Anna Chancellor Movies

Screen star Jonathan Pryce deftly portrays Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary sleuth in the made-for-television production Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars. Based on an original story in lieu of a Doyle novel, the feature revolves around a group of characters known as The Baker Street Irregulars, street urchins who appeared in a number of the Holmes novels and occasionally help the famous detective solve crimes. In this feature, the pack must solve a mystery surrounding two of their own who suddenly and inexplicably vanish; meanwhile, Holmes himself is arrested and tried for homicide, and it is up to the youngsters to come to the rescue on both fronts. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Originally produced in the U.K. for BBC1, where it first aired on October 9, 2002, the three-part miniseries Tipping the Velvet was adapted from Sarah Waters' best-selling debut novel of the same name. Set in the 1890s, the series focuses on the romance between Nan Astley (played by Rachel Stirling, daughter of actress Diana Rigg), a cook in the seaside restaurant owned by her father, and Kitty Butler (Keeley Hawes), a musical hall entertainer specializing in male impersonation. Given the strict (and somewhat hypocritical) moral restrictions of the Victorian era, the lesbian relationship between Nancy and Kitty must be kept a closely guarded secret, except in the hedonistic underground circles in which the actress and her libertine friends travel. Tipping the Velvet was brought to the US by way of the BBC America digital-cable service beginning May 23, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A mother's love turns deadly in the wake of an organ transplant in the thriller Heart. Gary Ellis (Christopher Eccleston) is a businessman, while his wife Tess (Kate Hardie) works in television. Gary and Tess don't get along very well, largely because he's convinced she's having an affair. One day, Gary has a major heart attack, and is soon confined to a wheelchair while doctors wait for a suitable donor for a heart transplant. Tess takes this opportunity to finally start having that affair Gary's been talking about, with a writer named Alex (Rhys Ifans). One day, Gary is rushed to the hospital after Sean (Matthew Rhys), a teenage aspiring boxer, is brought to the emergency room near death. Sean dies, and his heart is transplanted to Gary. After recovery, Gary is a new man, and Tess is so delighted she gives Alex his walking papers. But then Sean's mother Maria (Saskia Reeves) enters the picture; while at first Gary wanted to know what sort of person's heart was beating in his chest, now Maria is trying to work her way into the Ellis's lives, certain her son's hopes and dreams now live on in Gary's chest. Shot in 1997, Heart didn't receive a release in Europe until 1999, though it did play several film festivals the previous year. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The line between reality and fiction becomes increasingly blurred as an ailing screenwriter struggles with a story that seems to come to life before his eyes. A self-destructive loaner whose battle with pancreatic cancer has left him embittered and in great pain, Daniel Feeld (Albert Finney) decides to focus his attention on an a new screenplay entitled "Karaoke." A lurid tale concerning the murder of a young girl working in a seedy karaoke bar, the story soon begins to invade Feeld's reality when he overhears people speaking the dialogue that he had written and finds that the people working in a local karaoke dive not only share his character's names, but their lives as well. Drawn to the suspiciously familiar plight of hostess Sandra (Saffron Burrows), Feeld's suspicions of thuggish club-owner Arthur "Pig" Mallion (Hywel Bennett) begin to mount as Feeld increasingly questions both his health and sanity. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

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

A woman edging into middle age finally finds the love of a lifetime; too bad she can't convince her best friends it's for real in this lively romantic comedy. Kate (Andie MacDowell), Molly (Anna Chancellor), and Janine (Imelda Staunton) are three close friends in their early forties who have been sharing a long run of bad luck in the field of romance. While all three are successful in their careers -- Kate has been named headmistress of an upscale private school, Molly is a doctor, and Janine's a police detective -- they've been striking out in the dating scene, and they get together on a regular basis to compare notes and drown their sorrows in cocktails and chocolate. One day, while attending the funeral of a colleague, Kate makes the acquaintance of Jed (Kenny Doughty), a good-looking man who remembers Kate as one of his teachers when he attended the school years ago. Despite the decade-and-a-half gap in their ages, there's a strong mutual attraction between Kate and Jed, and before the day is over the two are enjoying an affair. Molly and Janine are at once amused and appalled at Kate for dating a younger man, and while she tells them it's a short-lived fling that means little to either party, neither Kate nor Jed wants to walk away from their relationship; before long Kate and Jed decide they've fallen in love and plan to get married. The harder Molly and Janine try to convince Kate that she's making a mistake, the more Kate is determined to tie the knot with Jed, and eventually Molly and Janine decide to take drastic measures -- Molly hatches a plan to seduce Jed, while Janine captures their tryst on videotape. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Set near the end of 1899, as a new century is due to arrive and many people struggle to keep up with an era in flux, this drama follows the goings-on at a medical clinic operated by Professor Mandry (Charles Dance). Mandry appears somewhat progressive to his top student and right-hand man, Paul Reisner (Clive Owen), given his willingness to hire women and blacks - but Reisner's unchecked enthusiasm for Mandry soon fades when he discovers Mandry's hesitancy to acknowledge the importance of Felix's work on diabetic disorders, and his willingness to propagate eugenics via the enforced sterlization of impoverished British women. Eventually, their disagreements lead to the younger man's suspension; Paul then turns to Clara (Miranda Richardson), a free-thinking young woman working at the clinic who shows tremendous professional and emotional support to him. Soon they become lovers, but have disagreements of their own regarding medical ethics. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Willem Dafoe stars as groundbreaking early 20th century American poet T.S. Eliot in this biopic focusing on Eliot's disastrous marriage. Young Tom Eliot meets the flamboyant Vivienne Haigh-Wood (Miranda Richardson) while they are both students at Oxford University in England in 1914. Eliot is studying under the famous writer and philosopher Bertrand Russell (Nickolas Grace). Tom and Viv elope after a very brief courtship, without the consent of her parents and against the advice of Viv's brother Maurice (Tim Dutton). On the honeymoon, Tom learns that Viv suffers from a severe hormonal imbalance which causes frequent menstruation. She is under the care of a doctor who calls her problems emotional and prescribes medications which worsen her condition. Viv is moody, often despondent, and frequently drunk. While Tom works as a bank clerk and tries to establish himself as a writer, Viv serves as his secretary and sometimes his muse, but more and more often she embarrasses them in public with her behavior. Yet her influence prevents Tom, who wants to become thoroughly British and a member of the Church of England, from becoming too staid. Eventually, Tom reluctantly commits his wife to a mental asylum and their troubled marriage continues to plague his life and color his work. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Fifteen-year-old CIA operative Cody Banks (played by Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz) is back in action in this comedy adventure, which sends the youthful secret agent to Old Blighty. Banks returns to Kamp Woody, the CIA training center disguised as a summer camp, where he's given a new partner, the bumbling but sharp-witted Derek (Anthony Anderson), and a new assignment, to track down a sinister double-agent who has made off with an experimental mind-control machine. The villain has made his way to Great Britain, so Banks is enrolled in an upscale private school in England, where he's forced to join the school band despite his lack of musical talent and finds himself working alongside Emily (Hannah Spearritt), a fellow teenage espionage agent. Keith David, Daniel Roebuck, and Cynthia Stevenson all return from the first film, while British filmmaker Kevin Allen takes over as director. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Jon Amiel directed this satire on mistaken-identity thrillers and the spy genre, scripted by Robert Farrar, Tim John, and Oliver Butcher from Farrar's unpublished novel, Watch That Man. In the female lead, Joanne Whalley returned to films after a three-year absence, choosing to do so with director Amiel. Farrar's Hitchcockian-style story focuses on naive Blockbuster Video clerk Wallace Ritchie (Bill Murray) who travels from Des Moines, Iowa, to London to celebrate his birthday with his wealthy younger brother, James (Peter Gallagher). When he turns up on the same night that James has plans to attend a high-profile client dinner party (that he hopes will bring him millions from a German investment firm), James needs to keep Wallace away during the evening, so he gives Wallace a ticket to the participatory Theater of Life. The theater game requires Wallace to assume a character and interact with actors portraying people in dramatic situations.

At the corner phone booth, the initial call should begin the evening of innocent fun. However, the phone instructions Wallace receives are actually intended for an assassin, part of a scheme to end the current UK regime and revive the Cold War. The real assassin gets the call from the Theater of Life. Blissfully unaware, Wallace walks without fear into a complex web of intrigue involving defense ministers, call girls, and Russian hitmen. For Wallace, all the world's a stage, and he's amazed at the skill of the actors, including beautiful enigmatic Lori (Joanne Whalley) -- while Wallace's pursuers are mystified by their adversary's fearlessness in the face of threats, torture and bullets. Farrar got the idea for this comedy from a chance remark at a party: "The inspiration came from a dinner party, when somebody told me about these strange live theater performances which were all the rage in England in the '80s. The idea was to telephone for instructions if you wanted to take part. My immediate reaction was, 'Wouldn't it be fabulous if somebody got the wrong number, and it all went hopelessly wrong?'" Filming took place in London's East End (Three Mills Studios), at a variety of London locations, and just outside London at the Elstree Film Studios. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

A man and his marriage on the verge of a hilarious meltdown

How do you know when you're having a midlife crisis? Maybe it's when you can't remember exactly where your wife works - or whether she works at all. Or when your children have a more active sex life than you do. Or maybe it's when you start to hear the unspoken thoughts inside other people's heads.

Hugh Laurie (House) stars as Paul Slippery, an anxiety-ridden British doctor suffering from all those symptoms and more. His wife (Anna Chancellor, Four Weddings and a Funeral) has embarked on a new career and perhaps an extramarital affair or two. His three oversexed sons mock him without mercy. And at work he's tangled in red tape and tormented by a flaky colleague.

Guest stars include Stephen Fry, Laurie's partner-in-comedy from shows such as A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Jeeves and Wooster, and Blackadder. With its delightful cast and zany repartee, Fortysomething turns the fears and foibles of middle age into high comedy of the kookiest kind.