On a country road he picks up Pozzi (James Spader), a gambler down on his luck.

NEWYORKER: The Music of Chance

Many familiar performers turn up in juicy cameos: John Cusack, Bob Balaban, Susan Sarandon, Fred Ward, Pamela Reed, Peter Gallagher, James Spader, Helen Hunt, and the country singer Kelly Willis.

NEWYORKER: Bob Roberts

He plays Will Randall, the senior editor at a New York publishing house, who gets sacked by the big boss (Christopher Plummer) in favor of the slimy Stewart (a fine turn by James Spader) and vows revenge.

NEWYORKER: Wolf

The cast, uniformly superb, includes Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln, Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens, Hal Holbrook as Lincoln adviser Preston Blair, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robert Todd Lincoln, David Strathairn as William Seward and James Spader as political operative W.N.

WSJ: 'Skyfall' Upgrades Bond to Triple-A | Film Review by Joe Morgenstern