Laura Fraser

A woman comes to terms with her sexuality while trying to save the family business in this flavorful romantic comedy. Nina Shah (Shelley Conn) is the daughter of an Indian expatriate family who settled in Glasgow and run an Indian restaurant, the New Taj Mahal. While Nina was always close to her father, when he insisted she wed a man she didn't love as part of an arranged marriage, she left Glasgow and began a new life in London. However, word of her father's passing brings her back to Glasgow to look after her mother and help run the New Taj. Nina learns that the restaurant is deep in debt and needs a sharp increase in business if its to stay open; shortly before his death, father arranged for the New Taj to take part in a televised cooking competition to find the best Indian food in Glasgow, and so Nina and the restaurant's head chef Lisa (Laura Fraser) are on the spot to come up with something special. As Nina and Lisa spend many hours in the kitchen together, they begin to develop a personal relationship as spicy as anything on the menu. As Nina tries to decide how to explain her new romance to her family, she finds emotional support from her very out of the closet friend Bobbi (Ronny Jhutti) and her younger sister, who has developed a passion for Scottish folk dancing. But Nina's effort to save the New Taj may become a grudge match when she learns that her biggest competition comes from a new eatery run by Sanjay (Raji James), the man Nina refused to marry. Nina's Heavenly Delights also stars Art Malik as Sanjay's father. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

As the world's greatest lover lies slowly fading on his death bed, the memories of his passionate past come flooding back in director Sheree Folkson's tale of lust and adventure in 18th Century Europe. Casanova (portrayed in his early years by David Tennant, and his dying days by Peter O'Toole) was a slave to the pleasures of the flesh. In his heyday the tireless lover would lie with some of the world's greatest beauties, yet without the live of the married Henriette (Laura Fraser) happiness always eluded him. After a chance encounter in his final days spurns on memories of his one true love, a dying Casanova makes one desperate attempt to see Henriette before death comes to claim him. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Scottish writer and former vocalist for the punk band the Skids, Richard Jobson makes his directorial debut with 16 Years of Alcohol, the stylized psychological drama based on his own semi-autobiographical novel. Through voice-over narration and various flashback methods, troubled young man Frankie Mac (Kevin McKidd) recalls his childhood (played by Iain De Caestaecker as a boy) growing up in working-class Edinburgh. In the '50s, his father (Lewis McCloud) was a hard-drinking good-timer and his long-suffering mother (Lisa May Cooper) eventually gave up on the family. As a teenager in the '70s, the violent Frankie falls in with a street gang and tries to clean up to impress record store clerk Helen (Laura Fraser). After some fights with his old street thug enemy Miller (Stuart Sinclair Blyth), Frankie makes an another attempt to stop drinking at an AA meeting, where he meets Mary (Susan Lynch). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

This crowd-pleasing medieval adventure tale is very loosely inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and mixes the anachronistic elements of modern-day rock music and colloquialisms with a period setting and characters. Heath Ledger stars as William Thatcher, a low-born 14th century squire who, in a fit of inspired spontaneity, replaces his deceased employer as the competitor at a jousting competition. Jousting is a pastime only permitted to knights, who are of noble birth, but Thatcher wins and decides to continue his new pursuits. With the help of his two fellow squire friends Wat and Roland (Alan Tudyk and Mark Addy) and none other than the gambling-addicted Geoffrey Chaucer (Paul Bettany), Thatcher has soon adopted a false identity and is winning one joust after another on his way to a championship in London. His victories inspire the affection of a female fan, Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon), and the ire of a competitor, Count Adehmar (Rufus Sewell), but Thatcher's ruse is threatened with exposure. A Knight's Tale is the sophomore directorial effort of acclaimed screenwriter Brian Helgeland, who won an Oscar for his work on L.A. Confidential (1997) and debuted behind the camera with the troubled production of Payback (1999). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Aisling Walsh directs this drama about coming out in working-class England. South Londoners David (Steven John Shepherd) and Theo (John Simm) are best mates: they grew up together, they both work in the same construction crew, and they spend much of their free time getting plastered. The problem is that tall, hunky David is secretly gay -- and in love with Theo. His quiet desire turns pained and urgent when Theo moves in with his girlfriend Hannah (Laura Fraser). Sensing him to be a rival for Theo's attention, Hannah jealously tries to veer Theo away from his friend. Unwilling to lessen his attachment and unable to understand the depth of his feelings, David resorts to increasingly desperate measures to return his friendship with Theo back to what it was. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Set during the swinging disco era in decidedly unswinging Sheffield, England, this oddball comedy is both a coming-of-age story about getting funky and a supernatural mystery. Vince (Michael Legge) is a Travolta-obsessed teenager who lives with his aspiring magician brother; his randy mom, who has a taste for young men; and his laid-back father Harold (Tom Courtenay). Vince longs for the young, vivacious Joanna Robinson (Laura Fraser), as Harold wows his family with his unnervingly accurate mind reading tricks. Later, when he makes headlines for inadvertently stopping the pacemakers of a couple of oldsters, Harold learns that he actually does have a telekinetic brain. That doesn't stop him from getting arrested, however, and soon Vince and Joanna's snotty boss (David Thewlis) is representing him in court. Meanwhile, Vince has been unable to summon the courage to ask out Joanna. While walking home one day, he is taken by a sexy young punkette who turns out to be none other than Joanna. Vince promptly dumps his disco stuff and buys a Sex Pistols album. Pete Hewitt, whose previous efforts include Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, directed this film. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

One of William Shakespeare's lesser-known plays, Titus Andronicus was staged in New York by award-winning theatrical director Julie Taymor in an acclaimed 1995 production, before her widely praised Broadway version of The Lion King. Taymor revisits that production for her first motion picture, with the addition of a star-studded cast. Roman General Titus Andronicus (Anthony Hopkins) has returned from defeating the Goths in a bloody battle, but the victory has left him with mixed feelings, as the war took the lives of several of his sons. Titus is reminded by his first-born son Lucius (Angus Macfadyen) that their faith demands the sacrifice of an enemy prisoner as a gift to the gods for their victory. Titus chooses the eldest son of Tamora (Jessica Lange), the Queen of the Goths, who has since been taken hostage by Titus's troops. Tamora pleads for her son's life, but Titus goes ahead with the sacrifice. She then becomes the lover of the new emperor of Rome, Saturninus (Alan Cumming), a weak-willed and corrupt man. Tamora uses her connection to the throne for her own ends: in retaliation for the death of her son, Tamora and her surviving sons, Chiron (Jonathan Rhys Myers) and Demetrius (Matthew Rhys), brutally rape Titus's beloved daughter, Lavinia (Laura Fraser). This act sets in motion an ever-tightening spiral of revenge and retaliation that leaves few of the participants unscathed. The supporting cast includes Colm Feore as Marcus, Harry Lennix as Aaron, and James Frain as Bassianus. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A woman looking for the man of her dreams turns to a computer with unexpected results in the British comedy Virtual Sexuality. Justine (Laura Fraser) is 17 year old and a virgin, a situation she's none too happy about. She has her eye on Alex (Kieran O'Brien), one of her classmates, and has been plotting a seduction following the advice of her friends Fran (Marcelle Duprey) and Chas (Luke de Lacey). However, when Alex breaks their date to go out with Hoover (Natasha Bell), Justine is crushed; to take her mind off this turn of events, she goes to a computer show with Chas. Justine notices a virtual-reality makeover machine on display, and after toying with her own image for a while uses the computer to design her ideal man. Something goes wrong with the hall's power supply, and the computer explodes. The dust settles to reveal Jake (Rupert Penry-Jones), who looks like the man Justine was designing -- except he's wearing her clothes and thinks he's her. Justine eventually returns and is introduced to Jake; she finds she likes him quite a bit, not realizing he's merely a manifestation of her own personality. However, Jake also has also attracted the attention of her nemesis Hoover. Virtual Sexuality was based on a novel by British author Chloe Rayban. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

On the eve of near-future Northern Ireland's first general election, well-marketed reformer Michael Brinn (Robert Lindsay), a shoo-in for prime minister, has newspaper columnist Dan Starkey's dander up. Working the election beat alongside visiting Boston Globe writer Charles Parker (Richard Gant), Starkey (David Thewlis) watches his pointed barbs slide off Brinn's Teflon-coated backside. Drowning his troubles in drink in a Belfast park, Starkey invites beautiful art student Margaret (Laura Fraser) to a friend's party, unaware of her ties to both the IRA and to Brinn's political party. When Starkey's wife (Laine Megaw) catches him canoodling with Margaret, she kicks Starkey out and he ends up in Margaret's bed. When the girl turns up mortally wounded a mere day later, mouthing the words "divorcing Jack" just before her death rattle, Starkey finds himself a suspect in the murder. Donning a ridiculous wig and going on the lam, he must fend off a nationwide manhunt while tracing the connection between Margaret's death and the upcoming election. Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, this British/French co-production marked director David Caffrey's feature debut. Irish writer Colin Bateman adapted his own novel, one of several to feature Starkey as a protagonist. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Oscar-nominated Randall Wallace (Braveheart) made his directorial debut with this adaptation of the 1848 classic by Alexandre Dumas (1802-70), featuring Leonardo DiCaprio in a dual role. Years have passed since the Three Musketeers, Aramis (Jeremy Irons), Athos (John Malkovich), and Porthos (Gerard Depardieu) fought together with their friend D'Artagnan (Gabriel Byrne). The arrogant, tyrannical King Louis XIV (Leonardo DiCaprio) desires the beautiful Christine (Judith Godreche), so he orders her suitor Raoul (Peter Sarsgaard), the son of Athos, off to face death at the front. He also sends Aramis to kill the leader of a Jesuit rebellion. Louis is unaware that his loyal protector and informant, D'Artagnan, is the secret lover of his mother, Queen Anne (Anne Parillaud). Louis' younger twin brother, Philippe (also DiCaprio) is the man in the iron mask, imprisoned for the past six years. Arthos and Porthos plan to free Philippe, abduct Louis and replace him by putting Philippe on the throne. French location scenes include the Chateau de Fontainbleau. Previous adaptations: Allan Dwan's The Iron Mask (1929) with Douglas Fairbanks, the 1939 James Whale version with Louis Hayward, Patricia Medina in Lady in the Iron Mask (1952), Henri Decoin's Le Masque de Fer (1962), Mike Newell's 1976 TV movie with Richard Chamberlain, and Ken Annakin's The Fifth Musketeer (1978, aka Behind the Iron Mask) with Beau Bridges, Lloyd Bridges, Sylvia Kristel, Ursula Andress, Cornel Wilde, Jose Ferrer, Rex Harrison, and Olivia de Havilland. A second film titled The Man in the Iron Mask was released in 1998, a low-budget effort from director William Richert. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide