Richard E. Grant Movies
Tall, gangly, and possessed of a frenetic intensity that lends itself to the highly eccentric and often borderline insane characters he plays, British actor Richard E. Grant is nothing if not one of the more distinctive performers to have gained celluloid immortality. His wild eyes and high-strung demeanor occasionally giving him an uncanny resemblance to a meerkat on speed, Grant has been delighting and shocking observers with both his on- and off-screen persona since his 1987 breakthrough in Withnail & I.Born Richard Grant Esterhuysen on May 5, 1957, in Mbabane, Swaziland, Grant had a somewhat distinctive upbringing, thanks in part to his father's job as the Swazi Minister of Education. His parents' divorce when the actor was 11, for example, was the source of a fair amount of scandal in South Africa. For his part, Grant knew early on that he wanted to be an actor, something that was fueled by an infatuation with Barbra Streisand and a steady diet of movies. He followed the career of Donald Sutherland with particularly rapt attention, as, like Grant, Sutherland was tall, thin, long-faced, and hailed from the middle of nowhere.
After studying English and Drama at Cape Town University, where he co-founded the multi-racial, avant garde Troupe Theatre Company, Grant headed for London in 1982. He was greeted by a period of unemployment and frustration that lasted for almost five years. The actor eventually began finding work on the stage, and in 1984 was dubbed by Plays and Players magazine as "most promising newcomer" for his performance in Tramway Road at Hammersmith's Lyric Theatre. Ironically enough, given his years of struggle, it was Grant's portrayal of a bitter, pill-popping, unemployed actor in Bruce Robinson's black comedy Withnail & I that finally put him on the map. The film was a genuine cult classic, and Hollywood soon came sniffing around, if only to cast Grant in the 1988 demons-on-the-loose flop Warlock. The following year, the actor again tapped into his reserves of unpleasantness for Robinson, starring as a toxic advertising executive who develops a talking boil in the satirical How to Get Ahead in Advertising. Grant's hilariously vile characterization was considered by many to be the highlight of the film, and further paved the way for greater industry appreciation.
Grant subsequently earned recognition on both sides of the Atlantic, thanks to a number of diverse and often peculiar roles in films of widely varying quality. Particularly memorable during the early to mid-'90s were portrayals Anais Nin's well-intentioned but dull husband in Henry & June (1990), the evil billionaire Darwin Mayflower in the spectacularly disappointing Hudson Hawk (1991), an overly insistent screenwriter in Robert Altman's The Player (1992), high society lounge lizard Larry Lefferts in Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence (1993), and an outrageous fashion designer that Grant described as a "male Vivienne Westwood" in Altman's disastrous Pret-A-Porter (1994).
Despite his eccentric persona, Grant has time and again proven himself more than capable of essaying straight man roles, as he demonstrated in such films as Jack and Sarah (1995), in which he played a grieving widower; The Portrait of a Lady (1996), in which he had a small but memorable role as one of Isabel Archer's most ardent suitors; and the made-for-TV The Scarlet Pimpernel (1999), which cast him as its titular hero. He has also continued to shine in films that impress upon his comedic abilities, as evidenced by his role as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Trevor Nunn's Twelfth Night (1996) and his portrayal of a disgruntled advertising man in A Merry War (1997) (otherwise known as Keep the Aspidistra Flying), a satirical comedy based upon a novel by George Orwell.
Enlisted again by Altman, Grant showed up alongside a star-studded ensemble cast in 2001's critically-acclaimed Gosford Park. Supporting roles continued to suit him well as he would later take on parts in Steven Fry's Bright Young Things and the 2004 John Malkovich-starrer Colour Me Kubrick. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Bob Spiers (director of TV's Absolutely Fabulous) directed this feature-film debut of the five Spice Girls -- Posh Spice, Sporty Spice, Scary Spice, Ginger Spice, and Baby Spice -- as the quintet challenges the London pop scene during five days before their first live performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Photojournalists follow as they travel from press conferences to practice sessions to photo ops, passing London landmarks in the comfort of their cavernous Spicebus and emerging in a musical cascade of color, trendy clothes, and blinding flashbulbs. Shot in 43 days, the film features cameos by everyone from Elton John and Elvis Costello, to Stephen Fry and Bob Hoskins. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spice Girls, Melanie Brown, (more)
- 1998
- NR
Richard E. Grant and Helena Bonham Carter star in this satiric comedy about an advertising man who one day decides he's wasting his life and wants to devote himself to the higher calling of poetry, much to the puzzlement of those around him, while trying to maintain a relationship with a beautiful woman who works in his old office. Based on the novel Keep The Aspidistra Flying by {%George Orwell. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard E. Grant, Helena Bonham Carter, (more)
- 1997
In this British-French co-production, assistant bank manager Alex (Richard E. Grant), a part-time theater instructor, decides to contact the original cast of a Twelfth Night production he directed years previously in a small English village. Alex plans to restage the production, and old romances are rekindled in the process. Shown at the 1997 Edinburgh and La Baule film festivals. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard E. Grant, Nathalie Baye, (more)
Haughty and vain British industrialist Thomas Smithers (Pete Postlethwaite) dearly loves his wife Juliana (Greta Sacchi). Since they only have a daughter (Carmen Chaplin), and a strange one at that, Smithers decides that rather than leaving his fortune to his wife and child, he will build a fabulous garden to honor Julianna, who unfortunately, cares little for such things. Hearing of Smithers's plans, Julianna's conniving cousin Fitzmaurice (Richard E. Grant), who has secretly wanted her for himself, suggests that Smithers hire hot young Dutch garden architect Meneer Chrome (Ewan McGregor) to do the work. Chrome's work does not come cheap, but that is fine with Fitzmaurice who is hoping that the project will bankrupt Smithers and cause Julianna to return to him. Unfortunately for Fitzmaurice, Julianna finds herself falling in love with Chrome. Unfortunately for Julianna, Chrome has fallen in love with her daughter Thea. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ewan McGregor, Greta Scacchi, (more)
- 1997
- G
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Young Jim Hawkins and the pirate Long John Silver race to find the same treasure located on a mysterious map in this animated adaptation of the timeless classic by Robert Louis Stevenson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dawn French, Juliet Stevenson, (more)
- 1997
Based on a novel by George Orwell, this satiric comedy concerns Gordon Comstock (Richard E. Grant), an advertising copywriter who fancies himself a poet. While Gordon has published a small volume of his verse that received faint words of praise in the press ("promising" was the most enthusiastic adjective used, in a review that turned out to be written by his publisher), he is convinced that literary greatness lurks deep within him. Deciding that he should begin living the bohemian lifestyle that is the mark of a true artist, Gordon quits his job, even though his friends think he's gone daft and even his publisher Ravelston (Julian Wadham) believes that he's being rash. Gordon's girlfriend Rosemary (Helena Bonham Carter) thinks he's being a bit silly but stands by him, even though Gordon's voluntary descent into poverty has a dire impact on their sex life; Gordon's new digs in a cheap boarding house offer little privacy, thanks to his prying landlady (Liz Smith), and Rosemary lacks Gordon's enthusiasm for love in the great outdoors. Desperate for money, Gordon takes a job in a used book shop (where he sees his own book marked down to three pence...with no takers), and he is forced to rethink his new lifestyle when he learns that one of his increasingly rare sexual assignations with Rosemary has left her pregnant. Originally titled Keep the Aspidistra Flying after Orwell's novel, this film was more widely distributed as A Merry War; it also briefly played under the title Comstock and Rosemary. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard E. Grant, Helena Bonham Carter, (more)
- 1996
The line between reality and fiction becomes increasingly blurred as an ailing screenwriter struggles with a story that seems to come to life before his eyes. A self-destructive loaner whose battle with pancreatic cancer has left him embittered and in great pain, Daniel Feeld (Albert Finney) decides to focus his attention on an a new screenplay entitled "Karaoke." A lurid tale concerning the murder of a young girl working in a seedy karaoke bar, the story soon begins to invade Feeld's reality when he overhears people speaking the dialogue that he had written and finds that the people working in a local karaoke dive not only share his character's names, but their lives as well. Drawn to the suspiciously familiar plight of hostess Sandra (Saffron Burrows), Feeld's suspicions of thuggish club-owner Arthur "Pig" Mallion (Hywel Bennett) begin to mount as Feeld increasingly questions both his health and sanity. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Albert Finney, Richard E. Grant, (more)
- 1996
- PG13
Jane Campion directed this expressive adaptation of the classic novel by Henry James. Isabel Archer (Nicole Kidman) is a young American woman who, after the death of her parents, has been sent to England to visit relatives. While her family's tragedy has left her penniless, Isabel's beauty has earned her the attentions of a number of eligible men. When Isabel turns down a proposal of marriage from the wealthy Lord Warburton (Richard E. Grant) because she does not love him, her cousin Ralph (Martin Donovan), who is also smitten with her, arranges for his father to leave her a fortune before succumbing to tuberculosis so that she may live as an independent woman. Isabel takes a tour of Europe, where she meets Madame Merle (Barbara Hershey), a jaded sophisticate and matchmaker who introduces her to Gilbert Osmond (John Malkovich), a widowed American artist living abroad. Isabel falls in love with Gilbert and they marry, but his sloth and opportunism soon begin to wear on her, and three years later she is desperate to get out of their relationship. The Portrait of a Lady also stars John Gielgud, Mary-Louise Parker, Christian Bale, and Shelley Winters. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicole Kidman, John Malkovich, (more)
The classic Shakespearean comedy about mistaken identity and gender confusion is brought to the screen once again in this British production, courtesy of screenwriter-director Trevor Nunn. Nunn has transferred the time period to the Victorian Era of the late 19th century. Two twins, Viola (Imogen Stubbs) and Sebastian (Steven MacKintosh), are separated when their ship capsizes. Each believes that the other has drowned. Viola washes ashore on the coast of Illyria. She disguises herself as a man and assumes the name Cesario so that she can take a position as an aide to the Duke, Orsinio (Toby Stephens). Orsinio desires Olivia (Helena Bonham Carter), who refuses his attentions. He also flirts with Maria (Imelda Staunton), Olivia's maid. Orsinio sends Cesario as an emissary to Olivia. The foppish Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Richard E. Grant) also seeks Olivia's love. He is a friend of her besotted uncle, Sir Toby Belch (Mel Smith). With the clownish philosopher Feste (Ben Kingsley), all these members of Olivia's household plot to embarrass the dour Malvolio (Nigel Hawthorne), a butler who has no tolerance for frivolity. They fool Malvolio into thinking that Olivia desires him, and when he confesses his love, Olivia orders him imprisoned as a madman. Sebastian then turns up and is mistaken for Cesario. A series of mishaps follows. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helena Bonham Carter, Imogen Stubbs, (more)
- 1995
The naked body of a murdered little girl is found in a forest surrounding a small Eastern European town. It's the third case in a row, and local police detective Victor Marek (Richard E. Grant) is on the killer's trail, but his superior, Novak (James Laurenson), needs to solve the crime quickly in order to boost his political career. So he arrests some suspicious hippie who later hangs himself in a prison cell. Though Marek is ordered to close the case, he continues to work on it on his own. He rents an old gas station and a house in the area where the murders took place. Working from a drawing done by one of the murdered girls he tries to find the clues for the identity of the killer. Marek becomes so obsessed with his quest that when he meets Milena (Lynsey Baxter), a single young woman with a little daughter (Perdita Weeks), he does not hesitate to use the child as the bait for the criminal. Though the film plot bears a strong resemblance to Sean Penn's movie The Pledge, it is actually a remake of the 1958 German film It Happened in Broad Daylight, scripted by Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt, who later reworked his original screenplay into the novel The Pledge. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard E. Grant, Lynsey Baxter, (more)
A temperamental London lawyer adapts to the challenges of fatherhood when he is left with sole responsibility for his infant daughter in this well-performed British comedy-drama. Richard E. Grant stars as Jack, a high-pressure attorney who believes his life is on the right track: a successful career, a beautiful wife (Imogen Stubbs), and a baby on the way. Tragedy strikes, however, when his wife dies during labor, leaving Jack to raise his daughter Sarah, named in his wife's honor. Shocked and depressed, Jack is forced to deal with his grief for the sake of the new child. At first reluctant to turn to others, he receives help from a local derelict (Ian McKellen) who begins to act as Jack's butler, and a charming young American woman, Amy (Samantha Mathis), who becomes Sarah's nanny. The new challenges of fatherhood provide Jack with his solace and eventually lead him reevaluate his life and behavior. The debut film of writer-director Tim Sullivan, Jack and Sarah follows a well-worn path, but Grant's nuanced central performance and a strong supporting cast elevate the material above its predictable outline. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard E. Grant, Samantha Mathis, (more)
The difficult realities of life in Britain during the early Industrial Age are explored in this made-for-television adaptation of the novel by Charles Dickens. Thomas Gradgrind (Bob Peck) is a schoolteacher working in Coketown, a grim industrial town in the North of England, who believes that facts are of supreme importance and imagination is folly. Gradgrind imposes his philosophies on his children, arranging for his daughter, Louisa (Beatie Edney), to marry Josiah Bounderby (Alan Bates), a businessman old enough to be her father, who also employs her brother, Tom (Christien Anholt). As Louisa tries to find a way out of her relationship with Bounderby, she finds herself pursued by the even more repellant James Harthouse (Richard E. Grant). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard E. Grant, Alan Bates, (more)
- 1994
After a dalliance with a government official, Patsy (Joanna Lumley) becomes embroiled in a tabloid sex scandal and is irate to see her true age reported nationally. "Borrowing" the Monsoon house for an interview with Hello magazine, she is disappointed to learn that photos for the spread won't be shot until the following week. However, when Edina (Jennifer Saunders) stubs her toe and enters the hospital for minor surgery, Pats takes the opportunity to accompany her and undergo a quick face peel. Finding the accommodations less than deluxe and ridiculed by a pair of wise-cracking nurses (Llewella Gideon and Orla Brady), Edina pops painkillers like candy and falls into a disturbing fugue in which her friends and family appear to her in the guise of British celebrities, from Helena Bonham-Carter to Germaine Greer -- both of whom have been the subject of ridicule on previous episodes. Awakening from her dreams to find that her surgery has already been completed, Eddy learns that her injuries were even more minor than they appeared; Patsy's face peel, however, doesn't generate quite such a happy outcome, nor does her debut in the pages of Hello. Originally broadcast on BBC 1 on January 27, 1994, Absolutely Fabulous: Hospital marked series two, episode one of this popular Brit-com. Suzi Quatro, Mandy Rice-Davies, Richard E. Grant, and Sylvia Anderson joined Bonham-Carter and Greer in the cast of cameo stars. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
This large, sprawling comedy directed by Robert Altman concerns a variety of romantic and personal intrigues that intersect against the backdrop of Paris's annual "Pret-a-Porter" fashion extravaganza. With 31 principal characters and a number of cameos from well known models, designers, actors and actresses, there's far too much going on to describe the film in a limited space, but Julia Roberts and Tim Robbins get stuck in a hotel room together, Danny Aiello wears a dress, Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni reignite their old passion (or at least try to), Stephen Rea humiliates a number of female journalists, Kim Basinger often looks dumbfounded, and Lyle Lovett plays a Texan (talk about imaginative casting!). Originally called Pret-a-Porter, this underwent a last-minute title change when the distributor discovered very few Americans understood what the French phrase means, with the English translation taking its place. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, (more)
- 1993
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Richard E. Grant stars in this short satiric comedy as gloomy author Franz Kafka, who has been stricken with a serious case of writer's block on Christmas Eve. Kafka is trying to get started on his latest short story, The Metamorphosis, but he isn't sure what his protagonist Gregor Samsa should become. As Kafka struggles with indecision, he has to content with a loud holiday party downstairs, several unexpected guests, and a sinister knife salesman who has a bone to pick with Franz. Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life was produced under the auspices of the British Broadcasting Company; it later received an Academy award as Best Live Action Short Subject of 1995. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard E. Grant
In Martin Scorsese's adaptation of Edith Wharton's 1920 novel, romance between an upper-class gentleman and an ostracized lady is doomed by 19th century New York society. Shortly after his engagement to blandly genteel May Welland (Winona Ryder), Newland Archer (Daniel Day-Lewis) is reacquainted with May's scandalous cousin Ellen Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer). As the head of an esteemed family, Archer initially uses his standing to try to rehabilitate Ellen's reputation, but he finds himself increasingly drawn to her disregard for the codes of New York manners. Bound by ingrained society mores and his peers' insinuations, Newland tries to dodge his growing passion by rushing his marriage to May, but he cannot keep himself from confessing his love to Ellen. Recognizing that Newland could never abandon his sense of honor and be happy, Ellen pushes Newland to May and leaves town. The marriage proceeds as dictated, but when Newland unexpectedly sees Ellen again, he yearns for the affair to come to fruition. However, he underestimates not only what May knows but also her ability to uphold the rules of propriety. Sumptuously shot by Michael Ballhaus, the film offers meticulously designed costumes and settings that evoke a culture as seductively beautiful in its surfaces as it is stifling in its rituals. Unspoken emotions are expressed through such details as yellow roses or a clipped cigar, a fade to red or a single camera move. Using Wharton's original prose to comment on the setting's hypocrisies, Joanne Woodward's voiceover narration suggests how much decisive power is buried beneath dainty femininity. The Age of Innocence received five Oscar nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for Ryder and Best Screenplay for Scorsese and Jay Cocks, and a win for Best Costumes. Although The Age of Innocence seemed like a departure from Scorsese's prior work, Newland is as much at the mercy of his circle's Byzantine structure (and his own conscience) as are Scorsese's more familiar mobsters; Newland's persecutors just wear white tie and tails. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, (more)
- 1992
Produced for the PBS anthology series Great Performances, this adaptation of Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer constrasts sharply with the previous 1959 Hollywood version. Shorn of the movie's operatic screenplay and the star power of Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift, PBS simply offers us the original one-act play, faithfully rendered. In 1937 New Orleans, millionaire matriarch Violet Venable (Maggie Smith) invites a psychiatrist (Rob Lowe, who is exceptional) into her mansion. Violet's son Sebastian died in Spain the previous year under very questionable circumstances. Now she is anxious to have the psychiatrist lobotomize her institutionalized niece Catherine (Natasha Richardson), who witnessed Sebastian's demise. Violet insists that this radical procedure would be in the best interests of the girl; but the psychiatrist suspects that the old woman merely wants to ensure Catherine's silence concerning "l'affaire Sebastian". Suddenly Last Summer first aired January 6, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on Bram Stoker's classic 1897 novel, this film from Francis Ford Coppola and screenwriter James Victor Hart offers a full-blooded portrait of the immortal Transylvanian vampire. The major departure from Stoker is one of motivation as Count Dracula (Gary Oldman) is motivated more by romance than by bloodlust. He punctures the necks as a means of avenging the death of his wife in the 15th century, and when he comes to London, it is specifically to meet heroine Mina Harker (Winona Ryder), the living image of his late wife (Ryder plays a dual role, as do several of her costars). Anthony Hopkins is obsessed vampire hunter Van Helsing, while Keanu Reeves takes on the role of Jonathan Harker, and Tom Waits plays bug-eating Renfield. Bram Stoker's Dracula was the winner of three Academy Awards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, (more)
Robert Altman takes a scalpel to Hollywood ethics in the 1990s (or the lack thereof) in his acidic satire The Player, adapted from Michael Tolkin's novel. (Tolkin also wrote the screenplay.) The film concerns a sleek and smooth Hollywood studio executive who starts receiving death threats from a disgruntled writer because he has committed the ultimate Hollywood sin -- he promised the writer he would call him back and he never did. This is particularly ironic because the studio executive, Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins), is considered "writer-friendly," spending his days listening to pitches from such noted screenwriters as Buck Henry, who is pushing "The Graduate, Part II" and Alan Rudolph, who is hawking a Bruce Willis action film described as "Ghost meets The Manchurian Candidate." But The Player finds Griffin's comfortable life style in danger of collapse. He is trying to find a way to unload his girlfriend (Cynthia Stevenson) whose independence and intelligence make her a poor candidate for a trophy wife. More importantly, it seems that Larry Levy (Peter Gallagher), a slippery executive from Twentieth Century Fox, is angling for his job. And then there are those nasty postcards and faxes from a screenwriter threatening to kill him. Altman cast over 65 stars in cameo roles as texture for his scabrous tale. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, (more)
Michael Lehmann directed this post-modernist hash of To Catch a Thief and The Naked Gun starring Bruce Willis as Hudson Hawk, a cat burglar who wants to go straight, but the circumstances won't allow it. The story begins in a pre-credit sequence that takes place in the renaissance. Leonardo Da Vinci (Stefano Molinari) is rushing through his Mona Lisa painting to work on his latest invention -- a machine to turn lead into bronze. But Da Vinci makes a mistake and, instead of bronze, the machine turns the lead into gold. Realizing the danger of his invention if the contraption gets into the wrong hands, he hides three parts of the apparatus inside three of his other works. Four hundred years later, Hudson Hawk, the world's greatest cat burglar, is being released from jail after pulling a ten-year stretch. He wants to retire from the profession of cat burglary and drink some cappuccino, but two screwball billionaires -- Darwin and Minerva Mayflower (Richard E. Grant and Sandra Bernhard) -- won't let him. Their nefarious plot is to steal the three Da Vinci works, restore Da Vinci's gold-making machine, and destroy the world's monetary system. They blackmail Hawks into working with them to steal the Da Vincis by threatening the life of Hawks's pal Tommy Five-Tone (Danny Aiello). Along with the power-mad billionaires, Hawks has to deal with the CIA, in the person of George Kaplan (James Coburn), breathing down his neck. He also has Vatican art restorer Anna Baragli (Andie MacDowell) falling for his smirk. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Danny Aiello, (more)
Steve Martin wrote and stars in this look at the promise and dreamtime of Los Angeles culture. Martin stars as Harris K. Telemacher, a light-hearted television weatherman who does wacky comedy in lieu of reports since, being in L.A., he has very little weather to report. He spends his time roller-skating through museums and spending time with California's beautiful people. But Telemacher is fired and discovers that his girlfriend Trudi (Marilu Henner) is having an affair. He walks away from the relationship and re-evaluates his life, getting advice from a friendly electronic highway road sign. The sign suggests that he call SanDeE (Sarah Jessica Parker), a sprightly and attractive Valley Girl he met in a clothing store. With SanDeE he experiences a liberating and carefree spirit. But Telemacher comes to realize that he has actually fallen in love with Sara (Victoria Tennant), a tuba-playing British journalist who is in California to do a feature on Los Angeles lifestyles. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Victoria Tennant, (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)
- 1990
- NC17
The real-life relationship between two of the most controversial literary figures of the 20th century forms the basis for this drama. Anaïs Nin (Maria de Medeiros) is a struggling author trying to finish her first book, a study of the work of D.H. Lawrence. She also has a keen sexual curiosity that is not being satisfied by her sweet but unexciting husband, Hugo (Richard E. Grant). Through Hugo's friend Richard (Kevin Spacey), Anaïs is introduced to Henry Miller (Fred Ward), a writer from America who shares Anaïs' passion for both eros and literature; she is later introduced to June (Uma Thurman), Henry's wife and a practicing bisexual. While Anaïs is attracted to Henry, to her surprise, she's even more strongly drawn to June; June, however, must return to America, and with her approval, Henry and Anaïs begin an affair. Anaïs' newfound sense of sexual liberation leads her to several new lovers over the next several months, but she and Henry find themselves pursuing the same object of affection when June returns to Paris. Henry & June's frank but tasteful treatment of sexual themes led the MPAA to threaten the film with an X-rating; instead, the film became the first feature released with the revised NC-17 classification. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria de Medeiros, Fred Ward, (more)
- 1989
- R
- Add How to Get Ahead in Advertising to QueueAdd How to Get Ahead in Advertising to top of Queue
After years of capitalizing on the weaknesses of a gullible public, a London advertising executive finds that his worst qualities have literally taken on a life of their own in this scathing satire. Successful copywriter Dennis Bagley (Richard E. Grant) lives a posh life with his lovely wife, Julia (Rachel Ward), in the London suburbs. Pushed to distraction by a bothersome new pimple-ointment account, he flirts with renouncing his career and becoming socially aware. Immediately thereafter, Bagley discovers that he's developed a zit of his own -- a monstrous boil on his neck that begins whispering evil things in his ear. Convinced that he's being taken over by his dark half, Bagley soon finds his "good" self relegated to the boil while his malevolent alter ego returns to the world of advertising with a vengeance. At first, Julia is relieved that her husband seems to have bounced back from the abyss of mental illness, but soon she realizes that she prefers the gentle but crazy Dennis to the poisonous professional. Written and directed by Withnail & I's Bruce Robinson, How to Get Ahead in Advertising reunites the director with that film's leading man Richard E. Grant. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard E. Grant, Rachel Ward, (more)
