Olyphant's most high-profile role of 2003 was in the Vin Diesel-starring action film "A Man Apart". Desson Howe of the "Washington Post" remarked that Olyphant "gets a kudo or two for the good sense to realize he's playing one of the movie's many one-dimensional characters, so he might as well have insane fun." Similarly, Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle" noted that "the most lively character in "A Man Apart" turns out [to be a middling drug dealer played to the hilt by Timothy Olyphant." He appeared in the film adaptation of Stephen King's horror novel "Dreamcatcher" as one of four friends attacked by parasitic aliens. The film was poorly reviewed, with David Rooney of "Variety" remarking: "Only Lee and Olyphant come close to hitting the right note of tongue-in-cheek humor that might have made all this palatable. Unfortunately, they're the first to go." Also in 2003, he appeared in the independent ensemble drama "The Safety of Objects".