James Toback

Writing

James Toback

Born 1944-11-23 · New York City, New York, USA

James Lee Toback  (born November 23, 1944) is an American screenwriter and film director. Description above from the Wikipedia article James Toback, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

Acting credits

Mississippi Grind poster
6.0

Gerry is a talented but down-on-his-luck gambler whose fortunes begin to change when he meets Curtis, a younger, highly charismatic poker player. The two strike up an immediate friendship and Gerry quickly persuades his new friend to accompany him on a road trip to a legendary high stakes poker game in New Orleans. As they make their way down the Mississippi River, Gerry and Curtis manage to find themselves in just about every bar, racetrack, casino, and pool hall they can find, experiencing both incredible highs and dispiriting lows, but ultimately forging a deep and genuine bond that will stay with them long after their adventure is over.

Mississippi Grind

2015

Black and White poster
4.6

Rich Bower is an up-and-coming star in the hip-hop world. Everyone wants to be around him, including Raven and her fellow upper-class white high school friends. The growing appeal of black culture among white teens fascinates documentary filmmaker Sam Donager, who sets out to chronicle it with her husband, Terry. But before Bower was a rapper, he was a gangster, and his criminal past comes back to haunt him and all those around him.

Black and White

1999

Alice poster
6.3

Alice Tate, mother of two, with a marriage of 16 years, finds herself falling for a handsome sax player, Joe. Stricken with a backache, she consults herbalist Dr. Yang, who realizes that her problems are not related to her back, but in her mind and heart. Dr. Yang's magical herbs give Alice wondrous powers, taking her out of her well-established rut.

Alice

1990

River of Fundament poster
5.9

Visionary artist Matthew Barney returns to cinema with this 3-part epic, a radical reinvention of Norman Mailer’s novel Ancient Evenings. In collaboration with composer Jonathan Bepler, Barney combines traditional modes of narrative cinema with filmed elements of performance, sculpture, and opera, reconstructing Mailer’s hypersexual story of Egyptian gods and the seven stages of reincarnation, alongside the rise and fall of the American car industry.

River of Fundament

2014

Seduced and Abandoned poster
6.2

SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.

Seduced and Abandoned

2013

Death of a Dynasty poster
6.4

A story which centers around Dave Katz, a journalist at a hip-hop magazine who is sent on assignment to uncover the often comedic underworld of Roc-a-Fella Records run by Damon Dash and Jay-Z.

Death of a Dynasty

2003

Exposed poster
4.8

Wisconsin farm girl Elizabeth Carlson leaves family and her English teacher lover behind and escapes to New York. There she soon makes a career for herself as a fashion model. During a vernissage she's approached by a mysterious man whose motives are unclear...

Exposed

1983

When Will I Be Loved poster
4.1

Feeling undervalued by her boyfriend, a young woman begins to explore her sexuality with other people.

When Will I Be Loved

2004

The Outsider poster
6.8

Nicholas Jarecki follows director James Toback on the 12-day shoot of his thriller, When Will I Be Loved -- a movie made without a script or distribution deal.

The Outsider

2005

A Fuller Life poster
6.6

Friends and admirers of iconoclastic film director Sam Fuller read from his memoirs in this unconventional documentary directed by Fuller's only child, Samantha.

A Fuller Life

2013

Never Down poster
NR

Rico reunites with his ex-wife after serving a five year prison term for armed robbery. Upon Rico's release he encounters old and new forces conspiring to bring him down and tear him between what he holds dear and what he most fears.

Never Down

2007

An Imperfect Murder poster
3.4

Successful actress Vera Lockman thrashes during a nightmare in which she struggles with, shoots and kills her drug-dealer ex-boyfriend. Jolted awake, she reveals in her journal that the killing actually occurred the day before and that Sal, dead, lies in a trunk in her living room.

An Imperfect Murder

2017

We Blew It poster
5.2

How did America change from Easy Rider into Donald Trump? What became of the dreams and utopias of the 1960's and 1970's? What do the people who lived in that golden age think about it today? Did they really blow it? Shot in Cinemascope - from New Jersey to California - this melancholic and elegiac road-movie draws upon the portrait of a confused, complex and incandescent America one year after the start of the electoral campaign. That golden age has become its last romantic border and an inconsolable America is about to pull on a trigger called Trump.

We Blew It

2017

Giving It Up poster
4.2

A womanizing New York adman attempts to identify the causes of, and find a remedy for, his so-called addiction to sex, in order to win the love of a woman he respects.

Giving It Up

1999

The Road to Damascus: The Reinvention of Bugsy Siegel poster
NR

Retrospective documentary of the film "Bugsy"

The Road to Damascus: The Reinvention of Bugsy Siegel

2006

No artwork available
NR

The director and the actor from Fingers (1978) talks about the film

Fingers: A Conversation About Independent Film

2002

The Big Bang poster
5.0

Filmmaker James Toback poses basic questions in philosophy, such as why we're here and where we're going, to various celebrities and ordinary people.

The Big Bang

1990

Jim Brown: All-American poster
5.0

The film takes a look at the life of NFL hall-of-famer Jim Brown. The film delves into his life—past, present and future—focusing on his athletic career, acting and activism. Many people from Hollywood and sports backgrounds were interviewed for the film. Members of Brown's family were also interviewed for the film.

Jim Brown: All-American

2002

Michael Cimino, God Bless America poster
7.4

A road-movie narrated by Michael Cimino (recorded by the documentary's director during their journey together across the United States), and with the exceptional participation of Quentin Tarantino and Oliver Stone. From Thunderbolt and Lightfoot to Year of the Dragon, not to mention The Deer Hunter and Heaven's Gate, discover a unique portrait of an uncompromising director.

Michael Cimino, God Bless America

2022

Will the Real Norman Mailer Please Stand Up? poster
NR

Portrait of Norman Mailer at the time of the Pentagon demonstrations in 1967, documenting Mailer's involvement and arrest, together with two TV appearances and shooting on the set of his second film 'Beyond the Law'.

Will the Real Norman Mailer Please Stand Up?

1968

Toback Vs. Mailer: The Incident poster
NR

Directed by Josh and Benny Safdie, this punchy short features James Toback recounting a bizarre, years-long rivalry sparked by a drunken argument with Norman Mailer over bourbon versus Scotch—an ego duel that escalates from boozy barbs to a tense Jets–Browns stare-down and a few jabs to the gut. A brisk, first-person tale of bravado, celebrity circles, and the fine line between literary legend and street-corner scuffle.

Toback Vs. Mailer: The Incident

2016

Behind the camera

The Gambler poster
6.7

New York City English professor Axel Freed outwardly seems like an upstanding citizen. But privately Freed is in the clutches of a severe gambling addiction that threatens to destroy him.

The Gambler

1974

Bugsy poster
6.3

New York gangster Ben 'Bugsy' Siegel takes a brief business trip to Los Angeles. A sharp-dressing womanizer with a foul temper, Siegel doesn't hesitate to kill or maim anyone crossing him. In L.A. the life, the movies, and most of all strong-willed Virginia Hill detain him while his family wait back home. Then a trip to a run-down gambling joint at a spot in the desert known as Las Vegas gives him his big idea.

Bugsy

1991

Black and White poster
4.6

Rich Bower is an up-and-coming star in the hip-hop world. Everyone wants to be around him, including Raven and her fellow upper-class white high school friends. The growing appeal of black culture among white teens fascinates documentary filmmaker Sam Donager, who sets out to chronicle it with her husband, Terry. But before Bower was a rapper, he was a gangster, and his criminal past comes back to haunt him and all those around him.

Black and White

1999

Black and White poster
4.6

Rich Bower is an up-and-coming star in the hip-hop world. Everyone wants to be around him, including Raven and her fellow upper-class white high school friends. The growing appeal of black culture among white teens fascinates documentary filmmaker Sam Donager, who sets out to chronicle it with her husband, Terry. But before Bower was a rapper, he was a gangster, and his criminal past comes back to haunt him and all those around him.

Black and White

1999

The Pick-up Artist poster
5.7

A womanizer meets his match when he falls for the daughter of a gambling addict who is in debt to the mob.

The Pick-up Artist

1987

The Pick-up Artist poster
5.7

A womanizer meets his match when he falls for the daughter of a gambling addict who is in debt to the mob.

The Pick-up Artist

1987

Love & Money poster
5.1

An investment planner, bored with his job and his girlfriend, is given the opportunity to help open a new firm in South America. Once in the new country, he finds himself dealing with dictators and revolutionaries during a time of intense political upheaval, and to complicate his life further, he begins an affair with his new employer's wife.

Love & Money

1981

Love & Money poster
5.1

An investment planner, bored with his job and his girlfriend, is given the opportunity to help open a new firm in South America. Once in the new country, he finds himself dealing with dictators and revolutionaries during a time of intense political upheaval, and to complicate his life further, he begins an affair with his new employer's wife.

Love & Money

1981

Fingers poster
6.2

A wanna-be concert pianist spends his days making a living by collecting debts for his Mafioso father, a lifestyle that could eventually ruin his dreams of a musical career.

Fingers

1978

Fingers poster
6.2

A wanna-be concert pianist spends his days making a living by collecting debts for his Mafioso father, a lifestyle that could eventually ruin his dreams of a musical career.

Fingers

1978

Two Girls and a Guy poster
5.2

Two women confront their boyfriend, a two-timing actor who professed eternal love to each.

Two Girls and a Guy

1998

Two Girls and a Guy poster
5.2

Two women confront their boyfriend, a two-timing actor who professed eternal love to each.

Two Girls and a Guy

1998

Seduced and Abandoned poster
6.2

SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.

Seduced and Abandoned

2013

Seduced and Abandoned poster
6.2

SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.

Seduced and Abandoned

2013

Seduced and Abandoned poster
6.2

SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.

Seduced and Abandoned

2013

Tyson poster
6.8

Director James Toback takes an unflinching, uncompromising look at the life of Mike Tyson--almost solely from the perspective of the man himself. TYSON alternates between the controversial boxer addressing the camera and shots of the champion's fights to create an arresting picture of the man.

Tyson

2008

Tyson poster
6.8

Director James Toback takes an unflinching, uncompromising look at the life of Mike Tyson--almost solely from the perspective of the man himself. TYSON alternates between the controversial boxer addressing the camera and shots of the champion's fights to create an arresting picture of the man.

Tyson

2008

Tyson poster
6.8

Director James Toback takes an unflinching, uncompromising look at the life of Mike Tyson--almost solely from the perspective of the man himself. TYSON alternates between the controversial boxer addressing the camera and shots of the champion's fights to create an arresting picture of the man.

Tyson

2008

Harvard Man poster
4.7

College has always been a time for experimentation, sexual, cultural and otherwise. "Harvard Man" plays out against a background of love, sex, basketball, crime and experimentation. Action and philosophy in young people's quest to discover their true identity.

Harvard Man

2001

Harvard Man poster
4.7

College has always been a time for experimentation, sexual, cultural and otherwise. "Harvard Man" plays out against a background of love, sex, basketball, crime and experimentation. Action and philosophy in young people's quest to discover their true identity.

Harvard Man

2001

Exposed poster
4.8

Wisconsin farm girl Elizabeth Carlson leaves family and her English teacher lover behind and escapes to New York. There she soon makes a career for herself as a fashion model. During a vernissage she's approached by a mysterious man whose motives are unclear...

Exposed

1983

Exposed poster
4.8

Wisconsin farm girl Elizabeth Carlson leaves family and her English teacher lover behind and escapes to New York. There she soon makes a career for herself as a fashion model. During a vernissage she's approached by a mysterious man whose motives are unclear...

Exposed

1983

Exposed poster
4.8

Wisconsin farm girl Elizabeth Carlson leaves family and her English teacher lover behind and escapes to New York. There she soon makes a career for herself as a fashion model. During a vernissage she's approached by a mysterious man whose motives are unclear...

Exposed

1983

When Will I Be Loved poster
4.1

Feeling undervalued by her boyfriend, a young woman begins to explore her sexuality with other people.

When Will I Be Loved

2004