Robbie Coltrane Movies
Stocky Scottish comic actor Robbie Coltrane was trained as an artist in Glasgow. During the 1970s, he rose to prominence as an improvisational nightclub comedian, usually working in ensemble groups (one of his partners was actress Emma Thompson). During the '80s, he was in a number of British features and made-for-TV movies. A regular at London's Comic Strip comedy club, he had a habit of appearing as himself in comedy specials like Secret Policeman's Third Ball. He also showed up in small comedic cameos in National Lampoon's European Vacation and Kenneth Branagh's Henry V. Though he was popular in the U.K. on TV shows like Alfresco, Tutti Fruitti, Black Adder, and The Young Ones, he wasn't widely known in the U.S. until his antic performance in Nuns on the Run with Eric Idle. He then starred as the title character in the satiric comedy The Pope Must Die (released in the U.S. as The Pope Must Diet). In 1993, he starred in the British TV detective series Cracker as Fitz, a nervous forensic psychologist who helps crack cases. He won a BAFTA TV award for the role, and he won a Cable ACE award when it was rebroadcast in the U.S. on A&E. When the show ended, he briefly joined up with the James Bond film series as Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky in GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough. In the late '90s, he starred in a few independent films (Montana, Frogs for Snakes) and played Sgt. Peter Goldy in the Hughes brothers' thriller From Hell. However, he's been most successful in the area of family entertainment. He was delightful as the con man in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with Elijah Wood; he was Tweedledum to George Wendt's Tweedledee in Alice in Wonderland; and he found a fine place for himself as Hagrid the Giant in the Harry Potter film series. In 2002, he earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination from the British Academy for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. In 2003, he returned to British TV to play lawyer Jack Lennox in The Planman. Coltrane continued to work as Hagrid throughout the Harry Potter film series (2001-2011), and lent his voice to films including The Tales of Despereaux (2008) and Brave (2012). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi- 1991
In this independently produced black-and-white film, Remy Gravelle is trying to gather enough material from the story of a wealthy couple (murdered on a golf-course years before) to put together a screenplay for his Japanese employers. His investigations have put him in touch with the wealthy duo's children, who now live aboard a yacht, the Triple Bogey, which is in constant motion around New York harbor. There, the three grown or nearly grown children show the writer home movies of themselves and their parents and discuss the events of that bygone day. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eric Mitchell, Daisy Hall, (more)
- 1991
- R
A priest discovers that being the leader of the Catholic Church can be hazardous to your health in this satiric comedy. Cardinal Rocco (Alex Rocco) and Monsignor Vitchie (Paul Bartel) are two high-ranking Vatican officials who have been using the church's business dealings to launder funds for Vittorio Corelli (Herbert Lom), a crime boss involved in illegal arms trading. After the death of the aging and infirm Pope, Rocco and Vitchie plan to nominate a successor who will go along with Corelli's schemes, but quite by accident, small town priest Giuseppe Albinizi (Robbie Coltrane) is named the new Pontiff. Albinizi is a reluctant spiritual leader who prefers cars, women, and rock & roll to church business, but when he discovers the level of Rocco's corruption, he has him removed from the Vatican. Rocco and Vitchie are not taking Albinizi's plans to clean up Vatican finances lying down, and they discover that the new Pope's has a not-so-little secret. Before he joined the priesthood, Albinizi fathered a son out of wedlock with Veronica Dante (Beverly D'Angelo); the boy grew up to be Joe Don Dante (Balthazar Getty), a rock star who's romancing Corelli's daughter. After complaints from Catholic groups in the U.S., the distributors of The Pope Must Die changed the title to The Pope Must Diet. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robbie Coltrane, Beverly D'Angelo, (more)
Eric Idle and Robbie Coltrane team up for this bad boy comic burlesque, directed by Jonathan Lynn. Idle and Coltrane play Brian Hope and Charlie McManus, a pair of two-bit hoods who want to go straight, repulsed by the increasing reliance on guns and violence in their line of work. In thrall to vicious gangster Case Casey (Robert Patterson), the duo determine that their next job will be their last. When a large amount of money is extracted from a gang of Hong Kong drug dealers and it falls into the laps of Brian and Charlie, the two take off with the loot, with the Chinese Triad and Casey in relentless pursuit. When their car runs out of gas in front of a convent, Brian and Charlie run inside and disguise themselves as two of the ugliest nuns imaginable. Inside the convent, Brian and Charlie pass themselves off as nuns from a different order, assigned to the convent before leaving the country on missionary work. As the two men enjoy their undercover work with a collection of nubile nuns and coeds, the bad guys close in on their trail. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eric Idle, Robbie Coltrane, (more)
In this comedy from writer-director John Boorman, wealthy real estate mogul Stewart McBain (Dabney Coleman) owns a demolition firm which specializes in blowing up old buildings to make way for upscale new ones. When neighbors protest his plans to raze a dilapidated old building to make way for a new Brooklyn subdivision, television crews film the confrontation, and McBain comes off like a fool. His three spoiled children ridicule him. Tired of their carping, McBain gives them each 750 dollars and drops them off at the old building, known as the Dutch House. Daphne (Uma Thurman), Chloe (Suzy Amis), and Jimmy (David Hewlett) are at first completely lost, because they have no idea how to live in the real world. As McBain and his wife, Jean (Joanna Cassidy), monitor their children's progress, the three youngsters learn to get along with the neighborhood people and eventually set up a commune of sorts, into which they invite their friends and various homeless people. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dabney Coleman, Uma Thurman, (more)
- 1989
- R
Tony award-winning British musical comedy star Robert Lindsay makes his first important American film appearance in Bert Rigby, You're a Fool. Lindsay, of course, plays the title character, a coal miner who dreams of becoming a big showbiz star. Only problem is, there's very little demand for Bert Rigby's impersonations of Buster Keaton and Gene Kelly. Undaunted, Bert heads to Hollywood, where, while working as a butler in the household of movie mogul Jim Shirley (Corbin Bernsen), he must fend off the advances of Shirley's hot-to-trot wife, Meredith (Anne Bancroft). Befitting the old-fashioned nature of Bert Rigby's behavior and tastes in entertainment, director Carl Reiner adopts a "retro" approach to his material; at times, the film looks as though it was made in 1939 rather than 1989, despite its R-rated sex, profanity, and body-function jokes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Lindsay, Cathryn Bradshaw, (more)
Kenneth Branagh makes his feature-film directorial debut with this adaptation of William Shakespeare's Henry V. After the Chorus (Derek Jacobi) introduces the play, young king of England Henry V (Kenneth Branagh) begins an angry dialogue with King Charles of France (Paul Scofield). The king's son, Dauphin (Michael Maloney), insults Henry and the argument escalates into war. In flashback, Henry is seen as a young man drinking in a tavern with Falstaff (Robbie Coltrane), Bardolph (Richard Briers), Nym (Geoffrey Hutchings), Pistol (Robert Stephens), and Mistress Quickly (Judi Dench). Meanwhile, Henry and his captain, Fluellen (Ian Holm), assemble an army and invade France. The French greatly outnumber the British troops, yet Henry leads them to victory in the Battle of Agincourt after delivering his famous St. Crispin's Day Speech. Throughout this struggle, Henry also courts Katherine (Emma Thompson) and eventually wins her over. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, (more)
- 1989
Danny, the Champion of the World is set in rural England. Nasty country squire Robbie Coltrane, who owns half the land, covets the other half. His principal opponents are a father-and-son team of farmers. The warm relationship between the two "good guys" hardly needs to be forced, since the roles are played by Jeremy Irons and his real-life son Samuel. Cyril Cusack and Jean Marsh also appear in this colorful comedy-drama. Produced for British television, Danny, the Champion of the World was based on a story by Roald Dahl. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Joe Pytka's comedy stars Richard Dreyfuss as Trotter, a cab driver who gets a hot tip on a horse race and soon finds himself on the gambling hot streak of his life. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Dreyfuss, David Johansen, (more)
In a post-apocalyptic world, a fugitive named Byron (Bob Peck) is captured by cop Will Tasker (Mark Hamill) and his beautiful partner Belitski (Kitty Aldridge). But when bounty hunter Matt Owens (Bill Paxton) learns that there is a price on Byron's head, he tricks the police and absconds with the prisoner. In order to escape detection, Matt flies off into the slipstream --an environmental curiosity of high and harsh winds treated by a local religious cult as a god. The religious cult captures them and holds them captive. Byron has healing powers and the cult decides to bind him up to a giant kite in order to determine whether he is a good or bad spirit. Tasker and Belitiski re-appear and they free Matt after he agrees to help them get the kite-born Byron back down to earth. Matt flies upward to free Byron, but Belitski, not trusting Matt, flies upward herself. A violent wind tosses all three into parts unknown, while Tasker is almost killed by the kite. Matt is found to have been poisoned by Tasker and seeks to accompany a cave dweller named Ariel (Eleanor David) to her homeland, where he can get an antidote to the poison in his veins. Meanwhile, Byron is revealed to be an android. The three journey to a settlement dedicated to sensual pleasure. While they partake of the services, Tasker and Belitski shoot their way into the settlement, looking for Byron. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Hamill, Bob Peck, (more)
- 1989
This British concert documentary follows that country's very popular standup comedian and television performer Lenny Henry, who is largely unknown in the U.S. It was filmed in 1989 at London's Hackney Empire Theatre. In order to add interest to what might otherwise be a pedestrian performance show, there are backstage scenes in which Lenny impersonates such luminaries as Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy and Steve Martin, who all have advice for Lenny. Lenny Henry is best known for lampooning musicians and the British music world, and his humor particularly addresses the situation of blacks in contemporary British society. In one skit, he plays a Lou Rawls-type crooner of sexually stimulating ballads by the name of "Theophilus P. Wildebeeste." In others, he plays the reggae star "Fred Dread," blues singer "Smith," and the small-time DJ "Delbert Wilkins." In character as "Smith," Lenny performs a duet with the legendary rock guitarist Jeff Beck. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lenny Henry, Robbie Coltrane, (more)
- 1988
The bluntly titled The Fruit Machine stars Emile Charles and Tony Forsyth as a pair of homosexual Liverpool teenagers. Though their sexual orientation may be the same, Charles and Forsyth hold diametrically opposed outlooks on life. Gradually, a romance develops between the two -- but before things progress much farther, the film suddenly switches emotional gears. Witnessing a gangland execution, Charles and Forsyth are forced to defend their lives against an onslaught of villains. The Fruit Machine seems unsure of what sort of movie it would like to be, though many of its individual components are handled with utmost confidence by director Philip Saville. The film was originally titled Wonderland. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emile Charles, Tony Forsyth, (more)
- 1988
The cast and crew of the satirical British comedy series Blackadder reunited for this perverse one-hour spin on Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Rowan Atkinson stars as Ebeneezer Blackadder, a kindly and beloved London businessman. Alas, Ebeneezer is too warm-hearted and generous to suit his greedy, grasping ancestors, who on Christmas Eve appear in spectral form to force their descendant to live down to Blackadder family tradition. Also appearing are Tony Robinson as Baldrick, Robbie Coltrane as The Spirit of Christmas, Miriam Margoyles as Queen Victoria, Jim Broadbent as Prince Albert, and Miranda Richardson in the dual role of Elizabeth I and Asphyxia XIX. A Blackadder's Christmas Carol made its British TV bow on December 22, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, (more)
- 1987
Music and comedy share the stage in this performance film, which records a four-night variety show presented in 1987 as a benefit for the human rights organization Amnesty International. A handful of top British comedians were on hand for the revue, including Stephen Fry & Hugh Laurie, Lenny Henry, Ben Elton and Phil Cool, with special appearances by John Cleese of Monty Python and the puppet troupe Spitting Image. (American comic Emo Phillips also performs his standup act.) Several leading musical stars of the day also contributed their talents to the event, including Peter Gabriel, Duran Duran, Kate Bush with David Gilmour, Lou Reed, Jackson Browne with Paul Brady, Mark Knopfler with Chet Atkins, Bob Geldoff, Youssou N'Dour and Nik Kershaw. As the title suggests, The Secret Policeman's Third Ball was preceded by two other Amnesty International benefit shows coordinated by John Cleese, with several more to follow. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bob Hoskins, Joan Armatrading, (more)
A restaurant worker (Lanah Pellay) is fired from a posh London eatery, so the man returns with a band of terrorists, who have their own ideas about how to run a restaurant, and they begin feeding new customers with old customers. Motorhead provides the music. ~ John Bush, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lanah Pellay, Nosher Powell, (more)
- 1987
The Prince Regent (Hugh Laurie) agrees to act as patron for the "fat dictionary" being written by Dr. Samuel Johnson (Robbie Coltrane). Unfortunately, the boneheaded Baldrick (Tony Richardson) accidentally uses Dr. Johnson's manuscript for firewood. Edmund Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) is faced with the daunting task of recopying the dictionary -- within a 48-hour period. Other characters crucial to the action are a trio of "romantic junkie poets" named Shelley, Byron, and Coleridge. "Ink and Incapability" originally aired on September 24, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, (more)
The rise of teen culture in 1950s Britain provides the backdrop for Julien Temple's unconventional rock musical Absolute Beginners. The film centers on Colin, an 18-year-old with a talent for photography and a fondness for the neon nightlife of British jazz clubs. He also is in love with Crepe Suzette, an impulsive, ambitious young beauty who abandons him after attracting the attention of a powerful fashion designer. Depressed and aimless, Colin turns for help to a flashy ad executive (David Bowie) who promises to make him a star photographer. The former lovers take parallel paths to success, capitalizing on the youth mania gripping the nation. The film's nostalgic yet gently satirical look at teen culture is tempered by a recognition of the era's social tension, particularly a disturbing rise in racism. Despite these serious undertones, however, the film tells its story with a colorful vibrancy reminiscent of both MTV and old Hollywood musicals, filled with such show-stopping numbers as a memorable sequence in which Bowie dances on a giant typewriter. Critical reception was mixed, with some hailing the film's spectacular cinematography and ambitious scope, while others found the mixture of tones and style too inconsistent. The film also drew lukewarm response at the box office, with the memorable soundtrack receiving more attention than the film itself. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eddie O'Connell, Patsy Kensit, (more)
- 1986
- R
Writer/director Derek Jarman injects his patented iconoclasm in this biography of Renaissance artist Michelangelo Merisa da Caravaggio. Nigel Terry plays the title role, whom (according to Jarman) essentially told his own life story in his paintings. Caravaggio travelled among thieves and prostitutes, many of whom were his models. He once killed a man, kept a deaf/mute child as a virtual slave, and squandered every penny he ever made. That we should care anything about so miserable and obscure a personality is a tribute to Jarman's filmmaking savvy--and the number of elements from his own well-publicized life that he injects into the film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nigel Terry, Sean Bean, (more)
Bob Hoskins plays George, a tough but basically goodhearted British mob flunky, recently released from prison, where he'd served a term to cover up for his gangster boss (Michael Caine). Still willing to be everyone's doormat, George agrees to act as chauffeur for Simone (Cathy Tyson), a haughty, high-priced call girl. They don't like each other at first, but George begins to fall for her and take a protective interest. She implores him to help her find her only truly friend, a prostitute named Cathy (Kate Hardie). Touched by this devotion, George locates the girl, only to be chagrined to learn that Simone and Cathy are lovers. Hoskins is used and abused by so many people in Mona Lisa that when the worm finally does turn, you feel like cheering--even though it doesn't make him any happier. Director Neil Jordan cowrote this study of underworld mores with David Leland. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, (more)
- 1985
- R
In this romantic comedy that wobbles along on a shaky plot -- the first full-length feature of a Brit TV show -- Dennis (Adrian Edmondson) is on vacation with his mother when he invents a tall tale of his involvement with a drug cartel in order to impress a woman he likes. Sure enough, his story accidentally tallies with what the police already know, and before he can cry "wolf," Dennis is sent off to the coast with two undercover cops. One cop is a woman (Jennifer Saunders) and the other her former boyfriend (Harvey Duncan) -- but the woman has to pretend to be Dennis' lover. Then along comes a string of several unique policemen and a few real drug smugglers, one in drag, adding their eccentricity to the growing group of comic characters. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Adrian Edmondson, Jennifer Saunders, (more)
This fast-paced thriller examines the amorality of a nation's secret services and the responsibility of journalistic investigations in an era of nuclear tensions and bureaucratic deceit. The film examines an unspooling series of events occurring after a near crash of a nuclear bomber at an American Air Force base in the English countryside. When Dennis Markham (Ian Bannen), a well-respected member of Parliament, is reported by a London paper to have been seen leaving a woman's home, and the woman is found to also be familiar with a dignitary from East Germany, his loyalty to his country is questioned, and he is forced to resign. The author of the newspaper exposé, Nick Mullen (Gabriel Byrne), continues his investigation with his colleague Vernon Bayliss (Denholm Elliott). But when Vernon dies from a mysterious heart attack, Mullen suspects something deeper at work and finds evidence of a complex web of deceit concerning a secret Air Force base. With the help of Vernon's secretary, Nina Beckman (Greta Scacchi), Nick fights the dark forces in order to bring the truth to light. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gabriel Byrne, Greta Scacchi, (more)
- 1985
- PG13
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Despite the many adventures they suffered in National Lampoon's Vacation, the Griswold family decides to take another crack at having fun. This time, the doltish clan heads across the Atlantic for a whirlwind vacation after winning a game show. Will the monuments of Europe survive? ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, (more)
- 1985
- PG
This period drama about the American Revolution has an overlay of rhetoric that thwarts the action, flattening out the story about a man and his loved ones caught up in the events of the time. Tom Dobb (Al Pacino) falls in love with Daisy McConnahay (Nastassja Kinski), an aristocrat who deserts her class to fight alongside the rebels. Tom teaches his son Ned (Dexter Fletcher) everything he needs to learn, though the growing rebellion consumes most of his attention. Eventually, the Redcoats are mowed down in large battle scenes, as the ragtag Colonialists go to war. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, Donald Sutherland, (more)
- 1984
Per its title, Chinese Boxes plays the riddle-wrapped-in-a-mystery-wrapped-in-an-enigma angle to the hilt. Will Patton plays an innocent American who finds himself in the middle of international intrigue. With West Berlin as backdrop, the story takes so many twists and turns that one may well need a book of directions by fadeout time. Robbie Coltraine and Gottfried John are among the supporting actors who are not what they seem and never say what they mean. Chinese Boxes was a fairly smooth German/British collaboration, with little indication of any on-set communication breakdowns (surely somebody understood what was going on). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Will Patton, Gottfried John, (more)
Meant to be a whimsical sword-and-sorcery film about a prince out to save his princess from the jaws of the Beast, Krull has enough scenes borrowed from blockbuster predecessors (Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Robin Hood, Star Wars) and is gentle enough to be rather derivative, ordinary fare. Prince Colwyn (Ken Marshall) has inherited a kingdom under siege by the evil Beast, and not only has to rid the land of the monster, but he has to rescue his bride Lyssa (Lysette Anthony) from the Beast's clutches as well. In his magical land, horses can sometimes fly, medieval castles can harbor weapons that light up, and before he can defeat the Beast, the prince has to get his hands on the glaive (French for "double-edged sword"), a razor-sharp, magical weapon capable of killing the monster. One of the more notable aspects of Krull is that a 30-year old Liam Neeson plays the bit part of Kegan, in only his third full-length feature film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ken Marshall, Lysette Anthony, (more)
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