Sally Hawkins Movies

Writer/director Richard Ayoade adapts author Joe Dunthorne's acerbic coming-of-age novel to the big screen with this comedy centered on the efforts of precocious Welsh 15-year-old Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) to lose his virginity before his next birthday, and to prevent his mother (Sally Hawkins) from having an affair with a smooth-talking spiritual guru (Paddy Considine) after his morose father (Noah Taylor) loses the will to fight for his marriage. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) and writer Alex Garland (28 Days Later) team up to adapt Remains of the Day author Kazuo Ishiguro's introspective sci-fi novel about a group of unsuspecting boarding-school students who make a horrifying discovery about themselves. Sheltered teens Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Ruth (Keira Knightley), and Tommy (Andrew Garfield) all grew up at a remote English boarding school, and now they're hungry to explore the real world. Their dreams of freedom are soon stifled, however, upon learning that they are nothing more than clones created specifically for organ harvesting. Now, in addition to confronting their own mortality, all three must come to terms with a lifetime of emotions and unfulfilled longings while pondering their true purpose for being. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A devoted Indian mother resorts to murder in hopes of helping her pleasantly plump daughter find a husband, but discovers that her plan is far from perfect when the spirits of her victims return to haunt her in this supernatural comedy from writer/director Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham). Mrs. Sethi is an aging widow whose greatest fear is that her beloved daughter, Roopi (Goldy Notay), will wind up alone. Frustrated at the repeated rejection she's forced to endure while attempting to find Roopi a respectable husband, Mrs. Sethi cooks up a lethal curry and serves it to anyone who turns her daughter away. Though the overprotective mother feels completely justified in her crimes, her situation takes a turn for the bizarre when her victims come back to reveal that they can only be reincarnated after their killer is laid to rest. Initially elated at the thought of a reunion with her late husband, Mrs. Sethi realizes that she can't take the final plunge until Roopi is happily married. With the police closing in fast, the restless spirits agree to help her find Roopi a husband so that everyone can live happily ever after. Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes) and Mark Addy co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Two pairs of newlyweds find their wedding day thrown for a loop upon discovering that the reception hall has mistakenly been double-booked in this romantic comedy starring Sally Hawkins and Tom Riley. To further complicate matters, the bride who just married for convenience (Hawkins) begins to fall for the groom (Riley) who was tying the knot with his impetuous ex-wife for the second time. But is there really any hope for these two smitten strangers, or are they both destined to live out their days in quiet desperation? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Sally Hawkins and Eddie Marsan star in director Mike Leigh's seriocomedy concerning an eternally optimistic teacher living and working in North London. Thirty-year-old teacher Poppy (Hawkins) always has a smile on her face, and does her best to brighten the days of those around her by making small talk and cracking jokes. For the past ten years, Poppy has lived with her best friend, Zoe (Alexis Zegerman), a fellow teacher whose wry outlook on life serves as the perfect counterbalance to Poppy's effervescent charm. One day, Poppy decides that it's time to take driving lessons and enrolls in the Axle School of Motoring. Almost instantly, Poppy and her stressed-out instructor, Scott (Eddie Marsan), clash. Still, it seems that there's more to this relationship than surface appearances would suggest. After accompanying her colleague Heather (Sylvestra Le Touzel) to a dance class taught by a particularly passionate instructor (Karina Fernandaz), Poppy connects with kindly school social worker Tim (Samuel Roukin). Of course, Tim can't help but fall for a woman of such boundless compassion, but how will Poppy's increasingly jealous driving instructor react to the news of her most recent romance? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Woody Allen continued to work in the dark mold of his 2005 thriller Match Point with this suspenseful tale of two brothers (Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor) transformed into mortal enemies after scheming to alleviate their financial difficulties by turning to crime. Ian (McGregor) and Terry Blaine (Farrell) are two Cockney siblings whose lives seem to have simply fallen apart. While hard-drinking auto mechanic Terry lives with his girlfriend, Kate (Sally Hawkins), and suffers all the financial hardships that go with being a chronic gambler, his slightly more respectable sibling Ian helps their father maintain the family restaurant. Thanks to the steady income that the restaurant provides and the occasional help of their wealthy uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson) the family has always managed to scrape by, but when Ian learns of a potentially lucrative California real estate deal, he can't help but dream about moving on to bigger and better things. One day, Terry wins big at the tracks by betting on a speedy greyhound named "Cassandra's Dream," and promptly uses his winnings to purchase a small yacht that he names after the winning dog. Right around the same time, things also start looking up for Ian -- who falls under the seductive spell of ambitious actress Angela (Hayley Atwell). But the brothers' good-luck spell doesn't last long, because when Terry winds up owing a tidy sum to some violent local loan sharks, he's given the option of promptly paying up or suffering some particularly painful consequences. Just then, Uncle Howard shows up in London looking to settle the score with a whistle-blowing business associate. While agreeing to take part in Uncle Howard's diabolical revenge scheme could easily earn Terry the cash needed to pay off his substantial debt, the consequences -- should he get caught -- will be far greater than those of any small-time scam he has ever resorted to in the past. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Two women from different worlds are brought together by strange circumstances and forbidden desires in this period-drama. Sue Trinder (Sally Hawkins) was left on her own as a young child when her parents died, and she was forced to fend for herself, living on the street in the company of thieves and confidence men. Sue is given a chance to reform when she's taken in by Mrs. Sucksby (Imelda Staunton), who wants to keep her off the streets, but Sucksby's friend Richard Rivers (Rupert Evans) is familiar with Sue's old circle and lures her into an elaborate criminal scheme. Sue is to get a job as a maid to Maud Lilly (Elaine Cassidy), a young woman who lives with her uncle (Charles Dance) and will claim a large family inheritance when she marries. Sue's role is to act as confidante to Maud, so when Richard attempts to court her, Sue will help convince the young heiress that marrying Richard is the right thing to do. Richard's scheme is to marry Maud, have her sanity called into question, and then take possession of her fortune after she's committed to an asylum, but as Sue becomes close friends with Maud, she begins to wonder if she has the nerve to go through with the plan, especially when her feelings for Maud begin to extend beyond just friendship. As Sue's choice becomes nearly unbearable, fate steps in and she discovers all is not as she'd been led to believe. Fingersmith was produced for the BBC, where it first aired in the spring of 2005. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Written and directed by Academy Award-nominee Mike Leigh and set in England during the 1950s, this movie revolves around Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton), whose unrelenting dedication to her family is well known throughout her blue-collar town. However, there are more people than her rapidly aging mother and ill neighbor who depend on Vera's care. Though abortion was illegal and, of course, widely frowned upon in the '50s, Vera sees women going through unwanted pregnancies the same as she would anyone else -- human beings deserving of treatment. With this in mind, she regularly induces miscarriages for those who need them, and her patients are consistently grateful for her gentleness and understanding. Unfortunately for Vera, the law doesn't see her as aiding those in need; they interpret the abortions as murder, as do most of the other people in her life. When Vera's activities are revealed, her family life and relationships with those around her -- including the ones she helped nurse back to health -- are put in jeopardy. Vera Drake also features performances from Jim Broadbent, Heather Craney, and Philip Davis. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

This made-for-TV British comedy begins at the turn of the century, as bumbling ironmonger Alfred Salteena (Jim Broadbent) meets a pretty girl named Ethel Monticue (Lyndsey Marshal) on a train and invites her to his London flat. Hoping to impress the girl, Alfred brags about all the "important" people he knows; swallowing the line whole, the covetous Ethel insists upon meeting Alfred's illustrious acquaintance. Enter Lord Bernard Clark (Hugh Laurie), a seedy nobleman who offers to train Alfred to be a social lion so that he'll be more acceptable to Ethel; what Lord Bernard doesn't tell Alfred is that he intends to keep Ethel for himself. Much of the humor arises from Alfred's experiences at a high-society "boot camp" run by an indigent aristocrat, the Earl of Clincham (Bill Nighy). The Young Visiters was written in 1890 by Daisy Ashford -- who was all of nine years old at the time! The book remained on the shelf until it was published, misspellings and all, in 1919, with a preface by James M. Barrie (whom many reviewers suspected of being the novel's true author). First telecast in the U.K. on December 26, 2003, the film won a BAFTA award for best original music. The Young Visiters premiered in the United States courtesy of the BBC America digital-cable service on November 2, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After a rather decided departure with his 1999 homage to Gilbert and Sullivan, Topsy-Turvy, Mike Leigh returns to his usual form for All or Nothing, a melancholy look at the day-to-day lives of a dysfunctional lower-middle class British family called the Bassetts. Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville (familiar to fans of Leigh's previous films) star as Phil and Penny, a common-law husband and wife who toil their gloomy days away as a cab-driver and grocery-store cashier, respectively. When the couple come to realize the growing emptiness in their relationship, an unexpected emergency within their family brings them closer together and offers the possibility of reigniting the long-extinguished spark in their marriage. Hoping to repeat the Palm D'or win of Leigh's 1996 film Secrets and Lies, All or Nothing was screened in competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi