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Rod Lurie
Israeli-American director
b. 1962age 64Living
A West Point graduate and former Army officer who became a film critic before turning director, drawn to stories about institutions under pressure. The Contender (2000) earned Gary Oldman and Jeff Bridges Oscar nominations for a drama about a vice-presidential nominee facing a smear campaign, and he created Commander in Chief, the 2005 series imagining America's first female president. The Outpost (2019) drew praise for its battle sequences depicting a real Afghan War engagement.