Colin Friels Movies
Bearded, Scots-born leading man Colin Friels has spent most of his professional career in Australia. A 1976 graduate of that country's National Institute of Dramatic Art, Friels rapidly found work in all branches of popular entertainment, but was particularly successful in such stage productions as Hamlet, Macbeth and The Man From Muckinpin. Entering films in 1983, Friels made his international mark as a cheeky misfit in Malcolm (1986), an assignment that won him the Australian Film Institute "Best Actor" award. Married to actress Judy Davis, Colin Friels has kept busy into the 1990s in films like Class Action (1991) and A Good Man in Africa (1994). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1982
Monkey Grip is a frank portrayal of a year in the life of a divorced mother (Noni Hazlehurst) living in Melbourne, trying to cope with her daughter and her own relationship with a drug addict while trying to get into the music business. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Friels, Alice Garner, (more)
- 1983
- R
The Australian-made Buddies is essentially a Down Under gold rush western. Two friends in Queensland team up with a miner and his girl friend to search for diamonds. Their quest is threatened by a gang of slavering claim-jumpers. Colin Friels, Harold Hopkins, Dennis Miller and Kris McQuade (the girl) are the protagonists in this attractive location-filmed effort. The Australian film Buddies is sometimes confused with an unrelated U.S. produced AIDS-related drama of the same title. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Friels, Harold Hopkins, (more)
- 1983
- Add For the Term of His Natural Life to QueueAdd For the Term of His Natural Life to top of Queue
For the Term of His Natural Life, Australian novelist Marcus Clarke's epic tale of the hardships and deprivations of his native country in the 1830s, served as the basis for one of the most famous Australian films of the silent era. That was in 1927; 56 years later, Clarke's novel again went before the cameras, this time resulting in a three-part, six-hour TV miniseries. Colin Friels starred as Londoner Rufus Dawes, who thanks to treachery and deceit was arrested on a trumped-up charge and transported to a penal colony in Tasmania, while an impostor laid claim to his birthright. Eighteen years into his incarcaration, Rufus managed to escape, and was subsequently reunited with his sweet Sylvia (Susan Lyons), daughter of the colony's warden. Unfortunately, a happy ending was not in the cards for the hero and heroine. For the Term of His Natural Life aired over Australia's Nine Network in 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
- PG
Director Igor Auzins and screenwriter Peter Schreck, best known for their work on the Australian film We of the Never Never, were reteamed on Coolangatta Gold. The story takes place on the Gold Coast of Queensland, where for many years a grueling athletic competition has been held. Participants in the "Coolangata Gold" are required to swim, run and surf-ski over a course of 26 miles. Still smarting over losing the contest in 1960, ageing athlete Joe Lucas (Nick Tait) forces his son Adam (Colin Friels) to participate in the "Gold." But though he's up to the challenge, Adam is more interested in charting his own course in life. The film's highlights include an exciting last-lap finale, and an extended guest appearance by real-life Coolangatta Gold champion Grant Kenny. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joss Mc William, Josephine Smulders, (more)
- 1986
- PG
Tim Burstall directed this adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's semi-autobiographical novel recalling his experiences in Australia in the early 1920s. The film, set at the height of World War I, begins at the English coastal home of writer Richard Somers (Colin Friels) and his German-born wife Harriet (Judy Davis). Since Somers is a conscientious objector and his wife is the nationality of the enemy, the British police pay him a visit. Somers is then drafted and undergoes a humiliating physical examination at the draft board. Seeing harassment in the air, Somers and his wife decide to leave England for the relative calm of Australia, where their neighbors are a pair of earthy suburbanites, Vicki (Julie Nihil) and Jack Calcott (John Walton). Jack, disillusioned by the war, has joined a fascist paramilitary group called the Diggers, led by a wealthy old general with the code name "Kangaroo" (Hugh Keays-Byrne). The Diggers want to stifle the emerging union movement in the country, and Kangaroo hopes to enlist Richard in the cause because "a country does not exist until it has found a voice." But Somers finds himself torn between opposing camps, since the Socialist trade unionists also want to utilize his writing skills for their own ends, looking for Somers to help them carry through "a partnership between poetry and power." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Friels, Judy Davis, (more)
In this hilarious, award-winning comedy, Malcolm (Colin Friels) is an innocent, naive mechanical genius with a distinct gap where sexual and social awareness normally reside. He first gets into trouble when he builds his version of a streetcar and then takes it on a joyride through Melbourne -- a definite no-no. That exploit costs him his job as a maintenance man for the streetcar company. Out of work, Malcolm is forced to take in two boarders who are actually a con man and his female companion. The con artist is intrigued by all of Malcolm's mechanical inventions, and cash registers are clicking at the back of his mind. It does not take him long to convince Malcolm to join them in robbing a bank -- which turns out to be even more adventurous than the streetcar ride through Melbourne. Director Nadia Tass and her husband, co-producer, scripter and cinematographer David Parker followed up with an enjoyable and funny Rikky and Pete. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Friels, John Hargreaves, (more)
- 1987
Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train, written and directed by Bob Ellis, belongs to a genre of highbrow 1980s films which pushed the conventions of art house cinema. An unnamed fine arts teacher struggles to support her brother's drug addiction. To raise money, she moonlights as a prostitute on a midnight train. For each encounter, she dons a different identity, ala Cindy Sherman, and seeks out her john for the night. That is, until she meets the Man and falls for him which forces her to choose between her love or her lifestyle. Warm Nights does have the benefit of Ellis' characteristic fine writing, but it is generally regarded as one of the more dismal failures in this genre. ~ Brian Whitener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wendy Hughes, Colin Friels, (more)
- 1987
- R
Ground Zero details a governmental cover-up as seen through the eyes of commercial photographer Colin Friels. Tipped off to the possibility that the death of his father was tied in with radioactive contamination, Friels runs into several official brick walls as he presses his investigation. At the root of everything is a hush-hush nuclear radiation test, conducted in Australia in the mid-1950s. With the help of a slightly-addled survivor (Donald Pleasence) of those tests, Friels uncovers the truth. Ground Zero was inspired by the real-life nuclear testings at Maralinga. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Friels, Jack Thompson, (more)
- 1987
- PG13
Gillian Armstrong directed this powerful and moving film containing a brilliant performance by Judy Davis. The story takes place in the small New South Wales seaside village of Eden. Davis is Lillie, who is renting a run-down trailer as she waits for her car to be repaired. One night, when Lillie is drunk and cannot walk from the toilet block back to her trailer, a teenage girl, Ally (Claudia Karvan) -- who lives with her free-spirited grandmother Bet (Jan Adele) in another trailer in the trailer park -- helps her back home. Lillie and Ally become good friends, and it is only when Lillie finally meets Bet that she realizes that Ally is, in fact, her own daughter, who she abandoned years earlier after the death of her husband. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Davis, Jan Adele, (more)
- 1989
- R
In this stylish and smart 1988 thriller, reporter Tom Stewart accidentally falls on the wrong side (not that he's ever on the right side) of the law during a psychotic killer's spree of murders. Stewart's no angel having already stolen money from a car wreck. At the center of the killings is Morris Martin, a schoolteacher on a rampage supposedly searching for his "dead" wife. As Martin's killings become progressively more violent and heat from the police increases, Stewart is forced to hunt Martin down himself, teaming up with crooked cop Ray Birch to do so. Stewart and Birch eventually corner Martin, but have no idea the mystery they'll uncover when they find him. ~ Brian Whitener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Friels, John Waters, (more)
Neglecting Julie (Frances McDormand), his lawyer lady friend, Dr. Peyton Westlake (Liam Neeson) works feverishly to perfect his latest invention -- artificial skin that could be used to treat burn victims. Peyton himself falls victim to an explosion when one of Julie's crooked clients sends his henchmen to sniff out an incriminating document that's been left in Westlake's lab. Hideously disfigured and left for dead, the good doctor receives an experimental medical treatment that renders him super-strong, impervious to pain and prone to heightened fits of rage. Rebuilding his lab into an underground hideout, Westlake begins using his synthetic skin to impersonate various characters and engineer his revenge against those who destroyed his life. Reconnecting with Julie, however, becomes the unsightly vigilante's biggest challenge. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand, (more)
- 1990
Arch Nicholson directed this breezy sex comedy concerning ex-journalist turned rock promoter Richard Muir (Colin Friel), who is pulled in two different directions by the women in his life -- his vivacious wife, Catherine (Catherine McClements), who wants to have a baby -- and Carla (Helen Mutkins), his ambitious mistress, who wants to have Richard. Richard decides to take his wife away for the weekend to their beach house -- not for a vacation, but to tell her that he is leaving her. Catherine, not realizing the ulterior motives of the weekend at the shore, determines to use the intimacy of a weekend with her husband to get pregnant. But then all bets are off when self-absorbed rock star Jon Thorne (Jerome Ehlers) arrives at the beach town for a weekend of quiet fishing. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Friels, Catherine McClements, (more)
A pair of lawyers must balance their professional principles (such as they are) against family loyalties in this courtroom drama. Jedediah Ward (Gene Hackman) is a leftist lawyer who has based his career on helping people avoid being taken for a ride by the rich and powerful; he's pursued principle at the expense of profit, though he has a bad habit of not following up on his clients after their cases are settled. Jed's daughter, Maggie (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), has had a bad relationship with her father ever since she discovered that he was cheating on her mother, and while she also has made a career in law, she has taken a very different professional route by working for a high-powered corporate law firm and has adopted a conservative political agenda. Jed is hired to help field a lawsuit against a major auto manufacturer whose station wagons have a dangerous propensity to explode on impact, but while his research indicates he has an all but airtight case against them, the case becomes more complicated for him when he discovers that Maggie is representing the firm he's suing. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Hackman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, (more)
- 1992
Jazz great Miles Davis makes his acting debut and farewell playing an inspirational jazz trumpeter in this lively drama that centers on a young Australian country boy who dreams of becoming just like him. Unfortunately, some dreams are never realized, and the boy grows up to become a dingo trapper with a wife and nearly grown children. As his latest birthday inexorably approaches, he begins suffering a mid-life crisis. The fellow had been playing jazz trumpet with his band, the "Dingo Dusters" for many years. They came up with a unique form of jazz that was popular in their area, but he still cannot escape his disappointment about never playing music in Paris. For many years, he has been writing to Cross, who has never replied, and saving up his pennies for a trip to the City of Light, where Cross lives. But times are hard and money is tight. His devoted wife, seeing her husband is seriously depressed, writes a letter to Cross' agent. The agent's wife, who, knowing that Billy would never listen or respond, has secretly saved all of the Australian's letters and tapes. When she reads the letter, she decides to forward it through. Billy is touched and then asks to hear the demos. In the end, it becomes a touching dream-come-true for the hard-working Australian who somehow manages to discover that he already has the best of both worlds. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miles Davis, Colin Friels, (more)
- 1993
Based on a novel by satirical comedian (and dedicated environmentalist) Ben Elton, the British miniseries Stark was set in the bleak near-future, with mankind facing utter extinction due to rampant pollution. The action took place in Australia, home base for the Stark Conspiracy, a secret organization of politicians and corporate fat cats who intended to save themselves from Armageddon at the expense of everyone else on earth. When zillionaire Sly Morgan (Colin Friels) was invited to join the Stark group, gonzo journalist CD Dobson (played by author Ben Elton himself) intended to uncover the facts behind the organization. To this end, he began romancing Rachel (Jacqueline McKenzie), an activist in league with a group of overaged hippies who hoped to destroy Stark and save the world on their own. A co-production of BBC2 and Australia's ABC network, Stark originally aired in Britain in three 55-minute installments, from December 8 to 22, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
This genial Australian coming-of-age film is based on the experiences of its narrator, writer and director Bob Ellis. The first part of the film covers the difficulties teenaged Ken (Noah Thomas) has at a church summer camp run the the Seventh Day Adventists; he is not "with the program," and consistently asks heretical questions during prayer meetings. Also, he can't help keeping a watchful, admiring eye on a visiting preacher's pretty daughter. He gets to ditch his ultra-religious background when he goes to work at a university newspaper some six years later and, despite (or perhaps because of) his scruffy appearance, he finds himself attractive to girls. One legacy of his years at church is a pervading sense that the world may end soon, and when he insists that his new girlfriend drive him away from Sydney in her father's car because he anticipates nuclear war as a result of the Cuban Missle Crisis, it is the last straw in their relationship. Years later, now a successful film director, he runs into some of his friends from earlier days. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Noah Taylor, Miranda Otto, (more)
- 1994
- R
Based on a novel by William Boyd (who also wrote the film's screenplay), this darkly witty drama explores the political, social, and sexual gamesmanship of a group of British and African politicians. Morgan Leafy (Colin Friels) is a British diplomat who, for the past three years, has been assigned to the British High Commission of Ninjana, an African nation slowly divesting itself of colonial rule. Leafy is an arrogant and frequently confused alcoholic romantically involved with an African woman named Hazel (Jackie Mofokeng). Arthur Fanshawe (John Lithgow), a new High Commission appointee who wants nothing more than to be promoted and moved out of Africa, brings some interesting news to Leafy: massive reserves of oil have been discovered in Ninjana, and if the British want to reap the full profits of this windfall, they will want to stay on the good side of Sam Adekunle (Louis Gossett Jr.), who in all likelihood will be the next president of Ninjana. However, something of a diplomatic crisis has come up; a native woman was struck by lightning in the courtyard of the High Commission's compound, and the locals insist that she cannot be moved until certain time-honored rituals have been performed. At a loss for advice, Leafy turns to Dr. Alex Murray (Sean Connery), a Scottish doctor who has been in Africa for 23 years and is one of the few people equally at ease with both the British colonials and the natives. However, Leafy doesn't seem so eager to seek out assistance in his romantic problems; while he's involved with Hazel, Leafy also finds himself dallying with Adekunle's wife Celia (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer) and Fanshawe's wife Chloe (Diana Rigg). By the way, don't bother looking for Ninjana on a map -- it doesn't really exist. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Friels, Joanne Whalley, (more)
- 1995
- R
In this unusual romantic drama from Australia, Harry (John Lynch) and Kate (Jacqueline McKenzie) are both patients at a psychiatric care facility. While in therapy, the two meet and fall in love, in spite of their troubled pasts. Despite the potential complications they might foresee with the relationship, Harry's main sources of support, his brother Morris (Colin Friels) and Morris's wife Louise (Deborra-Lee Furness), are more concerned with Harry's stability and happiness than anything else, and they soon give him their blessing to marry Kate. However, it soon becomes obvious that love does not conquer all. Kate becomes pregnant, and her doctors try to persuade her to have an abortion. They believe that her mental illness could be passed along to her child, that she would not make a fit mother, and that her medication for schizophrenia could have a harmful effect on the fetus. Kate is convinced that the angel Astral speaks to her, and that the child she carries is his earthly incarnation; she refuses to have an abortion, but compromises by not taking her medication while pregnant. Harry stops taking his as well, but the couple's happiness is short-lived when their increasing instability leads to tragic consequences. Angel Baby won seven Australian Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actress. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lynch, Jacqueline McKenzie, (more)
- 1995
- R
This romantic, adventurous Australian thriller is set in the continent's Red Center. There Tom McGregor and his sister Susan work their lonely desert gas station. He and Susan are first seen racing along a desert road towards the horizon. Soon afterward, he is seen walking alone towards the seemingly abandoned filling station. During the course of the film, many interesting characters happen by, including the girl friend of a diamond thief on the lam. His car breaks down and he sends her to the station for assistance. Once there, she finds herself falling in love with Tom. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Mercurio, Colin Friels, (more)
- 1996
- R
Based on one of the most bizarre hostage-situations ever, this Australian comedy-drama is set in the late '60s when the youth were beginning to rebel against war and government. Set in 1968 Sydney during a scorching summer the whole mess begins when convicted car thief Wally Mellish gets out of prison, rents a hovel on the town's outskirts and gets involved with Beryl, the single mother of a two-year-old daughter. They move into together and dim-bulbed Wally, wanting to show his affection steals the shiny ornaments from a pair of Jaguars. Unfortunately he is not a clever thief and the police soon show up at his door. Not wanting to return to prison, Wally panics and grabs his gun. Thinking he is holding Beryl and her daughter hostage, the police soon surround the house and start a lengthy siege. Unfortunately, the police commissioner, aware of youthful civil unrest spawned by an unprovoked police attack on peaceful anti-war demonstrators a few weeks before realizes that situation requires kid-glove handling and so orders his deputy to negotiate with Wally. Word quickly gets out and soon the media stampedes to the situation. This in turn attracts hoards of tourists and opportunistic street vendors to create an unparalleled circus outside. Meanwhile, in the house, Wally and Beryl are delighted by their new found fame and decide to celebrate by getting married and having the police commissioner himself act as best man. The state premier, appalled by the brouhaha and afraid for his own career, demands that the commissioner be more aggressive and as a result gets taken hostage himself. It only gets stranger from there, but that is half the fun. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Friels, Jacqueline McKenzie, (more)
In this Australian comedy, adapted by Louis Nowra from his own play and updated from a '70s to a '90s setting, a Sydney slacker gets the chance to stage an opera, but his cast is assembled from the ranks of the mentally ill. After a long stretch sponging off his law-student girlfriend Lucy (Rachel Griffiths), college dropout Lewis (Ben Mendelsohn) fakes his way into a job doing occupational therapy with a group of asylum inmates. Although his original assignment is to stage a variety show, manic-depressive patient Roy (Barry Otto) soon hijacks the project and convinces Lewis to helm an adaptation of his favorite opera, Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutti. Lewis' unlikely cast ranges from psycho firebug Doug (David Wenham) and scruffy loudmouth Sandra (Kerry Walker) to depressive, dirt-obsessed Ruth (Pamela Rabe) and self-effacing drug addict Julie (Toni Collette). Given the dearth of acting and singing experience among these players, Lewis opts to translate the piece from Italian to English and stage it as a play with only a few pieces of music. The show still proves to be more than its director bargained for -- despite the dubious assistance of his friend Nick (Aden Young), an actor/director who's currently staging his own over-the-top production of Diary of a Madman. Although Cosi reteams Muriel's Wedding co-stars Collette and Griffiths, their characters here never share a scene. The production also includes former Men at Work singer Colin Hay in a featured role, plus cameos from Greta Scacchi and Paul Mercurio (who appeared alongside Otto in Strictly Ballroom). ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Mendelsohn, Barry Otto, (more)
Alex Proyas (The Crow) directed this noir-styled futuristic thriller, scripted by Proyas, Lem Dobbs (Kafka), and David S. Goyer (The Puppet Masters). Separated from his wife Emma (Jennifer Connelly), amnesiac John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) awakens alone in a strange hotel to learn he is wanted for a series of brutal killings -- but he can't remember if he did or didn't commit these murders. Indeed, most of his memories have completely vanished, and he becomes the focus of interest for both mad genius Dr. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland) and sympathetic detective Frank Bumstead (William Hurt). Attempting to unravel the twisted riddle of his identity, Murdoch encounters a group of ominous beings known as the Strangers, shadow-like figures who have a collective memory and possess the ability to stop time and alter physical reality through a process called The Tuning. Focusing their minds, they are able to change the size and shape of the material world. Murdoch manages to stay a step ahead of his adversaries as he slowly jigsaws together the puzzle of his past-bittersweet memories of his childhood, his love for Emma, and the key to the murders -- while following a labyrinth leading to the Strangers' Underworld, a set inspired by Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Rufus Sewell commented on the Underworld: "When Alex first sent me the sketches for that set, I was more excited than I had been when I read the script. The Underworld was truly remarkable -- a little bit scary, very thrilling, and full of hundreds of bald people." At the Fox Film Studios in Sydney, Australia, where 50 sets were built, three months were spent constructing the set for the Underworld, the largest indoor set ever built in Australia. The production design by George Liddle (Rapa Nui) and Patrick Tatopoulos (Godzilla, Space: Above and Beyond) is a composite of different styles and eras, combining the look of 1940s Manhattan with German Expressionism. The music is by Trevor Jones (G.I. Jane). The film's dedication reads: "In Memory of Dennis Potter with gratitude and admiration." ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, (more)
- 2001
- Add Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story to QueueAdd Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story to top of Queue
Between 1934 and 1940, Shirley Temple was the biggest little star in Hollywood; the curly-headed tyke began doing song-and-dance numbers in one-reel comedies at the age of four, at six years she stole the show in the musical Stand Up and Cheer, and at ten she was the number one box-office attraction in America, and had even taken home a special Oscar. Based on Temple's 1988 autobiography, Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story stars Ashley Rose Orr as the pint-size superstar in a story that concentrates on the sunny side of her rise to fame and soft-peddles allegations that her parents (here played by Connie Britton and Colin Friels) mismanaged the fortune she earned during her years as a pre-teen celebrity. Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story was produced by the mother-and-daughter team of Paula Hart and Melissa Joan Hart; the Harts have their own perspective on life as a youthful celebrity, thanks to Melissa's career as the star of the TV series Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, while Paula's younger daughter (and Melissa's younger sister) Emily Anne Hart appears in the film as the teenaged Shirley Temple. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ashley Rose Orr, Connie Britton, (more)
Directed by Mark Joffe, Australia's The Man Who Sued God centers around Steve (Billy Connelly), an ex-lawyer who is unable to collect insurance money for his destroyed boat. Deeming the accident an "act of God," Steve decides to sue the man at the root of his problem -- namely, God. Anna (Judy Davis), a jaded journalist who took a particular interest in Steve's case, decides to help him out on his quest to collect from the almighty. The movie raises a host of philosophical issues, some of which include who should represent God in court, who pays up should God be convicted, and the status of Steve's eternal soul. The Man Who Sued God also features Vincent Ball and Billie Brown. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Connolly, Judy Davis, (more)
Directed by Craig Lahiff, Black and White is a story about bigotry, social injustice, and a real-life murder trial that made Australian headlines in the late '50s. On a December afternoon in 1958, the body of a nine-year-old white girl is discovered in a cave off the coast of Southern Australia. Detective Paul Turner (Roy Billing) quickly arrests a half-aboriginal fair-worker named Max Stuart (David Ngoombujarra), who signs a confession. However, being that Max is illiterate, the legitimacy of the confession is contested by his legal aid representatives, David O'Sullivan (Robert Carlyle) and Helen Devaney (Kerry Fox). Despite the questionable confession, Max is found guilty by the all-white, all-male jury, and sentenced to be hanged. O'Sullivan lodges a series of appeals, but no conclusive evidence of Max's guilt or innocence has been found to this day. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Carlyle, Charles Dance, (more)
