Rachel Griffiths

The Lonesome Dove saga continues in this prequel starring Val Kilmer, Steve Zahn, Linda Cardellini, and Rachel Griffiths. Texas Rangers Woodrow Call and Agustus McCrae may be getting up there in years, but their determination to capture Comanche war chief Buffalo Hunt, Comanche horse thief Kicking Wolf, and an elusive Mexican bandit king certainly hasn't faded with age. Now, as Gus attempts to resolve his personal issues with longtime love Clara Forsythe and Call comes to terms with his feelings for local prostitute Maggie Tilton, fellow Texas Rangers Deets, Jake Spoon, and Pea Eye Parker do their best to safeguard the advancing western frontier from the legions of Comanches who have vowed to defend their land to the death. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

An aspiring ballerina from a wealthy family learns some lessons about both dancing and life from a roughneck with soul in this teen drama. Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum) grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in a rough section of Baltimore, and has been in and out of trouble with the law most of his life. Finding himself before the judge yet again, Tyler is sentenced to 200 hours of community service, and he ends up mopping floors at the Maryland School of the Arts. Tyler catches the eye of Nora (Jenna Dewan), a gifted ballet student who is trying to incorporate hip-hop moves into her classical routines. None of Nora's fellow students seem to be on the same page as her, but Tyler is a talented street dancer with strength, moves, and enthusiasm. Despite the misgivings of the school's administrators, Nora persuades Tyler to team up with her for a major class project. Tyler gains a new self-respect as he gives in to the discipline of the dance academy, but he wonders if this new opportunity means turning his back on who he really is. Matters become all the more complicated when Tyler and Nora realize they're falling in love. Step Up was the first directorial credit for choreographer Anne Fletcher, who designed dance routines for the films Bring It On, She's All That, and Boogie Nights. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Cultural conflicts threaten to derail the relationship between a determined youth counselor and her headstrong young charge in this drama from Girls Town director Jim McKay. Despite being labeled a delinquent by the child welfare system, African-American inner-city youth Angel (Jonan Everett) is in reality just a troubled teen attempting to survive in his harsh surroundings. When Angel is kicked out of his home on the heels of a heated argument with his father, Angel's pregnant, thirtysomething counselor, Nicole (Rachel Griffiths), warmly accepts the troubled boy into her home until the birth of her baby. As Angel begins to drift back into the self-defeating patterns that led to the rift with his father and Nicole ponders the effect that childbirth will have on her identity, the pair's already fragile relationship threatens to crumble amidst these weighty issues. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The mysterious death of Lisa Fisher (Lili Taylor) -- revealed in the third-season finale, "I'm Sorry, I'm Lost" -- casts a dark shadow across the entire fourth season of this critically acclaimed HBO drama. As funeral director Nate (Peter Krause) grapples with single parenthood and the aftermath of his wife's apparent drowning, he makes his way back into the arms of ex-girlfriend Brenda (Rachel Griffiths). Their reunion does little to help Brenda's budding romance with a hunky neighbor (Justin Theroux), but it does plenty to upset Lisa's grieving family. Meanwhile, David (Michael C. Hall) finds his newfound domesticity with boyfriend Keith (Mathew St. Patrick) interrupted by a surreal carjacking incident. As David slowly cracks up, Keith goes out on the road to provide security for trashy pop star Celeste (guest star Michelle Trachtenberg), who at one point unexpectedly seduces him. Art-school student Claire (Lauren Ambrose), too, find herself batting for the other team when she takes up with audacious performance artist Edie (guest star Mena Suvari). The relationship doesn't last, but ex-boyfriend Russell (Ben Foster) does help Claire stumble upon the new artistic direction that will lead to her first gallery show. Fisher matriarch Ruth (Frances Conroy) slowly gets to know the real George Sibley (new series regular James Cromwell), whom she impulsively married before learning about his history of mental illness. Meanwhile, family man Federico (Freddy Rodriguez) finds his own marriage disintegrating after he gets caught up in an affair with a needy lap dancer (guest star Idalis DeLeon). With its even darker-than-usual storylines, apocalyptic imagery, and shocking revelations, the fourth season of Six Feet Under alienated some fans and critics. Nevertheless, the show remained a strong ratings performer during this slightly shorter, 12-episode run. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

The brothers of the Kirby family have come to a crossroads. Alex (David Wenham) stands at the brink of a crumbling marriage, Toby (Samuel Johnson) is trying desperately to start a family, and Marty (Hugo Weaving) can't seem to revive his stalled music career. All three of the brothers have unresolved issues with their father Cliff (Ray Barrett), who is succumbing to Alzheimer's, and now, in order to face the future, each of these men will have to reach into the painful past to unearth the suffering and turmoil they left there. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

Gregor Jordan's version of the Australian legend Ned Kelly stars Heath Ledger as the title outlaw. Sixteen-year-old Irish immigrant Ned is sentenced to three years in prison for stealing a horse. After his release he finds work tending to horses owned by Richard Cook (Nicholas Bell), whose wife (Naomi Watts) grows interested in Ned. Fitzpatrick (Kiri Paramore) is a police officer with a yen for Ned's sister Kate (Kerry Condon). When she rejects him, Fitzpatrick steals the family's animals. The brothers are falsely accused of a crime and go into hiding, leading to the assault and arrest of their beloved mother. Francis Hare (Geoffrey Rush) is eventually brought on to stop the gang that becomes famous after a string of bank robberies. The film also features Orlando Bloom (of Lord of the Rings fame) and Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under). The most recent version of this oft-filmed tale featured Mick Jagger as the infamous Kelly in 1970. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

The true story of a middle-aged baseball rookie comes to the screen from Finding Forrester (2000) screenwriter Mike Rich and the studio behind the previous year's equally inspirational sports drama Remember the Titans (2001). Twelve years ago, the pro baseball aspirations of Texas pitcher Jim Morris (Dennis Quaid) were derailed by a severe shoulder injury. Jim became a high school science teacher and baseball coach, married his sweetheart, Lorri (Rachel Griffiths), and settled down to raise a family. After corrective surgery repairs, despite the longstanding damage to his shoulder, Jim discovers that he can pitch a ball even faster than he could before. When his team delivers a lackluster on-field performance in a losing game, coach and players agree to a wager: If they'll make it to the district championships, he'll try out for a major league ball club. When his team makes it to the championship and wins for the first time in the school's history, Jim is forced to live up to his end of the bargain. Nearly laughed off the field, he confounds the pro scouts by tossing successive fastballs that clock at nearly 100 miles per hour. It seems that Jim is about to live his dream of joining a major league team in middle age, when most players are planning their retirement. The Rookie (2002) co-stars Brian Cox, Beth Grant, and Jay Hernandez. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

The second season of HBO's critically acclaimed series Six Feet Under finds the Fisher family struggling to keep Fisher & Sons, their funeral home, from being bought up by Kroehner, one of the leading conglomerates in the local death business. Meanwhile, the Fishers grow exponentially complex: Nate (Peter Krause) is baffled when his relationship with Brenda (Rachel Griffiths) becomes unhealthy, both emotionally and sexually; David (Michael C. Hall) continues his rocky relationship with Keith (Mathew St. Patrick) and slowly comes out of the closet; Ruth's (Frances Conroy) eccentricities keep her from fully realizing a relationship with her family and lovers; and Claire's (Lauren Ambrose) romance with the troubled Gabe (Eric Balfour) takes a turn for the destructive. Meanwhile, the entire family is still reeling from the impact of Nate Sr.'s (Richard Jenkins) death, and some members, particularly Nate, who is coming to terms with a potentially deadly medical diagnosis, are met by what appears to be Nate Sr.'s ghost when their sense of self is at its most complicated. The family is simultaneously rocked and brought together when Nate (Krause) finally reveals the news of his AVM, a rare brain condition which, without a highly risky operation, will likely cause Nate an early death. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

A Welsh woman is belatedly forced to come out of her shell when poor fortune befalls her family and friends in this kitchen-sink comedy. Annie Mary (Rachel Griffiths) is a woman in her early thirties who seems never to have finished growing up; she still lives at home with her widowed father Jack (Jonathan Pryce), hasn't established much of a life of her own, and can't get her relationship with her boyfriend Colin (Rhys Miles Thomas) to go anywhere. Jack, an enthusiastic ladies' man with a passion for opera and no modesty about sharing his vocal talents with those around him, runs a bakery, and is known to sing the occasional aria for the edification of fellow motorists as he delivers bread. Annie-Mary has been slowly saving up money for a down payment on a flat of her own until disaster strikes and Jack suffers a stroke. Confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak, Jack is incapable of running the bakery, and it falls to Annie-Mary to keep the business afloat. Attempting to rise to the occasion, Annie-Mary decides to give the bakery a make-over, with limited success, but as she tries to keep the business going and care for her father, Annie-Mary discovers that one of her closest friends, Bethan (Joanna Page), is suffering from a serious illness and hasn't long to live. Bethan has always wanted to visit America and see Disneyland, so Annie-Mary hatches a plan to raise the money by winning a local talent show; despite her feeble dancing ability, Annie-Mary decides to form a pop group with her friends, in hopes of fulfilling one of her foiled ambitions from her teenage years. Though shot in 1999, Very Annie-Mary didn't find its way to theaters until 2001. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

When the tiny burgh of Keighley lands the rights to host the annual British hairdressing championships, practically every city in the United Kingdom is represented in the competition -- except Keighley itself. It seems the event is team-oriented, and the only suitable local contestants had a huge falling out a decade ago. For Brian (Josh Hartnett), the son of two hairdressers, that falling out had personal consequences: His mother Shelley (Natasha Richardson) left his father Phil (Alan Rickman) to take up with Phil's hair model Sandra (Rachel Griffiths). Since then, former styling champ Phil has settled for training Brian to help run his lowly barber shop, while Shelley and Sandra have opened a salon of their own. But when Shelley learns that she has terminal cancer, she reaches out to her family in hopes that a reunion for the hairdressing contest might help them all find some sense of closure. To complicate matters, Phil's old arch-nemesis, Ray (Bill Nighy), is now a two-time champ looking for a three-peat, and he's brought along his beautiful American daughter Christina (Rachael Leigh Cook) to work on his team. Blow Dry also marks the screen debut of supermodel Heidi Klum. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Perhaps inspired by the success of biopics like Shine and Amadeus, this film based on a true story -- and a book (entitled A Genius in the Family) -- also focuses on the destructive forces of being a musical genius. Hilary and Jacqueline du Pré are gifted sisters who grow up in England in the 1950s and compete for musical accolades and love. Hilary (Rachel Griffiths) is a talented flutist, but it's her younger sister, Jackie (Breaking the Waves' Emily Watson), who is the musical "genius" cellist. The film follows their sibling rivalry in musical competition and romance. Though extremely close as children, it is younger sister Jackie who eventually becomes the international star, marrying top pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim. Hilary marries her true love, Kiffer Finzi (David Morrissey), and settles in a beautiful country home with her two children. But who is jealous of whom? Hilary receives an unexpected visit from Jackie, asking her sister for a chance to live a normal life and to sleep with Kiffer. Later, Jackie suffers from multiple sclerosis, and the sisters strive to repair the emotional damage of their long-standing rivalry. ~ Arthur Borman, All Movie Guide

On the eve of near-future Northern Ireland's first general election, well-marketed reformer Michael Brinn (Robert Lindsay), a shoo-in for prime minister, has newspaper columnist Dan Starkey's dander up. Working the election beat alongside visiting Boston Globe writer Charles Parker (Richard Gant), Starkey (David Thewlis) watches his pointed barbs slide off Brinn's Teflon-coated backside. Drowning his troubles in drink in a Belfast park, Starkey invites beautiful art student Margaret (Laura Fraser) to a friend's party, unaware of her ties to both the IRA and to Brinn's political party. When Starkey's wife (Laine Megaw) catches him canoodling with Margaret, she kicks Starkey out and he ends up in Margaret's bed. When the girl turns up mortally wounded a mere day later, mouthing the words "divorcing Jack" just before her death rattle, Starkey finds himself a suspect in the murder. Donning a ridiculous wig and going on the lam, he must fend off a nationwide manhunt while tracing the connection between Margaret's death and the upcoming election. Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, this British/French co-production marked director David Caffrey's feature debut. Irish writer Colin Bateman adapted his own novel, one of several to feature Starkey as a protagonist. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

In a small city in the English midlands, a Pakistani immigrant named Parvez (Om Puri) works long hours driving a cab to provide modest comfort for his disapproving wife, Minoo (Gopi Desai), and better opportunities for his collegiate son, Farid (Akbar Kurtha). When Farid breaks off his engagement with the daughter of the city's white police commissioner, drops out of university and joins a cell of Islamic fundamentalists, Parvez must bide his time and hope that his son will come around to his own liberal, assimilationist views. Meanwhile, a monied German entrepreneur named Schitz (Stellan Skarsgard) arrives in town on business and retains Parvez's services as not only driver but navigator of the city's steamy underbelly. Parvez recommends the services of Bettina (Rachel Griffiths), a local hooker with whom he has struck up an unlikely but warm friendship. Schitz's callous treatment of both of his new employees soon, however, sickens Parvez. After his son convinces Parvez to let a visiting holy man move into the family home, the conflicts between Parvez's nocturnal activities and his home life escalate. The screenplay was adapted by Hanif Kureishi from his own short story, which appears in the collection Love in a Blue Time. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide