Ian Hart Movies
One of the screen's most consistently solid performers and least recognized personalities, British actor Ian Hart has appeared in an enviably diverse number of films over the course of the '90s. To say that Hart has a chameleon-like quality would be something of an understatement; one of the reasons for the lack of audience recognition afforded to him is his ability to completely disappear in his roles, exchanging full-bodied characterizations for any trace of the actor responsible for them.Little is known about Hart's background aside from the fact that he got his start in regional theatre and on such BBC television programs as the popular series Eastenders. One thing that is certain is that Hart's Liverpool origins and uncanny resemblance to John Lennon were responsible for getting him his first big break. In 1992, he was chosen to play Lennon in Christopher Munch's The Hours and Times (1992), a film that examined the relationship between Lennon and Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Two years later, Hart again played the musician in Backbeat, Iain Softley's account of the relationship between Lennon, Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff), and Sutcliffe's girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr (Sheryl Lee). The film earned a number of strong notices and was fairly successful at the box office, with Hart earning particular acclaim for his portrayal of Lennon.
Following a starring role as a shell-shocked young Welshman in The Englishman Who Went up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain (1995), Hart embarked on a series of projects that read like a who's who list of gritty, socially conscious British films. For director Ken Loach, he played a dedicated young journalist who gets caught up in the Spanish Civil War in Land and Freedom (1995); that same year, he won the Venice Film Festival's Volpi Cup for his portrayal of a psychotic Northern Irish Protestant gangster in Thaddeus O'Sullivan's Nothing Personal. The following year, Hart played Martin Donovan's lover in the relentlessly intense child abuse drama Hollow Reed and had a substantial supporting role in Neil Jordan's Michael Collins, a biographical epic about the legendary and controversial Irish rebellion leader.
The following year, Hart again collaborated with Jordan, this time on The Butcher Boy. He also returned to the milieu of the post-war rock scene as a club manager in Jez Butterworth's Mojo. In one of his rare U.S. outings, Hart played the owner of a Lower Manhattan diner in Amos Poe's comedy-thriller Frogs for Snakes (1998); that same year, he appeared in American director Ted Demme's Monument Avenue, a drama about a group of Irish-American toughs in Boston.
1999 brought with it another collaboration for Hart and Jordan; this time it was on an adaptation of Graham Greene's The End of the Affair, a World War II romance that featured Hart as a cockney detective. That same year, he starred as a nerdy, emotionally unstable comic book enthusiast who finds love in an unlikely place in the ensemble comedy This Year's Love and played a doltish ex-boyfriend in Michael Winterbottom's acclaimed ensemble drama Wonderland. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- 2009
In this British drama, a 14-year-old boy's own attempts at parenthood give him a better understanding of his relationship with his often absent father (Ian Hart, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone). Rebellious teen Robbie (Kyle Ward) has little contact with his own child, but a violent incident with another teenager spurs him to take the child with him on the run. BAFTA award-winner Brian Percival makes his directorial debut with A Boy Called Dad. ~ Kimber Myers, All Movie Guide
Dirt stars Courteney Cox as Lucy Spiller, celebrity journalist and editor-in-chief of DirtNow, a tabloid magazine that traffics in sleaze -- especially sleaze with a Hollywood dateline. She and her photographer Don Konkey (Ian Hart) probe Hollywood's seamy underbelly in search of seepage, in a contant race with other media bottom feeders. Lucy simultaneously tries to engage her personal life, which includes her actor boyfriend, Holt McLaren (Josh Stewart), and her brother Leo Spiller (Will McCormack). This four-disc, 13-episode box set of Season 1 (which aired on cable's FX network in 2007) features an array of character-driven special features, including a behind-the-scenes look at real-life paparazzi darlings and co-producing couple, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, as well as interviews with entertainment leaders and Hollywood gossip gurus, a profile on schizophrenic paparazzo Konkey, and deleted scenes.
- Starring:
- Courteney Cox Arquette, Ian Hart, (more)
The shrewd, 44-year reign of coquettish Queen Elizabeth I is explored in vivid detail in this lavish historical drama starring Anne-Marie Duff in the title role and directed by Coky Giedroyc. Imprisoned in the Tower of London after being charged with treason and conspiracy by Queen Mary, young Elizabeth defies authority by maintaining her Protestant faith as England falls into chaos as a result of Henry VIII's historical break with the Catholic Church. Though both are bonded by blood to the oft-married Henry VIII, Elizabeth's and Mary's stubborn wills clash when Mary vows to reunite with Rome and the unbreakable Elizabeth makes the potentially fatal decision not to bend to Catholic pressure. Unexpectedly thrust onto the throne following Mary's untimely death, Elizabeth struggles to maintain control of a religiously divided nation as numerous enemies conspire against her and the pressures of a politically advantageous marriage become too powerful to resist. With every eligible bachelor in the land vying for her hand in marriage, Elizabeth offers nothing but rejection as she pines for the companionship of her handsome childhood friend Robert Dudley. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne-Marie Duff, Tom Hardy, (more)
Anders Ronnow Klarlund's fantasy-action film Strings tells the tale of Hal Tara, the son of a slain ruler who sets out to settle the score with those who dispatched his father. Interestingly, all of the characters in the film are marionettes, explaining the title of the film to some degree. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James McAvoy, Catherine McCormack, (more)
- 2004
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The similarities between the murder of a lowly shop-girl and a glamorous debutante spark legendary detective Sherlock Holmes (Rupert Everett) to break out his famous magnifying glass and crack the case in this mystery directed by Simon Cellan Jones and co-starring Ian Hart as Holmes' faithful assistant Watson. It's been a while since Holmes and Watson have worked together, but when the sordid world of the London docks collides with the aristocratic tranquility of Edwardian high society, the sleuthing twosome must put their heads together to ensure that London's rigid social system retains stability and balance. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2003
Brian Keenan, from Belfast, was in Beirut teaching English in 1986 when he was taken hostage by the Islamic Jihad. Blind Flight tells the story of his imprisonment. After his abduction, Keenan (played by Ian Hart) is held alone in a tiny, dark cell for a long time. He's ordered to cover his eyes whenever his captors enter the room. Eventually, he is moved to a new location, where he has a cellmate, British journalist John McCarthy (played by Linus Roache), who had filed a story on Keenan's abduction just before being kidnapped himself. The two warm to each other gradually and have different approaches to surviving their shared ordeal. Keenan relishes his righteous anger, repeatedly proclaiming his innocence, and using tactics like a hunger strike and refusing to wear the clean clothes he's given in order to maintain his sense of himself. McCarthy is more docile, and tries to obey whatever commands are given. As the two get to know each other, the brittle, angry Keenan surprises McCarthy with the revelation that, while he has an Irish Republican passport (and seems to hate the British as much as his captors do), he's actually Protestant. The upper-class McCarthy reveals that his father was Irish. Eventually, the two form a strong bond. Their captors show occasional glimmers of kindness, but more often, the two men face cruelty and deprivation, heightened by the fact that they have no idea if they will ever be released. Blind Flight was directed by John Furse, from a script by Furse and Keenan, based on Keenan and McCarthy's published memoirs. The film had its U.S. premiere at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Hart, Linus Roache, (more)
- 2003
British filmmaker Simon Cellan Jones directs the BBC drama Eroica, starring Ian Hart as Ludwig van Beethoven. Shot on digital video, this TV movie concerns the first performance of Beethoven's "Symphony No. 3" on June 9, 1804, in Vienna. Prince Lobkowitz (Jack Davenport) has invited all his friends to his palace to watch Beethoven perform his new piece with a full orchestra. Among the aristocratic attendees are Count Dietrichstein (Tim Pigott-Smith), Countess Brunsvik (Claire Skinner), and composer Josef Haydn (Frank Finlay). The actual musical score is performed by the Orchestre Revolutionaire et Romantique, under the direction of John Eliot Gardiner. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Hart, Tim Pigott-Smith, (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)
- 2000
Mary McGuckian directs this bleak biopic about famed Manchester United soccer star George Best, who dumped his career down the drain with booze, brawling, and drugs. The film charts Best's (John Lynch) rise from Belfast, to fame, to dissipation. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lynch, Ian Bannen, (more)
Set in Norway and Scotland, Aberdeen is a road movie that is as concerned with the geography of the heart as that of a topographical map. Kaisa (Lena Headey) is an ambitious lawyer who has just celebrated her recent promotion by having dominant sex with a man whose name she has no interest in learning. When her estranged mother, Helen (Charlotte Rampling), whom she hasn't been in contact with for a decade, calls her up to tell her that she is dying of cancer, Kaisa is faced with her mother's request to track down her divorced husband, Tomas (Stellan Skarsgard). A raging drunk, Tomas has been frequenting the pubs of Norway for a number of years, and Kaisa, after some initial hesitation, sets out for Oslo to find him. When she is finally reunited with Tomas, his drunkenness prevents them from being allowed on the flight back to Aberdeen, where her mother is hospitalized. Kaisa and Tomas embark on an overland journey that takes them across Norway and on a ferry to England, with Tomas drinking constantly and Kaisa discovering something that may be love with a self-effacing truck driver (Ian Hart). ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stellan Skarsgård, Lena Headey, (more)
- 1999
The big-screen debut from Scottish stage director David Kane, This Year's Love is a comedy about the romantic misadventures of six young people in Camden, North London. The marriage of tattoo artist Danny (Douglas Hanshall) and dressmaker Hannah (Catherine McCormack) gets off to a less-than-inspiring start when Danny finds out Hannah has already been fooling around with a friend's husband, so Danny takes a walk and Hannah splits with a friend to get drunk. At the airport, where the newlyweds were supposed to leave for a honeymoon, Danny meets a cleaning woman named Mary (Kathy Burke) and is immediately infatuated, while Hannah is picked up by a scruffy artist named Cameron (Dougray Scott). Elsewhere, Liam (Ian Hart), a geeky comic-art enthusiast who shares an apartment with Cameron, finds romance with Sophie (Jennifer Ehle), a single mother and full-time neurotic. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathy Burke, Jennifer Ehle, (more)
- 1997
An illegal immigrant who imagined America to be the land of opportunity finds that good fortune does not come as easily as he thought in this drama. Liam (Karl Geary) is a man from Ireland who has grown tired of the poverty and limited opportunities of his homeland, so he smuggles himself into the United States, hoping to find work in New York. While Liam's initial contacts in the Bronx turn sour on him, his unstable cousin Des (Ian Hart) allows him to stay in the flat that he shares with two other illegal aliens from Ireland, Owen (Jared Harris), a construction worker, and Paddy (Aidan Gillen), a gardener. Living across the hall from Des and his mates are Mary (Louise Lombard), who's currently dating Owen, and Brenda (Andrea Irvine), who has her eyes on Liam. Paddy, meanwhile, has fallen in love with the daughter of his boss, but given that he's an Irish immigrant struggling to get by and she comes form a wealthy family from Connecticut, he's not sure how he'll overcome their social differences. Eventually, Liam finds work in a bar run by Mario (James Belushi) as he tries to make a place for himself in America while staying out of harm's way. Gold in the Streets marked the feature directorial debut for screenwriter and actress Elizabeth Gill. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Jez Butterworth directed this adaptation of his own play about the 1958 rock scene in London's Soho. Silver Johnny (Hans Matheson) performs at the Atlantic Club where he catches the eye of big-shot Sam Ross (Harold Pinter). Ross invites Johnny and Johnny's manager Ezra (Ricky Tomlinson) for a meeting to discuss Johnny's jump to a bigger plateau. Skinny (Ewan Bremner), a member of Johnny's group, discovers Ezra sawed in half, and Ezra's associate Mickey (Ian Hart) announces that Ross intends to take over the Atlantic Club, setting the stage for major power struggles. Shown at the 1997 Venice Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Hart, Ewen Bremner, (more)
Pierce Brosnan, best known for his suave and sophisticated roles, takes on a new screen personality in this adaptation of Daniel Defoe's classic novel. Robinson Crusoe (Brosnan) is an adventurer who hopes to find fame and fortune on the high seas, but a fierce ocean storm wrecks his ship and leaves him stranded by himself on an uncharted island. Left to fend for himself, Crusoe seeks out a tentative survival on the island, until he meets Friday (Wiliam Takaku), a tribesman living on the island. Initially, Crusoe is thrilled to finally have a friend, but when he discovers another tribe is also living on the island, he comes mad with power and insists that he be the sole ruler of all he surveys. Robinson Crusoe also stars Ian Hart, Lysette Anthony, and James Frain. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1995
This youthful British romance chronicles the love affair between an 18-year old waitress and a freewheeling 21-year old who in one night draws her into an exciting world of sex and drugs. The waitress is Sarah, who feels oppressed by living with her alcoholic mother and dreams of excitement. Tom seems to be just what the doctor ordered and following an orgiastic night of prolonged pill popping and lovemaking, she moves in with him. Tom is a true party animal, and Sarah finds him awesome. After she is fired from the diner, Sarah decides to become a drug runner for Tom's dealer Dez, who is also interested in taking a tumble with her. During her relationship with Tom, he makes it very clear that he is using her and will take no responsibility for her. When Sarah's mother makes a suicide attempt, the young woman is faced with a difficult choice. Should she stay with her exciting new friends, or should she return to her family? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
This syrupy British drama stars Ian Hart as an English teacher assigned to a "special needs" school. Faced with a classroom full of angry, unruly children, Hart hopes to bring about order and unity by sharing his love of cross-country running. As is generally the case in films of this ilk, the teacher must wear down the resistance of the class' most difficult and obstreperous kid (Ruaidhri Coroy). Disaster looms on the horizon when the boy's father dies, prompting him to indulge in a series of dangerous running stunts that threaten the wellbeing of all concerned. Wending its way throughout Clockwork Mice is a romantic subplot involving Ian Hart and fellow teacher Catherine Russell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Hart, Catherine Russell, (more)
The Beatles' early days as a struggling bar band are depicted in this fact-based drama, which tells the little-known story of original member Stuart Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff). A close friend of John Lennon, Sutcliffe acts as the band's original bassist, accompanying them on their early gigs in Liverpool and Hamburg, Germany. The friendship becomes strained, however, when Sutcliffe falls in love with a German art student and starts to question his commitment to the band. With Sutcliffe's story taking center stage, the stories of the more famous Beatles largely fade into the background. The exception is John Lennon, thanks to a fierce performance by Ian Hart, who had previously portrayed the musician in the more intimate and provocative The Hours and the Times. While Backbeat does provide a new perspective on the band's beginning, and numerous opportunities for a group of modern rock musicians to recreate the band's energetic early performances, it never makes Sutcliffe's story seem more than a footnote to musical history. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sheryl Lee, Stephen Dorff, (more)
The relationship between John Lennon and Brian Epstein, the manager of The Beatles, is fictionalized in writer-director Christopher Munch's acclaimed The Hours and Times. The basis of the film is a real-life event from 1963, when Epstein and Lennon left the rest of the Beatles behind to spend an extended weekend together in Barcelona, seeking rest and relaxation. Munch builds his film around conjectures about what may have happened that weekend just before the breaking of Beatlemania in America, portraying the bonding, conflicts, and sexual tension between the two men. As the trip begins, the homosexual Epstein has already been nursing a frustrating crush upon the young singer, which Lennon -- recently married -- has neither fully acknowledged nor discouraged, as he alternately questions Epstein with intrigued curiosity and flirts with stewardesses. Munch's film, winner of a special award at the Sundance Film Festival, as well as acclaim from numerous critics, presents Lennon and Epstein's exchanges in crisp, rich black-and-white images, framing the pair against various Barcelona backdrops. Ian Hart, who portrays John Lennon in the film, would soon afterwards reprise the role -- with intriguing, subtle variation -- in the 1994 feature Backbeat. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Angus, Ian Hart, (more)
- 2005
- R
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A group of actors and filmmakers set out to adapt an "unfilmable" classic novel -- but find that their own petty concerns get in the way -- in this satirical comedy. Laurence Sterne's 18th century novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman told the story of its priggish title character from the moment of conception onward, with a bevy of digressions, distractions, and unfinished anecdotes. In adapting the work for the screen, director Michael Winterbottom chose to stay true to its anarchic spirit: the film begins as a mostly straightforward adaptation of events in Sterne's writings, and then veers into a tale about the making of the film itself. Steve Coogan plays Tristram Shandy, who narrates his own life story, beginning with his slightly botched birth, overseen by an addled doctor (Dylan Moran) and his reticent father, Walter (also played by Coogan). Constantly quarreling with his battle-scarred brother, Toby (Rob Brydon), Walter Shandy has an epiphany when he holds his newborn son; however, before that moment can occur, the film switches into the present day, where Coogan and Brydon, playing themselves, bicker over costuming and the size of their roles in the film. The rest of the film's crew has their own concerns. Director Mark (Jeremy Northam) is trying to figure out how to secure a big Hollywood star for a supporting role and shoot a battle scene on a budget. The film's brainy production assistant Jennie (Naomie Harris) worries that their adaptation is leaving out the best parts of the book, as she nurses a crush on one of the cast members. All the while, Coogan tries to deflect a tabloid reporter's inquiry into his strip-club escapades, and attempts to pacify the concerns of his wife, Jenny (Kelly MacDonald). Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story had its North American premiere at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, (more)
An Irish boy becomes an emotional and sexual outcast as the 1960s fade into the 1970s in this period drama from director Neil Jordan. When he was just a baby in the early '60s, Patrick Braden (Conor McEvoy) was abandoned by his mother and left on the doorstep of a church overseen by Father Bernard (Liam Neeson). Placed in a foster home, sensitive Patrick doesn't much care for the emotionally chilly attitude of his new "family," and psychologically buffers himself against the world by writing stories that make fun of Father Bernard and the other authority figures in his life. As he grows into adulthood, Patrick (played as an adult by Cillian Murphy) also discovers that he enjoys dressing in women's clothes and prefers the company of men, and as a teenager he falls into an affair with Billy Hatchet (Gavin Friday), a nightclub performer who also runs guns for the Irish Republican Army. In the early '70s, Patrick -- who has since taken on the drag name "Kitten" -- makes his way to London, where he becomes involved with Bertie (Stephen Rea), a small-time nightclub magician who gives the young man a place to say, a sense of security, and a job as his on-stage assistant. However, Patrick's idyllic life with Bertie proves short-lived when his old friends come to town on IRA "business." Breakfast on Pluto also features a supporting performance from former Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cillian Murphy, Stephen Rea, (more)
Den of Lions stars Stephen Dorff as an undercover agent who infiltrates the criminal empire of Darius Paskevic (Bob Hoskins), a kingpin in the Russian mafia. Complicating the agent's work is his romantic relationship with the criminal mastermind's daughter. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Dorff, Bob Hoskins, (more)
The director of such highly regarded films as Yellow Earth (1984) and Farewell, My Concubine (1993), Chinese filmmaker Chen Kaige makes his English-language debut with this erotic thriller adapted from the novel by Nicci French. Alice (Heather Graham) is an American Web designer living in Illinois who falls for a ruggedly handsome mountain climber named Adam (Joseph Fiennes). Bored with her dull love live, sparks begin to fly when Alice and Adam have a chance meeting at a stoplight, and it isn't long before the couple are living together and Adam proposes. With their heated romance taking on hints of mild S & M following their wedding, Alice's realization that she knows very little about her new spouse begins to take on ominous undertones when she discovers that his former fiancée died under mysterious circumstances. Allegations of rape and more missing lovers soon prompt Alice to continue her increasingly disturbing investigation toward answers she may not be ready to accept. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Heather Graham, Joseph Fiennes, (more)
