Saïd Taghmaoui Movies

When a powerful force of supernatural evil threatens to destroy Hyboria, legendary Cimmerian warrior Conan (Jason Momoa) raises his sword against mythical monsters and treacherous enemies. Ron Perlman, Rose McGowan, Stephen Lang, and Rachel Nichols co-star in a sweeping fantasy adventure based on the character created by Robert E. Howard, and directed by Marcus Nispel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

An undercover CIA agent within a terrorist cell is marked as a terrorist suspect by the FBI in Overture Films' upcoming thriller Traitor. Don Cheadle produces and stars in the film as the operative under Guy Pearce's investigation. Based on an idea by Steve Martin, the film is written and directed by Day After Tomorrow screenwriter Jeffrey Nachmanoff. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Forest Whitaker, Dennis Quaid, William Hurt, and Matthew Fox star in director Pete Travis' Rashomon-style thriller in which an assassination attempt on the president of the United States is detailed from five unique perspectives. As the president arrives in Salamanca, gunshots ring out. An American tourist (Whitaker) has captured footage of the would-be assassin on videotape, and now, as the stories of the other four witnesses unfold, each essential piece of the puzzle quickly falls into place. Only when all of the stories are told will the chilling truth to this shocking crime finally emerge. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Alternating between the unique vantage points of the Jews, the Arabs, and the British, director Elie Chouraqui's historical drama re-creates the landmark struggle surrounding the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. From the concrete jungle of New York City to the desert paradise of the Holy Land, two young Americans -- one Jewish and the other Arab -- are forced to make an incredible series of life-altering sacrifices in order to fight for their dreams. As the struggle for control of Jerusalem gets under way, the Jews, Arabs, and Brits must all address such difficult issues as terrorism, politics, courage, and deprivation with a newfound sense of honesty and urgency. Drawing inspiration from authors Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre's best-selling novel of the same name, O Jerusalem offers a textured commentary on a conflict that continues to stir controversy in the 21st century. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Five years after achieving commercial and critical success with his film Three Kings, director and screenwriter David O. Russell returns to the more idiosyncratic territory of his earlier work with this intelligent and offbeat comedy. Bernard and Vivian Jaffe (Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin) are a married couple who run an existential detective agency where they sift through the lives of their clients in order to discover the source of their angst. The Jaffes' latest client is Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman), an environmental activist who has a very large rock and a great deal on his mind; their study of Albert's problems lead Bernard and Vivian to Brad Stand (Jude Law), a public relations executive with a chain of successful variety stores, Huckabees. While publicly allying himself with Albert's environmental initiatives, behind the scenes Brad is running roughshod over responsible land management with little care for the consequences. When Brad learns he's being watched by the Jaffes, he hopes to co-opt them by hiring them himself; however, the plan has unexpected consequences when their questioning leads Brad's girlfriend, well-scrubbed model Dawn (Naomi Watts), into reassessing her life and relationships. Meanwhile, Albert finds himself joining forces with Tommy (Mark Wahlberg), a firefighter and fellow environmentalist who has been having second thoughts about Bernard and Vivian's ideas and methods after a long-term investigation and has since fallen under the spell of nihilist poet and philosopher Caterine Vauban (Isabelle Huppert). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

David Mamet writes and directs the political thriller Spartan. Respected Secret Service agent Robert Scott (Val Kilmer) is assigned to the kidnapping case of Laura Newton (Kristen Bell), the missing daughter of a high-ranking political figure. Scott is teamed up with rookie Curtis (Derek Luke). Aided by the FBI and the CIA, the team discovers a human trafficking operation that may lead to Laura's kidnappers. Meanwhile, political operative Stoddard (William H. Macy) refuses to cooperate with the rescue mission. Scott and Curtis are forced to quit the investigation when the media reports Laura's death. Believing her to be alive, Curtis is motivated to start up a dangerous unofficial investigation of his own. Spartan premiered at the Bangkok International Film Festival in 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Loosely based on Jean-Pierre Melville's French film noir Bob le Flambeur, this heist film from director Neil Jordan (Interview With the Vampire, The Crying Game) stars Nick Nolte as Bob, an aging American thief living in the French city of Nice. Addicted to both heroin and gambling, Bob is in the midst of an extended personal losing streak when he rescues a new girl in town named Anne (Nutsa Kukhianidze) from her pimp. When the opportunity to steal a fortune in rare paintings from a Monte Carlo casino comes along, Bob hopes for a score big enough to let him retire from his life of crime. His only hindrances are Anne's man troubles and his nemesis, local police chief Roger (Tchéky Karyo). The Good Thief also features acting performances by Emir Kusturica (director of Underground and Arizona Dream) and Ralph Fiennes. ~ Tom Vick, Rovi

A group of medical therapists gets a new perspective on a patient's well-being in this drama with comic accents from France. Rene is a man in his early fifties who worked hard and led an active life until he was stricken with a degenerative disease that is slowly destroying his muscle tissues. Rene had already lost control of his legs when one of his arms begins to fail him, and he finds himself placed in an extended care facility for the physically and mentally handicapped, where he soon gains a reputation as a difficult patient. One day, while Julie (Nadia Kaci), one of the nurses, is tending to Rene, he announces that one of the reasons why he's so cranky is that he's desperate to have sex. Julie and her co-worker Sandrine (Chantal Neuwirth) ponder Rene's problem and decide they've been ignoring their patient's sexual needs, so they try to figure out what they can do for him. Rene is not averse to spending an evening with a prostitute, but they discover there are legal complications to this plan; if Julie or Sandrine obtain a hooker for Rene, they could be arrested for pimping, with the facility also liable. Searching for a loophole, Julie and Sandrine discover that they would be afforded legal protection if a doctor were willing to prescribe a session with a prostitute for Rene, but getting a doctor to write a script instructing Rene to pay a woman for sex is an uphill battle in itself. Meanwhile, Julie has her own love life to think about -- she's infatuated with self-centered therapist Jacques (Julien Boisselier), even though Roland (Lionel Abelanski), a drab but good-natured delivery man, is obviously in love with her. Shot on digital video, Nationale 7 was transferred to 35 mm film for its theatrical engagements; the film received its North American premiere at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A video-game obsessed street thug imprisoned for a failed robbery attempts to turn over a new leaf by designing a revolutionary video game that could be his ticket to a brighter future. When twenty-two year old loser Tony (Saïd Taghmaoui) isn't out on the streets mugging people for local mob boss Albert (Jean-Pierre Kalfon), he spends most of his time locked away playing video games. Derived of his favorite pastime after being sentenced to eight months in prison for a failed robbery, Tony draws on his platform experience to develop a revolutionary new type of game. Now if he can just convince a prominent buyer that the idea is in fact profitable, Tony may have something to look forward to once he's released back out into the real world. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A handful of street kids in Casablanca struggle to pay tribute to a fallen comrade in this drama. Ali Zaoua (Abdelhak Zhayra) is a homeless boy who runs with his friends Omar (Mustapha Hansali), Boubker (Hicham Moussane), and Kouka (Maunim Kbab), all of whom get by on their wits and often stray into petty crime to provide food, clothing, and shelter. The four boys were once under the thumb of Dib (Said Taghmaoui), a man who lords over a gang of young criminals, but under Ali's guidance they've decided to strike out on their own rather than share their meager earnings with Dib. Ali claims he's soon to sail away from this village to a better life, which his friends don't quite believe. However, after Ali is killed by Dib's goons, they learn he had indeed been hired as a cabin boy on a ship. Omar, Boubker, and Kouka pledge to arrange for a proper funeral for their late friend, whose body they're hiding from Dib and his men; however, paying for Ali's internment proves to be no easy task. Ali Zaoua received its North American premiere at the 2000 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Three stars team up for this unusual look at America's role in the war against Iraq. In 1991, as the Gulf War winds to a close, three American servicemen find themselves happy to have achieved victory but wondering about the ultimate importance of what they've done (especially since Saddam Hussein is still in power). Major Archie Gates (George Clooney) is a decorated Vietnam veteran and special forces officer with two weeks to go before he retires; Sgt. Troy Barlow (Mark Wahlberg) has a new baby at home; and Chief Elgin (Ice Cube) is probably just going to end up back in Detroit. So when one of them comes across a map that seems to point out where Saddam's forces have stashed a large cache of gold they stole from Kuwait, they decide to follow the trail and take some of the war booty for themselves. However, the deeper they journey into Iraq, the more they see of the consequences of America's policies in the Middle East. Although President George Bush and the American military urged Iraqi citizens to rise up against Saddam Hussein, and pledged their support to a people's movement against the leader, Iraqis found that when they took to the streets against Saddam, the United States did not back them up, and the loss of Iraqi lives was fearsome. When Gates, Barlow and Elgin become aware of what's happening, they're torn between their desire to grab the fortune they came for and the demands of their conscience to help the people they came to liberate. Three Kings was directed by David O. Russell and marked a significant change of direction after his dark-humored relationship comedies, Spanking the Monkey and Flirting with Disaster. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This French prison drama focuses on a penitentiary inmate known as the Mute (Olivier Martinez), who either cannot or will not speak, even though he can apparently hear well enough. When the Mute's cellmate escapes, both the Warden (Bernard Le Coq) and the Chief Guard (Claude Brasseur) try to get him to tell what he knows about the disappearance -- the Guard through violence, the Warden by transferring him to a new cell with four other prisoners and cutting off TV privileges to the inmates until the Mute spills the beans. One of the Mute's new roommates is a white collar criminal (Said Taghmaoui) who has just landed in prison and is not dealing well with the pressures of life behind bars, but his skills with computers make him a very usefully ally among the prisoners. Meanwhile, Flic (Gilbert Melki), a self-important police detective, is investigating the escape of the Mute's cellmate and is not happy with the low level of cooperation among the prison's population. La Taule received its North American premiere at Montreal's World Film Festival in 1999. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Accused of corruption and unwilling to squeal upon his alleged cohorts, well-known Italian politician Massimo De Longhi (Massimo De Francovich) exchanges the amenities of his cushy position for the harsher realities of prison life. Determined to get the information he needs from De Longhi, his enemy and prosecutor Fausto Silvestri (Franco Castellano) is willing to leave the uncooperative politico in jail until he rots. De Longhi shares his cell with Bartolomeo (Gianni Cavina), who says that he was jailed for selling a few illegal copies of Disney movies. Other cellmates include a Pole who is obsessed with an inflatable doll and a Moroccan burglar who may have AIDS. Italian director Giancarlo Planta's drama simultaneously castigates corrupt public figures, and warns of a legal system in which those who commit nonviolent crimes and await trial are forced to co-mingle (with no bail) with hardened criminals. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi