Best Movie Set in Each US State
Well, self explanatory: These are the best movies set, in large part, in each US State, plus the District of Columbia. No film can represent two states. "Best" and "set in" are my call.
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- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsGregory PeckJohn MegnaFrank OvertonAtticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.Alabama. Miracle Worker and Forrest Gump are also good choices. Not a great movie - too pat and obviously noble for that - but a really good one.
- DirectorSean PennStarsEmile HirschVince VaughnCatherine KeenerAfter graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters that shape his life.Alaska. I love Hirsch's performance in this. Nothing I have seen is close, except maybe Runaway Train.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneClaire TrevorAndy DevineA group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.Arizona. A lot to chose from - thank you John Ford! - but for me it comes down to this or Psycho, and the Arizona connection with Stagecoach is stronger and it is, I think, the better movie.
- DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsJeff BridgesMatt DamonHailee SteinfeldA stubborn teenager enlists the help of a tough U.S. Marshal to track down her father's murderer.Arkansas. Starts there, at least. And while this is a long way from my favorite Coen Bros film, there is not a lot to chose from with Arkansas movies. Art mirrors life.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsWilliam HoldenGloria SwansonErich von StroheimA screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.California. There are a lot of great movies to chose from, but this is my all-time #2. And Austria is not a state.
- DirectorTrey ParkerStarsTrey ParkerMatt StoneMary Kay BergmanWhen Stan Marsh and his friends go see an R-rated movie, they start cursing and their parents think that Canada is to blame.Colorado. Though I note Wikipedia lists Harvey as being set in Colorado, and if I can verify that that is true, it goes here.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsKatharine HepburnCary GrantCharles RugglesWhile trying to secure a $1 million donation for his museum, a befuddled paleontologist is pursued by a flighty and often irritating heiress and her pet leopard, Baby.Connecticut. Enough of it is set here, I guess. It is a great film, and worth not losing in the pile of all the great New York films.
- DirectorLorene ScafariaStarsSteve CarellKeira KnightleyMelanie LynskeyAs an asteroid nears Earth, a man finds himself alone after his wife leaves in a panic. He decides to take a road trip to reunite with his high school sweetheart. Accompanying him is a neighbor who inadvertently puts a wrench in his plan.Delaware. I haven't even seen this, but DELAWARE SUCKS!
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsMarilyn MonroeTony CurtisJack LemmonAfter two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.Florida. Thought about using Adaptation here and moving this to Illinois, but decided that would be cheating.
- DirectorClyde BruckmanBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonMarion MackGlen CavenderAfter being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines.Georgia. Hands down. One of the truly great movies - not just silent movies, not just comedies. Laughs, romance, excitement.... What more can you want. Anyone answering that "color and dialogue" can go hang. And yes I know where Gone With the Wind is set.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsBurt LancasterMontgomery CliftDeborah KerrAt a U.S. Army base in 1941 Hawaii, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his commanding officer's wife and top aide begin a tentative affair.Hawai'i. What were you expecting?
- DirectorJared HessStarsJon HederEfren RamirezJon GriesA listless and alienated teenager decides to help his new friend win the class presidency in their small western high school, while he must deal with his bizarre family life back home.Idaho. Not happy with this one - I do not like this movie much - but I just cannot use My Own Private Idaho to represent Idaho, despite the title.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaAlice BradyMarjorie WeaverA fictionalized account of the early life of the American president as a young lawyer facing his greatest court case.Illinois. Some really good films to chose from, including everything John Hughes ever did and some real good baseball films.
- DirectorPeter YatesStarsDennis ChristopherDennis QuaidDaniel SternA working-class Indiana teen obsessed with the Italian cycling team vies for the affections of a college girl while searching for life goals with his friends.Indiana. By a nose over Hoosiers.
- DirectorLasse HallströmStarsJohnny DeppLeonardo DiCaprioJuliette LewisA young man in a small Midwestern town struggles to care for his mentally-disabled younger brother and morbidly obese mother while attempting to pursue his own happiness.Iowa. Always fond of this - my favorite DiCaprio performance; happy I do not have to go with Field of Dreams, which I dislike.
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.Kansas. Technically, it all takes place there.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsSean ConneryGert FröbeHonor BlackmanWhile investigating a gold magnate's smuggling, James Bond uncovers a plot to contaminate the Fort Knox gold reserve.Kentucky. Fort Knox is there, you know. Thought for sure I would have more to chose from.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsKevin CostnerGary OldmanJack LemmonNew Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.Louisiana. Stone is not a favorite director of mine, but I like this one. I do not care that historically speaking it is all my bum.
- DirectorBrad BirdStarsEli MarienthalHarry Connick Jr.Jennifer AnistonA young boy befriends a giant robot from outer space that a paranoid government agent wants to destroy.Maine. Turns out the Poison Ivy set here is not the Drew Barrymore self-abuse fest. Wiki lists Horse Feathers as being set in Maine, and that is a far far better thing, but I cannot conceive of a Marx Brothers movie being set anywhere.
- DirectorDaniel MyrickEduardo SánchezStarsHeather DonahueMichael C. WilliamsJoshua LeonardThree film students vanish after traveling into a Maryland forest to film a documentary on the local Blair Witch legend, leaving only their footage behind.Maryland. I remember the original impact it had on me, not the way the idea has been crapped on by successive movies for the last 14 years.
- DirectorJames BridgesStarsTimothy BottomsLindsay WagnerJohn HousemanA first-year law student at Harvard Law School struggles with balancing his coursework and a woman, unaware that she has a connection that affects their relationship.Massachusetts. A great supporting performance. And I do not blame it for making me go to law school. Perry Mason did that. This should have warned me off.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsJames StewartLee RemickBen GazzaraAn upstate Michigan lawyer defends a soldier who claims he killed an innkeeper due to temporary insanity after the victim raped his wife. What is the truth, and will he win his case?Michigan. Great performances by Scott and Stewart, well done court room drama, which I usually dislike as a genre. I am avoiding documentaries, or I would use Roger and Me (Flint is my hometown) here.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsWilliam H. MacyFrances McDormandSteve BuscemiMinnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.Minnesota. Oh you betcha.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsGeorge ClooneyJohn TurturroTim Blake NelsonIn the deep south during the 1930s, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them.Mississippi. Oh George... Not the livestock.
- DirectorDebra GranikStarsJennifer LawrenceJohn HawkesGarret DillahuntAn unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact.Missouri. I think it is mostly here, rather than Arkansas.
- DirectorArthur PennStarsDustin HoffmanFaye DunawayChief Dan GeorgeJack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Native Americans and fighting with General Custer.Montana. Set pretty much everywhere in the West, but it ends at Greasy Grass Creek.
- DirectorAlexander PayneStarsMatthew BroderickReese WitherspoonLoren NelsonA high school teacher meets his match in an over-achieving student politician.Nebraska. Vote Flick!
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsAl PacinoRobert De NiroRobert DuvallThe early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.Nevada. The best scenes are set in Michael Corleone's Nevada estate.
- DirectorMark RydellStarsKatharine HepburnHenry FondaJane FondaNorman is a curmudgeon with an estranged relationship with his daughter Chelsea. At Golden Pond, he and his wife nevertheless agree to care for Billy, the son of Chelsea's new boyfriend, and a most unexpected relationship blooms.New Hampshire. A pretty good movie, and not just as a fond farewell to two of the greatest screen legends.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsBurt LancasterSusan SarandonKate ReidIn a corrupt city, a small-time gangster and the estranged wife of a pot dealer find themselves thrown together in an escapade of love, money, drugs and danger.New Jersey. Never in my life have I so wanted to be a lemon.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsKirk DouglasJan SterlingRobert ArthurA frustrated former big-city journalist now stuck working for an Albuquerque newspaper exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to rekindle his career, but the situation quickly escalates into an out-of-control circus.New Mexico. We're comin' we're comin' Leo... Cynical? No one who has watched the news in the last 20 years would think it so. Really, what CNN in its deepest darkest heart really wanted was for that Carnival Cruise line ship to sink, or the Chilean miners to not make it out.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMarlon BrandoAl PacinoJames CaanThe aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.New York. A nose over Citizen Kane. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
- DirectorRamin BahraniStarsSouleymane Sy SavaneRed WestDiana Franco GalindoTwo men form an unlikely friendship that will change both of their lives forever.North Carolina. I love Bahrani's movies. I love this the best.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsKenneth MoreDana WynterCarl MöhnerThe World War II story of the Royal Navy's effort to defeat Nazi Germany's most powerful warship.North Dakota. Surely there has to be something! Help!
- DirectorShari Springer BermanRobert PulciniStarsPaul GiamattiShari Springer BermanHarvey PekarAn original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.Oh! Io! Harvey Pekar was a treasure. My favorite Cleveland movie - lived there 20 years - and Paul Giamatti is like cheese. As in, there is no food that cannot be improved by the addition of cheese. Including cheese itself.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsGordon MacRaeGloria GrahameGene NelsonIn Oklahoma, several farmers, cowboys and a traveling salesman compete for the romantic favors of various local ladies.Oklahoma. Where the wind comes sweeping 'cross the plain....
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsWil WheatonRiver PhoenixCorey FeldmanA writer recounts a childhood journey with his friends to find the body of a missing boy.Oregon. A mostly really good evocation of growing up.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsCary GrantKatharine HepburnJames StewartWhen a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.Pennsylvania. Hepburn. Stewart. Grant. I am sooooo there. Put me in your pocket.
- DirectorBarbet SchroederStarsJeremy IronsGlenn CloseRon SilverWealthy Sunny von Bülow lies brain-dead, husband Claus guilty of attempted murder; but he says he's innocent and hires Alan Dershowitz for his appeal.Rhode Island. Excellent central performance.
- DirectorEdward ZwickStarsMatthew BroderickDenzel WashingtonCary ElwesRobert Gould Shaw leads the U.S. Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices from both his own Union Army, and the Confederates.South Carolina. Good Civil War flick, marred slightly by Hollywood's belief that whites will only watch a movie about the black experience if they have central characters who are white to serve as guides. As in, half of Denzell Washington's career.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantEva Marie SaintJames MasonA New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.South Carolina. Could be New York or Illinois, but any movie featuring people scaling down Thomas Jefferson's face belongs in South Dakota.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsKeith CarradineKaren BlackRonee BlakleyOver the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated people prepare for a political convention.Tennessee. Greatest movie of my lifetime. The damndest thing I ever saw.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneJeffrey HunterVera MilesAn American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.Texas. So many to choose from: Paris Texas and Blood Simple are close, but this is one of the handful of greatest movies about America.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsPaul Le MatJason RobardsElizabeth CheshireThe story of hard-luck Melvin E. Dummar, who claimed to have received a will naming him an heir to the fortune of Howard Hughes.Utah. Slim pickings, considering the number of great movies that were shot there.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJohn ForsytheShirley MacLaineEdmund GwennHarry's dead and, while no one really minds, everyone feels responsible. After Harry's body is found in the woods, several locals must determine not only how and why he was killed but what to do with the body.Vermont. Mediocre Hitchcock, but that is a relative term.
- 19641h 35mPG8.4 (519K)97MetascoreDirectorStanley KubrickStarsPeter SellersGeorge C. ScottSterling HaydenAn unhinged American general orders a bombing attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.Virginia. The Big Board is in the Pentagon. This is the only Kubrick movie I unreservedly love.
- DirectorNora EphronStarsTom HanksMeg RyanRoss MalingerA recently widowed man's son calls a radio talk-show in an attempt to find his father a partner.Washington. Don't tell the Mancops: they will take away my Guy Permit.
- DirectorJohn SaylesStarsChris CooperJames Earl JonesMary McDonnellA labor union organizer comes to an embattled mining community brutally and violently dominated and harassed by the mining company.West Virginia. Could have stood a sterner editor's knife, but a very good film.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonTony RobertsAlvy Singer, a divorced Jewish comedian, reflects on his relationship with ex-lover Annie Hall, an aspiring nightclub singer, which ended abruptly just like his previous marriages.Wisconsin. Which would normally be cheating, and robbing Starman of its due, but I love the Chippewa Falls scenes. Especially Christopher Walken's cameo.
- DirectorGeorge Roy HillStarsPaul NewmanRobert RedfordKatharine RossIn 1890s Wyoming, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid lead a band of outlaws. When a train robbery goes wrong, they find themselves on the run with a posse hard on their heels. After considering their options, they escape to South America.Wyoming. Every time I see Hole-in-the-Wall again, it's like seeing it fresh for the first time. And every time that happens, I keep asking myself the same question: how could I be so damn stupid to keep coming back here?
- DirectorJohn FrankenheimerStarsFrank SinatraLaurence HarveyJanet LeighAn American POW in the Korean War is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy.Washington D.C. All over the map, really, but enough of it takes place in Washington D.C., and I like it a lot more than my second choice, Seven Days in May.