Alan J. Wands Movies

Liam Neeson headlines this thriller about a prominent doctor on a business trip to Germany when he awakens from a coma to find that another man has stolen his identity and taken over his life. Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) has just arrived in Berlin to deliver an important presentation when he realizes that his briefcase has gone missing, and leaves his wife, Elizabeth (January Jones), at their hotel to try and retrieve it. During his cab ride back to the airport, however, a serious car accident lands Dr. Harris in the hospital, where he lies in a coma for four days. Upon awakening, Dr. Harris is horrified to discover that every relic of his identity has been completely erased. His shock is soon compounded when, upon seeking out his wife at a lavish party, another man (Aidan Quinn) appears by her side claiming to be the real Dr. Martin Harris, and requests that hotel security protect them from the unstable "imposter." Facing total denial from everyone he turns to, Dr. Harris gets a tip from a sympathetic nurse to seek out the assistance of Ernst Jürgen (Bruno Ganz), the former head of the German Secret Police, who implores him to track down Gina (Diane Kruger), the illegal immigrant taxi driver who narrowly saved his life, and may hold the answers to all of his questions. Now, the closer Dr. Harris gets to solving the mystery, the greater the danger becomes until the astonishing truth is revealed, plunging him into a desperate race against time. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Scottish filmmaker Gillies MacKinnon directs the revenge thriller The Escapist. Escaped convict Ricky Barnes (Andy Serkis, Gollom in the Lord of the Rings trilogy) breaks into the house of commercial pilot Denis (Jonny Lee Miller) and kills his pregnant wife, Valerie (Paloma Baeza). The baby survives but Denis is too distraught to care for it, so relative Christine (Jodhi May) steps in to take over the parenting duties. Denis then stages an elaborate plan of revenge by faking his own death and turning into a criminal. After being caught and convicted, he makes several failed attempts at escaping prison in an effort to mimic his enemy, Ricky. Denis is taken to increasingly higher security prisons until he is at the same one as Ricky, leading to a violent conclusion. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Adapted for the screen from Edith Wharton's much-loved novel of the same name, House of Mirth follows the fortunes -- or lack thereof -- of Lily Bart, an ambitious but financially imperiled young woman looking for a rich husband in early 20th century New York. The story opens as Lily (Gillian Anderson) takes tea at the apartment of Lawrence Selden (Eric Stoltz), a young bachelor lawyer to whom Lily is attracted but cannot marry because he is not wealthy enough for her liking. Lily stops at Selden's apartment en route to Bellomont, where she is planning to husband-hunt at the country home of shifty businessman Gus Trenor (Dan Aykroyd) and his wife. Gus agrees to invest some money for Lily, but his intentions toward her quickly turn carnal, and when she rebuffs his advances, she finds herself $9,000 in debt. Help arrives in the form of financier Sim Rosedale (Anthony LaPaglia), who extends to Lily a businesslike proposition of marriage; though she is tempted, Lily refuses his offer because he is nouveau riche rather than blueblood society. Soldiering on, Lily journeys to the Mediterranean, where she has been invited to the home of Bertha Dorset (Laura Linney), an alpha socialite who schemes to use Lily as an unwitting decoy for an affair under the nose of her husband George (Terry Kinney). When the trip starts to go bad, George tells Lily that he wants to divorce the slatternly Bertha, but needs some solid proof of her affairs in order to do so. Lily knows that one of Bertha's previous lovers was Selden, but her loyalty to him prevents her from speaking up to George. So, still in debt to Gus and given only a paltry inheritance by her aunt (Eleanor Bron), Lily endures a slew of unsuccessful jobs and, tragically, gradually sinks into the mire of genteel poverty. Directed by Terence Davies, House of Mirth premiered at the 2000 Locarno Film Festival. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

Gregory Underwood is an idealistic teacher whose head is full of the columns of the liberal magazines he religiously reads. He feels he is a citizen of the world, but he does most of his living inside his head. Voluptuous music teacher Belle is crazy about him and determined to engage him in an adult relationship. But Gregory is infatuated with one of his brighter students, Frances. Inspired by Gregory's teaching, Frances gets involved in a campaign against global injustice and in particular against a suspected arms dealer and local businessman, Fraser Rowan. When she tries to get Gregory involved, his moral pomposity is put to the test. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

East is East, a fast-moving comedy drama of mixed-race manners, is set in Salford, England in 1970. It centers on the Anglo-Pakistani alliance of the Khan family that is both claustrophobically cohesive and hopelessly dysfunctional. In their over-crowded terrace house, anarchy erupts daily with farcical energy. The Khan children, caught between the traditional dogmatism of their Pakistani father (Om Puri) and laissez-faire attitude of their British mother (Linda Bassett), have a lot of difficulties to follow their dreams of becoming citizens of the modern world. Based on the award-winning stage play by Ayub Khan-Din, East is East had great success in the theatres of London before it was made into a film. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

Set in Ireland, this beautifully rendered drama offers a fascinating portrait of a nomadic peddler who travels about the countryside selling housewares from his van. Trojan Eddie's unusual moniker comes from the logo upon his van. He works for John Power, the owner of several such traveling vans. Eddie, who is married with two children (and a mistress), wants to own his own business but lacks the means. He has just spent time in prison on robbery charges and now works as a partner with Dermot, Power's nephew. Power (the story's protagonist) attempts to deal with his overriding passion for the glorious traveler Kathleen. Trouble comes when Dermot tries to steal Kathleen from his uncle. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The title of this BBC1 drama series referred to a coastal community in Yorkshire. Seaforth was the home of Paula Wickham (Rosemary Martin), a woman comfortably ensconced in the British Middle Class. Upon falling in love with randy blue-collar worker Bob Longman (Linus Roache), Paula ignored the admonitions of her friends and family that she was merely asking for trouble. As it turned out, Paula would have been better off heeding their advice. Opening with a 90-minute pilot episode of October 9, 1994, Seaforth was subsequently telecast in eight 50-minute increments until December 4 of the same year. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Stormy Monday is a four-person character study in which style is all that matters. This tautly constructed, deftly executed crime thriller is set in economically depressed Newcastle England. Sting plays Finney, a relatively honest Newcastle jazz-club owner who crosses the path of crass American gangster Cosmo (Tommy Lee Jones). Flaunting his wealth at every opportunity, Cosmo wants to involve Finney in a land development deal -- if only he'll give up his club. Both men are enamored of Kate (Melanie Griffith), who becomes a pawn in their ongoing one-upsmanship. Kate and her lover (Sean Bean) try to prevent Finney from corrupting his own sense of values by wallowing in the gutter with Cosmo. Stormy Monday, the first feature-length directorial effort of former jazz musician Mike Figgis, who also wrote the script and composed the score, tells its story using subtle shadings of character and a vivid evocation of its Newcastle setting rather than through violent action. Figgis's moody direction of his excellent screenplay is quietly effective and brimming with visual nuance and irony -- particularly in its perceptive take on love, money, jazz, and economic necessity. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi