David Owen Russell (born August 10, 1958) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His early directing career includes Spanking the Monkey (1994), with Jeremy Davies, Alberta Watson, Carla Gallo, Benjamin and Hendrickson; Flirting with Disaster (1996), with Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, Téa Leoni, Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, Richard Jenkins, Josh Brolin, Glenn Fitzgerald, Alan Alda and Lily Tomlin; Three Kings (1999), with George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, and Spike Jonze; and I ♥ Huckabees (2004), with Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Huppert, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Tomlin, Wahlberg, and Naomi Watts.
After Huckabees, Russell worked on a film titled Nailed in 2008, with Jessica Biel, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tracy Morgan, Catherine Keener, Paul Reubens, James Brolin and Kirstie Alley. He eventually left the project around 2010 due to various behind the scenes issues, and used a pseudonym for the directing and writing credit. It was retitled Accidental Love and was released on VOD on February 10, 2015 before a limited release on March 20, 2015
He returned with The Fighter (2010), with Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo. The film became a major critical and financial success, grossing $125 million, and appearing on several critics’ year-end top ten lists. It also received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director for Russell, the first of his career.
He received a second Academy Award nomination for Best Director, as well as a nomination for Best adapted Screenplay, for Silver Linings Playbook (2012), starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Anupam Kher, and Julia Stiles. He was nominated for Best Director a third time for American Hustle (2013), with Bale, Cooper, Adams, Jeremy Renner, Lawrence, Louis C. K., Michael Peña, and Alessandro Nivola. He was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay.
Later films include Joy (2015), with Lawrence, De Niro, Édgar Ramírez, Diane Ladd, Virginia Madsen, Isabella Rossellini, and Cooper; and Amsterdam (2022), with Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Zoe Saldaña, Mike Myers, Michael Shannon, Timothy Olyphant, Andrea Riseborough, Taylor Swift, Matthias Schoenaerts, Nivola, Rami Malek, and De Niro.
Each review will be linked to the title below.
(*seen originally in theaters)
(**seen rereleased in theaters)
- Bingo Inferno: A Parody on American Obsessions (1987) – short
- Hairway to the Stars (1989) – short
- Spanking the Monkey (1994)
- Flirting with Disaster (1996)
- Three Kings (1999)
- I ♥ Huckabees (2004)
- Soldiers Pay (2004) – documentary short
- The Fighter (2010)
- Sliver Linings Playbook (2012)
- American Hustle (2013)
- Accidental Love (2015) – credited as Stephen Green – disowned film
- Joy (2015)
- Past Forward (2016) – short
- Amsterdam (2022)
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