Greg Brenman Movies
- 2009
- PG13
- Add The Boys Are Back to Queue
Prime Suspect writer Allan Cubitt adapts U.K. sportswriter Simon Carr's popular novel about a successful sports journalist who is suddenly saddled with the responsibility of raising two sons from different marriages in this single-parent drama from director Scott Hicks. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clive Owen
- 2008
This stirring British drama for kids and young adults tells the true story of the famous "free school" known as Summerhill, where since 1921, students had been achieving far above average academic scores within a realm of self governance. Policing their own lives and behavior in an organized system of rotating leadership and one-student-one-vote democracy, the students at Summerhill had been learning about responsibility and compassion firsthand for decades when, in 1999, an inspection from the British government led to a suit challenging many of the school's fundamental principles. Now, the students at Summerhill have to showcase even more maturity, patience, and fortitude than ever before, in order to preserve the spirit of their school. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
A devastated father struggles to find answers after a bomb detonated in the peaceful Irish town of Omagh claims the life of his twenty-one year-old son in this topical docudrama from writer/producer Paul Greengrass and director Pete Travis. In 1988 a group who referred to themselves as the "Real IRA" set a bomb that took the lives of thirty-one people in the Northern Ireland town of Omaga. In the aftermath of the explosion, soft-spoken mechanic Michael Gallagher (Gerard McSorley) was forever changed by the loss of his twenty-one year-old son. Determined not to let the same grim fate befall his neighbors, Gallagher took it upon himself to become the official spokesperson for the victim's families, challenging the government's official stand on terrorism and providing a voice for the grief-stricken families of the innocent victims killed in the blast. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gerard McSorley, Michele Forbes, (more)
Probably the most filmed of all Sherlock Holmes stories, Arthur Conan Doyle's 1901 novel The Hound of the Baskervilles was given another go-round with this BBC television production. Richard Roxburgh, best known as the libidinous nobleman in the 2001 theatrical feature Moulin Rouge, is cast as The Great Detective, with Ian Hart as Holmes' friend, assistant and chronicler Dr. John Watson. The game is afoot when Holmes and Watson head to gloomy Baskerville Manor near the forbidding Grimpen Moor, the new home of young Sir Henry Baskerville (Matt Day). A number of curious events have led the detectives to the conclusion that Sir Henry's life is in danger -- that, in fact, he may at any time be torn asunder by a gigantic, vicious hound. Is this the fulfillment of "The Baskerville Curse," brought about by villainous debauchery of Sir Henry's ancestor, or is the would-be murderer a human being, using the legend of the Hound as a smoke-screen? Taking quite a few liberties with the original, The Hound of the Baskervilles was a nonetheless entertaining "shorthand" version of the Doyle classic. Making its British broadcast debut on December 26, 2002, the film was curiously premiered over Canadian television some five weeks earlier, on November 18. In the United States, The Hound of the Baskervilles was first seen as part of PBS' Masterpiece Theatre anthology on January 19, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Roxburgh, Ian Hart, (more)
- 2001
A man who wants to give his family the good things in life decides to start stealing them in this dark comedy from England. Robert Martin (Lee Evans) is a working-class loser -- or at least he might be working-class if he had a job -- who is obsessed with entering contests, certain a big prize will finally make its way to him. Robert has entered a sweepstakes hoping to win an all-expenses-paid vacation on the Isle of Man, and when a well-off couple (Barbara Leigh-Hunt and Frank Finlay) are declared the winners, Robert concludes he deserves the prize far more than they do, and decides to simply take it away from them. Martin packs up his long-suffering wife, Angie (Kathy Burke); his strident mother-in-law (Linda Bassett); his 14-year-old daughter, Katie (Terri Dumont), who happens to be pregnant; and his surprisingly well-adjusted eight-year-old son, Little Bob (Eric Byrne), and they head off for the nightmare vacation of a lifetime. Ray Winstone and Mark Strong also appear in the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Evans, Kathy Burke, (more)
- 2000
In this two-part British TV drama, Trina Lavery (Sarah Lancashire) returned to her hometown of Stoke after 20 years, there to look after her ailing mother. Upon her arrival, Trina discovered that Bernard Cleve (Lorcan Cranitch), the man who had been arrested for the murder of Trina's best friend, was likewise living in Stoke, his case having been tossed out of court. Though a free man in the eyes of the lawy, Bernard was unable to escape suspicion when another local girl was killed. This time around, however, Trina had a feeling that Bernard was not responsible -- and in setting out to prove her theory, she risked becoming Victim Number Three. Hampered by an unsatisfying conclusion, My Fragile Heart nonetheless enjoyed a large viewership when it was aired by ITV on September 17 and 18, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Lancashire, Lorcan Cranitch, (more)
- 1999
Produced by Tiger Aspect for Britain's Channel 4, Shockers was a trio of 65-minute "urban thrillers," originally telecast from October 19 to November 2, 1999. The first episode, "Déjà vu," was about a couple (Kerry Fox, Lennie James) trying to put the pieces together after their son was killed in a car accident. In "The Visitor," a mysterious "cousin" caused a chain of bizarre events in a flat occupied by three longtime friends. And in "Dance," widowed father Mike (Douglas Hodge) entered into a romance with Deborah (Christine Tremarco), with startling consequences. After its official 1999 run, Shockers was briefly revived with the one-off 2001 thriller "Parent's Night," wherein a mother gets revenge on the bullies who goaded her son into suicide. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This made-for-TV feature was the tenth screen adaptation of the classic Gothic romance by Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre (Samantha Morton, who two years later would earn an Oscar nomination for her performance in Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown) grew up an orphan under trying circumstances, but through hard work and determination, she has gained an education and is employed as a governess at the Thornfield Hall estate. Jane quickly falls in love with the brooding and secretive owner of Thornfield, Mr. Rochester (Ciaran Hinds). He soon falls for her as well, but before they can reach the altar, a number of shocking secrets threaten to destroy their romance. This version of Jane Eyre made its American debut on the A&E Cable Network. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Samantha Morton, Ciarán Hinds, (more)
