At the Wire

Author(s): Evan
Location: N/A

“At the Wire”

Directed by Clint Eastwood
Produced by Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, and Larry McMurtry
Screenplay by Larry McMurtry
Cinematography by Tom Stern
Art Direction by Jack G. Taylor, Jr.
Score by Clint Eastwood

Principal Cast:

Joaquin Phoenix as Tom Hanson
Renee Zellweger as Jill Hanson
Chris Cooper as Bill Hanson
Sissy Spacek as Janet Hanson
Randy Quaid as Dr. Al Morris
Gary Stevens as Danny Sparrow
Peter Sarsgaard as Nick Townsend

Tagline: "It’s not the finish that counts; it’s how you run the race"

Synopsis: Bill Hanson is a horse racing legend, a two-time winning trainer of the Kentucky Derby. When his son Tom starts his own stable with great success, it looks like the Hanson dynasty has found a charming heir... that is, until Tom enters rehab for a cocaine addiction. A few months after leaving rehab, Tom has lost most of his clients, leaving his family in rough financial times and his father refusing to talk to him. His marriage to his wife Jill is on the rocks and he still faces mindnumbing cravings for his drugs. Then, all of a sudden, Tom starts to win races once again. His comeback story grabs the attention of the media, his marriage is back on track, and he resumes contact with his father. With a star three-year-old colt preparing for the Kentucky Derby, Tom has returned to prominence. But then, one night, Jill catches her husband with a bottle in his stable—one containing a new performance-enhancing steroid. Furious with him, she packs up her children and leaves. Just a few days later, the story breaks; several of Tom’s horses, including his star colt, have tested positive for steroid usage. His friends and the press turn against him while the racing industry launches an investigation into the situation. Tom loses his permit to be a trainer and is now without a job and his family until, upon the urging of his wife, Bill Hanson reluctantly allows his son to return to work for him as an assistant. As Tom struggles to make ends meet, he begins talks with his wife and children to get his life in order if they will just be family once again.

What the press would say:

Clint Eastwood´s new film At the Wire brings to memory 2003´s Seabiscuit but with the third act twist of Eastwood´s own Oscar-winning Million Dollar Baby. In the film, Eastwood builds up his protagonist Tom Hanson (Phoenix) as the hero for which everyone cheers—a man returning from adversity to earn money to support his family—, but then tears him down as a cheater, casting him back to the world of failures. Joaquin Phoenix plays Tom, a man torn between fair play and regaining the trust of his wife and father through dark means. Phoenix as Tom is a nuanced work of highs and lows, a spectacular follow-up to his performance of Johnny Cash in Walk the Line that could perhaps earn the actor a well-deserved Oscar. Renee Zellweger does a great turn as Tom´s wife Jill who, aftering discovering her husband´s secret one night, can no longer handle his many problems and leaves him with her two children. Chris Cooper plays Tom´s famous father Bill, deeply upset by his son´s embarassing actions, but who reluctantly allows his son to return to work with him after the urging of his wife Janet (played by Sissy Spacek), who as a mother is the only one who truly understands her son. Randy Quaid and horse racing hall-of-fame member Gary Stevens turn in roles as Tom´s veterinarian and his usual jockey, respectively, who are forced to turn against their friend to keep their own careers. Peter Sarsgaard shines in the role of the sly reporter who releases the story about the steroid usage, relentlessly destroying the credibility of his old friend Tom to get a better story. With its marvelous script by Larry McMurtry (Terms of Endearment, Brokeback Mountain), vivid colors that turn to haunting shades of gray after the steroid story breaks, and a plot turn as suprising as any since 1999´s The Sixth Sense, At the Wire is an unforgettable film that will have audiences questioning what they would do to win the stability of their family.

For Your Consideration:
Best Picture
Best Director- Clint Eastwood
Best Actor- Joaquin Phoenix
Best Actress- Renee Zellweger
Best Supporting Actor- Chris Cooper, Peter Sarsgaard
Best Supporting Actress- Sissy Spacek
Best Original Screenplay- Larry McMurtry
Best Art Direction- Jack G. Taylor, Jr.
Best Cinematography- Tom Stern
Best Score- Clint Eastwood