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Alan J. Pakula

Highest Rated: 94% All the President's Men (1976)

Lowest Rated: 23% Consenting Adults (1992)

Birthday: Apr 7, 1928

Birthplace: Bronx, New York, USA

Known for drawing Oscar caliber performances out of his actors while helming suspenseful, moody thrillers, director Alan J. Pakula emerged from the theater world to produce a number of quality films in the 1960s with director Robert Mulligan, most notably the iconic adaptation of Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962). He went on to produce another six films with Mulligan during the decade before stepping into the director's chair himself for the low-key melodrama "The Sterile Cuckoo" (1969). But with his next picture, "Klute" (1971), Pakula began cementing his reputation as a fine practitioner of the conspiracy thriller while showcasing exemplary performances from his leading actors. He went on to practically define the genre with "The Parallax View" (1974), a box office disappointment at the time that later earned a reputation as one of the best conspiracy thrillers ever made. Pakula rounded out his so-called paranoia trilogy with "All the President's Men" (1976), arguably his finest achievement and one of the best movies of the entire decade. With the tearjerker drama "Sophie's Choice" (1983), he tackled the exceedingly difficult subject of the Holocaust in exceptional fashion while allowing star Meryl Streep to deliver an Oscar-winning performance that long remained the best of her storied career. Later in his career, Pakula began delivering rather underwhelming, but nonetheless financially successful movies like "The Pelican Brief" (1993), which nonetheless helped cap a sterling career highlighted by some the best movies Hollywood had to offer.

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Highest rated movies

94% 92% All the President's Men
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93% 80% Klute
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93% 93% To Kill a Mockingbird Watchlist
88% 65% The Sterile Cuckoo
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87% 77% The Parallax View
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86% 67% Presumed Innocent
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83% 77% Fear Strikes Out
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82% 86% Love With the Proper Stranger
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75% 58% Starting Over
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74% 85% Sophie's Choice
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Filmography

Movies

Credit
37% 41% The Devil's Own Director - 1997
54% 61% The Pelican Brief Director,
Writer,
Producer
$100.7M 1993
23% 31% Consenting Adults Director,
Producer
$21.6M 1992
86% 67% Presumed Innocent Director,
Screenwriter
$85.7M 1990
55% 35% See You in the Morning Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer
$4.4M 1989
71% 77% Orphans Director,
Producer
$239.7K 1987
No Score Yet 21% Dream Lover Director,
Producer
$210.7K 1986
74% 85% Sophie's Choice Director,
Producer,
Screenwriter
- 1982
70% 38% Rollover Director - 1981
75% 58% Starting Over Director,
Producer
- 1979
67% 54% Comes a Horseman Director - 1978
94% 92% All the President's Men Director - 1976
87% 77% The Parallax View Director,
Producer
- 1974
No Score Yet 67% Love and Pain (and the Whole Damn Thing) Director,
Producer
- 1972
93% 80% Klute Director,
Producer
- 1971
88% 65% The Sterile Cuckoo Director,
Producer
- 1969
40% 61% The Stalking Moon Producer - 1968
60% 40% Baby, the Rain Must Fall Producer - 1965
82% 86% Love With the Proper Stranger Producer - 1963
93% 93% To Kill a Mockingbird Producer - 1962
83% 77% Fear Strikes Out Producer - 1957