David M. Thompson Movies

A man who has been able to avoid the consequences of his actions for nearly 50 years suddenly finds he must answer pursuers on both sides of the law in this drama, based on the novel by Brian Moore and inspired by a true story. After France fell to German occupation during World War II, the Nazi-controlled Vichy government established a law-enforcement group known as the Milice, who were under the direct control of Nazi authorities. In 1944, Pierre Brossard (George Williams) is one of a handful of Milice officers who round up and execute seven Jewish resistance members in the village of Dombey. After the liberation of France, Brossard is tried and convicted for his crimes, but he manages to escape capture, and years later is pardoned. In 1992, Brossard (now played by Michael Caine) is an elderly man living a quiet life in Provence and modestly supported by fellow veterans of the Vichy regime when he's ambushed and nearly killed by a man whom he learns was a hired killer. Brossard discovers this is hardly his only problem; new legislation will allow Vichy-era war criminals who escaped punishment to be charged and tried again, and Anne Marie Livi (Tilda Swinton), a bright and aggressive French prosecutor, has joined forces with Col. Roux (Jeremy Northam) to bring Brossard, among others, to justice. While Brossard is still being clandestinely assisted by church officials and Vichy sympathizers, he must go on the run to avoid capture, and finds himself hiding from the French police as well as a cadre of underground assassins, whose alliances and purposes are frustratingly unclear. The Statement also stars Charlotte Rampling, Alan Bates, and Frank Finlay. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Based on the novel by Dodie Smith (101 Dalmatians), director Tim Fywell's comic romance follows 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain (Romola Garai) and her quirky family as they attempt to make the best of their meager existence in a crumbling English castle. While her father (Bill Nighy) has been struggling for over a decade to repeat the success of his debut novel, her beautiful sister Rose (Rose Byrne) frequently voices her displeasure with their current situation, and nudist stepmother Topaz (Tara Fitzgerald) proves little help at much of anything. The arrival of American landlord Simon Cotton (Henry Thomas) and his brother Neil (Marc Blucas) provides a glimmer of hope as the initially repelled Rose soon takes a liking to Simon and the two arrange to marry. Lost in the chaotic shuffle of marriage plans and increasingly complicated relationships, the hapless Cassandra soon begins to blossom into womanhood as she experiences aspects of life that were heretofore unknown to her. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Two female drifters search for their next short-term jobs and for the reasons their lives have been filled with such wanderlust in Søren Kragh-Jacobsen's modern-day romantic fable Skagerrak. Best friends Marie (Iben Hjejle) and Sophie (Bronagh Gallagher) land on the Scottish mainland after a stint working on an oil rig, eager to move on to their next adventure. Just as Sophie decides to head to Glasgow to track down her mechanic boyfriend, the pair are set back after a one-night stand leaves Sophie severely beaten and robbed. While tending to Sophie at the hospital, Marie encounters a strange older man (James Cosmo) who later invites her to his estate while proclaiming to have an irresistible proposition for her. The old man, Sir Robert Lumley, offers to pay several thousands of pounds to Marie if she will agree to become a surrogate mother for his childless son and daughter-in-law. Initially disgusted, Marie reluctantly consents but struggles with the decision throughout her pregnancy. When a worse tragedy strikes the wanderers, Marie is forced to confront a number of issues in her life as she also finds both an unexpected love interest and an unexpected ally from the Scottish estate she has grown to hate. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi

Hanif Kureishi wrote this drama about a woman whose late-blooming romance causes a serious rift with her family. May (Anne Reid) and Toots (Peter Vaughan) are an elderly couple who travel to London to visit their two grown children, Bobby (Steven Mackintosh) and Paula (Cathryn Bradshaw). While Bobby tries to be attentive to his parents, he's busy with his two young children, a major project at work, and completing some renovations on his large and expensive house, while his wife, Helen (Anna Wilson-Jones), shows little interest in her in-laws. Meanwhile, Paula is unsatisfied with her work and carries on an affair with Darren (Daniel Craig), a builder who is working on Bobby's home. When Toots suddenly dies, May moves in with Paula, but with Paula at work all day, she has little to do. Darren stops by Paula's flat periodically, and soon he strikes up a friendship with May; their conversations soon develop into flirtation, and before long, the two have become lovers, meeting regularly for afternoon trysts in Paula's spare room. While May's relationship with Darren makes her feel happier and more alive than she has in years, it leads to an ugly confrontation when Paula learns about the affair. The Mother was screened as part of the Director's Fortnight series at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In the style of a Merchant-Ivory production, Thaddeus O'Sullivan directs the British costume drama The Heart of Me, based on Rosamond Lehmann's 1953 novel The Echoing Grove and adapted by Lucinda Coxon. The film opens in late '30s London at the funeral of a middle-class family patriarch survived by his wife (Eleanor Bron) and two daughters: prim and proper Madeleine (Olivia Williams) and free-spirited artist Dinah (Helena Bonham Carter). Madeline's businessman husband, Rickie (Paul Bettany), soon develops an interest in Dinah, which turns into an involved romantic affair. The love triangle causes many problems involving pregnancy, repressed emotions, and various forms of melodrama. Ten years later, the two sisters meet and sort out their relationship. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Director Stephen Frears returns to the grittier themes of his earlier films for the urban thriller Dirty Pretty Things. Residing in London, the medically trained Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a Nigerian immigrant working as a taxi driver and a hotel concierge, but he still lives on the edge of poverty. He shares a room with Senay (Amélie's Audrey Tautou making her English-language debut), a Turkish refugee who works as a maid at the hotel. As illegal immigrants, Okwe and Senay live in fear of being deported. One night, working at the front desk, Okwe receives a call from prostitute Juliette (Sophie Okonedo) to check a broken toilet, where he makes a horrifying discovery. He reports it to the manager Sneaky (Sergi Lopez), who blackmails Okwe into staying quiet about it. Okwe soon discovers the presence of a shady business operation that sends him into the seedy London underworld. Senay becomes lured in with hopes of being able to fund her escape to America. Dirty Pretty Things marks the screenwriting debut of Steve Knight, co-creator of the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Today, Winston Churchill is regarded as one of the great leaders of his time, and a hero for helping to guide Great Britain through the crises of World War II. But in the 1930s, Churchill's place in history hardly seemed assured; his early warnings against the growing threat of the Third Reich were taken seriously by few of his contemporaries, and he suffered through a variety of personal, professional, and economic setbacks before German attacks on England gave credence to his theories about Hitler's desire to overtake Europe, and gave Churchill the opportunity to rise to the greatness that was his destiny. The Gathering Storm is a made-for-television biographical drama based on Churchill's memoirs about his life leading up to World War II. Albert Finney stars as Winston Churchill, Vanessa Redgrave plays his wife, Clementine, and Derek Jacobi appears as Stanley Baldwin. Jim Broadbent and Ronnie Barker co-star. Produced for the BBC, The Gathering Storm received its American premier on the HBO premium cable network in the spring of 2002. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Directed by Metin Huseyin, Anita & Me follows the development of a cross-cultural friendship between 12-year-old Indian immigrant Meena (Chandeep Uppal) and her 14-year-old British neighbor, Anita (Anna Brewster). An aspiring writer, Meena (Uppal) writes down all the challenges of her new life in great detail, from her parents insistence that she focus solely on her studies, to the vast cultural differences between Britain and India. The most notable subject, however, is the comfort she finds from her unlikely friendship with Anita. Anita & Me is based on a novel by Meera Syal, who also penned the screenplay. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Dominic Savage's Out of Control is a harsh look at the lives of British delinquents. Sam (Leo Gorcy) and his buddy Danny (Akemnji Ndifornyan) are caught after a robbery and sentenced to two years in a juvenile detention center. Dean (Danny Young) has had troubles in the past. Although he has kept his nose clean, his old friend Charlie pulls a stunt that lands Dean back behind bars. In the center, Sam harasses Dean. Each of the characters must figure out how to survive in this brutal setting. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

In modern-day London, three men and three women fall in and out of love and back again, to the Greek-chorus accompaniment of two cab drivers (Ian Hart and John Thomson), who engage in an ongoing conversation about sex. In one pairing, Eleanor (Olivia Williams), a sophisticated and slightly anal art restorer, is pitted against Frankie (Craig Ferguson), a smartly dressed divorcee who still shares a flat with his bitter ex-wife. The two meet one night at a salsa club, and a caustic attraction soon flourishes. Another pairing sees Mo (Jane Horrocks), a tough, love-'em-and-leave-'em Liverpuddlian, reunite with Eddie (Jimi Mistry), a clumsy bloke who was in love with Mo years before and now dreams of winning her back. Meanwhile, Jocelyn (Catherine McCormack), a young woman both neurotic and without self-esteem, finds unlikely happiness with the slovenly Fergus (David Morrissey), who bemoans the lack of love in his life. Born Romantic is the second feature of British writer/director David Kane, who made his feature debut with the similarly themed This Year's Love in 1999. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

Gerard Stembridge directs this charming comedy about a handsome stranger who wreaks havoc on an entire family. Pub torch singer Lucy Owen (Kate Hudson) falls for Adam (Stuart Townsend) as soon as she lays eyes on him. Tired of a string of failed short-termed relationships, she succumbs to Adam's radiate charisma and agrees to marry him after only knowing him for a scant couple of days. Yet when she brings him home to her family, she finds to her dismay that his magnetism works equally well on her two older sisters. The middle one, Laura (Frances O'Connor), is a shy bookish sort whose love for poetry proves to be her weakness, while eldest sister Alice (Charlotte Bradley) is aloof at first, but eventually she also yields to his wiles. This film was screened at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Previously filmed by such cinematic geniuses as Jean Renoir and Vincente Minnelli, Gustave Flaubert's once-scandalous 1857 novel Madame Bovary was transformed into a two-part British miniseries in 2000. Set in the rural Normandy of the 1830s and 1840s, this is the story of Emma Rouault (Frances O'Connor), the pampered, well-educated daughter of a wealthy gentleman. Much to her own surprise, Emma accepts the marriage proposal of Charles Bovary (Hugh Bonneville), the provincial doctor who ministers to M. Rouault during a moment of medical crisis. Once she has become Madame Bovary, Emma quickly grows bored with her bourgeois existence, retreating into erotic fantasies stoked by her addiction to romantic novels. Inevitably, Emma strays from her marital vows, first with a handsome young clerk named Leon (Hugh Dancy), then with dashing country squire Rodolphe (Greg Wise). In order to sustain the lavish lifestyle which she feels is her basic right, Emma squanders all of her husband's money -- which plays right into the hands of usurious draper Lheureux (Keith Barron), who has his own wicked plans for the foolishly extravagant Mme. Bovary. In the United States, Madame Bovary was telecast on February 6 and 13, 2000, as part of the PBS Masterpiece Theatre anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Following up on the critical drubbing of the Final Cut, the same cast and crew, TV comedians Dominic Anciano and Ray Burdis, along with Britpack hipsters Jonny Lee Miller, Jude Law, Rhys Ifans, and Sadie Frost, come together to make this crime comedy about guns, karaoke, and fart jokes. The film opens with bored postman Jonny (Lee Miller) in clown-face reminiscing about his mate Jude (Law), who introduced him to his crime lord uncle Ray Kreed (Ray Winstone). Though Jonny is hungry for some action, Ray is more interested in karaoke and his impeding nuptials with soap star Sadie (Frost). Bored, Jonny, along with Jude, bungle a credit card scam and then later really screw up by robbing high-grade blow from a South London gang headed by Sean (Sean Pertwee) and his sidekick Matthew (Ifans). Soon a gang war ensues. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi