Claim: Nick Nolte acts professionally.

Affliction is an American drama film produced in 1997 , written and directed by Paul Schrader from the novel by Russell Banks . It stars Nick Nolte , Sissy Spacek , James Coburn and Willem Dafoe .   Affliction tells the story of Wade Whitehouse , a small-town policeman in New Hampshire . Detached from the people around him , including a dominating father and a divorced wife , he becomes obsessed with the solving of a fatal hunting accident , leading to a series of tragic events .