In the small-town drama Where The Crawdads Sing, based on a horrifying true event, David Strathairn gives a heartfelt portrayal as Kya’s attorney who empathises with the young girl who is shunned by the locals. Ranker has developed a list of David Strathairn’s films in an effort to promote some of the actor’s lesser-known parts. Check them out here, from Memphis Belle to Good Night, and Good Luck.
1. Ira Lowenstein in A League Of Their Own (1992)
Director- Penny Marshall
Women occupied the majority of the positions that were left empty during World War II. As all the men were serving in the military. As scouts are deployed all over the nation to discover female players, baseball team owners decide to build teams with women because they do not want the sport to become extinct permanently. One of the scouts is travelling through Oregon when she comes across the amazing Dottie Hinson. She declines his invitation to try out. However, her sister Kit, who has been itching to leave Oregon, offers to go with him. He accepts, but only if she can persuade her sister to accompany them.
They are put together on the same team after trying out. The squad manager is former player and current alcoholic Jimmy Dugan. He doesn’t feel like it’s a real job, though. So he drinks and isn’t exactly doing it, which is why Dottie takes over. Until Dottie does something that attracts notice, the league is in danger of being shut down after a few months when it seems the females are not attracting any attention. Kit soon feels that she is living in Dottie’s shadow as the team’s star.
2. Whistler in Sneakers (1992)
Director- Phil Alden Robinson
Martin, a computer hacker, is in charge of a team of experts who examine the security of numerous San Francisco businesses. Two National Security Agency agents approach Martin and ask him to steal a recently developed decoder. The black box, which Martin and his colleagues learn can break any encryption scheme. Hence, poses a serious threat if it ends up in the wrong hands. Martin is accused of killing the device’s creator after discovering the NSA officers who contacted him were rogue agents.
3. Pierce Patchett in L.A. Confidential (1997)
Director- Curtis Hanson
In this complex noir-style story of police corruption and Hollywood depravity, 1950s Los Angeles serves as the filthy setting. Three very different police officers, each seeking the truth in their own way. In order to advance, Ed Exley, the police department’s golden boy, would do almost anything—except sell out. Bud White would also break the law to seek justice, but he would struggle to control his raging violence. Jack Vincennes, who was always after fame and a quick buck, would eventually be persuaded by his conscience to join Exley and White on their one-way journey to uncover the truth about the shadowy world of L.A. crime.
4. Noah Vosen in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Director- Paul Greengrass
Attempting to accidentally reveal Operation Blackbriar, an enhancement to Project Treadstone, in a series of newspaper pieces. London-based reporter Simon Ross brings Bourne out of hiding once more. Immediately after scheduling a meeting with Ross, Bourne becomes aware that they are being scanned. The reporter’s information triggers fresh memories, forcing Bourne to confront his dark past. While eluding The Company’s best efforts to have him eliminated.
5. President Dedmon in We Are Marshall (2006)
Director- McG
The Marshall University football team, its coaching staff, and many of their supporters perished when the plane they were on crashed on the suburbs of Huntington, West Virginia, on November 14, 1970. Don Dedman is the president of the institution. He is conflicted when one of the players who did not travel with the team due to injury begs for the team’s reinstatement. While nearly the whole community is in grief. Dedman eventually consents, and Jack Lengyel is appointed as the team’s new head coach. It is a difficult task that forces many people in the community to consider their ideals to build a team from start.
6. Arthur Spiderwick in The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)
Director- Mark Waters
Jared and Simon Grace, together with their sister Mallory, find themselves drawn into an alternate world consisting of fairies and other creatures. Once upon a time after settling into the dilapidated Spiderwick Estate with their mother Helen. The family accuses Jared of being to blame for all of the bizarre mishaps and disappearances that seem to occur every day. He, Simon, and Mallory look into what’s actually going on and learn the amazing reality about the Spiderwick mansion and the animals that live there.
7. Ray McDeere in The Firm (1993)
Director- Sydney Pollack
A young attorney joins a prominent, tiny law company only to learn that the majority of their clients are involved in criminal activity. The company assists in the laundering of mafia funds, the exoneration of customers, and even the death of business partners who pose a threat to their secrecy. The lawyer is forced to choose between his life and his freedom when the FBI comes knocking to obtain information about his colleagues.
8. Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)
Director- George Clooney
Edward R. Murrow, the king of CBS News, dedicates himself to expose the crimes done by Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Senate probe as soon as his reckless drive to find Communists in America gets underway. The journalism team that supports Murrow includes longtime buddy and producer Fred Friendly. Despite being urged to stop by CBS’ corporate sponsors, the CBS team makes every effort to expose the senator’s lies and excesses.
9. Col. Craig Harriman in Memphis Belle (1990)
The Memphis Belle, a B-17 bomber, is about to fly her final and 25th mission on May 17, 1943. The ten-man crew returns home after completing their final mission. There were already preparations to make the 10-man crew major stars back home for the war effort since they would be the first crew in the 8th Airforce to complete all 25 missions. But no flight had yet taken place for the assignment. The flak wouldn’t be simple to get through with Bremen as the target, which was heavily protected by surface-to-air weaponry. The crew has to take command of the squadron and bomb a Nazi supply facility, with the effects of the weather, nerves, and dreams all influencing the mission’s success. If they fail, many innocent people could perish.
10. Tom in The River Wild (1994)
Director- Curtis Hanson
With her busy architect husband Tom, Gail Hartman is having issues. On the occasion of their son Roarke’s birthday, Gail makes the decision to take her family on a rafting trip down a raging river where she worked as a guide, leaving their daughter Willa with her parents. Wade, a young man who departs the location with his pals Terry and Frank after making friends with Roarke, is present. Later, the Hartmans come across Wade and Terry, who have no prior rafting experience, and Gail assists them in navigating a whitewater section. As they draw closer to the Hartmans, they reveal a sinister secret about themselves.
