Ken Tuohy Movies
A professional thief finds his luck going from bad to worse when he's sent to Russia to steal a priceless antique crucifix and becomes the terrified target of a serial killer who takes the title of "headhunter" all too seriously. Career larcenist Ritchie Donovan (Stephen Dorff)'s latest job has just ended in tragedy, and he still owes a fortune to a fearsome Russian godfather. Fortunately for Ritchie, the crime kingpin is feeling especially benevolent today, and offers the luckless cat burglar one last chance to settle his debt. All Ritchie has to do is travel to Moscow, ascent a skyscraper penthouse, crack the safe, and steal an antique crucifix. It couldn't have been a simpler plan, but when the robbery ends in murder and police surround the building, Ritchie and the gang are forced to take hostages. Just as it begins to appear as if all hope is lost, the elevator that Ritchie and his fellow gangsters are traveling on comes to a complete stop on the building's unused thirteenth floor. But landing on the thirteenth floor of this building may not have been the lucky break it first appeared, because lying in wait on the hidden level is a serial killer with a knack for collecting heads. He makes no secret of his hobby either, because his gruesome trophies line these seldom-wandered halls like a nightmarish testament to the ultimate gamesman. With the cops closing in from below, psychotic Russian gangsters on all sides, panicked hostages freaking out, and a homicidal maniac somewhere too close for comfort, all Ritchie cares about now if getting his feet back on the ground before he loses his head. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Dorff, Jamie Foreman, (more)
- 2002
Based on the best-selling novel by Irish comedian Spike Milligan, Puckoon is a political satire about a town cut in half by the partitioning of Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State in 1924. The action takes place in a town known as Puckoon where an ordinary fellow named Dan Madigan wakes up one day to find barbed-wire fences running right through his neighbors' houses. All at once, Madigan's friends begin altering their personalities to suit the side of the fence they've found themselves on. So it's up to Madigan, the last sane man in town, to restore order. Originally written in 1963, Puckoon is considered the forerunner of anti-humor comedy which became the staple of shows like Monty Python and Saturday Night Live. ~ Connor McMadden, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Hughes, Elliott Gould, (more)
Freely adapted from a novel by Jane Austen, this period drama is set in the early 1800s, as a girl named Fanny (Hannah Taylor Gordon) is being raised by loving but desperately poor parents. Wanting a better life for Fanny, they send her away to live with her aunts, high-minded Mrs. Norris (Sheila Gish) and drug-addicted Lady Bertram (Lindsay Duncan), who share an estate called Mansfield Park. Fanny joins the family at Mansfield Park, which includes Lady Bertram's husband Sir Thomas (Harold Pinter), who made his money in slaves and West Indian plantations; Sir Thomas's son Tom (James Purefoy), an alcoholic; Tom's intelligent younger brother Edmund (Jonny Lee Miller); and his two sisters, Julia (Justine Waddell) and Maria (Victoria Hamilton). Fanny soon makes friends with Edmund, though she's shown little respect by the rest of the family. In time, Fanny grows to adulthood (now played by Frances O'Connor) and gains skill and poise as a horsewoman while developing her skills as an author. When the stylish but secretive siblings Henry and Mary Crawford (Alassandro Nivola and Embeth Davidtz) arrive at Mansfield Park, romantic sparks begin to fly; the two sisters fight over Henry, while Mary is soon engaged to wed Edmund -- to the disappointment of Fanny, who has fallen in love with him. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frances O'Connor, Jonny Lee Miller, (more)
Los Angeles store owner Dana (Victoria Foyt) is shopping in Israel where a meeting with a mysterious woman leads her to Paris and the White Cliffs of Dover, an appropriate spot to fall in love with English painter Sean (Stephen Dillane) who is married. Soon, however, Dana is off to London to rejoin her business-partner Alex (Michael Brandon). Dana and Alex, and Sean and his wife all wind up together as weekend house guests of John ('60s rock performer Noel Harrison), brother of Skelly (Vanessa Redgrave). With true love looming on the horizon, Dana and Sean decide to abandon their companions for each other. Screenplay by Foyt and director Henry Jaglom, who took a different approach to the theme of love and affection in his autobiographical Always (1985). Shown at the AFI/Los Angeles Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Dillane, Victoria Foyt, (more)
A working class British family struggles with their demons -- sometimes violently -- in this intensely emotional drama that marked the directorial debut of actor Gary Oldman. Janet (Laila Morse) is a widowed factory worker who shares her home with her aged mother Kath (Edna Dore), her daughter Valerie (Kathy Burke), her son Billy (Charlie Creed-Miles), and Valerie's husband Ray (Ray Winstone). Ray is an unstable and out-of-work alcoholic who often uses his pregnant wife as a punching bag, while Billy is a drug addict whose habit has led Janet to throw him out of the house more then once, only to take him back later. Janet is uncertain about what to do when Ray's latest tirade sends Valerie to the emergency room, and Janet also has to come to terms with the financial and emotional costs of Billy's addiction. Kathy Burke, Ray Winstone, and Laila Morse all received prizes from the 1997 British Independent Film Awards for their work in Nil by Mouth; Burke also received Best Actress honors at that year's Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Richard Loncraine takes Shakespeare's classic tale of treachery, Richard III, and transplants it to the 1930s. Ian McKellen is Richard who, as the film opens, begins plotting against his brother Edward, who has just ascended to the throne after a bloody civil war. Richard begins by seducing and wedding Lady Anne (Kristin Scott Thomas), whom he made a widow during the war. With the help of some loyal henchmen, Richard succeeds in murdering his older brother Clarence (Nigel Hawthorne), which so upsets Edward that he dies. Eventually, the crown falls to the young Prince of Wales (Marc Williamson). Richard is assigned to be the young king's protector, but instead, he has the boy and his brother jailed in the Tower of London. Richard seizes control over the country, but his ruthless quest for power eventually makes him powerful enemies, led by Henry Richman (Dominic West), who attempt to stop him. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, (more)
- 1987
The title of this Anglo-Canadian TV production is tinged with irony. So far as the main characters are concerned, home is a still a long way to go. Set in the months following World War I, the film takes place in a squalid Welsh "halfway" camp, where Canadian soldiers are kept for an interminable period of time before the British government deigns to ship them home. Fed up with go-nowhere bureaucracy and the shabbiness of their surroundings, the Canadians stage a violent revolt. Based on a true story, Going Home represented the directorial debut of veteran costume designer Terry Ryan. Heading the cast are veteran Canadian actors Nicholas Campbell, Paul Maxwell and Eugene Lipinski. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Meant to be a whimsical sword-and-sorcery film about a prince out to save his princess from the jaws of the Beast, Krull has enough scenes borrowed from blockbuster predecessors (Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Robin Hood, Star Wars) and is gentle enough to be rather derivative, ordinary fare. Prince Colwyn (Ken Marshall) has inherited a kingdom under siege by the evil Beast, and not only has to rid the land of the monster, but he has to rescue his bride Lyssa (Lysette Anthony) from the Beast's clutches as well. In his magical land, horses can sometimes fly, medieval castles can harbor weapons that light up, and before he can defeat the Beast, the prince has to get his hands on the glaive (French for "double-edged sword"), a razor-sharp, magical weapon capable of killing the monster. One of the more notable aspects of Krull is that a 30-year old Liam Neeson plays the bit part of Kegan, in only his third full-length feature film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Marshall, Lysette Anthony, (more)
