I think the first movie I saw James Spader in was "Jack's Back". I am a sucker for (among other things, apparently) different interpretations of classic horror themes, and while the Jack the Ripper story is part of history, it has been told and re-told many times in movies. Undoubtedly the open-endedness of Jack's identity really lends itself to this.
I was completely sucked in to the story, the movie, and James Spader's performance. Admittedly, I haven't seen it lately, so I may have just been kind/caught up in the moment. (Hey, it happens, and I'd like to see it again to see how it holds up.) After that I was always looking for Spader in new movies, and while I missed him in "Sex, Lies..." I did see him next in "Wolf" and "Stargate." Like others, I thought he did what he could with his "Wolf" character -- which wasn't much. An interesting premise with fine actors who had a sucky script, unfortunately.
I really thought he hit it "big" with "Stargate" -- a wild Sci-Fi adventure with an original premise and some thought behind it. But it seemed like he almost stopped working. Maybe "Crash" killed his career? I don't think so really -- looking at his IMDB listing he's got 15 movies after "Crash", plus his role in the TV series "The Practice." But I have heard of maybe 2 or 3 of these 15 movies. And yeah, Marq -- if they are all like "Alien Hunter" -- :p
His role in "The Practice" almost makes me want to watch a TV show. Almost. He really has made an art around playing the slimy yuppie, or the sleazy lawyer who's too "pretty" and uses that to his advantage. Your reaction is, "He's so charming, he CAN'T be evil." But he is!
As disturbing as "Crash" was, I thought his performance was great and suitably disturbing. And a little more than just his usual 'yuppie sleaze' characters. See also the Film Discussion on
Crash.