Ardith Boxall Movies
Director Kari Skogland takes the reins for a Buffalo Gals Pictures production starring Academy Award winner Ellen Burstyn as author Margaret Laurence's much-lauded heroine Hagar Shipley. Hagar may by 90, but she not ready to lie down and die just yet. Her decisions stem straight from her heart, and that often alienates her family and friends. When Hagar's son, Marvin (Dylan Baker), takes his mother to look at a nursing home, she takes it as her cue to leave her family behind and set out on one great last journey. Her mission is to locate the seaside home she remembers from her youth, but Hagar's memory is quickly fading, making it difficult for her to distinguish the past from the present. As a young girl, Hagar was set to inherit her father's mercantile empire until she was disowned for marrying a bold young man named Bram Shipley (Cole Hauser). Later, when Hagar's romantic illusions fade and she begins to view her husband with contempt, her decision to deny her children the kind of parental approval that she so badly longed for from her own father provokes a deep hereditary flaw. As she makes her way toward the seashore, Hagar realizes her time is running far too short to make up for a lifetime of unacknowledged mistakes. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ellen Burstyn, Christine Horne, (more)
- 2002
An emotionally distant youngster comes to terms with his personal demons, aided by a pair of ghastly supernatural beings in first-time director Jeff Erbach's 2002 film, The Nature of Nicholas. Young Nicholas (Jeff Sutton) has felt a significant void in his life since the death of his father in a plane crash. To fill this hole, Nicholas has developed an obsessive infatuation with his friend Bobby (David Turnbull), a young athletic type who has recently begun to appreciate the charms of the opposite sex. To further complicate matters, a spirit-like image resembling his father has begun appearing to Nicholas and seems to be trying to help Nicholas pay more attention to girls than to Bobby. At the height of his confusion, Nicholas rashly kisses Bobby, which causes Bobby to split into two -- with one half of Bobby remaining as his normal self and finding repulsion in Nicholas' act and the other half being a monstrous mirror image of Bobby. Left with only the monstrous version of Bobby -- which is actually the version he prefers -- Nicholas takes the ghoul into his care and hides the creature for himself. However, Nicholas finds the secret to be more than he can bear and is eventually forced to come to terms with his emotions. The Nature of Nicholas was selected as part of the Panorama Canada program at the 2002 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeff Sutton, David Turnbull, (more)
- 1999
Originally titled Milgaard, this made-for-TV drama is a disturbingly accurate account of one of the most infamous miscarriages of justice in Canadian history. In 1969, 17-year-old hippie David Milgaard (Ian Tracey) is arrested on suspicion for the rape and murder on nursing assistant Gail Miller (Ardith Boxall). Anxious for a quick conviction despite a paucity of conclusive evidence, the authorities in Saskatchewan rush David's trial through, and within less than two months of the murder he is sent to prison for life. As David's mother Joyce (Gabrielle Rose) and a team of dedicated pro bono attorneys battle to clear her son's name, David goes through hell behind bars--for the next twenty-three years. First telecast in Canada in April of 1999 (though banned from viewing in Saskatchewan, where the events took place), Milgaard was retitled Hard Time: The David Milgaard Story for airing in the US via the Lifetime channel. Since that time, a third title has been bestowed on the film at the behest of David's family: Innocent: The David Milgaard Story. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
