American director Harold Becker began his career as a still photographer and later moved to direct TV commercials and short films. He made his feature film directorial debut with the drama The Ragman's Daughter (1972). His second feature was the acclaimed The Onion Field (1979), a dark cop thriller starring John Savage and James Woods in a remarkable role that brought him recognition from the public and several award nominations as Best Supporting Actor in the role of a dangerous and menacing cop killer.

Throughout the 1980's, Becker directed films across many different genres: comedy The Black Marble (1980), with Paula Prentiss making a come back to films; military drama Taps (1981), in which he directed young actors Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn and Tom Cruise alongside veteran George C. Scott; sports drama Vision Quest (1985) with Matthew Modine; two musical videos for Madonna; the heavy drug drama The Boost (1988), again collaborating with Woods; and the ardent neo-noir Sea of Love (1989) where he resurrected the career of Al Pacino, paired with Ellen Barkin.

The box-office suspense Malice (1993) with Alec Baldwin and Nicole Kidman; the political thriller City Hall (1996), again with Pacino, and the action Mercury Rising (1998) starring Bruce Willis, compose Becker's career in the 1990's directing big Hollywood stars and establishing him as one of the most versatile directors of the period.