Martin Clunes Movies
Martin Clunes and Julie Graham star in a sitcom about a romantic undertaker who turns to a popular dating service in hopes of finding true love. William Shawcross (Clunes) is a wonderful guy, the only problem is that most women seem reluctant to date a man with such a grim career. While undertaker William sees to it that people get a fitting exit out of this world, midwife Mary (Graham) does her best to bring new life in. When William sees Mary's dating service video and is instantly smitten by the smart and pretty midwife, the stage is set for a romance that covers all ground between life and death. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
A presentation of ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre, Goodbye, Mr. Chips aired on PBS in October 2003. Based on the novel by James Hilton, this adaptation was directed by British filmmaker Stuart Orme. The story follows the life of beloved Latin schoolteacher Mr. Chipping (Martin Clunes). As a young man, he arrives at Brookfield boarding school in the 1880s. He makes friends German teacher Max Staefel (Conleth Hill) and marries the intelligent socialite Katherine Bridges (Victoria Hamilton). As his students grow to adore him, he's nicknamed "Mr. Chips" and given a promotion. However, he experiences years of sadness after Kathie dies in childbirth. Then WWI breaks out and his friend Staefel is forced to leave the school due to the fascist new headmaster, Ralston (Patrick Malahide). Finally, Mr. Chips reflects on his career at a retirement party. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Clunes, Victoria Hamilton, (more)
Filmed in London and Wales, this two-part adaptation of the oft-dramatized R.D. Blackmore novel Lorna Doone was praised for its realism, though one or two nitpickers pointed out that the costumes were not all "in period" for 17th century Scotland. This time around, Amelia Warner starred as the titular Lorna, whose romance with young John Ridd (Richard Coyle) was imperiled by the bloody, long-standing feud between the Doones and the Ridds. The show was stolen by Martin Clunes in the flashy role of the redoubtable Jeremy Stickles. Lorna Doone aired over BBC1 on December 24 and 26, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Veteran hack director Sidney J. Furie directs the silly straight-to-video comedy Rock My World. The aging stuffy English aristocrats Lord and Lady Foxley (Peter O'Toole and Joan Plowright) have fallen on hard times, so they loan out the use of their mansion to the American rock band Global Heresy. When the band's bass player mysteriously disappears, Nat (Alicia Silverstone) shows up to replace him. Then the servants don't show up, and the Foxleys are forced to pose and a maid and a butler in their own mansion. The culture class between the conservative English and the reckless Americans is played for comedy, leading to an ending where the power of rock & roll transforms both cultural groups. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter O'Toole, Joan Plowright, (more)
Waking Ned Divine (1998) meets Up in Smoke (1978) in this wacky British comedy about growing marijuana. Grace Trevethan (Brenda Blethyn is a cheerful upper-class housewife and gardening enthusiast who is blithefully unaware of business matters. This all changes when she learns that her husband fell from an airplane without a parachute. Her husband's numerous hare-brained schemes at getting rich quick left their accounts in utter ruin. Worse, if she does not raise 300,000 pounds quickly, she might lose her manor. Out of sheer desperation, she turns to her oddball Scottish gardener Matthew (Craig Ferguson), who suggests growing pot. Grace puts her green thumb to work, and in the blink of an eye the greenhouse is converted into the biggest marijuana farm in Cornwall. Soon, word gets out to the not unsympathetic townspeople, including the local doctor -- who is somewhat of a pot enthusiast -- and a horror flick-loving Vicar. Unfortunately, a nervy French drug lord (Tcheky Karyo) also learns of their scheme and soon starts causing trouble. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brenda Blethyn, Craig Ferguson, (more)
Telecast on American cable television as Sweet Revenge, this wickedly black comedy was produced for British TV under the title The Revengers' Comedies, which was also the name of the Alan Ayckbourn play collection upon which it was based. Late one night on London Bridge, two potential suicides meet. Henry Bell (Sam Neill) is a midlevel executive who has been unfairly fired by his office rival; Karen Knightly (Helena Bonham Carter) is a nutty heiress whose boyfriend has jilted her in favor of a bitchy American beauty. Forsaking their plans to kill themselves, Henry and Karen go the Strangers on a Train route by agreeing to "swap" revenges: Karen will dispose of Henry's enemy, Bruce Tick (Steve Coogan), while Henry will destroy Karen's bête noire, Imogen Saxton-Billing (Kristin Scott Thomas). A U.S./U.K./French co-production, Sweet Revenge made its official debut over America's Showtime network on September 24, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Neill, Helena Bonham Carter, (more)
William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) is on a cold streak. Not only is he writing for Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush), owner of "The Rose," a theatre whose doors are about to be closed by sadistic creditors, but he's got a nasty case of writer's block. Shakespeare hasn't written a hit in years. In fact, he hasn't written much of anything recently. Thus, the Bard finds himself in quite a bind when Henslowe, desperate to stave off another round of hot-coals-to-feet application, stakes The Rose's solvency on Shakespeare's new comedy, "Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter." The problem is, "Romeo" is safely "locked away" in Shakespeare's head, which is to say that not a word of it is written. Meanwhile, the lovely Lady Viola (Gwyneth Paltrow) is an ardent theatre-goer -- scandalous for a woman of her breeding -- who especially admires Shakespeare's plays and, not incidentally, Bill himself. Alas, she's about to be sold as property into a loveless marriage by her mercenary father and shipped off to a Virginia tobacco plantation. But not before dressing up as a young man and winning the part of Romeo in the embryonic play. Shakespeare soon discovers the deception and goes along with it, using the blossoming love affair to ignite his muse. As William and Viola's romance grows in intensity and spirals towards its inevitable culmination, so, too, does the farcical comedy about Romeo and pirates transform into the timeless tragedy that is Romeo and Juliet. ~ Merle Bertrand, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, (more)
- 1998
Based on the children's books by Mick Inkpen, the British cartoon series Kipper was all about a laid-back dog. No matter what the provocation, Kipper (who combined the best elements of child and adult) refused to get his dander up, even though all around him tended to have short fuses. The multi-talented Martin Clunes supplied the voice of the title character. Dealt out in five-minute episodes, Kipper began going the British TV syndication rounds in 1998, and has since been seen in America courtesy of the Nickelodeon cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Clunes, Christa Lang, (more)
This adaptation of three stories from Irvine Welsh's short-story collection of the same name reunites Annie Louise Ross, Kevin McKidd, and Ewen Bremner from the author's previous cinematic success, Trainspotting, which was also set in the author's native North Edinburgh. In the Kafka-esque "The Granton Star Cause," a lazy amateur footballer (Stephen McCole) has a very, very bad day that culminates in God (Maurice Roeves) turning him into an insect. In "A Soft Touch," a young husband and father (McKidd) finds his life disrupted when a psychotic neighbor (Gary McCormack) takes up with his wife (Michelle Gomez) and invades his wretched tenement. And in "The Acid House," a druggie low-life (Bremner) experiences a Freaky Friday-style body switch with the infant son of a pair of self-involved yuppies. After "The Granton Star Cause" was screened separately at the Edinburgh Film Festival, the completed film was shown at Cannes in 1998. The title is a play on the term "acid house," a form of sinister dance music that emerged in Chicago in the mid-'80s and helped fuel the formative years of England's rave culture. Former Doctor Who actor Maurice Roeves, who plays God in "The Granton Star Cause," also has cameos in the other two segments. Jemma Redgrave, niece of Lynn and Vanessa Redgrave and cousin of Natasha and Joely Richardon, appears in the title segment and lends her Bjork-haired visage to the film's poster. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen McCole, Maurice Roeves, (more)
British screen favorites Timothy Spall and Martin Clunes headline the rollicking survivalist farce Neville's Island, which combines the premises of Deliverance and Robinson Crusoe, wrapped in distinctly English humor. When four white-collared businessmen undertake a team-building exercise, little can they foresee the disaster that will capsize their boat and deliver them to an uncharted, vacant island. Stripped of luxuries and creature comforts, this quartet of hapless, helpless businessmen must quickly learn to fend for themselves, against the harsh brutality of the natural world - while constantly bemoaning the absence of a swimming pool; a soft, warm bed; and a hot plate of Yorkshire pudding. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Timothy Spall, Martin Clunes, (more)
Tony (Neil Morrissey) arranges his roommate Gary's bachelor party after Gary (Martin Clunes) agrees to marry longtime girlfriend Dorothy (Caroline Quentin) in "Stag Night," the opening salvo of the sixth and final season of Men Behaving Badly. This episode is followed, perhaps inevitably, by "Wedding," with both prospective bride and prospective groom wondering if they're making the right move. In "Jealousy," Gary, Tony, Dorothy, and upstairs neighbor Deborah (Leslie Ash) take a weekend motor trip that is blighted by jealousy and an unshakeable smoking habit. "Watching TV" finds Gary, Dorothy, and Deborah seemingly ganging up on Tony during an evening in front of the tube. Gary and Dorothy visit a relationship counselor and Tony wants to get (mildly) kinky with Deborah in the next episode, "Ten." The following installment, "Sofa," revolves around Gary's reluctance to part with a favored piece of furniture. "Jingle B***s" features a Christmas celebration all but ruined by Gary. Though this last-named episode officially brought the series to a close, Men Behaving Badly returned for a trio of Christmas specials in 1998, "Performance" (will Gary and Dorothy have a baby?), "Gary in Love" (an eventful business trip to Worthing), and "Delivery" (Tony gets a job at the same time father-to-be Gary loses his). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Clunes, Neil Morrissey, (more)
Returning home from a European vacation, a newly bearded Tony (Neil Morrissey) is shocked at the tidiness of his apartment in "Hair," the fifth-season opener of Men Behaving Badly. The shock may be doubled when roommate Gary (Martin Clunes) has to tell Tony that he'll have to move out now that Gary's girlfriend, Dorothy (Caroline Quentin), has moved in. In the season's second episode, "The Good Pub Guide," Gary and Tony are appalled that their favorite pub has been redecorated under new management and seek a way to recapture the ambience of their old watering hole. In "Cowardice," Gary tries to make up for his timidity with an angry driver while both Gary and Tony wonder if upstairs neighbor Deborah's (Leslie Ash) friend is gay. "Your Mate vs. Your Bird" finds Tony applying a tattoo to himself and Gary making an important decision vis-à-vis his girlfriend. "Cardigan" has Gary worried about the onslaught of middle age, culminating in a riotous night on the town. In "Rich and Fat," Tony goes on a crash diet and also reveals the size of Gary's bank account to anyone who'll listen. Season five concludes with "Home-Made Sauna," a round robin of weekend seductions and faulty plumbing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Clunes, Neil Morrissey, (more)
The possibility that Gary (Martin Clunes) has gotten his girlfriend, Dorothy(Caroline Quentin), pregnant is at the forefront of "Babies," the opening episode of Men Behaving Badly's fourth season. Meanwhile, Gary's roommate, Tony (Neil Morrissey), comes to grief when he tries to spy on upstairs neighbor Deborah (Leslie Ash) in her undies. The season's second episode, "Infidelity," finds Gary trying to catch Dorothy cheating on him and Tony attempting to prove himself a Good Samaritan to Deborah. This is followed by "Pornography," all about a stash of dirty magazines and a disastrous dinner party. In "Three Girlfriends" Tony tries to juggle the affections of several girls at once while Gary must contend with a seemingly endless visit from his dad. "Drunk" offers the spectacle of Gary and Tony participating in their favorite pub's "Beers of the World" promotion. "In Bed With Dorothy" is predicated on Dorothy's appendix operation, Gary's sexual frustration, and Tony's apparent bad eyesight. And in the season finale, "Playing Away," Tony would rather pull his own tooth than visit a dentist -- but his stubbornness has fringe benefits when Dorothy offers to help ease his pain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Clunes, Neil Morrissey, (more)
This British romantic comedy from director and star Martin Clunes concerns Neil Price (Clunes), a meek toy demonstrator who becomes engaged to Hilary (Sarah Winman), a beautiful girl from a prosperous family. At his wild bachelor party, Neil consumes a spiked drink and passes out. When he awakens, he is nude on a Scottish island beach, with only three days to make it back to London in time for his wedding. Along the route, Neil has a series of adventures and meets a variety of eccentric characters, including a sexually-depraved Welsh salesman, Graham (Griff Rhys Jones). and a medical researcher, Carmen Svennipeg (Anna Chancellor), who assists Neil in his quest to get back home. Back in London, however, it unfolds that Neil's best friend Gary (Michael Praed) is the party responsible for slipping Neil the drugged elixir and depositing the poor groom on the remote beach. It seems that Gary has designs on Hilary and her money, and he's got three days to make his plan work. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Clunes, Michael Praed, (more)
Having shifted networks from ITV to BBC, Men Behaving Badly opens its third season with the episode "Lovers," in which Gary (Martin Clunes) hopes to impress girlfriend Dorothy(Caroline Quentin) with his "vast" sexual experience, while Gary's lodger, Tony (Neil Morrissey), prepares to swoop down and claim upstairs neighbor Deborah (Leslie Ash), who has recently split up with her beau. The next episode, "Bed," is set in motion when Deborah suffers indigestion after one of Gary's exotic meals and ends up with Tony braving a heavy windstorm to mollify the ailing girl. "Casualties" finds Gary and Tony going to ridiculous lengths to keep Deborah from selling her flat and moving out of town. "Weekend" begins with Gary and Dorothy discussing their sexual fantasies and culminates with Tony landing a job as a bartender. In "Cleaning Lady," Dorothy regrets her demand that Gary hire someone to tidy up his messy flat, while Tony makes a somewhat radical job switch. And in the season's final episode, "Marriage," Gary tries to weasel out of his proposal to Dorothy while Tony uses electronic surveillance to find out why Deborah is attracted to someone else. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Clunes, Neil Morrissey, (more)
In 1939 Hamburg, Germany, a group of teenagers express their rebellion against Adolph Hitler's Nazi regime through their affection for American swing music, British fashion, and Harlem slang. American and British big-band jazz records are among those banned by the Fuhrer, but the young men secretly get together with their friends to listen and dance to the music. As their escapades become increasingly bold, they each get into trouble with the authorities. Robert Sean Leonard stars as Peter, who ends up being forced -- by a prank -- into having to join the Hitler Youth with his friend Thomas (Christian Bale). They are both engineering students at the university, where Thomas' father was taken away for defending his Jewish colleagues. With Arvid (Frank Whaley), they pretend to be Nazi supporters by day while rebelling with the swing music by night. Kenneth Branagh, in an uncredited appearance, is a glib Nazi Gestapo chief who makes matters more difficult. Each of the boys must choose among family, safety, friendship, and freedom as politics impinges on their youthful exuberance, and the Nazis set them against one another. The movie was shot in Prague, directed by Thomas Carter from a script by Jonathan Marc Feldman, and released by Disney. Barbara Hershey appears as Peter's mother. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Sean Leonard, Christian Bale, (more)
The second season of Men Behaving Badly begins with "Gary and Tony," in which apartment owner Gary (Martin Clunes) has finally shed himself of obnoxious and indigent lodger Dermot, only to find that his new roommate, Tony (Neil Morrissey), is no prize either -- nor is Tony any more capable than Dermot of paying his rent on time. Episode two, "Rent Boy," has Gary trying to find out if Tony is gay, and upstairs neighbor Deborah (Leslie Ash) is falling for Tony's line about being fluent in German. This is followed by "How to Dump Your Girlfriend," which Tony tries to do from a distance -- when he's not ineptly attempting to nurse the ailing Deborah back to health. "Troublesome 12-Inch" is motivated by a rare and valuable LP record owned by Gary's girlfriend, Dorothy (Caroline Quentin), and Gary's attempts to hide the fact that he's sold it behind her back. "Going Nowhere" is an episode title with a double meaning as Tony buys a van for seduction purposes, and Gary is trapped in an elevator with upstairs neighbor Deborah. In the season finale, "People Behaving Irritatingly," Gary and Tony's flat is invaded by Tony's irritating brother and his equally repulsive girlfriend -- whom, alas, Gary must suck up to if he wants to enjoy an all-expense-paid luxury vacation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Clunes, Neil Morrissey, (more)
- 1992
The premise of the British sitcom Men Behaving Badly is swiftly established in the opening episode "Intruders": Apartment owner Gary (Martin Clunes) must put up with loutish lodger Dermot (Harry Enfield) if he wants to meet the monthly mortgage -- for which, alas, Dermot never seems to have the necessary funds. In the five episodes that follow, the point is hilariously driven home that Gary and Dermot are about a copacetic a combination as oil and water. In "The Bet," the roommates play a chess game to determine who will be allowed to go out and score a few "birds"; in "Alarms and Setbacks," Gary installs a burglar alarm in hopes of making a good impression on upstairs neighbor Deborah (Leslie Ash); in "Animals," Gary's new "open relationship" with girlfriend Dorothy (Caroline Quentin) sets Dermot atingle with carnal fantasies; in "Sex and Violence," Dermot hopes that a candlelight dinner will have Deborah saying "Yes, yes, yes;" and in "My Brilliant Career," Dermot is fired while Gary mistakenly thinks that he's gotten a new position (which may well turn out to be horizontal!). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Clunes, Harry Enfield, (more)
- 1992
- R
In this last gasp of the "Carry On" series, minus most of the "Carry On" players, Jim Dale plays Spanish map-maker Christopher Columbus, who has a plan to navigate a new route to India, bypassing the Sultan of Turkey (Rik Mayall) and his sky-high tributes. He convinces King Ferdinand of Spain (Leslie Phillips) and Queen Isabella (June Whitfield) to finance his trip, and he sets off for points east with a cabin boy in tow. But what Columbus doesn't realize is that his cabin boy is, in fact, a cabin girl. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Dale, Bernard Cribbins, (more)
"Barley" Scott Blair (Sean Connery) is an alcoholic book editor from a bargain-basement publishing house in Great Britain who'd rather be drinking in Lisbon than attending a book dealers' show in Russia. So he's surprised when a CIA agent (Mac McDonald) pulls him from his boozy holiday. It seems that the CIA has through a book show intermediary received a package from a Russian book editor named Katya (Michelle Pfeiffer) containing amazingly detailed notebooks written by a cynical Russian physicist named "Dante" (Klaus-Maria Brandauer). The notebooks show that Russia's nuclear threat is a joke: Russian rockets "suck instead of blow...and can't hit Nevada on a clear day," in the acerbic words of CIA Agent Russell Sheridan (Roy Scheider). But why is Dante sending the notebooks to Blair? How shall the Western world respond to what could be the end of the nuclear arms race? Blair gets drafted by a British Secret Service agent (James Fox) to go to the new Russia to meet Katya. He must see whether the new Russia is still immersed in the old Cold War and whether the notebooks are genuine or another deadly chapter in the war of the spies. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Michelle Pfeiffer, (more)
