Kate Hardie Movies

A ten year old boy decides that if being a little angel can't save his parent's crumbling marriage he should perhaps try the opposite approach in darkly comic family drama from director David Richards (Alibi). Young Ollie may have only been walking this earth for a decade, but he's smart enough to realize that his folks are heading for divorce. Try as they might to shield their son from the ugly truth, mom and dad can't cover up the fact that their relationship is failing and they're about to go their separate ways. Ollie hopes that by being a good little boy he can somehow keep his parents together, but as hard as the well-meaning youngster tries he always seems to screw up. When the simmering tensions between Ollie's parents erupt into a violent boil, the frustrated boy decides that the only way to restore the peace is to become a household hellion the likes of which mom and dad have never seen. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Ole Bornedal directs the drama I Am Dina, based on the novel by Herbjørg Wassmo. In Northern Norway during the 1860s, a little girl named Dina accidentally causes her mother's death. Overcome with grief, her father (Bjørn Floberg) refuses to raise her, leaving her in the care of the household servants. Dina grows up wild and unmanageable, with her only friend being the stable boy, Tomas (Hans Matheson). She summons her mother's ghost and develops a strange fascination with death as well as a passion for living. Family friend Jacob (Gérard Depardieu) encourages Dina's father to hire Lorch (Søren Sætter-Lassen), a tutor who introduces her to the cello. When Dina is old enough (played by Maria Bonnevie), she marries Jacob and moves to Reinsnes, a port he runs with his mother, Karen (Wenche Foss), and his stepsons Niels (Mads Mikkelsen) and Anders (Jørgen Langhelle). Niels doesn't like Dina's wild ways, or the fact that she has taken over accounting duties at Reinsnes. Dina's eccentric tendencies become even stronger, eventually leading Jacob into an accident of his own and bringing Tomas back into her life. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

A man finds his personal and professional loyalties divides by his new career at a casino in this crime drama. Jack Manfred (Clive Owen) is a cocky, supremely confident man who wants to be a writer. Jack's long struggle to finish his first novel has landed him deep in debt, and his father (Nicholas Ball) volunteers to get him a job in a casino in London. While Jack doesn't gamble himself, he has the dexterity (and enough contempt for the game) to be a good dealer. He's soon making a tidy living as a dealer, despite the objections of his girlfriend, Marion (Gina McKee), who thinks his job is taking him away from his true calling as a writer. Against the orders of his boss, Jack has a fling with Bella (Kate Hardie), another dealer at the casino, and allows himself to be seduced by one of his customers, Jani (Alex Kingston). However, it turns out Jani wants more than sex from Jack; she and her compatriots have a plan to rob the casino and they want Jack to be their man on the inside. Croupier was directed by Mike Hodges, whose first film was the classic British thriller Get Carter. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Safe is exactly what these London homeless youths and anyone associating with them isn't. This bleak, prize-winning drama explores the lives of Gypo and Kaz (Aidan Gillen and Katd Hardie), two twenty-ish outcastes, who raise cash by pretending to be a prostitute and her pimp, mugging anyone foolish enough to fall for their ploy. When they can't get by that way, they reluctantly consent to spend time at homeless shelters, but their disruptive behaviors there don't make them many friends. When they are bored with these options, there's nothing to stop Gypo from plunging a broken bottle into his chest to see if he can't get some free hospital time out of the deal. The raw subect matter and occasional full frontal nudity make this film one to keep the kids away from. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Donna Matkin lives with her parents in a rural area in the east of England. She is sixteen years old, and her home life is not very satisfying. Her father just considers her to be somebody else to boss around, and her mother seems to think that the television shows she watches endlessly are more important than her daughter. When a customer at her roadside flower stall shows some interest in her, she is happy to begin a sexual liaison with him. Soon, she discovers that she is pregnant, but rather than confiding in her parents or anyone else, she successfully keeps her whole pregnancy secret and even manages to give birth unobserved in a barn. At first, she is determined to leave the newborn to die, but she soon discovers that the infant gives her a much-needed reason to live. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Peter Medak directed this fact-based drama, chronicling the lives of the infamous Kray Brothers, notorious celebrities in 60s London. The Krays were twin gangsters who ruled London's stylish East End club scene, staking out their territory by committing the most violent crimes imaginable, preferring to perform the most torturous acts themselves. The film stars Gary Kemp and Martin Kemp, founding members of the pop group Spandau Ballet, as Ronald and Reginald Kray. The film opens as their mother Violet Kray (Billie Whitelaw) recalls a dream in which she is a swan from which two beautiful babies have hatched. She can't tell if the swans are angels or demons, but the film soon answers that question for her. Brought up in London's East End in the 1930s, Ronald and Reginald Kray are raised in the resentful world of Violet, who is hateful of her lot in life and bitter at the control men have in running the world ("Housework is a lethal business," she says). The twins react to each other almost telepathically and they take out their anger by clogging the nose of their sleeping father (Alfred Lynch), pushing around fellow schoolboys, and even beating each other to pulp at a boxing match. When her mother chastises them for their fight in a fairground boxing ring ("You fight them up, but you don't fight each other"), the twins veer into the London underworld. In their self-contained world of Us-Against-Them, the Krays rapidly rise to the height of power, first taking over the territory of a petty mobster by violent means and then putting together an underworld empire of posh clubs, cars, and fancy suits. But at the height of their fame, the twins begin to break from each other. Reginald falls in love with Frances (Kate Hardie), while Ronald gets involved in a homosexual relationship with one of his underlings. Ronald, in a jealous rage over Frances stealing his brother away from him, becomes even more brutal in his crimes and while the brothers' backs are turned, a group of older mobsters challenge the Krays' authority, invoking a horrible bloodbath that effects not only the two brothers but Frances and Violet as well. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Adapted from true events, a high-level government official is threatened by his past escapades, so a crack team gets on the case. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Bob Hoskins plays George, a tough but basically goodhearted British mob flunky, recently released from prison, where he'd served a term to cover up for his gangster boss (Michael Caine). Still willing to be everyone's doormat, George agrees to act as chauffeur for Simone (Cathy Tyson), a haughty, high-priced call girl. They don't like each other at first, but George begins to fall for her and take a protective interest. She implores him to help her find her only truly friend, a prostitute named Cathy (Kate Hardie). Touched by this devotion, George locates the girl, only to be chagrined to learn that Simone and Cathy are lovers. Hoskins is used and abused by so many people in Mona Lisa that when the worm finally does turn, you feel like cheering--even though it doesn't make him any happier. Director Neil Jordan cowrote this study of underworld mores with David Leland. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this conventional, formulaic tale about a nonchalant snooker (pool, British style) hustler who is conned into competing in a national championship, good ensemble acting carries the story beyond its predictable evolution. Bob Geldof is Harry (Flash) Gordon, the snooker player who hustles games in low-end London halls, picking up a little cash here and there and also getting into occasional trouble. Nevertheless, he is more or less content with his life and his girlfriend (a prostitute who loves him) until promoter Billy Evans (Mel Smith) comes along and convinces him to leave the penny-ante and troubles behind and compete in a national championship for real money. Big stakes create bigger headaches, and by the time the final game is set to be played, Gordon is faced with a decision to either save his skin and give in to pressure to throw the game, or stick to his scruples and play the best he can. For foreign, including American English speakers, the accents in the snooker halls may leave them a little linguistically snookered at first. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide