Daniel Mays Movies

Alan Clarke's 1989 movie about British soccer hooligans is ported to the early '80s in this loose remake. The film follows Dom (Callum McNab), a young man caught up in the enticing world of firms -- soccer gangs who make merry and spar with the supporters of rival teams. Bright and funny, Dom is easily welcomed into the ranks by the firm's leader, Bex (Paul Anderson). But as Dom is drawn into the escalating violence of his clique, he decides to back out. Doing that is easier said than done.

Written and directed by Nick Love, who made the similarly themed The Football Factory, The Firm's greatest departure from the original is following Dom -- a relatively minor character in the original -- rather than Bex (originally played by Gary Oldman). ~ Robert Silva, All Movie Guide

Yesterday's secrets breed today's nightmares in this dark drama concerning three strangers who will kill to protect what is rightfully theirs. Jean (Penelope Wilton) is a professional house sitter on the eve of retirement. Before Jean stops taking jobs, however, she has agreed to watch over the palatial Walden Manor while the owners are away. Later, as Jean settles in for an uneventful weekend in the sprawling country estate, her peace and quiet is suddenly shattered by a desperate knock on the door. On the other side, a pregnant girl named Steph (Sinead Matthews) on the run from her abusive boyfriend. Accompanied by kindly stranger Michael (Daniel Mays), Steph is seeking to find a safe place to give birth. But Steph has left a trail of blood that leads directly to Walden Manor, and in her effort to find happiness by escaping her violent past she will soon discover that the present can be just as unforgiving. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Writer-director Isabel Coixet's (My Life Without Me) beautifully wrought chamber drama The Secret Life of Words opens on Hanna (Sarah Polley), a laconic, backward and introverted girl in her early '30s, quietly drowning in her own isolation. Partially deaf from working an untold number of hours in a loud factory, Hanna must wear a hearing aid. When her supervisors -- deeply concerned about the four years that have lapsed in Hanna's life without a break -- force her to go on holiday for a month, she hesitantly takes off for a coastal village in the north of Ireland. Once there, she decides to dine in a local restaurant, and overhears, by chance, a telephone conversation conducted by Victor (Eddie Marsan), regarding an accident on a nearby oil rig that he precipitated, which left a victim, Josef (Tim Robbins) in its wake. Hanna tells Victor that she is a nurse, and is instantly flown to the rig to treat the bedbound Josef -- temporarily blind from extensive cornea damage, and his body blanketed with severe burns. She also encounters the structure's motley and eccentric band of workers -- from ecologist Martin (Daniel Mays), who spends his time studying mutated mussels that collect on the ship's base and the waves that strike the side of the rig, to Josef, to chef Simon (Javier Camára), who prepares "gourmet" food no one else can stand, to Dimitri (Sverre Anker Ousdal), an elderly gentleman who is as much of a loner as Hanna. As Hanna begins to foresee a new place for herself among these individuals, a relationship gradually develops between Hanna and Josef, who holds his new friend rapt with lyrical, evocative, magisterial tales from his past -- unknowingly drawing Hanna, one step at a time, toward inner joy, self-expression, and revelation of her own sad and complex story. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows star in director Roger Donaldson's cinematic account of the true-life 1971 London bank robbery that baffled the authorities and fascinated the public. Terry Leather (Statham) was a small-time car dealer who was trying to leave his shady past behind and start a family. Though he'd never been involved in any major crimes, he wasn't exactly on the straight and narrow his whole life either. Martine Love (Burrows) is a beautiful model from Terry's old neighborhood who knows that her former neighbor is no angel. When Martine proposes a foolproof plan to rob a Baker Street bank, Terry recognizes the danger but realizes this may be the opportunity of a lifetime. As the operation gets underway, the resourceful band of thieves burrows its way into a safe-deposit vault at the Lloyds Bank in Marylebone, quickly hitting a literal treasure trove of cash and priceless gems. But while the crew did know that the safe-deposit boxes contained millions in riches, they didn't realize that they also contained secrets that implicated everyone from London's most notorious underworld gangsters to powerful government figures, and even the Royal Family. Though the crime would make headlines all across Britain for several days after the fact, a government gag order eventually brought all reporting on the case to an immediate halt. Could it be that the most notorious bank robbers in recent memory were actually the most innocent people involved in this scandalous crime? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

Gladiator duo Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe re-team for this adaptation of author Peter Mayle's best-selling novel about a London-based investment banker who relocates to Provence in hopes of selling a small vineyard he has inherited from his recently deceased uncle. As a child, Max Skinner (Freddie Highmore) was taught to appreciate the finer things in life while wandering the vineyard estate of his sophisticated uncle Henry (Albert Finney). Life has a strange way or turning out how you least expect it to though, and 25 years later, Max (Russell Crowe) is now a prosperous moneyman wheeling and dealing in the cutthroat world of London business. When Max learns that Henry has recently passed away and that he has been named the sole beneficiary of his late uncle's modest estate, the keen businessman hastily arranges a flight to France in order to assess the value of the old property and get it prepped for sale. After Max arrives to find the vineyard in a crumbling state of disrepair, his troubles are further compounded by the stubbornness of gruff estate winemaker M. Duflot (Didier Bourdon) and the unexpected arrival of a determined California beauty named Christie (Abbie Cornish), who presents herself as a long-lost cousin while making a dubious claim to Henry's estate. Meanwhile, the overstressed Max reluctantly finds himself falling for local café owner and town siren Fanny (Marion Cotillard), whose formidable guard is quickly worn down by the smitten beneficiary. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide