Chris Penn’s Typical Vibe
Signature vibe

Highest-ranked title
Highest-ranked title
Chris Penn has 19 titles in the CriticCrunch catalog across a career spanning the 1980s through the 2000s. 1 sits in the Top 1% of all titles we track — including Reservoir Dogs.
Recurring themes

In Too Deep
1999
Drama · Action

Revenge of the Ninja
1983
Action · Crime

Marked for Death
1990
Action · Crime

The King of the Kickboxers
1990
Action · Crime

Patriot Games
1992
Drama · Action

Mercury Rising
1998
Action · Crime

Beyond the Law
1993
Action · Crime

Playing God
1997
Drama · Action

A botched robbery indicates a police informant, and the pressure mounts in the aftermath at a warehouse. Crime begets violence as the survivors -- veteran Mr. White, newcomer Mr. Orange, psychopathic parolee Mr. Blonde, bickering weasel Mr. Pink and Nice Guy Eddie -- unravel.
Dir. Quentin Tarantino · With Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen

When Hong Kong Inspector Lee is summoned to Los Angeles to investigate a kidnapping, the FBI doesn't want any outside help and assigns cocky LAPD Detective James Carter to distract Lee from the case. Not content to watch the action from the sidelines, Lee and Carter form an unlikely partnership and investigate the case themselves.
Dir. Brett Ratner · With Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Tom Wilkinson

Manhattan drag queens Vida Boheme and Noxeema Jackson impress regional judges in competition, securing berths in the Nationals in Los Angeles. When the two meet pathetic drag novice Chi-Chi Rodriguez — one of the losers that evening — the charmed Vida and Noxeema agree to take the hopeless youngster under their joined wing. Soon the three set off on a madcap road trip across America and struggle to make it to Los Angeles in time.
Dir. Beeban Kidron · With Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, John Leguizamo

A mysterious preacher protects a humble prospector village from a greedy mining company trying to encroach on their land.
Dir. Clint Eastwood · With Clint Eastwood, Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress

Many loosely connected characters cross paths in this film, based on the stories of Raymond Carver. Waitress Doreen Piggot accidentally runs into a boy with her car. Soon after walking away, the child lapses into a coma. While at the hospital, the boy's grandfather tells his son, Howard, about his past affairs. Meanwhile, a baker starts harassing the family when they fail to pick up the boy's birthday cake.
Dir. Robert Altman · With Andie MacDowell, Bruce Davison, Jack Lemmon

Absent-minded street thug Rusty James struggles to live up to his legendary older brother's reputation, and longs for the days of gang warfare.
Dir. Francis Ford Coppola · With Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane

A team from the United States is going to compete against Korea in a Tae Kwon Do tournament. The team consists of fighters from all over the country--can they overcome their rivalry and work together to win?
Dir. Robert Radler · With Eric Roberts, Phillip Rhee, James Earl Jones

Brad Whitewood Jr. lives in rural Pennsylvania and has few prospects. Against his mother's wishes, he seeks out his estranged father, the head of a gang of thieves in a nearby town. Though his new girlfriend supports his criminal ambitions, Brad Jr. soon learns that his father is a dangerous man. Inspired by the real events that led to the end of the Johnston Gang, who operated in the northeastern United States in the 1970s.
Dir. James Foley · With Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, Mary Stuart Masterson

After the funeral of one of their own, a criminal family decides to embark on an emotionally unnerving journey in an attempt to exact bloody revenge.
Dir. Abel Ferrara · With Christopher Walken, Chris Penn, Annabella Sciorra

The story of a group of friends in turn of the century New York, from their early days as street hoods to their rise in the world of organized crime...
Dir. Michael Karbelnikoff · With Christian Slater, Costas Mandylor, Richard Grieco
When teenager Ren and his family move from big-city Chicago to a small town in the West, he's in for a real case of culture shock after discovering he's living in a place where music and dancing are illegal.
Dir. Herbert Ross · With Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, John Lithgow
In an underground fight club, blackbelt Travis Brickley is killed after losing to the evil martial arts master Brakus. Travis' death is witnessed by Walter Grady, the son of his best friend Alex Grady. Alex and his partner, Tommy Lee, vow to avenge their friend's death by defeating Brakus and shutting down the fight club.
Dir. Robert Radler · With Eric Roberts, Phillip Rhee, Chris Penn

The gruesome death of a prostitute brings suspicion on one of her clients, James Wayland, a brilliant, self-destructive and epileptic heir to a textile fortune. So detectives Braxton and Kennesaw take Wayland in for questioning, thinking they can break the man. But despite his troubles, Wayland is a master of manipulation, and during the interrogation, he begins to turn the tables on the investigators, forcing them to reveal their own sinister sides.
Dir. Jonas Pate, Josh Pate · With Tim Roth, Michael Rooker, Renée Zellweger

Tenacious homicide detective Cassie Mayweather and her still-green partner are working a murder case, attempting to profile two malevolently brilliant young men: cold, calculating killers whose dark secrets might explain their crimes.
Dir. Barbet Schroeder · With Sandra Bullock, Ben Chaplin, Ryan Gosling

Sensitive study of a headstrong high school football star who dreams of getting out of his small Western Pennsylvania steel town with a football scholarship. His equally ambitious coach aims at a college position, resulting in a clash which could crush the player's dreams.
Dir. Michael Chapman · With Tom Cruise, Craig T. Nelson, Lea Thompson

In 1950s Los Angeles, a special crime squad of the LAPD investigates the murder of a young woman.
Dir. Lee Tamahori · With Nick Nolte, Melanie Griffith, Chazz Palminteri
Beethoven is back -- and this time, he has a whole brood with him now that he's met his canine match, Missy, and fathered a family. The only problem is that Missy's owner, Regina, wants to sell the puppies and tear the clan apart. It's up to Beethoven and the Newton kids to save the day and keep everyone together.
Dir. Rod Daniel · With Charles Grodin, Bonnie Hunt, Nicholle Tom
Corky Romano is a bumbling, simpleton, veterinarian and the youngest, outcast son of an aging gangster, named Pops Romano, who calls upon Corky to infiltrate the local FBI and retrieve and destroy evidence being used to incriminate Pops for racketeering charges.
Dir. Rob Pritts · With Chris Kattan, Vinessa Shaw, Peter Falk
John and his girlfriend have vowed to marry once they save $30,000 for their dream house. But the minute they achieve their financial goal, John finds out his niece has been accepted at Harvard, and he's reminded of his promise to pay for her tuition (nearly $30,000). John's friend Duff convinces him to turn to petty crime to make the payment … but Duff's hare-brained schemes spin quickly out of control.
Dir. Bruce McCulloch · With Jason Lee, Tom Green, Leslie Mann
Top Collaborators
Directors with 2+ shared titles, ranked by frequency