Julian Jarrold Movies
Evelyn Waugh's classic novel of love and the British class system has been given a polished screen adaptation in this film version from director Julian Jarrold. Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode) was raised in a middle-class household and though he's never known want and is fortunate enough to have been accepted into Oxford, the life of the upper class is foreign to him. While serving in the British Army during the waning days of World War II, Charles is assigned to a temporary base set up on the estate of the wealthy and aristocratic Flyte family, where he strikes up a friendship with twentysomething Lord Sebastian (Ben Whishaw). Sebastian enjoys the pleasures his privileged life has afforded him, but he also senses that something is missing, and he tries to drown his frequent episodes of depression in alcohol. Charles is captivated by the splendor of Sebastian's life, and he finds himself drawn into a web of decadent comfort, while also developing an infatuation with Sebastian's sister, Julia (Hayley Atwell), even as Charles senses his relationship with Sebastian is something deeper than simple friendship. The idyllic days at the Flyte estate come to an end with the arrival of Sebastian's mother, Lady Marchmain (Emma Thompson), a fierce Catholic who objects to her son's free and easy life and has become increasingly bitter since her husband, Lord Marchmain (Michael Gambon), has left her to live in Italy with the lovely Cara (Greta Scacchi). This was the first cinema adaptation of Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, though it was the basis of an acclaimed miniseries produced for British television in 1981. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hayley Atwell, Ben Whishaw, (more)
Events from the life of the author Jane Austen inspired this romantic historical drama, which speculates of a romance that may have had a significant impact on her life and work. Twenty-year-old Jane Austen (Anne Hathaway) is the daughter of Rev. Austen (James Cromwell), a minister who looks after a flock in a small rural community in Southern England with his wife (Julie Walters). While her older sister, Cassandra (Anna Maxwell Martin), is engaged to be married, Jane resists her family's efforts to match her up with Mr. Wisley (Laurence Fox), the wealthy but dull nephew of Lady Gresham (Maggie Smith), a minor member of the British nobility. Jane has the heart of an artist, and hopes to distinguish herself as a musician or a writer, though her parents don't think much of her prospects. When Jane meets Tom Lefroy (James McAvoy), a young man her own age, she's intrigued; while he scoffs at her writing style, he clearly sees she has talent, and is eager for her to learn more of the larger world by exposing her to more daring literature and modern pastimes such as boxing. As Tom begins to court Jane, she finds herself increasingly attracted to this poor but keenly intelligent man, though she soon realizes her own ideas about love and marriage are sometimes at odds with the conventions of the society in which she lives. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, (more)
A failing shoe factory that's struggling to maintain its footing following the death of its founder finds the inspiration needed to stay in business from the most unlikely of sources in veteran British director Julian Jarrold's warmhearted tale of fancy footwear and changing times. Charlie Price (Joel Edgerton) just can't seem to keep the factory afloat on his own, and with the livelihood of his entire small town hanging in the balance, he needs to come up with something truly groundbreaking. Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a sassy female impersonator with a flair for style and a great mind for design. Though on paper their inventive scheme to save the factory may sound too outrageous to be true, stranger things have happened in the world of business, and if it doesn't break them, it may just transform them into the richest footwear manufacturers in all of England. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joel Edgerton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, (more)
Based on Casual Rex, one of a series of lighthearted fantasy novels by Eric Garcia, the made-for-cable Anonymous Rex would have us believe that not all dinosaurs were rendered exinct 65 million years ago. The survivors dinos had gone into hiding, gradually re-emerging in human form courtesy of a special holographic process. In fact, one out of every ten thousand "humans" is actually a well-assimilated dinosaur, and among these are a pair of private eyes: Ernie Watson (Daniel Baldwin) and Vincent Rubio (Sam Trammell), respectively a raptor and a triceratops. Hired to investigate the "accidental" death of the son of one of Ernie's old girlfriends, the two lizardy gumshoes stumble upon a cult called the Voice of Progress, comprised of fanatical dinosaurs who want to wipe out all humans and take over the world. Things take a serious turn when one of the two detectives is killed, and Ernie's daughter Gabrielle (Stephanie Nicole Lemelin) is kidnapped. Although the special effects are nothing to write home about, the film scores with its wry, knowing humor, likening the plight of the disguised dinos to those people in real life who must "pass" as something they're not (there's even a scene at a nocturnal dino club which looks more like a reptilian gay bar). Anonymous Rex debuted December 4, 2004 on the Sci-Fi Channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Originally telecast in the United Kingdom, the two-part miniseries White Teeth was based on Zadie Smith's 2000 bestseller about the perils of cultural assimilation in modern day North London. Taking place in the years 1974 to 1992 and set in the melting-pot community of Willesden Green, the story focuses on three different families. The Jamaican-English Archie Jones (Phil Davis) is a professional envelope-folder, while his wife, Clara (Naomie Harris), is a lapsed Jehovah's Witness. Archie's old army buddy Samad Iqbal (Om Puri) is a Bengalese waiter who hails from Bangladesh, also the home country of his sharp-tongued spouse, Alsana (Archie Panjabi). And the Malfen family, headed by Joyce and Marcus (Geraldine James, Robert Bathurst), are fiercely dedicated charter members of the Keepers of the Eternal and Victorious Islamic Nation (or KEVIN for short). Deftly combining comedy, drama, melodrama, and pathos, the Dickensian interactions and interrelationships among the three families manage to accommodate a variety of dizzying plot convolutions involving disenchanted youngsters, racial prejudice, social pretensions, cult worship, misguided animal activists, a genetically modified mouse, a Nazi war criminal, and a bizarre but brilliant kidnapping scheme. In the United States, White Teeth first aired May 11, 2003, as part of the PBS Masterpiece Theatre anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Om Puri, Philip Davis, (more)
- 2002
Fyodor Dostoyevsky's evergreen psychological novel Crime and Punishment was given an up-close-and-personal treatment in this two-part British miniseries version, first telecast over the BBC in 2002. John Simm starred as Dostoyevsky's idealistic antihero Raskolnikov, who, secure in his belief that he was a superior being ungoverned by emotions, murdered a hateful pawnbroker and impassively watched as the ensuing criminal investigation unfolded before his very eyes. Police inspector Porfiry (Ian McDiarmid) was fairly confident that Raskolnikov was the guilty party, but rather than immediately moving in for his kill, Porfiry calmly waited for the killer's latent conscience to get the better of him. There was more to the story, of course, and Tony Marchant's teleplay admirably telescoped the Dostoyevsky original into a neat four-hour television package. Eschewing the straightforward approach taken by earlier adaptations of Crime and Punishment, director Julian Jarrold trafficked in tight, uncomfortable close-ups and vertigo-inducing camera angles, virtually forcing the viewer to become as neurotic and unraveled as Raskolnikov. Filmed on location in St. Petersburg in the former Soviet Union, Crime and Punishment was first seen in the U.S. over the Bravo cable network on January 28 and 29, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Simm, Ian McDiarmid, (more)
- 2000
The "hero" of this two-part British miniseries was John Parlour (John Simm), usurious collector for a seedy loan agency. While going about his appointed rounds of extorting money from the residents of a public housing project, Parlour was attacked and robbed. Now broke, and afraid to tell his boss what happened, Parlour moved into the project himself, where he fell in love with one of his debtors, unwed mother Jo Weller (Sophie Okonedo). Turning over a new leaf, John helped his fellow tenants set up a credit union -- only to become embroiled in a murder case. Never, Never was telecast by Britain's Channel 4 on November 5 and 6, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Originally produced for the BBC and broadcast in the U.S. as part of the PBS series Masterpiece Theatre, this drama tells the story of the Sandringham Company, one of the most unusual teams of fighting men to march on the battlefields of World War I; under the leadership of Captain Frank Beck, the Sandringhams were made up entirely of servants and custodians from the Norfolk estate of King George V. Hoping to serve their king in a time of need, they volunteered for military service and were sent into battle against Turkish forces in 1915's infamous Battle of Gallipoli, during which they disappeared and were never seen again. David Jason plays Capt. Beck, David Troughton portrays George V, and Maggie Smith appears as Queen Alexandra, an ardent supporter of the Sandringham battalion. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Jason, Patrick Malahide, (more)
Charles Dickens' classic novel, which has been brought to the screen at least six times in the past (including a modernized adaptation released in 1998), is committed to film once again in this production for television by the BBC. Pip is an orphan who lives with his older sister and her husband Joe, a blacksmith. Pip is occasionally sent to visit Miss Havisham (Charlotte Rampling), an eccentric old crone who lives in a huge but filthy mansion and is always dressed in a decrepit bridal trousseau. Miss Havisham has a ward, a lovely young woman named Estella, with whom Pip is immediately smitten. However, Pip is convinced a boy of poor circumstances could never win her heart, which fills him with a desire to better himself. While economics would dictate a fate as Joe's assistant, one day Pip receives a message from a lawyer named Jaggers -- an anonymous benefactor has made it possible for Pip to leave the blacksmith's shop and pursue a gentleman's education in London. Pip (played as an adult by Ioan Gruffudd) soon moves to the city, where he hopes to gain knowledge, wealth and the affections of Estella (Justine Waddell). This version of Great Expectations made its American premier on the PBS cultural series Masterpiece Theatre, where it was shown as a three-part miniseries. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ioan Gruffudd, Justine Waddell, (more)
Helen Mirren played the title character in the two-part British miniseries Painted Lady. In the throes of poverty and drug abuse, Irish folk singer Maggie Sheridan (Mirren) pulled herself together when her wealthy and well-connected landlord was murdered and robbed of several valuable works of art. Posing as an art dealer, Maggie not only wreaked vengeance upon the thieves, but also had time left over for a torrid interracial romance. And, as a bonus, the heroine ended up a Countess, no less. Debuting over British television on December 7, 1997, Painted Lady made its American TV bow on April 26, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Mirren, Franco Nero, (more)
The fate of three missing boys lies in the determination of a detective committed to ensuring their safe return in this mystery starring Robson Green and featuring a special appearance by Star Wars star Ian McDiarmid. Three children are missing, and the only clues in the case are a daffodil, a yellow Volvo, and the ominous account of an unstable psychic. Despite the grim outlook of the case, Detective Inspector Dave Creegan (Green)'s gut instinct tells him that the kids are still alive. When the trail of evidence leads Creegan to the door of pharmaceutical engineer Dr. Ronald Hinks (McDiarmid), the case that once seemed cut and dry soon hits a dead end thanks to a lack of sufficient evidence. Now, as the case hits a stalemate and time begins running out for the innocent victims, Creegan must choose between playing by the rules and relegating the children to certain death, or taking a daring gamble that just could bring the boys back home safely. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Created by Paul Abbott, the popular British police series Touching Evil chronicled the exploits of the elite Organised & Serial Crime Unit, headed by Detective Inspector Dave Creegan (Robson Green). His relentless pursuit on such venal criminals as child rapists and serial killers, inevitably took a toll on Creegan's private life, breaking up his marriage and straining his relationships with his children. Unlike similar American cop dramas, this one required full viewer attention, with intricate plot lines and sudden, unexpected clues abounding. The editing of the series earned a Royal Television Society award for Sue Wyatt. Presented by Granada Television, Touching Evil originally ran 16 hour-long episodes from 1997 to 1999. It was subsequently followed by a brace of sequels, Touching Evil 2 and Touching Evil 3. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
One of several British crime series of the 1990s to enjoy popularity on both sides of the Atlantic, Silent Witness starred Amanda Burton as Professor Sam Ryan, a police pathologist based at London University. Disdaining the assistance of the Law, Sam preferred to solve perplexing murder cases all by herself, using the evidence at hand in her well-stocked forensic laboratory. Like the American series Law & Order, the characters were defined by their professional lives, with precious few glimpses into their off-hours activities. Sarah Leonard was heard during the opening credits singing the memorable title song. Created by Nigel McCrery, the series debuted over BBC1 on February 21, 1996, yielding 18 50-minute episodes (many of them two-parters) and one 95-minute TV movie. Silent Witness subsequently aired in the United States over the A&E cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
A British housewife faces a difficult decision in this realistic drama. Alison is the young wife and mother whose life is turned upside down after her beloved husband, Steve, is involved in a motorcycle crash, suffers massive head trauma and awakens with the mental and emotional capacity of a 5-year-old. Much of the story centers on the mundane aspects of being forced to deal with the loss of her husband as a man and the acquisition of him as a child. Matters are not helped by Steve's overbearing mother. Time passes and things do not improve. Slowly even Steve's closest friends begin withdrawing their support. Eventually Alison is forced to decide whether she will continue to stick by Steve, or whether she will go on without him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
