Rachel Fielding Movies
- 2006
Matt Winn's January 2nd concerns a weekend long new year's party thrown by a couple for the large circle of friends, some of whom haven't seen each other in a few years. As the various couples hook up and break-up, the soundtrack utilizes some of the biggest British pop hits of the '90s. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- 1999
Adapted from her play of the same name, Debbie Isitt directs this savage farce about the changing face of British suburban life. After their dear neighbors depart for Australia, Harold and Jean Peach (Ricky Tomlinson and Marion Bailey) wait with baited breath and low expectations for their new lot-mates to arrive. However, they are completely taken aback when snotty young couple Robert and Ellen Chapman (Phil Daniels and Rachel Fielding) move in and rudely snub the Peaches on their first day. Harold's position as the reigning grand high poobah for their suburban block is soon undermined by his neighbors' contempt. As Harold's life slowly disintegrates -- he loses his sales job while Jean disappears into a Valium haze -- he comes to see the Chapmans as the root of all of his problems and plots all-out revenge. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ricky Tomlinson, Marion Bailey, (more)
- 1998
Three friends -- married couple Billy and Ruby (Cal MacIninch and Rachel Fielding) and their single friend Sammy (Richard Mylan) -- meet and talk about old times. It seems the three first met when they were adolescents and all suffering through a harsh upbringing in a state home for children, which left them emotionally damaged. Further, all is not well with them as adults; Billy and Ruby are on the verge of divorce, Ruby wants to be with Sammy, and Sammy wants both of them to move in with him. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cal Macaninch, Rachel Fielding, (more)
Loosely based on an actual incident, this family-friendly British comedy is also a sly satire of class consciousness. Phoebe Cates stars as a woman who appears in the English countryside of 1817 wearing exotic garb and speaking gibberish. Delivered to a nearby manor, the mystery woman is sheltered by the Worralls (Wendy Hughes and Jim Broadbent), who are then persuaded by their suspicious Greek butler Frixos (Kevin Kline, Cates' real-life husband) to have the drifter tried for vagrancy and begging, capital crimes. At the hearing, however, the woman persuades the magistrate through pantomime that she is a princess of Javanese origin named Caraboo, escaped from pirate kidnappers. The Worralls welcome Caraboo back into their home, lavishing upon her the deference due a royal. A society sensation, Caraboo wins over a linguist (John Lithgow), the prince regent (John Session), and even Frixos. Only an Irish reporter, Gutch (Stephen Rea), remains skeptical about Caraboo's origins. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Phoebe Cates, Jim Broadbent, (more)
- 1992
A Jewish Londoner embarks on a journey to find himself after learning some shocking news about his past in this eccentric British comedy. As the film begins, Leon (Mark Frankel) is already in a time of transition, having quit his job for moral reasons and assumed a position in his mother's catering firm. His life is thrown into even more disarray when a bizarre coincidence reveals the truth behind his birth: not only was his birth the result of artificial insemination, but a lab mix-up means that his real, biological father is a complete stranger. The confused Leon sets out to find his "real" dad, and unexpectedly discovers that he is descended from a family of Yorkshire pig farmers. Co-directors Vadim Jean and Gary Sinyor move their story in fits and starts, allowing room for countless digressions, from a torrid affair with a outrageous artist (Maryam d'Abo) to the accidental breeding of a rather unique pig. While the film proves uneven, fans of the quirkier varieties of British comedy should find Leon the Pig Farmer's off-beat tone and taste for surrealistic details suitably entertaining. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Frankel, Janet Suzman, (more)
A Perfect Hero, Christopher Matthews' novel about a grotesquely disfigured war hero, was transformed into a six-part British TV drama in 1991. Nigel Havers starred as Hugh Flemming, a Cambridge-educated bomber pilot who was shot down in flames during the 1940 Battle of Britain. The rest of the drama dealt with Flemming's Herculean efforts to adjust to his horrific wounds -- both actual and psychological -- in the postwar era. According to studio publicity, actress Fiona Gillies' terrified reaction to Havers' facial makeup was genuine; she was not permitted to see his "remade" face until the cameras started turning. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nigel Havers, James Fox, (more)
- 1989
- R
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After years of capitalizing on the weaknesses of a gullible public, a London advertising executive finds that his worst qualities have literally taken on a life of their own in this scathing satire. Successful copywriter Dennis Bagley (Richard E. Grant) lives a posh life with his lovely wife, Julia (Rachel Ward), in the London suburbs. Pushed to distraction by a bothersome new pimple-ointment account, he flirts with renouncing his career and becoming socially aware. Immediately thereafter, Bagley discovers that he's developed a zit of his own -- a monstrous boil on his neck that begins whispering evil things in his ear. Convinced that he's being taken over by his dark half, Bagley soon finds his "good" self relegated to the boil while his malevolent alter ego returns to the world of advertising with a vengeance. At first, Julia is relieved that her husband seems to have bounced back from the abyss of mental illness, but soon she realizes that she prefers the gentle but crazy Dennis to the poisonous professional. Written and directed by Withnail & I's Bruce Robinson, How to Get Ahead in Advertising reunites the director with that film's leading man Richard E. Grant. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard E. Grant, Rachel Ward, (more)
