Max Beesley Movies

A man trying to put his life back on track gets some advice from an unexpected benefactor in this comedy drama from acclaimed British director Ken Loach. Eric Bishop (Steve Evets) is a postman living in Manchester whose life has been slowly going off the rails ever since his wife, Lily (Stephanie Bishop), walked out on him. Eric has just been released from the hospital after an auto accident, and comes home to a house that's a mess and two teenage sons, Ryan (Gerard Kearns) and Jess (Stefan Gumbs), who regard their dad as an annoyance rather than an authority figure. Eric's oldest child, a grown daughter named Sam (Lucy-Jo Hudson), loves him but can't get her mother or brothers to show him any respect. And his friends from work don't know what to do for him, except allow him to talk about football and his favorite team, Manchester United. One night, Eric is home alone, smoking some weed, and to his amazement he's visited by an apparition of Eric Cantona, the French footballer who was a star for Manchester United in the 1990s until he retired and dropped out of sight. Cantona's ghost has come to give Eric a pep talk and offer him some advice on how to win Lily back, and as Eric tries to convince his wife to give him another chance, Cantona periodically appears to coach him in the ways of romance. Looking for Eric was an official selection at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Benedict Cumberbatch, Max Beesley, and Anamaria Marinca headline this chilling "Masterpiece" production concerning a brilliant mathematician, who is inadvertently drawn into becoming the public face of a massive database designed to track and control the citizens of England. Stephen Ezard is working in China when he receives word that his brother Michael, a benevolent aid worker, has been killed in Afghanistan by a landmine. Returning to England to attend Michael's funeral, Stephen is deeply disturbed to discover just how much his home country has changed since he left to work abroad many years ago. Over the course of those years, Stephen and Michael grew apart, and now the discovery that London has become a police state causes the reclusive genius to wonder just what the world is coming to. After falling in love with his brother's widow Yasim, Stephen is recruited by the government to be the spokesperson for a massive super-database designed to help the government follow the actions and movements of every man, woman, and child in England. As the conspiracy winds ever deeper, and Stephen's paranoia swells, he begins to suspect that no one is who they seem to be. His ability to trust completely eroded, Stephen realizes that it's too late for turning back, and that personal freedom is little more than a distant memory. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A reclusive married couple residing in a lavish seaside home receive a pair of menacing unwelcome visitors in director Jay Anania's tense tale of homebound terror. Carla (Julianne Nicholson) and Bill (Julian Sands) don't get out much, and when a pair of strangers show up and refuse to leave, the tension in their comfortable beach house soon begins to rise. The evening wears on and when the menace of the visitors turns threatening, Bill attempts to take control of the situation before the emotional violence of his malevolent house guests turns physical. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Their father having recently died, three estranged Irish siblings come together under the same roof for the first time in years in director Tamar Simon Hoffs' feature adaptation of an original stage by Joseph O'Connor. As the wake ends and day fades to night, old tensions begin to emerge as revelations about child abuse, sibling rivalries, and suspected infidelities gradually come to light. Malcolm McDowell, Olivia Tracey, and Max Beesley star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

In between the big-budget Blade and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, British filmmaker Stephen Norrington directs the straight-to-video crime drama The Last Minute. Told in flashback, the story follows the rise and fall of Billy Byrne (Max Beesley). With a determined goal to be famous, he lands his first big show with the help of his slick agent, Walsh (Anthony Higgins). Fame comes quickly as he travels the globe and gets invited to hip clubs, becoming the darling of the London art scene. Due to his excessive, self-centered behavior, his girlfriend Janey (Kate Ashfield) leaves him. His fame fades away and he falls into a life of crime, drugs, and gangsters led by Grimshanks (Tom Bell), where he meets Anna (Emily Corrie). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

The acting debut of pop music diva Mariah Carey loosely traces the singer's real-life trajectory to fame. Carey is Billie, an impoverished girl growing up in a tough New York neighborhood abandoned by her drug-addicted mother and dreaming of stardom. Billie gets her big break when her group's demo tape is heard by Julian Dice (Max Beesley), an infamous bad boy DJ and record producer in the club scene of the early '80s. A volatile relationship soon develops between Dice and Billie while her professional life takes off, leading to fame, fortune, and heartbreak. Glitter is the sophomore film of actor-turned-director Vondie Curtis-Hall and co-stars Eric Benet, Dorian Harewood, Ann Magnuson, Terrence Dashon Howard. and Da Brat. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

An ex-con tries to go straight, but finds that nearly everyone who knows him has other plans in this darkly comic crime story. Nicky Burkett (Chiwetel Ejiofor) grew up in the rough-and-tumble North London community of Walthamstow, where he slid into a criminal career as a lad that landed him in prison. After five years behind bars he's eager to start his life over on the right side of the law, but Nicky hasn't been on the streets very long when he realizes his friends and family haven't gotten the message that he's gone straight. Nicky's buddies get him mixed up in a robbery at a post office from which he only narrowly escapes, and Vernon (James Bolam), a veteran mobster, asks him if he's interested in knocking someone off for money. Mickey (Max Beesley), an aspiring crime tycoon, offers Nicky a job with his organization, while Rameez (Sidh Solanki), another London gangster, tenders a similar offer -- suggested by Sharon (Jacqueline Williams), Nicky's sister (and Rameez's girlfriend). Meanwhile, Nicky's own significant other, Kelly (Nicola Stapleton), breaks the news to him that she's found someone else and is breaking it off with him. Nicky already has his eye on another girl, Noreen (Thandie Newton), but her policeman father George (Hugh Quarshie) doesn't trust Nicky as far as he can throw him. It Was an Accident features an original score by jazz saxophonist Courtney Pine. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this TV miniseries based on the 1749 Henry Fielding novel, kindly Squire Allworthy (Benjamin Whitrow) adopts an infant boy left at his home after unmarried Jenny Jones (Camille Coduri) is paid by the real mother to admit that the child is hers. Having lost his own children in infancy, then his wife, Allworthy pours all his love on the little chap, names him Tom after himself and Jones after his supposed mother, and raises him on his vast estate in Somersetshire in Western England. By this time, Jenny Jones has left for another part of England without disclosing the name of the real mother, Allworthy's own sister, Bridget, who lives with the squire. Meanwhile, Bridget (Tessa Peake-Jones) marries money-hungry Captain Blifil (Con O'Neill), who dies of a stroke after Bridget gives birth to a child, William. William and Tom grow up together. A nasty wretch, William (James D'Arcy) despises Tom (Max Beesley) and constantly plots against him. Although Tom is good-hearted, he has a mischievous streak. However, whenever he gets into trouble, it is usually to help others. As young men, Tom and William vie for the affections of beautiful Sophia Western (Samantha Morton), daughter of wealthy landowner Squire Western (Brian Blessed). Although she loves Tom, her father wants her to marry Allworthy's nephew, Blifil, to unite the Western and Allworthy estates. After Tom has a fling with a gamekeeper's daughter, Molly Seagrim (Rachel Scorgie), she becomes pregnant and Tom dutifully accepts responsibility for fathering the child. Later, though, he discovers that Molly has had many lovers. But it's too late. Tom's misadventures -- as well as Blifel's machinations against him -- convince Squire Allworthy to disinherit him and cast him out. Tom strikes out for the seacoast. Sophia later follows him. While encountering many adventures during his travels, Tom learns the truth about himself from a schoolteacher who had employed Jenny Jones as a servant. Eventually, Sophia goes to London, and all of the principal characters -- learning of her presence there -- also end up there. The climax reveals the ultimate fate of Tom and Sophia and the heir of the Allworthy estate. ~ Mike Cummings, Rovi