The lineup announced for Sundance, the nation's main showcase for independent film, also included documentaries on writer Hunter S. Thompson, musician Patti Smith and filmmakers Roman Polanski and Derek Jarman.

Taking place Jan. 17-27 in Park City, Utah, Sundance has chosen 16 films in its dramatic competition for American fictional films, including director Geoff Haley's "The Last Word," starring Ryder, Wes Bentley and Ray Romano in a romance about a reclusive writer who crafts suicide notes for other people.

Also competing in a lineup heavy on tales of families at odds: Rawson Thurber's "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" with Nolte, Sienna Miller, Peter Sarsgaard and Jon Foster in the story of a young man with a gangster father who embarks on a soul-searching summer after college; Clark Gregg's "Choke" with Huston and Sam Rockwell in a mother-and-son tale; and Paul Schneider's "Pretty Bird" with Giamatti and Billy Crudup in a dark comic narrative of entrepreneurs trying to invent a rocket belt.

Another entry in the U.S. dramatic competition: Christine Jeffs' "Sunshine Cleaning," the story of an enterprising mother and her reluctant sister who try their hand at the crime-scene cleanup business. It stars Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin and Amy Redford, daughter of Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford.

The 16 documentaries in the U.S. competition feature Alex Gibney's "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson," a portrait of the iconoclastic writer known for a bottomless narcotics appetite; "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired," Marina Zenovich's examination of the Academy Award-winning director of "The Pianist" and "Chinatown" who fled the United States in 1978 over child-sex charges; and "Patti Smith: Dream of Life," Steven Sebring's study of the music icon who rose to fame in the 1970s.

The world-documentary competition for films from outside the United States includes Isaac Julien's "Derek Jarman," a look at the work of the British experimental filmmaker.

Other Sundance documentaries include Edet Belzberg's "An American Soldier," which examines U.S. Army recruitment tactics; Patrick Creadon's "I.O.U.S.A.," an exploration of America's fiscal straits; and Jackie Reem Salloum's "Slingshot Hip Hop," a chronicle of Palestinians using protest rap in the struggle with Israel.