Derek Halligan Movies
Sixty-five years after making his screen debut as a young stoker in co-directors Noël Coward and David Lean's World War II drama In Which We Serve, Richard Attenborough perfects the balance between epic story and intimate tale with this drama starring Shirley MacLaine and Neve Campbell as a mother and daughter who find a relic from the past sparking an incendiary series of events. The year is 1991, and as a small American town mourns the passing of beloved World War II veteran Chuck Harris, his wife Ethel (MacLaine) numbs herself with alcohol to the point where she completely neglects her grieving daughter Marie (Campbell). Later, after Marie receives a telephone call from a boy in Northern Ireland who claims to have recently discovered a ring belonging to Ethel, a mystery nearly five decades in the making comes slowly into focus as the story drifts back into Chuck's wartime past and the days when he and Ethel first formed their powerful bond. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer, (more)
On the eve of near-future Northern Ireland's first general election, well-marketed reformer Michael Brinn (Robert Lindsay), a shoo-in for prime minister, has newspaper columnist Dan Starkey's dander up. Working the election beat alongside visiting Boston Globe writer Charles Parker (Richard Gant), Starkey (David Thewlis) watches his pointed barbs slide off Brinn's Teflon-coated backside. Drowning his troubles in drink in a Belfast park, Starkey invites beautiful art student Margaret (Laura Fraser) to a friend's party, unaware of her ties to both the IRA and to Brinn's political party. When Starkey's wife (Laine Megaw) catches him canoodling with Margaret, she kicks Starkey out and he ends up in Margaret's bed. When the girl turns up mortally wounded a mere day later, mouthing the words "divorcing Jack" just before her death rattle, Starkey finds himself a suspect in the murder. Donning a ridiculous wig and going on the lam, he must fend off a nationwide manhunt while tracing the connection between Margaret's death and the upcoming election. Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, this British/French co-production marked director David Caffrey's feature debut. Irish writer Colin Bateman adapted his own novel, one of several to feature Starkey as a protagonist. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Thewlis, Rachel Griffiths, (more)
- 1987
- R
A humble Irish farmer decides that it is high time to move that big old stone in his field that has been there seemingly since the dawn of time. This gory horror film, an adaptation from one of noted British-author Clive Barker's short stories, follows what happens next. No sooner does he move the rock when out rushes an enormous, blood-thirsty pagan demon, Rawhead Rex, who immediately goes berserk and begins biting people left and right. Among the bitten is the son of an American professor of history and anthropology. His father immediately begins researching the angry old god and plotting his demise. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Dukes, Kelly Piper, (more)
- 1986
- R
In this suspenseful thriller, some unknown man out there has a warped mind, a warped view of sex, and an urge to kill in a very specific way. An innocent yet seductive country woman named Patricia Telling (Moira Harris) moves into a new apartment building in Dublin, where a serial killer seems to have her in his sights. The killer's m.o. is to call a woman on the phone and charm her into inviting him over. Once he's alone with her, he murders her after stripping her naked and putting her body in a certain pose. Several men are suspect because of their odd behavior: Robert (John Cavanaugh), a colleague and teacher at Patricia's school; Danny (Timothy Bottoms), who lives in the building with his wife, and the police inspector McMyler (Christopher Casenove). The question is: will the murderer will be identified before Patricia is the next victim? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Moira Harris, Timothy Bottoms, (more)
- 1983
Acceptable Levels begins when a London TV crew interviews the grieving family of a Belfast youth, accidentally killed by a British soldier. Chief reporter Kay Adshead wants to explore the political ramifications of the incident, but is prevented from doing so by her timorous producer Andy Rashleigh. Even though most of her filmed report is destroyed at Rashleigh's insistence, Adshead isn't about to let anyone off the hook. This guilt-trip element of Acceptable Levels plays well enough, but the scenes which contrast the TV crew's posh living conditions with the harshness of the Irish family's existence work better within the framework of the film. Five writers labored upon the screenplay of Acceptable Levels, including the film's director, John Davies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andy Rashleigh
