Iain Glen Movies
A handsome supporting player whose occasional leap into the lead has resulted in some interestingly varied performances, actor Iain Glen has appeared in everything from low-budget indies to high-profile Hollywood blockbusters -- frequently holding his own opposite such screen heavies as Harvey Keitel (The Young Americans) and Billy Connolly (Gabriel & Me). A native of Edinburgh, Scotland, who studied at Edinburgh Academy and the University of Aberdeen before honing his craft at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the talented Shakespearian actor would go on to impress audiences in such stage works as Macbeth and Henry V. In 1985, the ascending stage talent made a successful transition to the screen with a small role in an episode of the popular U.K. mystery series Taggart, and after making the leap to the big screen with a supporting role in the 1987 feature Will You Love Me Tomorrow, Glen returned to television the next year for a role in the series The Fear. In the years that followed, Glen's big-screen career gained notable momentum thanks to solid performances in Gorillas in the Mist (1988) and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1990), with his early years coming to a peak when he took home a Best Actor award from the Berlin International Film Festival for his turn as a convicted killer in the 1990 film Silent Scream. That same year, Glen also received accolades for his portrayal of real-life explorer Lt. John Hanning Speke in Mountains of the Moon, though the remainder of the decade would find him sticking mainly to U.K. television (occasionally taking the lead, as in 1992's Frankie's House).Following an endearing turn as a sports reporter whose one-night fling leads him to come to terms with his tragic past in Glasgow Kiss, Glen received notable international exposure with a high-profile role opposite Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Though Glen's shattering performance as a father suffering terminal lung cancer in the drama Gabriel & Me (screenwriter Lee Hall's follow-up to Billy Elliot) ultimately failed to gel with audiences, Glen's horrific turn as a seemingly possessed father in Darkness offered the talented actor at his manic best. By this point, Glen seemed to be growing increasingly comfortable alternating between more independent-minded features and more large-scale productions, taking the role of noted psychiatrist Carl Jung in the 2003 romantic drama The Soul Keeper before taking a more epic turn as an anthropologist who hunts and captures pygmies in order to study them and prove a link between man and ape in 2005's Man to Man. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Written by George Eliot (of Silas Marner fame), the 1859 novel Adam Bede trenchantly addresses the issues of ingrained social prejudices. Played in this British TV adaptation by Iain Glen, the titular Adam Bede is a humble carpenter, enamored of the beautiful but shallow Hetty Sorel (Patsy Kensit). Surrendering to the "political correctness" of her times, Hetty spurns Adam in favor of a wealthy marriage to a nobleman, Lord Arthur (James Wilby). Though he is deeply hurt by this, Adam never relinquishes his love for Hetty and spends the balance of the story trying to win her back in his own single-minded, diligent fashion. Counterbalancing the romantic melodrama is the calm, good-hearted presence of Adam's erstwhile sweetheart, Dinah Morris (Susannah Harker), perhaps the only character in the novel without an agenda. Adapted for television by Maggie Wadey, Adam Bede made its BBC debut in 1991, then aired as part of the PBS anthology Masterpiece Theatre on March 1, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patsy Kensit, James Wilby, (more)
In this contemporary thriller set in Scotland, two women, Dorothy (Susan Lynch) and Petula (Rachel Weisz), bond over a dangerous encounter. Petula is being routinely beaten by her boyfriend Brian (Tom Mannion); Dorothy, after having left her unstable relationship with Tony (Iain Glen), accidentally kills Brian in a fit of rage. In desperation, the two women forge a bizarre scheme to convince Brian's older, more powerful brother Ronnie (Maurice Roeves) that Brian has been kidnapped. Their plan hits a snag, however, when Detective Inspector Hepburn (Alex Norton) begins to suspect the women and offers to be on the take for their intended get-rich plan. Soon after, Tony also re-emerges and also wants in on the deal, leaving the two women to compose a different plan. A blackly comic film noir, Beautiful Creatures is the feature debut of director Bill Eagles. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rachel Weisz, Susan Lynch, (more)
- 1986
Blood Hunt, a well-below average made-for-TV action/ thriller, concerns a man (Andrew Keir) who sets out to avenge his brother's murder. The final face-to-face showdown, though violent, is tedious as is the entire film. Little time is spent on plot or characterization, and the action, when it occurs, is lacking in any suspense or tension. Audiences looking for action/adventure films should look elsewhere. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
Directed by Jaume Balagueró, Darkness follows father and husband Mark (Iain Glen), his wife (Lena Olin), and their two children (Anna Paquin and Stephan Enquist) on their move to an outwardly quaint country home. Though the initial housewarming party is widely celebrated by neighbors, their houseguests become steadily fewer as a series of creepy happenings indicate that the house is home to more than their family. Sure enough, the lights begin to flicker incessantly on and off, while Mark's Huntington's disease makes a comeback after a ten-year dormancy. Regina (Paquin) expects that the problem stems from the house itself, but no one believes her. Determined to prove her case (particularly after mysterious noose marks begin to appear on her brother's neck), Regina decides to pay a visit to the man (Fermi Rexach) who built the house to begin with. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Paquin, Lena Olin, (more)
- 1990
- PG13
Set in post-WW I Ireland, Fools of Fortune takes place on the huge estate of the aristocratic Quinton family. Sheltered from the economic and political travails all around them, the Quintons are shocked into the Real World when one of their workers is ritualistically murdered. This is but one more bloody chapter in the ongoing struggle between the IRA and the British Army. Previously noncommittal, the Quintons are thrust into the middle of the struggle, After a deadly confrontation in which most of his loved ones are killed, young Willie Quinton (Sean T. McClory as a youth, Ian Glen as an adult) vows revenge. He briefly forgets his new purpose in life during a romantic liaison with his cousin Marianne (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), but a renewed cycle of tragedy galvanizes Willie into disastrous action. It is difficult to sort out the heroes and villains in Fools of Fortune; it is a certainty, however, that the true victims are the Innocent. Michael Hirst based his screenplay on a novel by William Trevor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Iain Glen, (more)
- 1992
The two-part Australian miniseries Frankie's House was based on photojournalist Tim Page's autobiography Page After Page. Set during the Vietnam war, the story recounted the adventures of Page (Iain Glen) and his erstwhile photographer partner. After numerous scrapes with death, Page managed to survive to tell his tale, but his partner was not so lucky, disappearing without a trace during a 1970 foray into Laos. The program's title referred to a brothel frequented by the principal characters. The two 120-minute episodes of Frankie's House were broadcast by Australia's ABC network in 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
While many people want to get into heaven, one young man looks to it as a good employment opportunity as well as a spiritual path in this offbeat comedy. Jimmy Spud (Sean Landless) is an 11-year-old boy growing up in a working-class neighborhood in Newcastle, England. Like many boys his age, Jimmy already has a clear idea of what he wants to do with his future, but his ambitions are a bit different than those of his peers -- Jimmy wants to be an angel. In fact, Jimmy is so set upon doing good deeds and being able to fly that he submits a resume to a nearby church, hoping to apply for work in Heaven. The archangel Gabriel (Billy Connolly) arrives (in street clothes) to take Jimmy's C.V., and informs him that he'll pass it along to the proper authorities. When Jimmy doesn't get an immediate answer, he decides that he needs to do more good works to prove he's worthy of the job, and in his homemade angel's costume (complete with feathers), Jimmy saves a Boy Scout from drowning, then befriends the lonely lad. Jimmy's father (Iain Glen) thinks his son has gone a bit mad, but Jimmy decides saving his dad is his next project -- his father has been out of work for some time, and the stress is taking a fearful toll. However, that soon turns out to be the least of his father's problems; it turns out he has cancer, which is likely to soon prove fatal, and Jimmy wants to find a way to save his dad and earn credit with Heaven. Gabriel & Me was written by Lee Hall, who also penned the script for another film about a British lad with unusual aspirations, Billy Elliot. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Iain Glen, David Bradley, (more)
Gorillas in the Mist is based on the autobiographical 1983 book by naturalist Dian Fossey. Before the book could be brought before the cameras, Fossey had been mysteriously killed; her death provides a logical, if somewhat ghoulish climax to the film. A Kentucky girl, Fossey (Sigourney Weaver) is inspired by famed anthropologist Louis Leakey (Ian Cuthbertson) to devote her life to the study of primates. Travelling into deepest Africa, Fossey becomes fascinated with the lives and habits of the rare mountain gorillas of the Ugandan wilderness. Studying them at close quarters, Fossey develops a means of communicating with the gorillas, and in so doing becomes obsessed with the beasts' well-being. She is so devoted to "her" mountain that she loses the opportunity for a romance with a National Geographic photographer (Bryan Brown). Appalled by the poaching of the gorillas for their skins, Fossey complains to the Ugandan government, which dismisses her by explaining that poaching is the only means by which some of the Ugandan natives can themselves survive. She refuses to accept this, and becomes a militant animal-rights activist, burning down the poachers' villages and even staging a mock execution of one of the offenders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sigourney Weaver, Bryan Brown, (more)
Kidnapped, Robert Louis Stevenson's enduring 1886 adventure novel, receives its 11th film adaptation in this two-and-a-half-hour miniseries starring young British TV vet James Anthony Pearson as Davie Balfour, the naïve and hopeful 15-year-old, poised to receive a vast inheritance when he is lured onto a cargo ship, knocked unconscious, and kidnapped by his malevolent uncle Ebenezer (Adrian Dunbar, Richard III), who devises a scheme to sell him into slavery. But Davie's unforeseen rescue at the hands of a Scottish rogue, Alan Breck (Iain Glen, Mountains of the Moon) sends Breck and Balfour racing across the Scottish moors, with English bounty hunters in hot pursuit. The film includes supporting performances by Paul McGann as Colonel MacNab and Kirstin Coulter Smithas Davie's paramour, Catriona. Co-produced by WGBH Boston and the BBC, and originally aired episodically on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre, the first 90-minute segment of Kidnapped debuted Sunday evening, October 30, 2005, and the miniseries concluded with an hour-long segment on Sunday evening, November 6, 2005. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Iain Glen, James Anthony Pearson, (more)
Ridley Scott directed this epic-scale historical drama inspired by the events of the Crusades of the 12th century. Balian (Orlando Bloom) is a humble French blacksmith who is searching for a reason to go on after the death of his wife and children. Balian is approached by Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson), a fabled knight who has briefly returned home after serving in the East. Godfrey informs Balian that he is his true father, and urges the blacksmith to join him as he and his forces journey to Jerusalem to help defend the holy city. Balian accepts, and he and Godfrey arrive during the lull between the Second and Third Crusades, in which the city is enjoying a fragile peace. Both Christian and Muslim forces are temporarily in retreat, thanks to the wisdom of the Christian monarch King Baldwin IV (Edward Norton), his second-in-command Tiberias (Jeremy Irons), and Muslim potentate Saladin (Ghassan Massoud). Violent agitators on both sides are foolishly eager to end the peace in a bid for greater power, and Saladin bows to pressures from Muslim factions; Godfrey is one of a handful of brave knights who has thrown his allegiance behind Baldwin IV and his community of diversity, and Balian joins him as they use their skills as warriors in a bid to build a lasting peace. Kingdom of Heaven also stars Eva Green as the princess Sibylla, David Thewlis as Hospitaler the priest, and Brendan Gleeson as Reynald. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, (more)
A popular video game comes to the screen with this big-budget adventure starring Angelina Jolie as a buxom heroine recalling equal parts Indiana Jones and James Bond. Jolie is Lara Croft, a proper British aristocrat groomed at schools for the children of the elite. Croft leads a double life, however, as an acquirer of lost antiquities through questionable means, highly trained in combat skills with the help of a robotic opponent called Simon. Despite her exciting profession and a life of wealth and breeding, Lara pines for her father, Lord Croft (Jon Voight), whose passing left her orphaned. On the eve of a celestial event that will also mark the anniversary of Lord Croft's death, Lara comes up against an ancient organization called the Illuminati, represented by the sinister Powell (Iain Glen), who's in pursuit of an ancient relic with power over time and even death itself. With the aid of her high-tech support team, Lara travels to some exotic locales in search of the artifact, including a foray into a decrepit Asian temple guarded by lethal stone apes and other creatures that spring to life. Filmed at various locations in Great Britain as well as Iceland and the Angkor Wat temples of Cambodia, Tomb Raider co-stars Noah Taylor, Chris Barrie, Daniel Craig, Rachel Appleton, Leslie Phillips, Mark Collie, and Julian Rhind-Tutt. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angelina Jolie, Jon Voight, (more)
Set amidst the austere volcanic splendor of Spain's island of Lanzarote, this period piece successfully vacillates between drama and high tragedy as it follows the romantic obsession felt by two very different men for an innocent but seductive local girl. The tale is set in a ramshackle island village during the Spanish Civil War. No sooner does young, conservative, and high-moraled Dr. Fermin (Carmelo Gomez) arrive at the pueblo than he is under in Mararia's (Goya Toledo) bewitching spell. She is interested in him too, and they briefly flirt. Freewheeling, roguish English surveyor Bertrand (Ian Glen) has also come to town on a job for the Royal Geographic Society. He too is enchanted by Mararia, and they become lovers. When Mararia becomes pregnant with Beretrand's child, the stage is set for tragedy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carmelo Gómez, Iain Glen, (more)
Director Bob Rafelson fulfilled a lifelong dream when he finally received backing to complete Mountains of the Moon. The film recreates the exploratory adventures of 19th century visionaries Sir Richard Burton (Patrick Bergin) and John Henning Speke (Iain Glen). The heart of the film is the effort by Burton and Speke to discover the true source of the Nile river. This occurs well into the film, after several torturous scenes involving the injuries sustained by the protagonists during other expeditions and their growing friendship (which, the film intimates, goes far beyond friendship). Rafaelson's fascination with this story, and his insistence upon painstaking historical accuracy, unfortunately compromises his ability to make an interesting film. There are so many starts and stops during the first half that we sincerely hope Burton and Speke will chuck it all and set up a pub in Bristol or something. What saves Mountains of the Moon is the rapport between its stars and the brilliant, epic-like cinematography of Roger Deakins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Bergin, Iain Glen, (more)
- 2007
This is not a Love Song director Billie Eltringham returns the the helm to tell this comedic tale of a 1960's-era clan of British communists who choose to leave their beloved Britain to seek out Utopian bliss in East Germany. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Tate, Iain Glen, (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)
A woman looking for a relaxing weekend instead finds her safety at stake in this psychological thriller. Chloe (Jessica Alba) is a famous model who is feeling stressed after a working trip to the U.S. -- where she'd been dogged by a persistent telephone stalker. While Chloe has a beau, she decides spontaneously to join Ned (Gary Love), a rock musician she's met, as he heads out to the British countryside for the weekend. Upon arrival, Chloe discovers that Ned already has guests -- washed-up rock star Stan (Iain Glen), his bickering wife Rachel (Jeanne Tripplehorn), their deaf-mute daughter Theresa (Mischa Barton), and nerdy hanger-on Gordon (Ewen Bremner). As the emotional chemistry of the visitors becomes volatile, Ned's wife arrives and most of the other guests take off, leaving Chloe alone with her host and his spouse. Chloe soon discovers that Ned and his friends have a disturbing hobby -- they like to bring women back to the house, drug them, and violate them while unconscious, leaving her to wonder if she's next for this treatment. Paranoid was written and directed by noted Australian filmmaker John Duigan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jessica Alba, James Bannon, (more)
British playwright David Hare both wrote and directed the complicated political melodrama Paris By Night. Charlotte Rampling plays a Tory member of the European parliament, who lets absolutely nothing get in way of her ambitions. At present, Rampling is convinced that she is being blackmailed by her ex-business partner Andrew Ray. Upon accidentally meeting Ray, Rampling impulsively murders the man. In a deliciously ironic turn of events, she is approached by Ray's daughter Sinead Cusack, who hopes that Rampling will help her locate her missing dad. Rampling eventually finds out Ray had been innocent all along-but a greater shock awaits her at home, at the hands of her long-neglected husband Michael Gambon. Paris By Night contains far too many cute coincidences to be credible, but this fact doesn't immediately sink in as the audience revels in the film's superlative performances and David Hare's adroit manipulation of people, places and events. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Rampling, Michael Gambon, (more)
- 2003
Roberto Faenza's historical drama The Soul Keeper is a biopic of Sabina Spielrein. The family of depressed 19-year-old Sabina (Emilia Fox) takes her for treatment from Carl Jung (Iain Glen), whose radical approach to mental health was much derided in 1904. The treatment is successful, but the two eventually engage in an affair that displeases Carl's wife (Jane Alexander). The cured Sabina moves to the Soviet Union. The film uses the framing device of a modern-day scholar investigating what happened to Sabina after her move. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Iain Glen, Emilia Fox, (more)
One of the only survivors of a man-made plague joins forces with a team of private warriors in a bid to save what's left of the Earth in this sequel to Resident Evil, the big-screen adaptation of the popular video game. Picking up where the first film left off, Resident Evil: Apocalypse finds Alice (Milla Jovovich) still battling the living dead who are overtaking Raccoon City, inoculated with an anti-virus by the nefarious and all-powerful Umbrella Corporation (in addition to the virus itself). Alice encounters Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), a former member of Umbrella's internal defense team. Forming an alliance with mercenary-for-hire Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) and his cohorts, this tiny band of survivors seeks out Dr. Charles Ashford (Jared Harris), Umbrella's top scientist and one of the only men with the know-how to find a solution to the zombie menace; however, they discover that Ashford's cooperation comes with a price -- the scientist's daughter Angie (Sophie Vavasseur) is missing, and he'll help Alice and her partners only if Angie is returned to him safe and sound. Resident Evil: Apocalypse was the first solo directorial credit for Alexander Witt, who previously distinguished himself as a cinematographer and second-unit director. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, (more)
Director Russell Mulcahy takes over for the third chapter in the Resident Evil film franchise, which finds genetically altered Alice (Milla Jovovich) joining forces with Carlos (Oded Fehr) and L.J. (Mike Epps) to take down the Umbrella Corporation once and for all. Upon emerging from her hideout in the Nevada desert, Alice is quickly joined by old friends Carlos and L.J., as well as survivors Claire (Ali Larter), K-Mart (Spencer Locke), and Nurse Betty (Ashanti). Now instilled with super-human strength, senses, and dexterity as a result of the biogenetic experimentation conducted on her by the Umbrella Corporation, Alice and the rest of the survivors set out to eliminate a virus that threatens to turn every living human undead, and ensure that the mysterious organization pays the price for their horrific crimes against humanity. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, (more)
