Charles McKeown Movies

A historical comedy that applies a 1990's mindset to a tale of crime in the 1740's, Plunkett and Macleane stars Robert Carlyle as Will Plunkett and Jonny Lee Miller as Capt. James Macleane. Plunkett is a druggist who has gone broke and turned to robbery to pay his bills, while Macleane was a minor member of the aristocracy who has resorted to similar means to support himself. The two meet while serving time in prison, and after comparing notes they set out together for a career in crime. They soon discover they make a good team; Plunkett understands the nuts and bolts of theft well enough, while Macleane has the charm and connections to get them into places where they might find things worth stealing. When Macleane manages to wrangle an invitation to a night of gambling at the estate of Lord Rochester (Alan Cumming), he uses the occasion to his advantage, making the acquaintance of the lovely Rebecca (Liv Tyler) at the party and donning a mask to relieve her of her winnings on the way home. The charm and panache with which the pair commit their crimes give them a widespread reputation as "The Gentlemen Highwaymen," but Rebecca's uncle, Lord Chief Justice Gibson (Michael Gambon) is not amused, and when an especially ruthless lawman, Chance (Ken Scott), is sent on their trail, Plunkett is eager to quit while he's ahead and flee the country. Macleane, however, is too busy wooing Rebecca to listen to reason. Plunkett and Macleane is the first feature film from director Jake Scott, who has a background in commercials and music videos and is now moving forward in the family business -- his father is Ridley Scott, while his uncle is Tony Scott. If you think you've seen leading men Carlyle and Miller together before, you have -- they were also co-stars in Trainspotting. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Director Terry Gilliam adroitly applies his Monty Python sensibilities upon the "career" of famed German prevaricator Baron von Munchausen. Played herein by John Neville, the baron is seen quelling a war that he himself started, flying into the stratosphere on the back of a cannonball, ballooning to the moon, exploring the innards of a volcano, being swallowed by a whale....In short, all of Munchausen's fabulous lies are here presented as "truth," played out in full view of nonplussed witnesses Eric Idle, Charles McKeown, Jack Purvis, and Sarah Polley. Fringe benefits include several loving medium shots of jaybird-naked Uma Thurman as Boticelli's Venus and an extended unbilled cameo by Robin Williams -- that is, by the head of Robin Williams -- as the King of the Moon. Filmed under considerable duress on a budget eventually exceeding 45 million dollars, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen never quite caught on with moviegoers, though it has enjoyed a lucrative afterlife on videocassette. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Brazil constitutes Terry Gilliam's enormously ambitious follow-up to his 1981 Time Bandits. It also represents the second installment in a trilogy of Gilliam films on imagination versus reality, that began with Bandits and ended in 1989 with The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. To create this wild, visually audacious satire, Gilliam combines dystopian elements from Orwell, Huxley and Kafka (plus a central character who mirrors Walter Mitty) with his own trademark, Monty Python-esque, jet black British humor and his gift for extraordinary visual invention. The results are thoroughly unprecedented in the cinema.

Jonathan Pryce stars as Sam Lowry, a civil servant who chooses to blind himself to the decaying, drone-like world around him. It's a world marred by oppressive automatization and towering bureaucracy, and populated by tyrannical guards who strongarm lawbreakers. And Lowry is stuck in the middle of this nightmare. Whenever real life becomes too oppressive, Sam fantasizes (to the tune of Ary Baroso's 1930s hit "Brazil") about sailing through the clouds as a winged superhero, and rescuing beautiful Jill Layton (Kim Greist) from a giant, Samurai warrior. The omnipresent computer that controls everything in the "real" world malfunctions, causing an innocent citizen to be arrested and tortured to death. When Sam routinely investigates the error, he meets - and pursues Jill , literally the girl of his dreams. But in real life, she's a tough-as-nails truck driver who initially wants nothing to do with him. It turns out that she is suspected of underground activities, in connection with a terrorist network wanted for bombing public places. The price Sam pays for his association with her is a close encounter with the man in charge of torturing troublesome citizens (Michael Palin). He is rescued - at the last minute - by maintenance man Harry Tuttle (Robert de Niro) who moonlights as a terrorist, but that only represents the beginning of his plight, for now the "system" is onto him.

Gilliam ran into enormous problems with Brazil. Universal - which produced the picture - originally slated it for release in 1984, but the studio - intimidated by the film's whopping length of 142 minutes - demanded that Gilliam trim the film to bring it in under two hours and alter the pessimistic ending. Gilliam refused; Universal shelved the picture for a year. In response, the director took out a full page ad in Variety asking studio president Sid Sheinberg when the film would be released. Sensing tremendous pressure, Universal bowed to Gilliam's insistence on fewer cuts but still demanded a happy ending. Gilliam trimmed only eleven minutes and altered the conclusion just slightly (instead of cutting to black, it fades into puffy white clouds on a blue sky, with a reprise of the title tune). It was thus released in early 1985 at 131 minutes, and of course became a seminal work; many critics regarded it at the time as the best film of the eighties. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

All the main characters from the popular TV sitcom Family Ties were carried over into this made-for-TV feature. Michael J. Fox heads the cast as insufferable/lovable young conservative Alex Keaton, who this time around is attending Oxford on a summer scholarship. The Keaton family--ex-hippie parents Elyse (Meredith Baxter Birney) and Steven (Michael Gross), and sisters Mallory (Justine Bateman) and Jennifer (Tina Yothers)--decide to go along with Alex in order to enjoy a vacation in England. The script contrives to have the Keatons behave wildly out of character by getting involved in a hackneyed espionage plot. The film looks more like one of those Dell Comics "specials" or Ace Paperback TV show tie-ins rather than a logical extension of the original series. Family Ties Vacation was first telecast September 23, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Michael Palin wrote and stars in this comedy as The Reverend Charles Fortescue, an unassuming missionary called back to England after spending ten years in Africa teaching children in a native village. Upon arriving in London, he finds that his new assignment is to take charge of a slum mission for prostitutes. He obtains money for the running of the mission from a wealthy woman, Lady Ames (Maggie Smith), whom he meets on the boat sailing to England from Africa. Lady Ames guarantees Fortescue the money on the condition that he take it upon himself to add a little spice to her dormant sex life. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

On a midnight clear 2,000 years ago, three wise men enter a manger where a babe is wrapped in swaddling clothes. It is an infant called Brian...and the three wise men are in the wrong manger. For the rest of his life, Brian (Graham Chapman) finds himself regarded as something of a messiah -- yet he's always in the shadow of this other guy from Galilee. Brian is witness to the Sermon of the Mount, but his seat is in such a bad location that he can't hear any of it ("Blessed are the cheesemakers?"). Ultimately, he is brought before Pontius Pilate and sentenced to crucifixion, which takes place at that crowded, nonexclusive execution site a few blocks shy of Calvary. Rather than utter the Last Six Words, Brian leads his fellow crucifixees in a spirited rendition of a British music-hall cheer-up song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life." The whole Monty Python gang (Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, and Terry Gilliam) are on hand in multiple roles, playing such sacred characters as Stan Called Loretta, Biggus Dickus, Deadly Dirk, Casts the First Stone, and Intensely Dull Youth; also showing up are Goon Show veteran Spike Milligan and a Liverpool musician named George Harrison. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide