Emily Watson Movies
With soulful, saucer-like eyes and a coy smile that hints at playfulness, Oscar-nominated actress Emily Watson burst onto the scene with her shattering performance in Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves, a role that almost went to period-piece queen Helena Bonham Carter. Born the daughter of an architect and an English professor in Islington, a borough of London, England, in January 1967, a sheltered upbringing initially led Watson to seek studies in English Literature. After studying in Bristol for three years, Watson made her first bid for drama school only to face disheartening rejection. After three years of working as a waitress and a secretary, she was eventually accepted into the London Drama Studio. It was during this early phase in her career that Watson would meet future husband Jack Waters.Launching her career upon joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992, Watson soon set her sights on film. Fate intervened when actress Helena Bonham Carter pulled out of director Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves at the last minute due to the film's explicit sexuality. Despite her lack of big-screen experience, Watson landed the female lead in the film after only one brief screen test. Playing a spiritually driven woman whose oil-rig worker husband (Stellan Saarsgaard) becomes paralized, she exhibited a brash, religiously transcendent sexuality, stunning art-house audiences and recieving an Oscar nomination in the process. Though the subsequent marriage dramedy Metroland proved to be a nostalgia trip by comparison, Watson's honest performance again earned accolades. Watson's reputation continued to grow with her intimate, conflicted portrayal of the Multiple Sclerosis-stricken concert cellist Jacqueline Du Pre in Hilary and Jackie (1998), for which she was again Oscar-nominated, as well as when she played the love interest of an eccentric chess champion in The Luzhin Defence (2000).
After joining the talented ensemble of Robert Altman's acclaimed comedy-mystery Gosford Park, Watson made serious inroads into Hollywood, first in 2002 as the love interest of a temperamental (to say the least) small-business owner played by Adam Sandler in Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love. That same fall also saw her playing the love interest of a murderous psychopath in Brett Ratner's Hannibal prequel Red Dragon, and re-teaming with Metroland co-star Christian Bale in the little-seen sci-fi action vehicle Equilibrium. After doing voice work for Tim Burton's animated gothic Corpse Bride -- alongside the very woman she replaced in Breaking the Waves, Helena Bonham-Carter -- she returned to the British art-house scene with strong performances in such films as Separate Lives and director Richard E. Grant's autobiographical Wah-Wah.
She appeared in the biopic Miss Potter, and the family fantasy film The Water Horse. In 2008 she was part of Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut Synecdoche, New York. Three years later she played the mother of a boy devoted to his beloved equine mate in Steven Spielberg's adaptation of War Horse, and in 2012 she appeared in Joe Wright's adaptation of Anna Karenina. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 2007
- PG
- Add Crusade: A March Through Time to Queue Add Crusade: A March Through Time to top of Queue
A disgraced European football (read: soccer) player inadvertently winds up in the 13th Century after breaking into his mother's advanced physicals laboratory and using her experimental time machine to try and correct the mistake that got his team knocked clean out of the competition. It was the final minutes of a decisive game, and had Dolf (Joe Flynn) nailed the crucial goal, his team would have had a shot at the title. He only wanted to go back in time a couple of hours, but somehow he overshot his intended time by about eight centuries. Once there, Dolf comes into contact with the plucky Jenne, who's about to lead 8000 youngsters in the Children's Crusade. But while Dolf's 21st Century smarts quickly earn him the role of group leader, he will have to summon both strength and bravery in order to prevent the children from being enslaved by the 13th Century's most notorious tyrant. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stephanie Leonidas, Joe Flynn, (more)
- 2007
- PG
- Add The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep to Queue Add The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep to top of Queue
A lonely young boy vows to protect the rapidly growing hatchling that emerges from a mysterious egg found on the shores of a Scottish loch in My Dog Skip and Tuck Everlasting director Jay Russell's screen adaptation of writer Dick King-Smith's popular children's novel. Angus MacMorrow (Alex Etel) has made a most unusual discovery, and he's about to find out just how one innocent boy's greatest fantasy can also be a frightened adult population's greatest threat. Unable to identify the egg that he found while walking the sandy shores, Angus is even more perplexed about the discovery and the creature that emerges resembles what comes to be known as a Water Horse, which Angus names Crusoe. As the bizarre new life form begins to grow at an alarming rate, it soon becomes obvious that Angus will not be able to keep it a secret for very long, and the young boy will have to do some seriously quick thinking if he is to keep his new friend safe. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emily Watson, Alex Etel, (more)
The true story of the woman who created some of the most beloved characters in children's literature comes to the screen in this drama leavened with elements of comedy and romance. Beatrix Potter (Renée Zellweger) is a imaginative but gently eccentric woman living in the socially and intellectually confining circumstances of Victorian England. Potter's wealthy parents are eager for her to marry a successful man and settle down, but she has ideas of her own, and has been writing and illustrating a series of stories for children centered around a character she calls Peter Rabbit. Potter's efforts to find a publisher for her stories prove difficult, but in time she finds a firm who agrees to give her book a chance, and Norman Warne (Ewan McGregor) is put in charge of the project. While Warne is new to the publishing game, he believes Potter has great talent and potential, and throws himself into the work with enthusiasm. A strong personal bond grows between Potter and Warne, and in time he asks her to marry him; however, Beatrix's parents do not approve of Norman, and she is forced to choose between her mother and father and the man she loves. Norman's sister Mille (Emily Watson) urges Beatrix to follow her heart, and she accepts Norman's proposal, but fate has other plans. Miss Potter was directed by Chris Noonan, who created an international sensation with his first feature film, Babe. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Renée Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, (more)
Tim Burton returns to the dark but fanciful animated style of The Nightmare Before Christmas with this stop-motion black comedy. Victor (voice of Johnny Depp) lives in a small European village in the 19th century, where he is pledged to marry Victoria (voice of Emily Watson), a partnership arranged by their parents. The two only meet the day before their scheduled nuptials, and Victor performs disastrously in the wedding rehearsal. Later that evening, while he is walking through the woods and hopelessly practicing his vows, he puts Victoria's wedding band on what looks like a branch. Victor quickly discovers this was a big mistake; as it happens, he has put the ring on the skeletal finger of the enchanted Corpse Bride (voice of Helena Bonham Carter), who then whisks him off to a dark and mysterious netherworld where they are now married. Victor is frightened in the land of the dead, and even realizes that he has fallen in love with his true fiancée, Victoria, so he searches for a way back to his own world. Directed by Tim Burton in collaboration with animator Mike Johnson, Corpse Bride features a stellar voice cast, including Albert Finney, Christopher Lee, Richard E. Grant, Joanna Lumley, and Danny Elfman (who also composed the film's musical score). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, (more)
- 2004
- PG
The animated family-oriented adventure The Snurks concerns Boo and Zoo, a pair of would-be heroes attempting to reclaim their world's Charmed Stone after it disappears. The twosome must lean to work with their enemies, the Snurks, in order for everyone to save the world. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Patrick Stewart, Emily Watson, (more)
Director Steven Spielberg's epic World War I drama details the remarkable bond between a man named Albert (Jeremy Irvine) and his loyal horse, Joey. Adapted from the novel by Michael Morpurgo, War Horse follows the growing friendship between man and beast as Albert trains Joey, and then follows Joey on an incredible journey across the English countryside after the pair are forcibly separated. Along the way, Joey touches the lives of everyone he comes into contact with, including British and German soldiers, as well as a kindly French farmer and his impressionable granddaughter. Later, in no man's land, Joey's extraordinary saga winds to a poignant and deeply affecting climax. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, (more)
Writer/director Sophie Barthes crafts this metaphysical tragicomedy, which straddles the line between reality and fantasy, set in a world where souls are extracted from humans and traded as commodites. Paul Giamatti is an anxious New Yorker who finds the answer to his deep-rooted malaise after stumbling upon an article about a high-tech company that claims to have found a solution to human suffering. By deep-freezing souls, claims the company, they can give their customers a life free from fear, doubt, and worry. Eager to free himself from the emotional burden of angst, Giamatti eagerly enlists their services. Trouble arises, however, when Giamatti's soul is swiped by a soul-trafficking "mule" who in turn gives it to a no-talent Russian soap opera actress. Now, in order to get back the soul that is rightfully his, Giamatti must make the arduous trip to St. Petersburg, along the way discovering that the true key to happiness isn't the absence of pain, but the ability to experience the entire spectrum of emotion and cherish the things that really matter. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paul Giamatti, David Strathairn, (more)
A lush historical drama from Dutch director Marlene Gorris, The Luzhin Defense is set in Como, a gorgeous northern Italian lakeside town located at the foot of the Alps. The year is 1929, and Alexander Luzhin (John Turturro) is a talented Russian chess player travelling to Como by train for the World Chess Championship. Also on his train is Natalia (Emily Watson), who is journeying to Como to meet her mother Vera (Geraldine James) at their posh lakeside hotel. Vera wants Natalia to settle down with the right -- meaning rich -- man, and duly tries to set her up with Jean (Christopher Thompson), a French count. However, Natalia instead sets her sights on Luzhin, who returns her affections, and the two embark on an unusual and unpredictable love affair. Adapted from one of Vladimir Nabokov's lesser-known novels, The Luzhin Defense also features the talents of Mark Tandy and Kelly Hunter as Luzhin's parents -- seen in flashback -- and Orla Brady as his young aunt. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Turturro, Emily Watson, (more)
Playing out against the glamorous backdrop of Reading, England, during the 1970s, Cemetery Junction (a nod to the stretch of road of the same name) focuses on a small group of colorful characters who work for an insurance company. Written, directed, and produced by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the film marks the duo's first collaboration for the big screen and features a cast that includes the likes of Ralph Fiennes, Emily Watson, and Gervais himself. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Christian Cooke, Felicity Jones, (more)
Synecdoche, New York marked the directorial debut of iconoclastic, cerebral screenwriter Charlie Kaufman. Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as Caden Cotard, an eccentric playwright who lives with artist Adele Lack (Catherine Keener) and their daughter Olive in Schenectady, upstate New York. Prone to neuroses, misgivings and enormous self-doubt, Caden also begins suffering from accelerated physical deterioration - from blood in his stools to disfigured skin. Upon receiving a prestigious MacArthur grant, Caden decides to use the money to concoct one gigantic play as an analogue of his own life; he builds massive sets amid a New York City warehouse, casts others as his friends, family and acquaintances, and casts others to play the ones he's casting. After Adele whisks Olive off to Europe but demonstrates no sign of returning soon, Caden drifts into a series of relationships with lovers - first with box office employee Hazel (Samantha Morton), who purchases and moves into a house that is perpetually on fire; then with Tammy (Emily Watson), an actress assigned to play Hazel in the theatrical project; and subsequently with others. Unfortunately, the play itself grows so big and unwieldy - and rehearsals go on for so long, taking literally decades - that it becomes unclear if the production itself will ever launch.
~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, (more)
An average American family suffers from a grave and unexpected loss that forces its members to confront past issues in this all-star ensemble drama from acclaimed director Dennis Lee (Jesus Henry Christ). Julia Roberts stars as Lisa Taylor, the wife of a college professor, Charlie (Willem Dafoe), living in the Midwest. As the tale opens, the aging couple are proud parents of two grown and reasonably successful children, Michael (Ryan Reynolds) and Ryne (Shannon Lucio). Then tragedy strikes: not long after Michael arrives in town (visiting from Manhattan), Lisa perishes in a fatal car accident, leaving the family bereft of its matriarch. As the devastated Taylors feebly attempt to cope with their loss, tensions resurface that have long boiled beneath the surface between Charlie and Michael; meanwhile, Michael's estranged wife, Kelly (Carrie-Anne Moss), turns up at the funeral to pay her respects to Lisa and gradually begins making amends with Michael. When Michael announces to the family that he's planning to publish a memoir about his childhood, Lisa's younger sister, Jane (Emily Watson), grows horrified that it will unearth devastating long-buried skeletons from the family's past; moreover, it seems that prior to her death, Lisa was guarding one major secret of her own that lingers just out of view and threatens to destroy everyone's sense of familial security when it finally comes to light. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds, (more)
An outlaw is goaded into taking on justice at its most brutal in this hard-edged Western set in rural Australia in the 1880s. Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) is a criminal living in the outback. He and his two brothers, Arthur (Danny Huston) and Mikey (Richard Wilson), are on the run from the law for rape and murder. Arthur is a violent and dangerous sociopath with a much longer rap sheet than his siblings and a reputation for hiding out in villages so lawless the police are afraid to visit them, while Mikey is a much younger and more impressionable chap.
The authorities capture Charlie and Mikey after a bloody shootout, and the brothers are handed over to Capt. Stanley (Ray Winstone), a British lawman sent to Australia to help bring order to the colonies. Stanley proposes a deal to Charlie, explaining that it's Arthur he really wants, and that he's willing to spare the childlike and terrified Mikey if Charlie can find Arthur and murder him. Charlie, realizing that this is his only hope to save his simpleton younger brother (who is scheduled to be hanged on Christmas Day), agrees and sets out to find and execute his other brother, who he believes has gone too far into the world of crime. As Charlie scours the backwaters of Australia, he encounters Jellon Lamb (John Hurt), an educated yet thoroughly menacing bounty hunter. In time, Charlie finds his brother, but isn't certain if he can carry out his mission. Meanwhile, Stanley struggles to bring a European sense of civility to the rough and tumble land he now calls home, while his wife Martha (Emily Watson) becomes the focus of the lustful appetites of the men in town. The Proposition was written by rock star and novelist Nick Cave; he previously collaborated with director John Hillcoat on the film Ghosts... of the Civil Dead. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
The authorities capture Charlie and Mikey after a bloody shootout, and the brothers are handed over to Capt. Stanley (Ray Winstone), a British lawman sent to Australia to help bring order to the colonies. Stanley proposes a deal to Charlie, explaining that it's Arthur he really wants, and that he's willing to spare the childlike and terrified Mikey if Charlie can find Arthur and murder him. Charlie, realizing that this is his only hope to save his simpleton younger brother (who is scheduled to be hanged on Christmas Day), agrees and sets out to find and execute his other brother, who he believes has gone too far into the world of crime. As Charlie scours the backwaters of Australia, he encounters Jellon Lamb (John Hurt), an educated yet thoroughly menacing bounty hunter. In time, Charlie finds his brother, but isn't certain if he can carry out his mission. Meanwhile, Stanley struggles to bring a European sense of civility to the rough and tumble land he now calls home, while his wife Martha (Emily Watson) becomes the focus of the lustful appetites of the men in town. The Proposition was written by rock star and novelist Nick Cave; he previously collaborated with director John Hillcoat on the film Ghosts... of the Civil Dead. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, (more)
A damaged relationship is stretched to its desperate limits in this drama. Anne (Emily Watson) and James (Tom Wilkinson) are a seemingly happy and prosperous British couple who divide their time between a flat in London and a house in the country. However, their marriage is not as contented as one might imagine, and for years James has turned a blind eye to just how deeply unhappy Anne has become with him. Their lives together reach a crossroads when Anne meets the handsome and charming Bill Bule (Rupert Everett); Anne becomes deeply infatuated with him, which only reinforces her dissatisfaction with James, but when the two become involved in an accident that kills another man, Bill drops out of the picture and James decides he must step forward to protect the woman he wed. Separate Lies was the directorial debut from screenwriter Julian Fellowes. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emily Watson, Tom Wilkinson, (more)
Actor and author Richard E. Grant made his directorial debut with this period comedy drama inspired by his own experiences growing up in colonial Africa in the sixties. Ralph Compton (Zachary Fox) is the 11-year old son of Harry (Gabriel Byrne), the minister of education in the British-controlled African nation of Swaziland. While Harry is a likeable and well-connected man, his marriage to Lauren (Miranda Richardson) is on shaky ground, and when he learns she's been having an affair with one of his best friends, she leaves him and he begins drinking heavily. Harry sends Ralph to boarding school when things start to get unpleasant, and after two years he returns home to discover that some changes have been made. Ralph (now played by Nicholas Hoult) finds that his father is still drinking, but seems a more relaxed and better adjusted man -- and has just remarried, having tied the knot with Ruby (Emily Watson), a former stewardess from America. Ralph naturally resists Ruby's presence in the house, but the two become close, as Ruby indicates that she understands Ralph better than anyone else (and he senses the same). Meanwhile, the British start to withdraw from Swaziland. Wah-Wah received its world premiere at the 2005 Edinburgh Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nicholas Hoult, Emily Watson, (more)
Adam Sandler and Emily Watson star in Punch-Drunk Love, an odd romantic comedy from gifted young director Paul Thomas Anderson. Sandler plays Barry Egan, a shy sad-sack with a great deal of repressed anger that occasionally bursts forth in sudden violent outrages, who falls in love with Lena Leonard (Emily Watson), a co-worker of one of Barry's seven sisters. After calling a phone-sex line, Barry is extorted by bad-guy Dean Trumbell (Anderson regular Philip Seymour Hoffman), who eventually sends four goons to assault Barry and get the money. This film was screened in competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, where Paul Thomas Anderson was named Best Director. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, (more)
A man who dares to feel finds his life in danger in this cautionary science fiction drama. In the future, after a Third World War has decimated much of the Earth's population, a new nation known as Libria rises up under the unquestioned leadership of Dupont (Angus MacFadyen). Believing human emotions and their expression were to blame for the failings of past societies, The Father has decreed that all citizens must take a daily dose of Prozia II, a drug which levels out the emotional landscape, and that all forms of creative expression are against the law; violating either regulation can be punished by death. John Preston (Christian Bale) is a Grammaton, an elite law enforcement officer who tracks down and punishes "sense offenders." One day, Preston accidentally fails to take his Prozia II, and for the first time begins experiencing emotions himself. Preston becomes aware of an underground of rebels who refuse to take their medication and have embraced art and literature, and he finds himself becoming infatuated with one of their number, Mary O'Brian (Emily Watson). Equilibrium is the second feature-length directorial effort from Kurt Wimmer, whose screenwriting credits include The Thomas Crown Affair and Sphere. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christian Bale, Emily Watson, (more)
Following the phenomenal success of The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, Anthony Hopkins returns as brilliant madman Hannibal Lecter in this thriller based on the novel in which author Thomas Harris introduced the character. Will Graham (Edward Norton) is an FBI agent with a rare gift for tracking serial killers who brought Hannibal Lecter to justice; however, his confrontation with Lecter proved to be a bloody, near-death experience, and afterward Graham retired from the Bureau, moving to Florida to spend his time with his wife, Molly (Mary-Louise Parker), and their son. However, a particularly grisly killer is on the loose, and Jack Crawford (Harvey Keitel), Graham's one-time mentor at the Bureau, asks him to return to duty to find him. The "Tooth Fairy" is a vicious murderer who kills entire families at once, covering the eyes of his victims with bits of a shattered mirror. Graham finds he needs help putting together the pieces of the "Tooth Fairy" case, and he calls upon Lecter looking for advice. Lecter, at once vaguely helpful and self-serving, as usual, offers scraps of information to Graham which help him zero in on the killer. But Lecter knows more than he's telling; the "Tooth Fairy" is actually Francis Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes), a troubled and withdrawn man who admires Lecter's violent panache and corresponds with him. Dolarhyde works at a film processing lab, where one of his co-workers, a blind woman named Reba McClane (Emily Watson), seems to be quite attracted to him. As Dolarhyde wrestles with both his murderous impulses and his feelings for McClane, Lecter plays Graham and Dolarhyde against one another so that, as the FBI agent comes closer to catching "the Tooth Fairy," Dolarhyde moves in on his next victim -- Graham's family. Red Dragon marked the second time Harris' novel of the same name had been brought to the screen; five years prior to The Silence of the Lambs, Michael Mann adapted the book for the screen as Manhunter, which starred William Petersen as Graham and Brian Cox as Lecter. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, (more)
Maverick American filmmaker Robert Altman takes a witty and absorbing look at the foibles of the British class system in this intelligent murder mystery set in the early '30s. Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon) and his wife Lady Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas) are a pair of wealthy British socialites who have invited a variety of friends, relatives, and acquaintances to their mansion in the country for a weekend of hunting and relaxation. Among the honored guests are Constance (Maggie Smith), Lady Sylvia's matronly aunt; Ivor Novello (Jeremy Northam), William's cousin who is also a well-known actor and songwriter; and Morris Weissman (Bob Balaban), an American film producer who is friendly with Ivor and researching an upcoming project. Observing the proceedings are the domestic staff of the mansion, including imperious butler Jennings (Alan Bates); footmen George (Richard E. Grant) and Arthur (Jeremy Swift); Probert (Derek Jacobi), a valet to Sir William; housekeeper Mrs. Wilson (Helen Mirren); Mrs. Croft (Eileen Atkins), who oversees the kitchen; and Elsie (Emily Watson), a maid. Also on hand are the guests' personal servants, including Mary (Kelly Macdonald), Constance's maid; Henry (Ryan Phillippe), Weissman's valet; and Parks (Clive Owens), a butler. While the servants are required to display a high level of decorum, they are expected to be passive observers who do not comment on what they see, though the gossip among them travels thick and fast once they retire to the servants' quarters downstairs. And it turns out that there's plenty worth gossiping about, especially after Sir William turns up dead, and everyone is ordered to stay at the mansion while the police investigate the killing. Gosford Park also features Charles Dance, Tom Hollander, Natasha Wightman, and Ron Webster; the screenplay was written by Julian Fellowes, based on a story by Altman and co-star Bob Balaban. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, (more)
Alan Rudolph directed and co-wrote this eccentric comedy about a woman who bumbles her way into fighting crime. Trixie Zurbo (Emily Watson) is a well-meaning but scatter-brained casino security guard, who dreams of a career as a private detective. Her ambition accidentally becomes reality when she's thrown into the middle of a series of events involving double-dealing state senator Avery (Nick Nolte), crooked real estate developer Red Rafferty (Will Patton), and his sleazy girlfriend Dawn Slotnick (Lesley Ann Warren). Along the way, Trixie finds romance with the suave Dex Lang (Dermot Mulroney). Nathan Lane appears in a supporting role as Kirk Stans, a flamboyant lounge singer. Trixie had its world premiere at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emily Watson, Dermot Mulroney, (more)
The sometimes rocky relationship between art and politics in America in the 1930s -- as well as the gulf between the wealthy and the struggling -- sets the stage for Tim Robbins' ambitious comedy-drama Cradle Will Rock. Pulling together a variety of threads from actual events, Robbins examines the lives and ambitions of a variety of creative mavericks and figures of power. Orson Welles (Angus Macfadyen) and John Houseman (Cary Elwes) are working with Marc Bliztstein (Hank Azaria) to stage the latter's leftist musical "The Cradle Will Rock" for the WPA-funded Federal Theater Project. After Congress cuts funding for the embattled Federal Theater over the perceived leftist slant of their presentations, the project is canceled on the day of its premier. Welles and his cast respond by marching 21 blocks from the theater where the show was to open to another venue where, in deference to Actors Equity regulations, they perform the entire show from the audience. A member of Welles' cast, Aldo Silvano (John Turturro), is a dedicated actor from Italy who is trying to resolve his attitudes about his family, who loyally support Mussolini, to Silvano's disgust. Meanwhile, El Duce's former mistress, Margherita Sarfatti (Susan Sarandon), is consorting with industrial tycoon Gray Mathers (Philip Baker Hall) -- whose wife, Contesse LaGrange (Vanessa Redgrave) is a friend and supporter of Welles' project. Elsewhere, Nelson Rockefeller (John Cusack) has hired expatriot Mexican artist Diego Rivera (Ruben Blades) to create a mural for his projected Rockefeller Center, but the two are soon locking horns over their different views on art, politics and the work at hand. And a ventriloquist fallen on hard times, Tommy Crickshaw (Bill Murray), finds himself trying to teach both comedy and speaking without lip movements to a pair of would-be performers at a WPA-backed vaudeville house. William Randolph Hearst (John Carpenter), Marion Davies (Gretchen Mol), Frida Kahlo (Corina Katt), and Olive Stanton (Emily Watson) are also woven into the tapestry of this historical epic, which premiered at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hank Azaria, Rubén Blades, (more)
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir by Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes is an alternately funny and heartbreaking look at growing up in Ireland. Born in Brooklyn, NY, young Frank (Joe Breen) moves at an early age to Limerick, Ireland, with his parents Angela (Emily Watson) and Malachy (Robert Carlyle), who have been unable to support their family in America and are hoping for better prospects in their home country. But things hardly improve once they settle in Limerick; as McCourt puts it, "Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood. Worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." Illness and death are commonplace in Limerick, and Malachy's drinking and inability to hold a job make matters worse. Angela's Ashes was directed by Alan Parker, who previously looked at Irish life in The Commitments (1991); Laura Jones wrote the screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle, (more)
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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emily Watson, Rachel Griffiths, (more)
Jim Sheridan (In the Name of the Father) directed this drama about a Belfast boxer, filmed with Dublin locations substituting for Belfast. Released after his 14-year prison sentence for IRA activities, 32-year-old Danny Flynn (Daniel Day-Lewis) returns to his old neighborhood and sees former-flame Maggie (Emily Watson), who has an unhappy marriage and now raises her son alone while her husband is in prison. To get back in the boxing ring, Danny gets the community-center gym back in operation and starts training, encountering opposition from militant IRA members, including Harry (Gerald McSorley). Danny and Maggie grow closer, but after a bomb sets off events leading to the destruction of the gym, Danny leaves for a disastrous boxing match in London. More grim situations arise when he returns to Belfast. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Daniel Day-Lewis, Emily Watson, (more)
- 1997
- R
- Add Metroland to Queue
An unexpected visit causes a man to wonder what path he should have taken in life in this drama. In 1977, Chris (Christian Bale) and Marion (Emily Watson) are a staid married couple living in a working-class community near the outskirts of London, where the Metro tube line dead-ends. While Marion is reasonably happy, Chris is bored and restless, and he often daydreams about how his life could have been different. Chris and Marion first met in Paris in 1968, when revolution was in the air and they were both footloose bohemians exploring the world. Chris was briefly in love with Annick (Elsa Zylberstein), a wild, beautiful, and high-spirited young woman, but he married Marion instead, and he frequently wonders if he made the right choice. One day, Chris receives a telephone call from his old buddy Toni (Lee Ross), who was his best friend back in his days in Paris. While Chris has joined the working class, Toni is still following his muse around the world, drifting through Europe, America, Africa, or anywhere else the breeze takes him. Toni is visiting England and invites Chris to leave Marion behind and join him in his travels. Already in an unsure state of mind, Chris finds himself calling practically every aspect of his life into question -- he even wonders if Marion might be attracted to Toni, whom she's never cared for. Metroland was adapted by Adrian Hodges from the novel by Julian Barnes. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christian Bale, Lee Ross, (more)
With Breaking The Waves, director Lars von Trier fashions an often disturbing tale of the singular power of love. Bess (the Oscar-nominated Emily Watson) is a naïve, borderline simple young woman who lives in a Scottish coastal town ruled by the religious doctrine of its council of elders. Recovering from a mental breakdown caused by the death of her brother, Bess marries a rough yet compassionate and attentive oil rig worker named Jan (Stellan Skarsgård). For a brief time, the couple enjoys peaceful wedded bliss, with the worldly Jan introducing Bess to the mysteries of sex. Jan must soon return to his job on the rig, however, where he is paralyzed from the neck down in a freak accident. Bess' emotional trauma over Jan's injury turns into obsession as she prays to God for his recovery and offers to do anything to have her husband back whole. Jan, constantly medicated and profoundly depressed, asks Bess to have sex with other men and tell him about it, thinking this will allow her to return to a normal life. Bess, on the other hand, sees it as an expression of her devotion to Jan that even God won't be able to ignore. Bess's resultant downward spiral leads to a finale of both tragedy and spirituality. Breaking the Waves is widely regarded as one of the most distinctive European movies of the 1990s, marking von Trier's movement toward his influential Dogma 95 school of filmmaking, which emphasizes realistic situations of contemporary life, filmed without background music and with a hand-held, restlessly moving camera. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgård, (more)
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