Gary Lewis Movies
In this thrilling made-for-television mystery, a writer of detective novels risks everything to track down the arrogant serial killer who has been faxing him the obituaries of his latest victims. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charlie Sheen, Michael Halsey, (more)
- 1998
- R
Actor Peter Mullan won the 1998 Cannes Film Festival "Best Actor" award with this film, directed by Ken Loach (Carla's Song, Ladybird, Ladybird). The drama is set in Possilpark, one of Glasgow's poorest neighborhoods, a rough section where half the population is out of work. Unemployed reformed alcoholic Joe Kavanagh (Mullan) does odd jobs and manages a stumbling soccer team. One of the players is Liam (David McKay), in debt to hood McGowan (David Hayman). Liam and junkie Sabine (Annemarie Kennedy) are raising a small son. After Joe meets social worker Sarah (Louise Goodall), he and his pal Shanks show up to help in the wallpapering of Sarah's apartment. This job creates a problem for Joe with the local unemployment office, until Sarah steps in to cover. It's the beginning of a romance, and Joe and Sarah make an effort to help Liam and Sarah when they are threatened by the loan sharks. Mullan commented, "The drug problem in that place is so serious that people are passive. They are corralled in a sort of dog-eat-dog environment where humans meet to laugh and thrive but have no hope of getting out." Scripted by former lawyer Paul Laverty, the film is inspired by the first half of Loach's Carla's Song. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Mullan, Louise Goodall, (more)
Following the death of her mother, a young Californian teen is sent to the Scottish highlands to live with her father. It is a wild, lonely place and her one friend is a hermit who has devoted his life to protecting and healing wild and domestic animals. The girl's life changes when one day she spies a ghostly white stallion on a foggy day. She tells her father, but he thinks it a figment of her imagination and that she is spending too much time with the strange loner. The hermit, however, believes the stallion is real. When poachers show up to capture the elusive horse, the girl and the hermit team up to protect him. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ariana Richards, Andrew Keir, (more)
British filmmaker Ken Loach blended a love story with strong political commentary in this powerful drama. George (Robert Carlyle) is a bus driver working in Glasgow who has a strong independent streak and has developed a serious crush on one of his regular passengers, a woman from Nicaragua named Carla (Oyanka Cabezas). Carla occasionally is short of money for her fare, so George lets he ride for free; when his boss finds out about this, it's added to a list of small insubordinations, and George is fired. However, he stays in touch with Carla and learns she's a good bit more troubled than he imagined. She's given to dramatic mood swings and has attempted suicide, and in time he learns that her emotional problems stem from the disappearance and probable death of her boyfriend Antonio (Richard Loza), a Sandinista who is believed to have been kidnapped by the U.S.-backed Contra rebels. The largely apolitical George travels with Carla to Nicaragua to help her look for Antonio. In their travels, they meet Bradley (Scott Glenn), an American who was once a CIA "advisor" to the Contra who has turned his back on their policies and now works alongside the Sandinistas. Carla's Song was a gold medal winner at the 1997 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
The feature film debut of Scottish director Danny Boyle was a dark, hip, Generation X comedy about a trio of Edinburgh roommates whose narcissistic greed fuels murder and betrayal. Boisterous journalist Alex (Ewan McGregor), flirtatious doctor Juliet (Kerry Fox), and meek accountant David (Christopher Eccleston) possess very different personalities, but the roommates are bonded in mutual, self-absorbed cynicism. Seeking a fourth boarder to share the rent for their stylish flat, they cruelly dismiss several candidates before settling on Hugo (Keith Allen), whose air of detachment meets the roommates' standard of coolness. Hugo's reserve masks criminal involvement, however, as the roommates discover when they find him dead in bed from a drug overdose, with a valise containing enormous amounts of cash. Their nascent greed overwhelms them, and the trio dismembers and buries Hugo, stealing his money. Only David, who understands finance, seems to realize that someone's eventually going to seek out such a large sum. As both drug dealers and police get closer to figuring out the friends' secret, shy, nerdy David becomes violently paranoid, while Juliet's allegiance switches back and forth between her roommates. Boyle teamed subsequently with producer Andrew Macdonald and screenwriter John Hodge on several high-profile films. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kerry Fox, Christopher Eccleston, (more)
Sandy Duncan, Judith Light, and Jill Eikenberry star in director Paul Schneider's made-for-television musical comedy about a 1960s-era female singing trio that reunites to take part in a television special produced to pay tribute to the pop superstars of yesteryear. Back in the 1960s, pop was king and the Bouffants were at the top of the charts thanks to their catchy hit single "My Boyfriend's Back." Two decades later, an ambitious NBC producer begins planning a television special dedicated to honoring pre-Beatles pop acts, and he wants to name it after the Bouffants' biggest hit. Now in order to make that happen, he sets out to find all three of the original Bouffants and offer them a chance to reunite on stage. But The Bouffants broke up for a reason, and convincing sarcastic bowling alley queen Vicki (Light), high-profile cosmetics executive Deborah (Eikenberry), and downhome housewife Chris (Duncan) to put aside their differences for the sake of the special will prove a more daunting task than he ever anticipated. Additional appearances by such notable '60s-era singing icons as Gary Lewis, the Penguins, Peggy March, and Mary Wells ensure that music lovers are not only in for a few nostalgic laughs, but a toe-tapping trip back to the time when everyone tuned into their radios eager to discover the next great hit. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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