Sam Waterston’s Typical Vibe
Signature vibe

Highest-ranked title
Highest-ranked title
Sam Waterston has 18 titles in the CriticCrunch catalog across a career spanning the 1970s through the 2020s. 1 ranks in the Top 10%, led by Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Recurring themes

Crimes and Misdemeanors
1989 · Movie · Actor
Top 8%Pluto TV · Free w/ ads

The Six Triple Eight
2024 · Movie · Actor
Top 12%Netflix · Included

The Killing Fields
1984 · Movie · Actor
Top 13%The Roku Channel · Free w/ ads

The Newsroom
2012 · Series · Actor
Top 14%Max · Included

Godless
2017 · Mini · Actor
Top 14%Netflix · Included

On the Basis of Sex
2018 · Movie · Actor
Top 19%Netflix · Included

A renowned ophthalmologist is desperate to cut off an adulterous relationship…which ends up in murder; and a frustrated documentary filmmaker woos an attractive television producer while making a film about her insufferably self-centered boss.
Dir. Woody Allen · With Woody Allen, Martin Landau, Mia Farrow

During World War II, the US Army's only all-Black, all-women battalion takes on an impossible mission: sorting through a three-year backlog of 17 million pieces of mail that hadn't been delivered to American soldiers and finish within six months.
Dir. Tyler Perry · With Kerry Washington, Sam Waterston, Susan Sarandon

New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg is on assignment covering the Cambodian Civil War, with the help of local interpreter Dith Pran and American photojournalist Al Rockoff. When the U.S. Army pulls out amid escalating violence, Schanberg makes exit arrangements for Pran and his family. Pran, however, tells Schanberg he intends to stay in Cambodia to help cover the unfolding story — a decision he may regret as the Khmer Rouge rebels move in.
Dir. Roland Joffé · With Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich

A behind-the-scenes look at the people who make a nightly cable-news program. Focusing on a network anchor, his new executive producer, the newsroom staff and their boss, the series tracks their quixotic mission to do the news well in the face of corporate and commercial obstacles-not to mention their own personal entanglements.
Dir. Aaron Sorkin · With Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, John Gallagher Jr.

A ruthless outlaw terrorizes the West in search of a former member of his gang, who’s found a new life in a quiet town populated only by women.
Dir. Scott Frank · With Jack O'Connell, Michelle Dockery, Scoot McNairy

Young lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg teams with her husband Marty to bring a groundbreaking case before the U.S. Court of Appeals and overturn a century of sex discrimination.
Dir. Mimi Leder · With Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux

Maureen Trant and her younger sibling Dani share a strong connection, but local boy Court Foster threatens to throw their bond off balance. Dani and Court meet first and have a flirtatious rapport -- but when he meets Maureen, he falls hard and they begin a passionate affair. The new couple try to keep their love hidden from Dani, but she soon learns the truth, disavowing her sister. But a heartbreaking accident later reunites the girls.
Dir. Robert Mulligan · With Reese Witherspoon, Jason London, Emily Warfield

Elegant, proper Grace and freewheeling, eccentric Frankie are a pair of frenemies whose lives are turned upside down - and permanently intertwined - when their husbands leave them for each other. Together, they must face starting over in their 70s in a 21st century world.
Dir. Howard J. Morris, Marta Kauffman · With Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Martin Sheen

When CIA operative Miles Kendig deliberately lets KGB agent Yaskov get away, his boss threatens to retire him. Kendig beats him to it, however, destroying his own records and traveling to Austria where he begins work on a memoir that will expose all his former agency's covert practices. The CIA catches wind of the book and sends other agents after him, initiating a frenetic game of cat and mouse that spans the globe.
Dir. Ronald Neame · With Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Sam Waterston

Beverly is the perfect happy homemaker, along with her doting husband and two children, but this nuclear family just might explode when her fascination with serial killers collides with her ever-so-proper code of ethics.
Dir. John Waters · With Kathleen Turner, Sam Waterston, Ricki Lake

A documentary on the American Civil War narrated by Ken Burns, covering the secession of the Confederacy to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
With David McCullough, Sam Waterston, Julie Harris

When Eve, an interior designer, is deserted by her husband of many years, Arthur, the emotionally glacial relationships of the three grown-up daughters are laid bare. Twisted by jealousy, insecurity and resentment, Renata, a successful writer; Joey, a woman crippled by indecision; and Flyn, a budding actress; struggle to communicate for the sake of their shattered mother. But when their father unexpectedly falls for another woman, his decision to remarry sets in motion a terrible twist of fate…
Dir. Woody Allen · With Geraldine Page, Kristin Griffith, Mary Beth Hurt

In order to protect the reputation of the American space program, a team of NASA administrators turn the first Mars mission into a phony Mars landing. Under threat of harm to their families the astronauts play their part in the deception on a staged set in a deserted military base. But once the real ship returns to Earth and burns up on re-entry, the astronauts become liabilities. Now, with the help of a crusading reporter, they must battle a sinister conspiracy that will stop at nothing to keep the truth hidden.
Dir. Peter Hyams · With Elliott Gould, James Brolin, Brenda Vaccaro

Harvard graduate James Averill serves as the sheriff of prosperous Jackson County, Wyoming, standing at the center of a conflict between impoverished immigrants and affluent cattle farmers. Politically connected ranchers enlist mercenary Nathan Champion—who is also vying for the affections of local madam Ella Watson—to combat the immigrant uprising. As tensions escalate, both Averill and Champion start to question their decisions.
Dir. Michael Cimino · With Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt
After a suicide attempt, Lane has moved into her country house to recuperate. Her best friend, Stephanie, has come to join her for the summer. Lane's mother, Diane, has recently arrived with her husband Lloyd, Lane's stepfather. Lane is close to two neighbors: Peter, and Howard. Howard is in love with Lane, Lane is in love with Peter, and Peter is in love with Stephanie.
Dir. Woody Allen · With Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, Sam Waterston

Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifestyle of his neighbor, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle, becoming a witness to obsession and tragedy.
Dir. Jack Clayton · With Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Bruce Dern

Multiple lives intersect in the aftermath of the violent mugging of a Columbia University philosophy professor.
Dir. Tim Blake Nelson · With Glenn Close, K. Todd Freeman, Jessica Hecht
While visiting her sister in Paris, a young woman finds romance and learns her brother-in-law is a philanderer.
Dir. James Ivory · With Kate Hudson, Naomi Watts, Glenn Close
Top Collaborators
Directors with 2+ shared titles, ranked by frequency