Fay Ripley Movies
- 2002
Based on Peter Lovesey's novel On the Edge, this British TV production is a comic variation on the old "exchange murder" device so beloved of writer Patricia Highsmith and filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. Shortly after the end of WWII, old friends Antonia (Helen McCrory) and Rose (Fay Ripley) unexpectedly catch up with each other. Comparing notes, the ladies find that they're both mired in unhappy marriages. Since divorce is out of the question, Antonia and Rose enter into an agreement to do away with one another's husbands: In both cases, it will look like an accident, and how in the world could anyone find a link between the killings? Unfortunately, once the deeds are done, the "perfect" scheme begins to unravel thanks to Rose's cold feet and Antonia's eccentric approach to the art of murder. First seen in the U.K. on October of 2002, Dead Gorgeous was shown as part of the PBS anthology Mystery! on July 6, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen McCrory, Fay Ripley, (more)
Season three of the British "dramedy" Cold Feet was originally telecast between November 12 and December 31, 2000. In this season's eight episodes, married couple David (Robert Bathurst) and Karen (Hermione Norris) discover that becoming parents again (this time it's twins) has not done much to improve their relationship; young marrieds Pete (John Thomson) and Jenny (Fay Ripley) wonder if their love is strong enough to survive Peter's adultery; and the romance of live-in couple Adam (James Nesbitt) and Rachel (Helen Baxendale) is rapidly deteriorating as well. A major bone of contention during the third season is the presence of Karen's alcoholic mother (Mel Martin), who has insisted upon moving in to help with the babies. This is the final season in which co-star Fay Ripley appears on a regular basis. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Nesbitt, Helen Baxendale, (more)
Season two of the British "dramedy" Cold Feet was originally telecast between September 26 and October 31, 1999. In this season's six episodes, young live-in lovers Adam (James Nesbitt) and Rachel (Helen Baxendale) toy with the notion of dating other people; new parents Peter (John Thomson) and Jenny (Fay Ripley) start questioning the stability of their marriage; and older married couple David (Robert Bathurst) and Karen (Hermione Norris) undertake a variety of methods to keep their union intact. The principal complication during the series' second season is Peter's brief fling with a young woman named Amy (Rosie Cavaliero). ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Nesbitt, Helen Baxendale, (more)
Introducing its characters and premise with a pilot episode telecast on March 30, 1997, the British "dramedy" Cold Feet launched its first six-episode season on November 15, 1998. The series focused on three different couples: young lovers Adam (James Nesbitt) and Rachel (Helen Baxendale), newlyweds Peter (John Thomson) and Jenny (Fay Ripley), and another, longer-married pair, David (Robert Bathurst) and Karen (Hermione Norris). In the course of season one, Adam and Rachel move in together, an arrangement complicated by the fact that Karen has not yet divorced her first husband; the birth of Peter and Jenny's baby brings about more headaches than expected, especially in sexual and professional matters; and David and Karen discuss the possibility of having a second child, only to have their plans shattered by David's business reverses and Karen's desire to sleep with another man. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Nesbitt, Helen Baxendale, (more)
A man trying to honor the last wish of his beloved wife has to keep an entire city alive in this bittersweet romantic comedy. Marcello (Jean Reno) is the owner of a restaurant in a small village in Italy. His wife Roseanna (Mercedes Ruehl) has received some awful news: she has learned that her weak heart has gotten worse, and she has only a few weeks to live. Roseanna has given Marcello a final request: she wants to be buried next to her daughter, who died some years before. Marcello wants nothing more than to comply with her wishes, but there's a problem; the town's cemetery is quite small, and right now funeral plots are on a first-come, first-served basis. The spot next to Roseanna's daughter does happen to be open, but she'll only get it if no one else dies first. So Marcello suddenly becomes the village's watchdog of health and safety, trying to make sure no one needlessly dies, and even shuffles around a few bodies of people who do happen to pass on. Meanwhile, Roseanna is worried about both Marcello and her sister Cecilia (Polly Walker) and would like them to marry after her death so they won't have to be alone. However, Marcello and Cecilia don't always get along very well, and besides, Cecilia is in love with Antonio (Mark Frankel), whose father has prevented the town's cemetery from expanding. For Roseanna was filmed under the title Roseanna's Grave and was briefly publicized as For the Love of Roseanna. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Reno, Mercedes Ruehl, (more)
A mute American working on a low-budget movie runs afoul of the Russian mafia in this internationally produced thriller. Billy (Marina Zudina), a special-effects makeup artist who is unable to speak, is in Moscow working on a cheapie slasher flick directed by Andy (Evan Richards), her sister's boyfriend. Late one night, Billy returns to the set to pick up some equipment and stumbles on what appears to be the filming of an actual snuff film. Watching, unseen, as an "actress" (Olga Tolstetskaya) is bludgeoned to death before her very eyes, Billy flees the set, pursued by the snuff film's crew. Eventually, she escapes and tells her story to her sister, Karen (Fay Ripley), and Andy. The film crew convinces the police that it was simply some special effects that Billy witnessed, then they start a deadly cat-and-mouse game with the hapless Americans. The intrigue soon leads Billy and her friends to "The Reaper" (Alec Guinness), the shadowy financier of an entire snuff-film underground. Director Anthony Waller's screenplay for Mute Witness began as a tale of gangsters in 1930s Chicago, but he rewrote it to take advantage of Russia's analogous present-day climate -- and the country's cheap sets and labor. Unexpected problems, from a diptheria epidemic to unexpected fines at the customs gate, nearly sank the production. The director convinced Guinness to appear in the film several years before principal photography began; the veteran thespian was paid nothing for his scenes, which were shot in a single morning in Germany. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marina Zudina, Oleg Yankovsky, (more)
