David M. Thompson Movies

Inspired by author Eric Schlosser's New York Times best-seller of the same name, director Richard Linklater's ensemble drama examines the health issues and social consequences of America's love affair with fast food and features an all-star cast that includes Greg Kinnear, Ethan Hawke, Kris Kristofferson, Patricia Arquette, and Luis Guzman. Mickey's is the most popular fast-food chain in America, and The Big One is the top-selling burger that put them on the map. When the higher-ups at Mickey's corporate offices learn that the frozen meat patties used to make the wildly popular burger have somehow been tainted with contaminated meat, they send marketing executive Don Henderson (Kinnear) on an urgent mission to ensure quality control and find out precisely how their product became compromised. It's a long way from the Southern California boardroom to the immigrant slaughterhouses, though, and the further Henderson works his way through the bustling feedlots and toward the ubiquitous restaurant sites that have become a staple of modern culture, the more he begins to realize just how dangerous convenience can become when it leads to blissfully ignorant complacency. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Writer/director Steve Hudson patterned his debut feature, True North, after classic Greek tragedy. This bleak and despairing drama concerns the Skipper (Gary Lewis) and Sean (Martin Compston), a father and son from the U.K. who co-pilot a small fishing boat called Providence. Though the Skipper remains aboard, Sean inherits all financial responsibility from his dad. But times are hard and the catch so inadequate that it cannot sustain the men. Terrified of being regarded as a failure by his father, Sean devises a dangerous scheme: he and deckhand Riley (Peter Mullan) will illegally pull Chinese immigrants from the far side of the North Sea while the Skipper sleeps, collect money from the stowaways, hide them in the ship's hold, and deposit them in northern England. All goes according to plan until Sean realizes that they must locate some actual fish to mislead the British authorities. Meanwhile, the Chinese passengers begin to waste away below deck, while a storm and other unforeseen catastrophes threaten the lives and safety of everyone aboard. The picture subsequently builds to a devastating conclusion. Steven Robertson and Angel Li co-star. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A woman paid to watch others begins stalking one of the men she's been trailing in this thriller from Scotland. Jackie (Kate Dickie) is a woman who has buried herself in her work with a security company since the death of her husband and child. Jackie's work involves monitoring a crime-ridden corner of North Glasgow with a bank of closed circuit television cameras; after her shift is over, she either goes home or has an occasional assignation with a friend from work who isn't happy with his wife. While watching the comings and goings in a run down apartment block, Jackie spies Clyde (Tony Curran), a handsome former jailbird who shares a shabby flat with his buddy Stevie (Martin Compston) and April (Natalie Press), Stevie's girlfriend. Jackie becomes fascinated with Clyde, and after carefully following his routines through her cameras she meets him face to face at a local bar, and soon lures him into a relationship. However, in time Clyde discovers neither love nor lust is the motivating factor behind Jackie's actions. The first feature film from award-winning director Andrea Arnold, Red Road received its world premier at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Three couples endure the living hell that is the happiest day of their lives in this comic mockumentary. Confetti is the United Kingdom's most prestigious wedding magazine, and publisher Antoni (Jimmy Carr) and editor Vivien (Felicity Montagu) have made a career out of documenting the cutting edge in nuptial ceremonies. Antoni and Vivien have decided to stage a contest to find the most original wedding concepts in Britain; the Confetti staff will narrow the field down to three candidates, help the couples stage their weddings, and treat the grand prize winner to a major photo spread in the magazine as well as a new home worth 500,000 pounds. Before long, Antoni and Vivien announce the finalists: Josef and Isabelle (Stephen Mangan and Meredith MacNeill), fitness enthusiasts who want a tennis-themed wedding; Matt and Sam (Martin Freeman and Jessica Stevenson), whose ceremony will be inspired by Hollywood movie musicals; and Michael and Joanna (Robert Webb and Olivia Colman), a pair of naturists who seldom wear clothes and want to be nude throughout the ceremony. Veteran wedding planners Archie Heron (Vincent Franklin) and Gregory Hough (Jason Watkins) are hired to help each couple have a day they'll always remember, though they may not look back on their work with fondness. Confetti was the second theatrical feature from director Debbie Isitt; all the dialogue was improvised by the film's cast during the filming. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Two outsiders witness an onslaught of bloody Rwandan genocide in this fact-based drama from director Michael Caton-Jones (Scandal). In 1994, Joe Connor (Hugh Dancy) is a British schoolteacher who has volunteered to spend a year at the École Technique Officielle, a school in the Rwandan capital of Kigali. Connor's arrival in Rwanda occurs after the nation's Civil War between the Tutsis and the Hutus has dissipated (c. August 1993). Yet despite the official end of this well-publicized struggle, political negotiations between the two groups have reached a stalemate, and the Hutus begin systematic preparation for a mass-genocide of the Tutsi people (who have assumed political power via the establishment of the RPF). Connor has already seen signs of the coming conflict in the abuse meted out to Marie (Claire-Hope Ashitey), a Tutsi student who was one of his star pupils, as well as the bitter hatred expressed by François (David Gyasi), a Hutu janitor at the school. As the genocide erupts, with extreme Hutu factions slaughtering Tutsis by the thousands, the École Technique becomes a base of operations for Belgian peacekeeping forces from the United Nations. Most extended visitors from the West (especially America and Europe) flee Rwanda as the fighting breaks out, but Connor decides to stay, and in fact strikes up a friendship with Father Christopher (John Hurt), a Catholic priest who has come to the nation as a missionary. As Father Christopher serves mass and strives to offer solace to the Tutsis and moderate Hutus caught in the fighting, he and Connor use the school as a safe haven for Tutsi refugees; however, after five days of genocidal killing, the U.N. troops move out, leaving little hope for the people they were supposed to protect. Beyond the Gates was produced by David Belton, who helped write the film's story; Belton was a correspondent with the BBC who was assigned to Rwanda when the fighting broke out. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

British helmer Stephen Poliakoff, the man responsible for 2003's acclaimed The Lost Prince (about a young British monarch whom the regents locked away to hide his epileptic fits), returns with the feature Friends and Crocodiles, starring Damian Lewis (An Unfinished Life), Jodhi May (The House of Mirth), and Robert Lindsay (Bert Rigby, You're a Fool). The film opens in the early '80s, with Lewis as Paul Reynolds, a slightly indulgent succès d'estime in the business world who presides over a mansion full of hyper-eccentric artistes. Reynolds hires a secretary, Lizzie (May), to manage his affairs and keep his houseguests in reasonable order. The drama then traces the emotional landscape of Paul and Lizzie's employer/employee relationship (their ups and downs) over the following two decades, which myopically reflect the changes in the larger British corporate landscape. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A dedicated human rights lawyer and a political activist who suffered at the hands of South African police officer with no regard for human life finds that the only thing more dangerous than standing up for your beliefs is the discovery of the truth in director Tom Hooper's adaptation of Gillian Slovo's captivating novel. Tortured at the hands of police officer Dirk Hendricks (Jamie Bartlett) for his efforts in seeking equality under the brutal apartheid regime, social activist Alex Mpondo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is shocked upon learning that Officer Hendricks is now seeking amnesty for his violent deeds. When human rights lawyer Sarah Barcant (Hilary Swank) returns to her South African home to represent Alex, she quickly discovers that the deeper she delves into the past, the more she has to fear in the present. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The possible ramifications of an act of nuclear terrorism are brought to potent and disturbing life in this docudrama. Set in the very near future, Dirty War follows a group of Scotland Yard agents who have learned that a terrorist cell in London has manufactured and intend to detonate a "dirty bomb" -- a small radiological explosive that contaminates with a significant amount of radioactive material so that its deadly effects linger for many months after the explosion. The police are unable to stop the terrorists before the bomb goes off in London's financial district, and it soon becomes obvious that the city was dangerously ill-prepared for such an event; as hospitals and emergency personnel struggle to deal with the aftereffects of the disaster, officials attempt to downplay the severity of the attack, an action that has unseen consequences of its own. Dirty War was produced in a collaboration between the BBC and the American premium cable network HBO, who first aired the film in the United States. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Two young women find love under difficult circumstances in this distinctive drama. Mona (Natalie Press) is a 16-year-old girl living in a small English town. There has never been much to do the neighborhood, and there's even less going on now that her older brother, Phil (Paddy Considine), who runs the local pub, has become a fanatical born-again Christian and is turning the tavern into a hall for prayer meetings. Tamsin (Emily Blunt) is another teenage girl who lives nearby; her mother is a successful actress who is usually away on projects, and her businessman father is too busy with his mistress to pay his daughter much attention. When Mona and Tamsin meet, they fall instantly in love and begin an erotic involvement. However, they soon discover that it isn't easy to keep their budding romance a secret in such a small town. My Summer of Love was enthusiastically received in its premiere screenings at the 2004 Edinburgh Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This historical drama from director Stephen Poliakoff was produced for and originally aired on the BBC. Miranda Richardson and Tom Hollander star as Queen Mary and King George V. After discovering that their son Prince John (Daniel Williams and Matthew Thomas) suffers from epilepsy and learning disabilities, the royals have the boy sent off to be raised in a rural farmhouse, lest he tarnish the family's image of superiority. Removed from the public eye and the attention of his parents, Prince John forms a loving bond with his nurse, Lalla (Gina McKee). ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

U.K. documentary filmmaker Philippa Lowthorpe brings an experimental approach to the costume drama The Other Boleyn Girl, produced for television by BBC Films. Shot with a handheld digital camera, the film is a largely improvised project based on the best-selling novel by Philippa Gregory. In 16th century England, the recently married Mary Boleyn (Natascha McElhone) is encouraged to have an affair with the notorious King Henry VIII (Jared Harris) in order to improve the power of her family. When she gets pregnant, the king turns his attention to her sister Anne Boleyn (Jodhi May). Learning to play by the degrading rules of the king's court, Anne conspires with her brother George (Steven Mackintosh) to produce a male heir. The Other Boleyn Girl first aired on BBC Two March 28, 2003. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi