on the hit series 24) will enjoy her performance here as a loyal secretary who factors into Stanfield's bid to outsmart his captors. Firewall may not be an instant Ford classic like The Fugitive, but it's comparable to Ford's 2000 thriller What Lies Beneath in terms of overall intelligence and crowd-pleasing suspense. -- Jeff Shannon
Firewall stars Harrison Ford as bank security expert Jack Stanfield, whose specialty is designing infallible theft-proof financial computer systems. But there's a hidden vulnerability in the system he didn't account for - himself. When a ruthless criminal mastermind (Paul Bettany) kidnaps his family, Jack is forced to find a flaw in his system and steal $100 million. With the lives of his wife and children at stake and under constant surveillance, he has only hours to find a loophole in the thief's own impenetrable system of subterfuge and false identities to beat him at his own game.
Harrison Ford, Paul Bettany, Virginia Madsen, Carly Schroeder, Mary Lynn Rajskub
Director: Richard Loncraine
Firewall (Widescreen Edition)
Jack Stanfield (Ford) is head of bank security at a bank on the brink of a merger. Bill Cox (Bettany) is a businessman that, after a business meeting with JAck, makes Jack an offer. If Jack helps Bill rob the bank of $100 million, Bill will let Jack's family live. He has taken them all hostage, and is pulling Jack's strings to accomplish the task. OF course, Bill is less than trustworthy, and Jack soon finds himself in a no-win situation as the crimes start to point to him.
"Firewall" is an entertaining thriller. Harrison Ford gets the job done as Jack, although the years are starting to show. Paul Bettany is a solid villain, and is believeable for his brains and toughness. Mary Lynn Rajskub and Virginia Madsen are good in supporting roles. This is not a perfect movie, but it will provide a couple hours of solid enjoyment. -- Michael Zuffa (Racine, WI United States)
Release Date: 06/06/2006
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Virginia Madsen Filmography - Virginia Madsen Movies
Virginia Madsen Films
Electric Dreams (1984)
Dune (1984)
Creator (1985)
Fire with Fire (1986)
Modern Girls (1986)
Slam Dance (1987)
Zombie High (1987)
Gotham (1988)
Mr. North (1988)
Hot to Trot (1988)
Heart of Dixie (1989)
The Hot Spot (1990)
Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
Becoming Colette (1991)
A Murderous Affair: The Carolyn Warmus Story (1992)
Candyman (1992)
Caroline at Midnight (1994)
Blue Tiger (1994)
The Prophecy (1995)
Just Your Luck (1996)
Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)
The Rainmaker (1997)
Ballad of the Nightingale (1998)
Ambushed (1998)
The Florentine (1999)
The Haunting (1999)
Lying in Wait (2000)
After Sex (2000)
Full Disclosure (2001)
Almost Salinas (2001)
Just Ask my Children (2001)
American Gun (2002)
Artworks (2003)
Nobody Knows Anything! (2003)
Sideways (2004)
Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild (2005) (voice)
Firewall (2006)
A Prairie Home Companion (2006)
The Astronaut Farmer (2007)
Ripple Effect (2007)
The Number 23 (2007)
Being Michael Madsen (2007)
Diminished Capacity (2008)
A Haunting in Connecticut (2008)
In the Shadow of Wings (2008)
