James Fleet Movies

For those who have been there, India can be a bureaucratic nightmare, where odd and arbitrary rules are capriciously enforced by a whimsical and occasionally quite greedy series of authorities, some of them self-appointed. The situation can be considerably worsened when an honest official comes into office, a man who believes that all that country's many rules and laws should be enforced all the time. In this story, the main business of a group of former aristocrats living in central India is leading tours into a national park and re-enacting the lifestyles of colonial India. However, this has only been possible because the park's officials applied its rules with some sense of perspective. In this wry and leisurely comedy, the worst possible disaster has struck: a small-minded and very honest official has just gotten posted to the position of park director, and he is bent on following the letter of the law. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this film, Barbara, a middle-aged woman living in Edinburgh in the present, is overwhelmed by memories of Greta, her long-dead mother from the 1930s to the 1950s. Flashbacks show the girl with her poetess mother in Edinburgh and the Orkney Isles. Her mother was fascinated by the sea which would later claim her life. In the present, one of her long-time friends is a well-known artist, and Barbara begins to rekindle strong ties with him when they meet at a gallery showing. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This acclaimed British comedy centers on the intermittent romance between a charming (if slightly bumbling) Englishman and a beautiful American woman, who seem to always run into each other at weddings. Indeed, it is at the first of the title's four weddings that Charles (Hugh Grant) and Carrie (Andie McDowell) meet, enjoying a brief but fleeting connection. The spark is rekindled several months later, when they unexpectedly meet at another wedding. Unfortunately, however, Carrie has become engaged to another, a fact that complicates matters for them both. The story may seem simple, but the film is elevated by screenwriter Richard Curtis' ear for witty dialogue and a colorful supporting cast. Director Mike Newell's sympathetic attention to character keeps the proceedings believable, and prevents the film's more serious moments from seeming mawkish. These elements, along with Grant's star-making performance as Charles, helped the film achieve unexpected international success, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

In this artful blend of suspense and black comedy, a woman who wants to find out the truth about the murder of her boyfriend finds out more than she ever suspected. When Sean (Stuart Laing) is found dead after attending a particularly uninhibited party, his girlfriend finds it hard to believe that his passing was entirely accidental, and she begins doing some amateur detective work on the matter. In time she discovers three minor-league public figures were the last to see him alive -- Angel Farnham (Con O'Neill), Andrea Wallis (Frances Barber), and Harry Roberts (James Fleet). The deeper the woman digs into the lives of these three, the more disturbed she becomes about the strange and sordid society that they inhabit, and she's drawn into a dark netherworld of crime and corruption. 3 Steps to Heaven was written and directed by Anglo-Greek filmmaker Constantine Giannaris; the film was purchased for American distribution by Miramax in 1995, but it was not seen in the United States until its video release in 2005. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The recipient of seven Oscar® nominations, this film version of Jane Austen's classic 1811 novel stars Emma Thompson as Elinor Dashwood. With her mother and sisters, Elinor struggles financially after the death of her father, who bequeathed the Dashwood estate to his oafish son by an earlier marriage. While sorting out the family's affairs, the shy, self-sacrificing Elinor secretly falls for her stepbrother-in-law, Edward Ferrars (Hugh Grant), a sensitive, well-educated bachelor who cannot court her because of his foolhardy youthful engagement to the greedy Lucy Steele (Imogen Stubbs). The grateful Dashwoods are offered a modest country home by family friends, which they accept. Once relocated, Elinor's brash, spirited sister Marianne (Kate Winslet) falls for a dashing local, John Willoughby (Greg Wise), a womanizer who nevertheless seems to share her affections. A prominent neighbor, Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman), also falls in love with Marianne, but she is oblivious to the older man's affections. Eventually, Willoughby fails Marianne, breaking her heart, until she realizes Brandon's feelings. When Edward's family disowns him, Lucy marries his brother instead, leaving him free to pursue an exultant Elinor. Thompson won the film's sole Oscar® for her screenplay adaptation of Austen's novel. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

This Spanish-French comedy set in South London seeks to demonstrate that human relationships provide an excellent example of chaos theory. Featuring a bilingual cast, the story centers on Luis, an introverted bookworm who travels to London, accompanied by his overbearing mother, to stay with his aunt Olivia. Olivia has a tempestuous relationship with a handsome television actor, Duncan. Her child belongs to him. With all these people together under one roof, the situation in the apartment is quite chaotic. However, Luis' mother eventually goes back home and Duncan, who is caught philandering at a party, gets the boot. Soon Luis and Olivia are having a torrid affair of their own until his mother returns and causes all sorts of trouble. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Season Two of the British comedy series The Vicar of Dibley yields four new episodes, the first of which, "ngagement", finds Dibley's boisterous female Vicar "Gerry" Granger (Dawn French) helping to smooth the course of romance for Dibley's two most timid citizens, Alice Tinker (Emma Chambers) and Hugo Horton (James Fleet). Next up is "Dibley Live", in which the selfsame Alice and Hugo--still unattached--help out when Gerry sets up a local radio program. In "Celebrity Vicar", Gerry gets in trouble with her parishioners after being interviewed by Terry Wogan on BBC's "Food for Thought." And in the season finale "Love and Marriage", good old Alice and Hugo are prepared to plight their troth, but a last minute crisis imperils their future happiness--not to mention the happiness of Gerry, who has been smitten by Dan Cupid herself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tara Fitzgerald stars as Lady Dona St. Columb, an affluent Londoner who takes refuge from stifling London society at her family's estate on the Cornish coast. It is there that she meets Jean Aubrey (Anthony Delon), a dashing French privateer who promptly offers her a life of romance and excitement. Leaving her dull husband, Sir Harry (James Fleet), Lady Dona takes to the high seas with her lover, but their plot to steal a ship from the English results in her having to choose between a life of duty with her husband or a life of adventure with Jean. Based upon the novel by Daphne Du Maurier. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Based on the best-selling novel by Sebastian Faulks, this drama, set in Europe during World War II, stars Cate Blanchett as Charlotte, a Scottish woman living in London. Charlotte falls in love with Peter (Rupert Penry-Jones), a handsome RAF pilot, and the two are soon caught up in a torrid affair. Before long, Peter is sent off on a mission over France, and Charlotte receives word that Peter has been reported missing in action. Fluent in French and desperate to find the man she loves, Charlotte volunteers for work with British intelligence and is soon smuggled into France where she is to work with French resistance forces, posing as a woman from Paris. As Charlotte goes about her duties and tries to find Peter, she finds herself drawn to Julien (Billy Crudup), a Communist working with resistance forces. Charlotte is assigned to pose as a domestic at the home of Julien's father, Levade (Michael Gambon), where he's hiding two Jewish boys whose parents have been captured by Nazi troops. In order to maintain her cover and protect Julien, Levade, and the boys, Charlotte finds herself drawn into a relationship with Renech (Anton Lesser), a busybody schoolteacher who is collaborationg with the occupation troops. Directed by Gillian Armstrong, Charlotte Gray also features James Fleet, Ron Cook, and Helen McCrory. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

It's the weight of tradition versus youthful vigor when loudmouth Torquay lawn bowling superstar Cliff Starkey (Paul Kaye) catches wind of an upcoming championship match between England and heated rivals Australia. He's determined to make the national team in a bid to bring his sport-of-choice into the new millennium. Quickly acquiring a flashy American agent (Vince Vaughn) and becoming the most popular player in England, Cliff vows to dethrone traditionalist champion Ray Speight (James Cromwell), who has made no secret his hatred of Cliff's brash showmanship. When Cliff starts seeing Ray's daughter, the competition really begins to heat up. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

One of the most popular stage musicals in the history of Broadway and London's West End makes its long-awaited arrival on the motion-picture screen in this lavish adaptation directed by Joel Schumacher. Christine (Emmy Rossum) is a beautiful and gifted young woman who longs to join the company of the Paris Opera House. During rehearsals for one of the opera's grand productions, a backdrop falls and crashes to the floor, nearly crushing leading lady Carlotta (Minnie Driver). When several members of the company suggest this could be the work of the "Phantom of the Opera," a spectral presence said to haunt the building, Carlotta drops out of the show, and the fates permit Christine to step in as her replacement. Christine's performance is a triumph, and on opening night she becomes reacquainted with Raoul (Patrick Wilson), a former childhood friend who is now a wealthy and well-known nobleman. Christine soon finds herself smitten with the handsome Raoul, but the same evening she makes a startling discovery -- the story of the Phantom is not just a legend. A brilliant but horribly disfigured composer (Gerard Butler) lives deep in the depths of the opera house, and taken with the beauty of Christine's voice, he abducts her and brings her to his lair, where he offers to help her perfect her talents, offering to write an opera especially for her. As the terrified Christine is comforted by Raoul, the two fall in love, but the phantom sees her affection for Raoul as a tremendous betrayal, and the jealous phantom nearly kills Christine as he nearly killed Carlotta. When the phantom emerges to present the opera's management with the piece he has written for Christine, the singer is asked to put her life on the line in an effort to capture the mad genius once and for all. Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical version of Gaston Leroux's novel, which had already enjoyed several stage and screen adaptations in the past, opened in London in 1986 and has been a popular favorite around the world ever since; the show was still running in New York and London when the film version premiered in late 2004. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide