David Kelly Movies
Irish actor David Kelly is probably best known to worldwide audiences for his role as Michael O'Sullivan in the 1998 comedy hit Waking Ned (known in the U.S. as Waking Ned Devine) and for several roles in the cult John Cleese TV series Fawlty Towers. However, he has also performed in other major productions, including Ordinary Decent Criminal (2000), starring Kevin Spacey; the TV miniseries Kidnapped (1995), starring Armand Assante; A Man of No Importance (1994), starring Albert Finney; and the TV miniseries Scarlett (1994), starring Timothy Dalton.Kelly was born in Dublin on July 11, 1929. After undergoing training at Dublin's Abbey Theatre, he became a stage actor. Over the years, he has performed in productions of William Shakespeare, Samuel Beckett, Brendan Behan, Arthur Miller, and William Butler Yeats. He has also acted in film adaptations of the works of James Joyce and Victor Hugo. Kelly's screen career began in 1958, when he appeared in Dublin Nightmare. Five years later, he landed a role in the TV series Doctor Who. After appearing in scores of other film, TV, and stage productions in the '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s, Kelly continued to remain active in the new century in such films as Happy As Larry (2002), Mean Machine (2001), Rough for Theatre 1 (2000), Greenfingers (2000), and the previously mentioned Kevin Spacey film. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
A charmingly naïve boy from the English village of Wall travels to a magical, mythical world in search of the falling star that will help him win the heart of his true love in this fantasy adventure starring Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ricky Gervais, and Sienna Miller. For hundreds of years the massive cobblestone barrier that surrounds the sleepy English hamlet of Wall has kept the citizens of the village safe and secure from the malevolent supernatural forces that stir just outside its perimeter. When dashing Tristan Thorne (Cox) promises the fairest girl in the village, Victoria (Miller), that he will prove his love by bestowing her with a genuine falling star, his daring mission sends him on an adventure far outside the comfortable confines of Wall. In order to find the fallen star, Tristan will have to ascend the wall and venture deep into the forbidden heart of the fantastical realm known as Stormhold. Upon discovering that the meteorite he sought was in fact a beautiful girl named Yvaine (Danes), who has stumbled though space and is now being pursued by the King of Stormhold's (Peter O'Toole) sons (who long to use her cosmic powers to lay claim to the throne), Tristan vows to protect the otherworldly visitor at all costs. But the king's sons aren't the only ones in search of the luminous Yvaine; fearsome witch Lamia (Pfeiffer) has become convinced that the young girl's power can help her to achieve eternal youth and beauty. As Tristan makes his way through Stormhold on a mission to bring the star back to Wall, he will encounter a series of spectacular characters and creatures that will lead him to a fate he never imagined. Layer Cake director Matthew Vaughn serves as director and co-screenwriter for this tale of witches and pirates adapted from the novel by fantasy icon Neil Gaiman, who also produces. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, (more)
Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People, Made in Heaven) stars in the direct-to-video psychological thriller The Kovak Box. He portrays David Norton, a novelist and control freak who builds his life around the strategic manipulation of his characters and storylines. But suddenly, Norton watches his own life spin rapidly out of control when he is plunged into a bizarre series of events. Upon arrival in an exotic Mediterranean locale for a business conference, Norton receives the devastating news that his wife just received a mysterious phone call and subsequently threw herself from the balcony of their apartment building. One at a time, each of Norton's friends and family members suffer from the same inexplicable fate. The author then searches desperately for answers and an escape from this black hole of terror, as the world closes in around him. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Timothy Hutton, Lucia Jimenez, (more)
- 2005
- PG
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Director Tim Burton brings his unique vision and sensibility to Roald Dahl's classic children's story in this lavish screen interpretation. Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp) is the secretive and wildly imaginative man behind the world's most celebrated candy company, and while the Wonka factory is famously closed to visitors, the reclusive candy man decides to give five lucky children a chance to see the inside of his operation by placing "golden tickets" in five randomly selected chocolate bars. Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore), whose poor but loving family lives literally in the shadow of the Wonka factory, is lucky enough to obtain one of the tickets, and Charlie, escorted by his Grandpa Joe (David Kelly), is in for the ride of a lifetime as he tours the strange and remarkable world of Wonka with fellow winners, media-obsessed Mike Teavee (Jordan Fry), harsh and greedy Veruca Salt (Julia Winter), gluttonous Augustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz), and ultra-competitive Violet Beauregarde (AnnaSophia Robb). Over the course of the day, some of the children will learn difficult lessons about themselves, and one will go on to become Wonka's new right hand. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory also stars Christopher Lee, James Fox, and Noah Taylor; the book was famously adapted to the screen before in 1971 under the title Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, with Gene Wilder as the eccentric candy tycoon. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, (more)
- 2004
- PG
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Fifteen-year-old CIA operative Cody Banks (played by Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz) is back in action in this comedy adventure, which sends the youthful secret agent to Old Blighty. Banks returns to Kamp Woody, the CIA training center disguised as a summer camp, where he's given a new partner, the bumbling but sharp-witted Derek (Anthony Anderson), and a new assignment, to track down a sinister double-agent who has made off with an experimental mind-control machine. The villain has made his way to Great Britain, so Banks is enrolled in an upscale private school in England, where he's forced to join the school band despite his lack of musical talent and finds himself working alongside Emily (Hannah Spearritt), a fellow teenage espionage agent. Keith David, Daniel Roebuck, and Cynthia Stevenson all return from the first film, while British filmmaker Kevin Allen takes over as director. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frankie Muniz, Anthony Anderson, (more)
- 2002
Based on the best-selling novel by Irish comedian Spike Milligan, Puckoon is a political satire about a town cut in half by the partitioning of Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State in 1924. The action takes place in a town known as Puckoon where an ordinary fellow named Dan Madigan wakes up one day to find barbed-wire fences running right through his neighbors' houses. All at once, Madigan's friends begin altering their personalities to suit the side of the fence they've found themselves on. So it's up to Madigan, the last sane man in town, to restore order. Originally written in 1963, Puckoon is considered the forerunner of anti-humor comedy which became the staple of shows like Monty Python and Saturday Night Live. ~ Connor McMadden, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Hughes, Elliott Gould, (more)
30 Odd Foot of Grunts are a meat-and-potatoes roots rock band from Australia who haven't quite reached the pinnacle of international stardom just yet. As a result, several of the members have day jobs to help pay the rent when they're not busy playing music. The lead singer has done just a bit better than his mates in this department -- his name is Russell Crowe, and he's won an Academy Award and become one of the world's most bankable leading men as the star of such films as Gladiator, The Insider, L.A. Confidential, and A Beautiful Mind. When his schedule permits, Crowe still gigs with TOFOG (as many of their fans call them), and in 2001 he met up with his longtime friend and lead guitarist Billy Dean Cochran (with whom Crowe had been making music since the mid-'80s) and their bandmates Garth Adam, David Kelly, Stewart Kriwin, and Dave Wilkins for an intensive round of rehearsals in London, leading up to recording sessions in Austin, TX, for their fifth album, Bastard Life or Clarity, topped off by three packed-to-the-rafters shows at a local beer-and-BBQ joint. Texas is Crowe's self-described "home movie" of the band's stint in the Lone Star State; it allows all six members of members of the group a chance to talk about their life in music, as well as discussing the mixed blessing of having your lead singer become one of the world's biggest film stars not long after he joined the band. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Garth Adam, Billy Dean Cochran, (more)
The classic Burt Reynolds football-behind-bars flick The Longest Yard crosses the pond and gets an appropriate British accent in the process in this rough-and-tumble mixture of sports and action-comedy. Danny Mehan (Vinnie Jones) was one of the biggest stars in British football (what Americans call soccer), until he was caught rigging a game during a championship tournament. In the wake of this scandal, Danny's career takes a nosedive and his life spins out of control, until he finally ends up in prison for three years on an assault and battery conviction. Danny discovers there are a number of football fans behind bars who still hate him for fixing the game, but Danny has one powerful fan in this prison. The warden (David Hemmings) is a devoted football supporter with a taste for gambling; he's been trying to assemble a semi-pro team comprised of the prison's guards, but Danny is just smart enough to know this would seal his fate with his fellow prisoners. Instead, he offers to put together a team of inmates, who can play practice games against the guards. A new inmate, Sykes (John Forgeham), gets wind of Danny's idea and arranges an exhibition match between Danny's new team and the guards, though Sykes' motivation is more than just good fun. A powerful bookie, Sykes lost a fortune on the game Danny threw, and expects betting to be heavy for this game. If Danny and his men win, Sykes could make back the fortune he lost, but if the guards come out ahead, Danny's goose is cooked. Can Danny turn a gang of losers, misfits, and violent psychopaths -- including muscle-bound lunatic Monk (Jason Statham), creepy but loyal Billy the Limpit (Danny Dyer), tough guy Massive (Vas Blackwood), pyromaniac Nitro (Robbie Gee), and enthusiastic but out-of-shape Raj (Omid Djalili) -- into a proper team with a fighting chance of winning? Mean Machine was produced by Matthew Vaughn, who was also behind Guy Ritchie's tough-but-stylish crime comedies Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. Star Vinnie Jones, by the way, enjoyed a career as a professional footballer in Great Britain before turning to acting. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vinnie Jones, Jason Statham, (more)
A fish-out-of-water comedy in the vein of 1997's oft-imitated The Full Monty, Greenfingers takes as its inspiration the true story of a group of British criminals who bettered themselves through the delicate art of gardening. Croupier's Clive Owen plays Colin Briggs, a taciturn inmate doing time for murder. When it's suggested he transfer to a minimum-security prison, Colin is reluctant; at the idyllic Edgefield compound, he's slow to warm to his gregarious, botanically inclined roomie Fergus (Waking Ned Devine's David Kelly). When the warden forces Colin and his prison mates to cultivate the prison's grounds, however, the men decide it's a fate better than mopping the lavatory, and begin to take pride in their work. Their stellar efforts attract the attention of haughty celebrity gardener Georgina Woodhouse (Helen Mirren), who arranges furlough work for the men. Colin becomes particularly fervent with his bulbs and seeds, not to mention his affection for Georgina's daughter Primrose (Natasha Little). When he's offered the chance to go straight, Colin is torn between the freedom of the outside world and the comforts of his lockup flowerbed. Greenfingers made its North American premiere at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival before making the U.S. festival rounds. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clive Owen, David Kelly, (more)
Just as the charming British film The Full Monty told the story of simple men willing to shed their clothes for money, Waking Ned Devine is the story of older Irish men who pursue money and take off their clothes. Commercial director Kirk Jones makes his feature directing debut with a story about a small town in Ireland called Tulaigh More, where one of their 52 inhabitants wins the lotto jackpot of nearly seven million pounds. When nobody claims it, the town goes on a search to find out why. They find the winner, old Ned Devine, dead -- a smile on his face, clutching the winning ticket. Well, in Ireland, the lottery winnings must be claimed by the purchaser, which puts the town in a spot -- if the lottery officials discover Devine dead, he forfeits his money. What ensues is a community coming together in hopes of getting his money to split 51 ways. What they learn is the importance of friendship and the true value of money. To reveal any more would spoil some major surprises, but suffice it to say, it involves aging actors David Kelly, 69, and Ian Bannen, 70, naked. ~ Chris Gore, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Bannen, David Kelly, (more)
An American woman on a business trip in Ireland finds love knocking at her door, no matter how sternly she refuses to answer, in this romantic comedy. Marcy Tizard (Janeane Garofalo) is an assistant to Senator John McGlory (Jay O. Sanders), a congressman from Boston in the midst of a hard-fought reelection campaign. Nick (Denis Leary), one of McGlory's advisors, thinks that it might mean some extra votes in McGlory's heavily Irish-American district if he can arrange a photo opportunity with any relatives McGlory might have in the Olde Sod, so Marcy is sent to Ireland to find any surviving members of McGlory's family. Marcy is not especially enthusiastic about this assignment from the start, and her rancor grows when she arrives in the village of Ballinagra to discover that the annual matchmaking festival is in full swing -- and a number of single men immediately seize upon Marcy as a prize catch. One of them, Sean (David O'Hara), a former journalist who has come to Ballinagra to work on a book, takes an immediate fancy to Marcy, which she most certainly does not return. However, Dermot (Milo O'Shea), the town's leading matchmaker (when he's not busy running his tanning salon), is convinced that Sean and Marcy are perfect for each other, and he makes it his business to bring them together, whether Marcy likes the idea or not. The Matchmaker was filmed on location in Massachusetts and Galway, Ireland. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janeane Garofalo, David Patrick O'Hara, (more)
Two teenaged lads vie for the attention of a nubile young German tourist visiting the beautiful Irish countryside in this heartfelt coming-of-age drama. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- 1994
- R
A middle-aged Irish bus conductor with a passion for the writings of Oscar Wilde causes controversy when he attempts to stage Wilde's Salome in this period drama set in early 1960s Dublin. Alfie Byrne (Albert Finney) is a well-liked local figure, a life-long bachelor who charms his bus passengers with dramatic recitations of Wilde's poetry. One day, he spots a beautiful young woman named Adele (Tara Fitzgerald) who inspires him to attempt to stage Salome with her as the title character. Wilde's play inspires outrage amongst the more conservative members of the community, who attempt to shut Alfie down. Rather than giving in, however, Alfie chooses to be true to himself, a decision that forces him to face his true self, particularly his feelings towards his young, handsome co-worker Robbie Fay (Rufus Sewell). ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Albert Finney, Brenda Fricker, (more)
Mike Newell directs Jim Sheridan's screenplay (based on a story by Tim Palmer) in this enchanting and magical modern-day fairy tale. Gabriel Byrne plays Papa Reilly, a widower who lives with his two young sons, Ossie (Ciaran Fitzgerald) and Tito (Ruaidhri Conroy), in the slums of Dublin. There seems to be no hope for their bleak existence until the children's grandfather (David Kelly) arrives. Accompanying him is a beautiful and imposing white stallion named Tir na nOg, a magical creature from ancient Irish legends. The stallion takes a shine to the boys and they love the horse in return. But a legion of corrupt police plot to impound the horse for the purpose of selling it to a rich businessman. Ossie and Tito sneak off to rescue Tir na nOg. Grabbing the stallion, they get their father and, as the police chase after them, they make their way west. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gabriel Byrne, Ellen Barkin, (more)
- 1989
Mary (Patricia Kerrigan) is a battered wife with two small children, living in a grim section of Dublin. Unable to stand the abuse any longer, she runs away from home, leaving her kids behind. Without money or a place to stay, she's befriended by a somewhat shady character named Perky (Andrew Connolly). He steals a car, and together they go to the coastal town where she'd honeymooned years earlier. Mary and Perky argue constantly, and since she's determined to never let a man abuse her again, she leaves him and gets a job at a dance hall. At the dance hall she encounters a singer (Billie Whitelaw) who she'd idolized as a child. The singer is now a pathetic alcoholic, so another one of Mary's illusions is shattered. On top of that, the dance-hall manager is making unwanted sexual advances to her. Perky returns to rescue her, and they briefly find happiness on a farm owned by a wryly philosophical old widower ($David Kellly. The film ends on a somewhat upbeat note, as they rescue one of Mary's daughters from a Dublin orphanage, but we're left in doubt as to whether Mary and Perky have a future together. Joyriders was the first effort by female director Aisling Walsh. It was financed by the Irish Film Board. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patricia Kerrigan, Andrew Connolly, (more)
- 1987
Spanish hack Rene Cardona, Jr. (of Aztec Mummy fame) directed this gory rip-off of The Birds (not a parody as its goofy title suggests) which follows a reporter/photographer team (Michelle Johnson & Christopher Atkins) as they investigate frequent reports of lethal bird attacks on humans. They eventually conclude that the attacks -- which are increasing in size, frequency and severity -- are part of an orchestrated avian plot against mankind. They could have saved themselves a lot of trouble by screening Hitchcock's classic chiller beforehand, just as viewers expecting a spoof of that film can save themselves the grief of enduring this bloody exercise, which pulls no punches in its graphic depiction of flesh-rending bird attacks. Gore-hounds should approve, as the makeup effects are painfully convincing, but die-hard Cardona fans may be disappointed to learn that no lady wrestlers actually step in to swat at the winged tormentors. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Atkins, Michelle Johnson, (more)
Stryker (Brian Schulz) is a wounded Vietnam vet who sets out to avenge the kidnapping of his girlfriend in this low-budget, blood-spurting slasher film. When Sally (Cheryl Hanson) is abducted, Stryker and his Army buddies go after the leader of a cult, who resembles none other than Charles Manson (Sam Raimi). ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Schulz, John Manfredi, (more)
- 1986
- PG13
Although the title evokes a swashbuckling adventure, Roman Polanski's Pirates tuns out to be a seagoing tale with a bit of a difference. Captain Red (Walter Matthau) runs a hardy pirate ship with the able assistance of Frog, a dashing young French sailor (Cris Campion). One day Capt. Red is captured and taken aboard a Spanish galleon, but thanks to his inventiveness, he raises the crew to mutiny, takes over the ship, and kidnaps the daughter of the governor of Maracaibo (Charlotte Lewis, soon to co-star in The Golden Child opposite Eddie Murphy). The question is, can he keep this pace up? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Matthau, Damien Thomas, (more)
- 1985
Shot for a mere $400,000 (Canadian) in a little over a month at the end of 1984 in Edmonton, Alberta, this tepid thriller readily betrays its low-budget, hasty origins. Beware of a film with characters with names like "Lever" and "Smarm" that is produced, written, edited, directed, and starred in by a modest two-person crew (Jorge Montesi as Detective Carlos Solo and Peter Haynes as Smarm). While the title of this film is shared by six other movies at least, starting in 1927, its plot is distinctive. It involves a serial killer tracked by Carlos Solo until the evidence seems to mysteriously indicate that Solo's criminally-inclined friend might be connected to the slayings. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jorge Montesi, Joseph Patrick Finn, (more)
- 1984
- PG
This spy film purports to be inspired by the true story of Kim Philby (1912-1988), a British intelligence officer and Soviet spy during the 1940s and '50s who gained international notoriety when he blew his cover and defected to the USSR in 1963. But this fictional, unsophisticated, if not naive docudrama portrays a world of espionage in a cross between Nancy Drew and Sam Spade, and Philby's real story is buried in the process. The film opens with British double agent Philip Kimberly (Michael Caine) undergoing complete plastic surgery by order of his Soviet bosses, while his death is announced in the world press. With a different name and face, Kimberly -- now Kuzminsky -- is sent back to England in the guise of a Soviet citizen to retrieve a secret list of names he supposedly hid several years ago. Kusminsky/Kimberly defects at the British passport control, and later escapes his British guards -- leading to a manhunt by both British and Soviet agents. His chief nemesis is Admiral Scaith (Laurence Olivier) and the man he assigns to the case, Jaime Fraser (Robert Powell) -- who just happens to be living with Kimberly's daughter. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Laurence Olivier, (more)
- 1983
Presented in a series of ostensibly farcical or irreverent episodes without any particular connection to each other, and based on short stories written by Yuri Krotkov's own personal knowledge of Stalin, the Red Monarch sketches the infamous Russian dictator as something of a buffoon suffering under the responsibilities of total power. Stalin's many purges of "undesirables" that amounted to millions dead by the end of his reign are not mentioned, and Beria, the chief of the Secret Police (NKVD) responsible for those deaths, is presented in his other notorious persona, that of a vulgar skirt-chasing lecher. Episodes cover a meeting of the Politburo to go over the USSR's loss at a major basketball tournament, and an arm-wrestling context with Mao Zedong. No matter how well Colin Blakely portrays Stalin, he cannot overcome the aspects of the script that trivialize Stalin's criminal record in this failed attempt at a Mel Brooks-style comedy. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Blakely, David Suchet, (more)
- 1982
Imagine Monty Python's Flying Circus crossed with Dr. Strangelove, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what went on in the uproarious "black" British sitcom Whoops! Apocalypse. Three of the world's superpowers collide head-on in their efforts to replace the recently deposed Shah of Iran: U.S. President (and former silent movie star) Johnny Cyclops (Barry Morse), half-loony British Prime Minister Kevin Pork (Peter Jones), and senile Soviet premier Dubienkin (Richard Griffiths). The fly in the ointment is flamboyant international terrorist Lacrobat (John Cleese), who is determined to get his mitts on the all-powerful Quark bomb. If it is possible to invoke laughter from the prospect of wholesale nuclear annihilation, then this series succeeded beyond all expectations. Originally telecast in six half-hour episodes from March 14 to April 18, 1982, Whoops! Apocalypse was later pared down and released as a single "feature film" on home video, and was ultimately adapted as a genuine theatrical feature film in 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Morse, John Barron, (more)
While most people are familiar only with the Lon Chaney Sr. and Charles Laughton versions of Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, this 1982 TV adaptation was the fourteenth filmization of the Hugo novel. Anthony Hopkins, barely recognizable under mounds of disfiguring body makeup, plays Quasimodo, the deformed 15th-century bellringer of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Leslie-Anne Down plays Esmerelda, the gypsy girl who wins Quasimodo's unswerving loyalty when she offers him water after he is publicly flogged. And Derek Jacobi plays Dom Claude Frollo, the hypocritically pious archdeacon of Notre Dame, who'll do anything to claim Esmerelda for himself. Produced by Norman Rosemont, The Hunchback of Notre Dame originally aired February 4, 1982, as a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Hopkins, Derek Jacobi, (more)
- 1979
One of the most turbulent eras in Dublin history is detailed in this adaptation of the James Plunkett novel directed by Tony Barry and starring Peter Ustinov and Peter O'Toole. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter O'Toole, Peter Ustinov, (more)
- 1979
- NR
- Add A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man to QueueAdd A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man to top of Queue
Producer/director Joseph Strick continues his long cinematic love affair with the works of Irish author James Joyce in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Bosco Hogan plays Joyce's alter-ego Stephen Daedelus, an irrepressible boy at eternal odds with the strictures of his Catholic home and family. As in his earlier adaptation of Joyce's Ulysses, Strick manages to successfully convey the liquidity and ideology of Joyce's challenging literary style. Also like Ulysses, however, the director is stronger with monologues than with visuals. Joseph Strick's own son Terence plays the artist as an even younger man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bosco Hogan, John Gielgud, (more)
