Ned Dennehy Movies

Charlotte Brontë's classic romance is revived once again with this Ruby Films production directed by Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre) and adapted by screenwriter Moira Buffini. Raised by her aunt Sarah (Sally Hawkins) after her parents die of typhus, young Jane Eyre (Amelia Clarkson) is later shipped off to a stark boarding school as the result of her perceived insolence, and suffers greatly at the hands of the cold, unusually strict administration. Upon turning 18 and completing her education, Jane (Mia Wasikowska) finds work as a governess for Adèle Varens (Romy Settbon Moore), the ward of Edward Fairfax Rochester (Michael Fassbender), master of Thornfield Hall. It doesn't take long for the young Adèle to warm to Jane, and upon returning home the charming Rochester, too, falls under the spell of his modest yet captivating governess. Later, he ends his courtship with the beautiful Blanche Ingram (Imogen Poots) in favor of proposing to Jane, who excitedly accepts. On what was supposed to be the happiest day of Jane's life, however, a scandalous secret is revealed, and the emotionally shattered governess takes flight. Subsequently taken in by kindly clergyman St. John (Jamie Bell) and his two sisters, Jane begins a new life as a teacher under an assumed name. But her passion for Rochester still burns bright, prompting Jane to make a life-altering decision after learning a crucial secret about her own family. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Roland Emmerich takes a break from his long string of big-budget disaster films with Anonymous, a historical drama that suggests Shakespeare was a fraud. Edward de Vere (Rhys Ifans) is an aristocrat who yearns to write poetry and plays, but due to social and political constraints, he is forced to use a front for his political-minded works because they subtly encourage Queen Elizabeth to alter her plan for succession in a way that is in direct opposition to her most-trusted political advisers. When drunken, illiterate, fame-hungry actor William Shakespeare (Rafe Spall) passes off the plays as his own, de Vere finds his man, but eventually he is blackmailed when the morally dubious thespian wants more and more. Anonymous screened at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

The first installment of the two-film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows follows Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) as they search for the pieces of Voldemort's (Ralph Fiennes) soul that he extracted from his being and hid in obscure locations both far and wide. If the trio is unable to locate and destroy them all, Voldemort will remain immortal. Despite their long friendship, a combination of dark forces, romantic tensions, and long-held secrets threaten to sabotage the mission. David Yates directs. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

An ordinary guy gets himself in an extraordinary amount of trouble in this blend of comedy and action from director Ian Fitzgibbon. Michael McCrea (Cillian Murphy) is a regular guy who isn't especially good with money, which leads him to borrow some money from Perrier (Brendan Gleeson), a local loan shark and strong-arm man. Unfortunately, Michael isn't able to pay back the money on schedule, and he quickly learns that Perrier is one man you don't want angry; now there's a price on Michael's head and he needs to pay his debt quickly if he wants to live. Michael accepts a proposal from a small-time hood to do a quick breaking-and-entering job in exchange for part of the loot, but things go very wrong and somehow the neighbor girl Michael is sweet on, Brenda (Jodie Whittaker), ends up shooting someone. Now Michael is on the run from two sets of crooks, has a dead body to deal with, must find an alibi for Brenda, and has to mend fences with his crusty father (Jim Broadbent) before his dad is willing to help. Perrier's Bounty was an official selection at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Deliverance and Tailor of Panama director John Boorman returns to the director's chair for this tale of a hawkish businessman who slowly finds his life being taken over by the twin brother he never knew he had. Liam O'Leary (Brendan Gleeson) is a no-nonsense real-estate developer who isn't above greasing the politician's wheels a bit to get the permits he needs. His 20-year marriage to Jane (Kim Cattrall) has been stale for over a decade, and his adolescent son, Connor (Brian Gleeson), has most recently taken to communism as a means of showcasing his rebellious streak. Though Liam still dotes on his aging mother (Moira Deady), it's plain to see that his sister, Oona (Sinéad Cusack), is the favored child in the family. One day, stuck in traffic on the way home from work and frustrated at his inability to obtain planning permission for a multi-million pound stadium, Liam is shocked to see his spitting image approach his car and begin cleaning the windshield while begging for change. Now, after discovering that he was not only adopted but has an identical twin as well, Liam finds his life rapidly being taken over by a cunning doppelganger who has had enough of life on the streets, and has finally found a means of turning his luck around by simply stepping into the shoes of his more successful counterpart. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

John Boorman, who won the 1998 Cannes Film Festival's Direction award for this film, previously won the same Cannes award almost three decades earlier for his Leo the Last (1969) about an alienated aristocrat in a London slum. Shot in widescreen color (but printed in sharp black-and-white), The General is a biographical portrait of ruthless Irish crime lord Martin Cahill, shot down outside his home by a single assassin on August 18, 1994. After this opening, the film then unfolds as a lengthy flashback of the events that led to his death, sketching in the raw beginnings of the youthful Martin (Eamonn Owens of The Butcher Boy) and moving into the Dublin slum of Hollyfield to show the adult Cahill (Brendan Gleeson) and his link to a local cop, Inspector Ned Kenny (Jon Voight). Various thefts enable Cahill to support his wife Frances (Maria Doyle Kennedy), his four children, and his sister-in-law Tina (Angeline Ball). As the years pass, Cahill rises as a mobster, bamboozling cops, constructing airtight alibis, pulling off a near-impossible jewel heist, and setting up a menage a trois with Frances and Tina. (Both actresses were seen previously in Alan Parker's The Commitments). ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi