Ian Hart Movies
One of the screen's most consistently solid performers and least recognized personalities, British actor Ian Hart has appeared in an enviably diverse number of films over the course of the '90s. To say that Hart has a chameleon-like quality would be something of an understatement; one of the reasons for the lack of audience recognition afforded to him is his ability to completely disappear in his roles, exchanging full-bodied characterizations for any trace of the actor responsible for them.Little is known about Hart's background aside from the fact that he got his start in regional theatre and on such BBC television programs as the popular series Eastenders. One thing that is certain is that Hart's Liverpool origins and uncanny resemblance to John Lennon were responsible for getting him his first big break. In 1992, he was chosen to play Lennon in Christopher Munch's The Hours and Times (1992), a film that examined the relationship between Lennon and Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Two years later, Hart again played the musician in Backbeat, Iain Softley's account of the relationship between Lennon, Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff), and Sutcliffe's girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr (Sheryl Lee). The film earned a number of strong notices and was fairly successful at the box office, with Hart earning particular acclaim for his portrayal of Lennon.
Following a starring role as a shell-shocked young Welshman in The Englishman Who Went up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain (1995), Hart embarked on a series of projects that read like a who's who list of gritty, socially conscious British films. For director Ken Loach, he played a dedicated young journalist who gets caught up in the Spanish Civil War in Land and Freedom (1995); that same year, he won the Venice Film Festival's Volpi Cup for his portrayal of a psychotic Northern Irish Protestant gangster in Thaddeus O'Sullivan's Nothing Personal. The following year, Hart played Martin Donovan's lover in the relentlessly intense child abuse drama Hollow Reed and had a substantial supporting role in Neil Jordan's Michael Collins, a biographical epic about the legendary and controversial Irish rebellion leader.
The following year, Hart again collaborated with Jordan, this time on The Butcher Boy. He also returned to the milieu of the post-war rock scene as a club manager in Jez Butterworth's Mojo. In one of his rare U.S. outings, Hart played the owner of a Lower Manhattan diner in Amos Poe's comedy-thriller Frogs for Snakes (1998); that same year, he appeared in American director Ted Demme's Monument Avenue, a drama about a group of Irish-American toughs in Boston.
1999 brought with it another collaboration for Hart and Jordan; this time it was on an adaptation of Graham Greene's The End of the Affair, a World War II romance that featured Hart as a cockney detective. That same year, he starred as a nerdy, emotionally unstable comic book enthusiast who finds love in an unlikely place in the ensemble comedy This Year's Love and played a doltish ex-boyfriend in Michael Winterbottom's acclaimed ensemble drama Wonderland. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- 2009
In this British drama, a 14-year-old boy's own attempts at parenthood give him a better understanding of his relationship with his often absent father (Ian Hart, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone). Rebellious teen Robbie (Kyle Ward) has little contact with his own child, but a violent incident with another teenager spurs him to take the child with him on the run. BAFTA award-winner Brian Percival makes his directorial debut with A Boy Called Dad. ~ Kimber Myers, All Movie Guide
Dirt stars Courteney Cox as Lucy Spiller, celebrity journalist and editor-in-chief of DirtNow, a tabloid magazine that traffics in sleaze -- especially sleaze with a Hollywood dateline. She and her photographer Don Konkey (Ian Hart) probe Hollywood's seamy underbelly in search of seepage, in a contant race with other media bottom feeders. Lucy simultaneously tries to engage her personal life, which includes her actor boyfriend, Holt McLaren (Josh Stewart), and her brother Leo Spiller (Will McCormack). This four-disc, 13-episode box set of Season 1 (which aired on cable's FX network in 2007) features an array of character-driven special features, including a behind-the-scenes look at real-life paparazzi darlings and co-producing couple, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, as well as interviews with entertainment leaders and Hollywood gossip gurus, a profile on schizophrenic paparazzo Konkey, and deleted scenes.
- Starring:
- Courteney Cox Arquette, Ian Hart, (more)
The shrewd, 44-year reign of coquettish Queen Elizabeth I is explored in vivid detail in this lavish historical drama starring Anne-Marie Duff in the title role and directed by Coky Giedroyc. Imprisoned in the Tower of London after being charged with treason and conspiracy by Queen Mary, young Elizabeth defies authority by maintaining her Protestant faith as England falls into chaos as a result of Henry VIII's historical break with the Catholic Church. Though both are bonded by blood to the oft-married Henry VIII, Elizabeth's and Mary's stubborn wills clash when Mary vows to reunite with Rome and the unbreakable Elizabeth makes the potentially fatal decision not to bend to Catholic pressure. Unexpectedly thrust onto the throne following Mary's untimely death, Elizabeth struggles to maintain control of a religiously divided nation as numerous enemies conspire against her and the pressures of a politically advantageous marriage become too powerful to resist. With every eligible bachelor in the land vying for her hand in marriage, Elizabeth offers nothing but rejection as she pines for the companionship of her handsome childhood friend Robert Dudley. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne-Marie Duff, Tom Hardy, (more)
- 2005
- R
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A group of actors and filmmakers set out to adapt an "unfilmable" classic novel -- but find that their own petty concerns get in the way -- in this satirical comedy. Laurence Sterne's 18th century novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman told the story of its priggish title character from the moment of conception onward, with a bevy of digressions, distractions, and unfinished anecdotes. In adapting the work for the screen, director Michael Winterbottom chose to stay true to its anarchic spirit: the film begins as a mostly straightforward adaptation of events in Sterne's writings, and then veers into a tale about the making of the film itself. Steve Coogan plays Tristram Shandy, who narrates his own life story, beginning with his slightly botched birth, overseen by an addled doctor (Dylan Moran) and his reticent father, Walter (also played by Coogan). Constantly quarreling with his battle-scarred brother, Toby (Rob Brydon), Walter Shandy has an epiphany when he holds his newborn son; however, before that moment can occur, the film switches into the present day, where Coogan and Brydon, playing themselves, bicker over costuming and the size of their roles in the film. The rest of the film's crew has their own concerns. Director Mark (Jeremy Northam) is trying to figure out how to secure a big Hollywood star for a supporting role and shoot a battle scene on a budget. The film's brainy production assistant Jennie (Naomie Harris) worries that their adaptation is leaving out the best parts of the book, as she nurses a crush on one of the cast members. All the while, Coogan tries to deflect a tabloid reporter's inquiry into his strip-club escapades, and attempts to pacify the concerns of his wife, Jenny (Kelly MacDonald). Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story had its North American premiere at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, (more)
An Irish boy becomes an emotional and sexual outcast as the 1960s fade into the 1970s in this period drama from director Neil Jordan. When he was just a baby in the early '60s, Patrick Braden (Conor McEvoy) was abandoned by his mother and left on the doorstep of a church overseen by Father Bernard (Liam Neeson). Placed in a foster home, sensitive Patrick doesn't much care for the emotionally chilly attitude of his new "family," and psychologically buffers himself against the world by writing stories that make fun of Father Bernard and the other authority figures in his life. As he grows into adulthood, Patrick (played as an adult by Cillian Murphy) also discovers that he enjoys dressing in women's clothes and prefers the company of men, and as a teenager he falls into an affair with Billy Hatchet (Gavin Friday), a nightclub performer who also runs guns for the Irish Republican Army. In the early '70s, Patrick -- who has since taken on the drag name "Kitten" -- makes his way to London, where he becomes involved with Bertie (Stephen Rea), a small-time nightclub magician who gives the young man a place to say, a sense of security, and a job as his on-stage assistant. However, Patrick's idyllic life with Bertie proves short-lived when his old friends come to town on IRA "business." Breakfast on Pluto also features a supporting performance from former Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cillian Murphy, Stephen Rea, (more)
Following up his critically acclaimed Monster's Ball, director Marc Forster took on this biography of playwright James Matthew Barrie, the scribe who penned the children's classic Peter Pan. Johnny Depp stars as the turn-of-the-century writer as the film follows Barrie as he struggles to write and have his play produced while he cares for his down-on-their-luck neighbors who inspired the story in the first place. J.M. Barrie's Neverland also stars Dustin Hoffman, Kate Winslet, and Julie Christie. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, (more)
Anders Ronnow Klarlund's fantasy-action film Strings tells the tale of Hal Tara, the son of a slain ruler who sets out to settle the score with those who dispatched his father. Interestingly, all of the characters in the film are marionettes, explaining the title of the film to some degree. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James McAvoy, Catherine McCormack, (more)
- 2004
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The similarities between the murder of a lowly shop-girl and a glamorous debutante spark legendary detective Sherlock Holmes (Rupert Everett) to break out his famous magnifying glass and crack the case in this mystery directed by Simon Cellan Jones and co-starring Ian Hart as Holmes' faithful assistant Watson. It's been a while since Holmes and Watson have worked together, but when the sordid world of the London docks collides with the aristocratic tranquility of Edwardian high society, the sleuthing twosome must put their heads together to ensure that London's rigid social system retains stability and balance. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Den of Lions stars Stephen Dorff as an undercover agent who infiltrates the criminal empire of Darius Paskevic (Bob Hoskins), a kingpin in the Russian mafia. Complicating the agent's work is his romantic relationship with the criminal mastermind's daughter. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Dorff, Bob Hoskins, (more)
- 2003
Brian Keenan, from Belfast, was in Beirut teaching English in 1986 when he was taken hostage by the Islamic Jihad. Blind Flight tells the story of his imprisonment. After his abduction, Keenan (played by Ian Hart) is held alone in a tiny, dark cell for a long time. He's ordered to cover his eyes whenever his captors enter the room. Eventually, he is moved to a new location, where he has a cellmate, British journalist John McCarthy (played by Linus Roache), who had filed a story on Keenan's abduction just before being kidnapped himself. The two warm to each other gradually and have different approaches to surviving their shared ordeal. Keenan relishes his righteous anger, repeatedly proclaiming his innocence, and using tactics like a hunger strike and refusing to wear the clean clothes he's given in order to maintain his sense of himself. McCarthy is more docile, and tries to obey whatever commands are given. As the two get to know each other, the brittle, angry Keenan surprises McCarthy with the revelation that, while he has an Irish Republican passport (and seems to hate the British as much as his captors do), he's actually Protestant. The upper-class McCarthy reveals that his father was Irish. Eventually, the two form a strong bond. Their captors show occasional glimmers of kindness, but more often, the two men face cruelty and deprivation, heightened by the fact that they have no idea if they will ever be released. Blind Flight was directed by John Furse, from a script by Furse and Keenan, based on Keenan and McCarthy's published memoirs. The film had its U.S. premiere at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Hart, Linus Roache, (more)
- 2003
British filmmaker Simon Cellan Jones directs the BBC drama Eroica, starring Ian Hart as Ludwig van Beethoven. Shot on digital video, this TV movie concerns the first performance of Beethoven's "Symphony No. 3" on June 9, 1804, in Vienna. Prince Lobkowitz (Jack Davenport) has invited all his friends to his palace to watch Beethoven perform his new piece with a full orchestra. Among the aristocratic attendees are Count Dietrichstein (Tim Pigott-Smith), Countess Brunsvik (Claire Skinner), and composer Josef Haydn (Frank Finlay). The actual musical score is performed by the Orchestre Revolutionaire et Romantique, under the direction of John Eliot Gardiner. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Hart, Tim Pigott-Smith, (more)
Probably the most filmed of all Sherlock Holmes stories, Arthur Conan Doyle's 1901 novel The Hound of the Baskervilles was given another go-round with this BBC television production. Richard Roxburgh, best known as the libidinous nobleman in the 2001 theatrical feature Moulin Rouge, is cast as The Great Detective, with Ian Hart as Holmes' friend, assistant and chronicler Dr. John Watson. The game is afoot when Holmes and Watson head to gloomy Baskerville Manor near the forbidding Grimpen Moor, the new home of young Sir Henry Baskerville (Matt Day). A number of curious events have led the detectives to the conclusion that Sir Henry's life is in danger -- that, in fact, he may at any time be torn asunder by a gigantic, vicious hound. Is this the fulfillment of "The Baskerville Curse," brought about by villainous debauchery of Sir Henry's ancestor, or is the would-be murderer a human being, using the legend of the Hound as a smoke-screen? Taking quite a few liberties with the original, The Hound of the Baskervilles was a nonetheless entertaining "shorthand" version of the Doyle classic. Making its British broadcast debut on December 26, 2002, the film was curiously premiered over Canadian television some five weeks earlier, on November 18. In the United States, The Hound of the Baskervilles was first seen as part of PBS' Masterpiece Theatre anthology on January 19, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Roxburgh, Ian Hart, (more)
The director of such highly regarded films as Yellow Earth (1984) and Farewell, My Concubine (1993), Chinese filmmaker Chen Kaige makes his English-language debut with this erotic thriller adapted from the novel by Nicci French. Alice (Heather Graham) is an American Web designer living in Illinois who falls for a ruggedly handsome mountain climber named Adam (Joseph Fiennes). Bored with her dull love live, sparks begin to fly when Alice and Adam have a chance meeting at a stoplight, and it isn't long before the couple are living together and Adam proposes. With their heated romance taking on hints of mild S & M following their wedding, Alice's realization that she knows very little about her new spouse begins to take on ominous undertones when she discovers that his former fiancée died under mysterious circumstances. Allegations of rape and more missing lovers soon prompt Alice to continue her increasingly disturbing investigation toward answers she may not be ready to accept. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Heather Graham, Joseph Fiennes, (more)
- 2001
- PG
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The best-selling novel by J.K. Rowling (titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in England, as was this film adaptation) becomes this hotly anticipated fantasy adventure from Chris Columbus, the winner of a high-stakes search for a director to bring the first in a hoped-for franchise of Potter films to the screen by Warner Bros. Upon his 11th birthday, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), who lives in misery with an aunt and uncle that don't want him, learns from a giant named Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) that he is the orphaned son of powerful wizards. Harry is offered a place at prestigious Hogwarts, a boarding school for wizards that exists in a realm of magic and fantasy outside the dreary existence of normal humans or "Muggles." At Hogwarts, Harry quickly makes new friends and begins piecing together the mystery of his parents' deaths, which appear not to have been accidental after all. The film features alternate-version scenes for every mention of the titular rock. Richard Harris, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, John Cleese, and Fiona Shaw co-star. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, (more)
In modern-day London, three men and three women fall in and out of love and back again, to the Greek-chorus accompaniment of two cab drivers (Ian Hart and John Thomson), who engage in an ongoing conversation about sex. In one pairing, Eleanor (Olivia Williams), a sophisticated and slightly anal art restorer, is pitted against Frankie (Craig Ferguson), a smartly dressed divorcee who still shares a flat with his bitter ex-wife. The two meet one night at a salsa club, and a caustic attraction soon flourishes. Another pairing sees Mo (Jane Horrocks), a tough, love-'em-and-leave-'em Liverpuddlian, reunite with Eddie (Jimi Mistry), a clumsy bloke who was in love with Mo years before and now dreams of winning her back. Meanwhile, Jocelyn (Catherine McCormack), a young woman both neurotic and without self-esteem, finds unlikely happiness with the slovenly Fergus (David Morrissey), who bemoans the lack of love in his life. Born Romantic is the second feature of British writer/director David Kane, who made his feature debut with the similarly themed This Year's Love in 1999. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Craig Ferguson, Ian Hart, (more)
A nobody walks a dangerous path in a bid to become a big-shot in this gritty drama from the United Kingdom. Tony Cocozza (Ian Hart) is a small-time Scottish vocalist with a gimmick -- he loves the music of Frank Sinatra, and his repertoire consists almost entirely of songs associated with Ol' Blue Eyes. While Tony has a good voice and can bring off Sinatra's material quite well, he's a clueless nebbish offstage and hasn't been able to advance his career beyond the bottom rungs of the Scottish nightclub circuit. One night, while Tony waits out an intermission in his dressing room, an imposing-looking man named Chisolm (Brian Cox) arrives with a request -- his boss (Iain Cuthbertson) would prefer to hear some songs by Elvis Presley. Chisolm's boss turns out to be a powerful and dangerous crime kingpin, so Tony swallows his pride and sings like The King for a few minutes; the mobster is pleased, and Tony soon finds himself playing a better grade of nightclubs and spending his spare time with some of Glasgow's most notorious crime figures. Bill (Alun Armstrong), Tony's pianist and closest companion, warns Tony that he's getting in over his head with his new and dangerous friends, but imagining success is finally around the corner -- and emboldened by his new relationship with Irene (Kelly MacDonald), a pretty but cynical cigarette girl he met at a gig -- Tony refuses to listen to him. Strictly Sinatra also stars Tommy Flanagan and Richard E. Grant. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Hart, Kelly MacDonald, (more)
A young boy struggles with his family during England's pre-war depression in this drama directed by Stephen Frears. Liam (Anthony Borrows) is a seven-year-old growing up in a working-class family in Liverpool during the early 1930s. Liam's dad (Ian Hart) and older brother Con (David Hart) both work at the nearby shipyards, and his sister Teresa (Megan Burn) works as a domestic for a wealthy Jewish family. Liam, who suffers from a speech defect, is not always happy at school, where his teacher (Anne Reid) and his priest (Russell Dixon) spend nearly as much time lecturing students about the wages of sin as they do covering the three R's. The family's troubles mount when the shipyard is shut down as England sinks into an economic downturn; angry and confused after losing his job, Dad becomes a member of a fascist organization that blames the nation's troubles on Jews and the Irish. Young Liam is forced to come to terms with his father's intolerance -- and the violence that it spawns. Liam also features a standout performance by Claire Hackett as Liam's Mam. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Hart
- 2000
Mary McGuckian directs this bleak biopic about famed Manchester United soccer star George Best, who dumped his career down the drain with booze, brawling, and drugs. The film charts Best's (John Lynch) rise from Belfast, to fame, to dissipation. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lynch, Ian Bannen, (more)
- 2000
- PG13
In a small Irish village where herding sheep is still one of the major industries, the largely male, unmarried population has grown dissatisfied with their lot in life; when a shipping error sends the wrong film to the local movie house, the citizens are treated to a racy item from the United States. The movie is cut short by the village priest, but it plants an idea in a few of the men: America is overflowing with beautiful women, so why not get a few of them to come to Ireland? Pooling their resources, a group of men places personal ads in an American newspaper in hopes of luring a few ladies away from life in the States for the more rustic pleasures of the Irish countryside. The debut film from director Aileen Ritchie, The Closer You Get stars Niamh Cusack, Ian Hart, Sean McGinley, and Ruth McCabe. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Hart, Sean McGinley, (more)
Playwright and character actor Tom Gilroy made his feature directorial debut with this dialogue-driven character study set against the backdrop of the changing seasons. Liev Schreiber plays Paul, a short-fused ex-con who finds unlikely comfort, stability, and camaraderie when he takes an odd job in park maintenance. On his first day, he's teamed with Murph (Ned Beatty), a groundskeeping veteran who manages to defuse an outburst between Paul and their snide supervisor (Campbell Scott). Paul sticks with the job, and, as the months pass, he and Murph work their way through events both mundane and monumental, all the while sharing their hopes, regrets, and ambitions. Shot in sequence over a one-year period, Spring Forward received a third-place mention for best first feature at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ned Beatty, Liev Schreiber, (more)
Set in Norway and Scotland, Aberdeen is a road movie that is as concerned with the geography of the heart as that of a topographical map. Kaisa (Lena Headey) is an ambitious lawyer who has just celebrated her recent promotion by having dominant sex with a man whose name she has no interest in learning. When her estranged mother, Helen (Charlotte Rampling), whom she hasn't been in contact with for a decade, calls her up to tell her that she is dying of cancer, Kaisa is faced with her mother's request to track down her divorced husband, Tomas (Stellan Skarsgard). A raging drunk, Tomas has been frequenting the pubs of Norway for a number of years, and Kaisa, after some initial hesitation, sets out for Oslo to find him. When she is finally reunited with Tomas, his drunkenness prevents them from being allowed on the flight back to Aberdeen, where her mother is hospitalized. Kaisa and Tomas embark on an overland journey that takes them across Norway and on a ferry to England, with Tomas drinking constantly and Kaisa discovering something that may be love with a self-effacing truck driver (Ian Hart). ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stellan Skarsgård, Lena Headey, (more)
The members of a British working-class family see their lives starting to come apart as the Nation prepares to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day (named for an anarchist who tried to blow up Parliament) in Michael Winterbottom's drama Wonderland. Eileen (Kika Markham) and Bill (Jack Shepherd) are a married couple with four grown children. Bill has lost his job and is drifting through life, unsure of what to do. He's also having sexual problems with Eileen, who is being driven insane by their noisy neighbors. Neither Bill nor Eileen have seen their son Darren (Enzo Cilenti) for a long time, and his birthday is a heartbreaking experience for them. (Darren, on the other hand, would prefer to celebrate his birthday by spending the night in a hotel with his girlfriend rather than seeing his parents.) Bill and Eileen also have three daughters, Nadia (Gina McKee), Debbie (Shirley Henderson) and Molly (Molly Parker). Nadia works in a cafe and has trouble meeting men; she's signed up with a dating agency, but has yet to meet anyone she likes. Debbie is suddenly a single mother after separating from her drunken lout of a husband. Debbie drowns her sorrows in a series of meaningless one-night-stands, while her husband flies into uncontrollable rages and their son is left with no one to turn to on either side. And while Molly's story seems happy on the surface -- she's soon to give birth to her first child and her husband has done well in kitchen sales -- she's suddenly thrown into instability when she finds her husband has quit his job, without telling her, to follow his dream of becoming a chef. Wonderland received enthusiastic reviews for its ensemble cast when shown at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Henderson, Gina McKee, (more)
