Mandy Matthews Movies
Lynne Ramsay's debut feature Ratcatcher is a gritty but often lyrical portrait of a boy growing up on the wrong side of the Scottish tracks. James (William Eadie) is a 12-year-old coming of age in a rough working-class section of Glasgow. Something of a misfit, James has only two close friends, Margaret Anne (Leanne Mullen), an older girl whose need to be loved often leads her into ill-advised sexual episodes with the neighborhood boys, and Kenny (John Miller), a half-bright kid who loves animals but isn't sure what went wrong when he tried to send his pet mouse into space. One day, James gets into a fight with another boy near a canal that runs through town. James accidentally knocks the boy into the water and he drowns; James is too scared to tell anyone, but the incident weighs heavily on him, adding further tension to an already strained relationship with his alcoholic father. Lynne Ramsay's previous short films won awards at the Cannes Film Festival, which led to Ratcatcher's being screened in the "Un Certain Regard" series at Cannes in 1999. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- William Eadie, Tommy Flanagan, (more)
Many a lovesick young man has threatened to camp out by a girl's front door, but one guy actually tries it in this alternately sweet and tasteless romantic comedy. Peter (Josh Schaefer) is a good-natured but socially inept young man who is madly in love with Erica (Keri Russell), the sweet and devastatingly sexy girl next door. Peter desperately wants Erica as his girlfriend, even though she already has a boyfriend, the large and humorless Nick (Johnny Green). Eager to prove himself, Peter takes up the advice of Nonno (Buck Kartalian), his batty grandfather, and literally camps out on her front lawn, willing to wait out the entire summer until she gives him a chance to prove that he can be the man of her dreams. Meanwhile, Peter is frequently kept company by his buddy Matt (R.D. Robb), who has learned how to deal with his sexual tensions through the use of fresh fruit, while Peter's dad (Mark Taylor) is convinced that his son has gone nuts and won't allow him back in the house, even for a change of clothes. While it won the Audience Award at the 1997 Slamdance Film Festival, Eight Days a Week didn't receive much commercial exposure until its release on video, after Keri Russell had made a splash on the acclaimed TV series Felicity. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Josh Schaefer, Keri Russell, (more)
