Aisling O'Sullivan Movies

Director Ian Fitzgibbon crafts this darkly comic tale of a dissolute scriptwriter and a dejected actor who become unwittingly drawn into a hopelessly complex web of murder and deception. Meanwhile, as the hapless victims of fate wage a valiant battle to take control of their bizarre situation, their gruff landlord makes an already tense situation absolutely unbearable. Dylan Moran, Mark Doherty, and Keith Allen star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

An adaptation of the 1999 Danish film Den Eneste Ene and set in modern day Newcastle, England, this easygoing urban comedy concerns a recently widowed father attempting to start anew following the death of his spouse. Though he had been having doubts about their relationship and in particular the prospect of adopting six-year-old African orphan Mgala (Angel Thomas), kitchen fitter Neil (Richard Roxburgh) agreed to the adoption shortly before the death of his wife Sharon (Kerry Rolfe). Despite his single parent status, Neil commences to join mate Stan (Michael Hodgson) in boozing it up at the local pub. Gradually growing closer to new client Stevie (Justine Waddell) despite her failing relationship with footballer lout Sonny (Jonathan Cake), the two embark on a tentative relationship driven by their mutual dissatisfaction with their current circumstances. When Stevie discovers that she is pregnant and that Sonny has been seeing other women behind her back, she and Neil find that love has a way of creeping up on you when you least expect it. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This two-part British miniseries was based on a classic gothic novel by Sheridan J. LeFanu. Having inadvertently caused the death of one of his tenants, wicked Squire Fairfield (Derek Jacobi) adopted the dead man's daughter Alice (Naomi Watts). No sooner had Alice grown to womanhood that the satyr-like squire attempted to "have his way" with her. Escaping the Squire's clutches, Alice eloped with Fairfield's virtuous son Charles (Iain Glen) -- but she was not quite out of the wood yet, thanks to a series of disturbing nightmares, a wraithlike mystery woman, and the machinations of Charles' diabolical brother Harry (Jack Davenport). The Wyvern Mystery originally aired on March 5 and 12, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted from Henry James' 1877 novel, The American stars Matthew Modine as Christopher Newman, a nouveau riche Californian determined to crash into European society. Falling in love with aristocratic young widow Claire De Cintre (Aisling O'Sullivan), Christopher intends to marry the girl despite fierce opposition from Claire's formidable mother Madame de Bellegarde (Diana Rigg) and her snobbish and titled elder brother Valentin (Andrew Scott). Thanks to the intervention of busybody maidservant Mrs. Bread (Brenda Fricker), Christopher comes into possession of evidence suggesting that Madame de Bellegarde may have murdered her husband -- thereby placing the enterprising young man in the position of being able to blackmail his way into a profitable marriage. A co-production of the BBC and PBS, The American was first telecast in Britain in 1998, and in the U.S. as part of the Masterpiece Theatre: The American Collection anthology on January 3, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The rise and fall of one of the most important and controversial figures in Ireland's struggle for independence is chronicled in this biographical drama. In 1916, the British government ruled Ireland with a firm and cruel hand, as they had for 700 years. When a group of Irish rebels staged a six-day siege at Dublin's General Post Office, only one of the leaders was able to escape execution -- Eamon De Valera (Alan Rickman), an American citizen of Irish blood. A number of De Valera's followers are sent to prison, and one of them, Michael Collins (Liam Neeson), walked out of jail convinced that a new approach was needed to free his homeland from British rule. With his compatriot Harry Boland (Aidan Quinn), Collins formed the Irish Volunteers, who used a combination of terrorist violence and guerilla warfare to attack the British where their defenses were weakest, and employed espionage and a key inside informant (Stephen Rea) to learn what the British planned to do next -- and what they knew about Collins and his supporters. Collins' strategic skills and talent for warfare made a major impact on the British, and he became the hero of the new-born Republican Movement, which seemed to offer a real hope of freedom, despite the violent reprisals of the vicious paramilitary police, the Black and Tans. De Valera, however, was often in conflict with Collins in terms of the methods and approach of their struggle. Collins also found himself in a different sort of conflict with Boland when he fell in love with his girlfriend, a strong-willed advocate of Irish freedom named Kitty Kiernan (Julia Roberts). Eager to gain support for the Republican cause, De Valera sought economic and military support from the U.S.; when he returned, the Volunteers seemed to have finally won a real victory, as the British government announced that they were willing to formally negotiate with them. While Collins was once the radical and De Valera was the moderate, once negotiations began, Collins sought to end the violence that he saw killing so many young people and was willing to agree to a compromise that would create the Irish Free State. While the agreement would still leave final political control with the British, it would bring a greater self-determination to Ireland, and Collins believed that it was a crucial first step that could lead, in time, to true freedom for his people. De Valera, however, was strongly opposed to the treaty with Britian, and this led to violence among pro- and anti-treaty factions; soon Ireland's most loved leader was now branded a traitor by many of his countrymen. Michael Collins was voted Best Picture at the 1996 Venice Film Festival, and Liam Neeson was awarded the prize for Best Actor. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide