Amanda Ryan Movies

Academy Award nominees Stockard Channing and Bob Hoskins co-headline the British romantic comedy Sparkle, the third outing by the critically-praised writing and directing team of Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger (Lawless Heart, Boyfriends). Neophyte Shaun Evans plays Sam Sparks, a young man who migrates from Liverpool to London proper with his single mother, Jill (Lesley Manville) - a chanteuse in local pubs. In need of a job, Sam makes the cut at a public relations boutique by sleeping with the sixty-something head of the agency, Sheila (Channing), then (in a Graduate-like twist) falls for a girl closer to his own age, Kate (Amanda Ryan) - only to discover with horror that she's Sheila's daughter. As the expected complications ensue, Vince (Hoskins), the sexagenarian who arranged Sam and Jill's apartment in London, nurtures a deep-seated passion for Jill and decides to make his feelings fully known to her. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Thomas Lynley (Nathaniel Parker) is a detective inspector with Scotland Yard; he's also the eighth Earl of Asherton, and his mixture of upper-class refinement, private-school affectations, and steel-nerved street smarts set the stage for this made-for-TV mystery based on the novel by Elizabeth George. A farmer is found decapitated in York, and Lynley and his new partner, Sgt. Barbara Havers (Sharon Small), are sent in to investigate. The farmer's reclusive daughter immediately confesses to the crime, but Lynley has a hunch there's more to the crime than she's telling him. He discovers there are more than a few people who would stand to gain a great deal from the farmer's death. While Lynley struggles to get to the bottom of the case, he soon finds himself butting heads with Sgt. Havers; she's as much a part of the working class as he is entrenched in blue-blood society, and initially they blend like chalk and cheese until she gets to know the man behind the pretentious facade. Originally produced for British television, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries: A Great Deliverance was aired in the United States as part of the PBS anthology series Mystery! ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

H.M.S. Britannic was the sister ship of the Titanic, and like its more famous sibling, the ship was fated to be lost while at sea. This drama imagines what might have led up to the ship's sinking on its final voyage. Vera Campbell (Amanda Ryan) is an attractive young woman who is an undercover agent for the British government. She is ordered to cross the sea aboard the Britannic in hopes of learning more about German spies who may attempt to sabotage the great ship. During the course of the voyage, Vera becomes infatuated with Reynolds (Edward Atterton), the Britannic's chaplain; he also finds himself attracted to her, but while his status as a man of the cloth presents an obstacle in their romance, it's nothing compared to Vera's discovery that Reynolds is one of the German agents she's been assigned to ferret out. Britannic also stars Jacqueline Bisset, Bruce Payne, and John Rhys-Davies. Incidentally, while in real life the Britannic did indeed sink off the Greek coast, it's conceded to have fallen prey to a torpedo -- rather than any sabotage on board. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Writer-director Michel Blanc, whose previous works include the acclaimed Marche a l'ombre (1984) and Dead Tired (1994), creates this gritty drama about a middle-aged impoverished French writer in London who becomes a gigolo. The film opens with Pierre (Daniel Auteuil) getting worked over by an irate pimp because he didn't pay for a hooker's drink. Rakish Irishman Tom (Stuart Townsend) offers to drive bloodied Pierre back to his seedy hotel. The following day, he stumbles upon Tom's sandwich bar and begs for a job. Though he describes himself as a dead-broke author working on a novel, Pierre is concealing secrets from his dark past. Later, during a party populated with well-turned out lesbians, Tom reveals that he moonlights as a gigolo and suggests that Pierre might try the same. Soon Pierre is making easy money at the same agency where Tom works. Things get complicated for our Gallic protagonist when he falls for a golden-hearted streetwalker with a psychotic ex-boyfriend and one of his married regulars falls for him. Told with wry wit and gritty honesty, this film explores London's dark sexual netherworld. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Director of award-winning short films Ben Hopkins embarked on this ambitious feature project with Robert Jones, the producer of The Usual Suspects. The screenplay is inspired by Central European folklore, spaghetti Westerns and industrial history. But the film, which runs like a fable, has its roots in folktales rather than history. It is the end of the 19th century and progress has arrived in Silesia. Travelers do not stop at the town anymore because the railway track is laid past the small settlement. Incomes have dropped, and so has the number of inhabitants. Noah Taylor plays Simon, a 'holy fool' of sorts, persecuted by fellow villagers who hold him responsible for everything from the failure of the crops to the milk going sour. Simon, who resembles a scarecrow, lives in a hut outside the village. He earns his living emptying the sewers, existing on dry bread and the occasional herring or pickle given by the wife of a rabbi. He knows how to entertain the village children with his magic tricks and devilish masks. At the same time, he feels he actually is pursued by the devil, which makes him do all kinds of evil things, only increasing his isolation. There is also the poor but good-looking Jew, Dovid, who keeps proposing to the beautiful widow Leah, who rejects him. Dovid devises a plan to build the village economy, and in the process gain her affection. He pays a visit to the eccentric poet esquire and agrees to a business deal which entails the esquire allowing a new railway station to be built on his property in return for Dovid reading his newly published anthology. Unfortunately, Hase Sean McGinley, a wealthy Christian merchant with more money and little respect for the Jewish villagers, is also interested in the railway project. Simon Magus is the story of a village caught between two worlds -- the new industrial order and the old, rural world of tradition and superstition. The camera work of Nic Knowland is outstanding, as is the confident performance by Noah Taylor, the teenage David Helfgott of Shine. The rest of the cast is quite international as well -- Irishman Stuart Townsend as Dovid, the merchant; South African-born Embeth Davidtz as Leah, the widow and Dutch star Rutger Hauer cast against type as the gentle poet squire. Various subplots, however, often carry the story in directions which distracts audience attention. Simon Magus competed at the 49th International Berlin Film Festival in 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi