Jane Featherstone Movies
A 21st Century New York City detective finds himself experiencing a surreal blast from the past when he's struck by a speeding car and transported back to 1973 in this ABC series inspired by the popular British television series of the same name. 2008: Detective Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara) is in hot pursuit of a dangerous criminal when he's suddenly run down right in the middle of the street. Subsequently awakening in the same city circa 1973, Detective Tyler is forced to police the streets of a city locked in the cold grip of chaos. The Vietnam War is raging halfway around the world, the Watergate scandal is making headlines across the country, criminals are running the streets, and more than half of the police force is on the take. To make matters even worse, cell phones haven't been invented yet, desktop typewriters have yet to be replaced by the personal computer, and no one has ever heard of such a thing as an MP3 player. Devoid of his high-tech crime fighting equipment and forced to operate under a shady new moral code, Detective Tyler constantly clashes with his new boss at the 125th Precinct. Lieutenant Gene Hunt (Harvey Keitel) is the kind of cop that values brawn over brains, and the other members of the 1-2-5 are just as tough. Detective Ray Carling (Michael Imperioli) may ask few questions, but he's definitely the right guy to have in your corner when the going gets tough. And despite the fact that the women of the police force are still woefully underused, Police Women's Bureau member Annie Norris (Gretchen Mol) is often the smartest person in the room. Annie dreams of the day she'll become a real cop, but the prevailing sexism of the era is preventing that from happening for the time being. Even so, she's the only person that Detective Tyler can turn to as he attempts to regain his bearings and find a way back home. Meanwhile, fresh-faced rookie Detective Chris Skelton (Jonathan Murphy) may clash constantly with Lieutenant Hunt and Detective Carling, yet he proves a valuable ally for Detective Tyler. If Detective Tyler could only find a way back to 2008, he could tell his true love Maya Daniels (Lisa Bonet) about how Annie's workplace battles back in 1973 opened the doors that would allow Maya to become an official member of the force nearly four decades later. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason O'Mara, Harvey Keitel, (more)
Filmmaker Bharat Nalluri teams with writer Abi Morgan and an all-star cast to explore the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami that devastated the coast of Thailand. Based on extensive research and interviews personally conducted by writer Morgan, this miniseries explores the cultural and personal fault lines that can be destroyed by such a powerful force of nature while simultaneously highlighting how people from different cultures and a wide-range of social spectrums can come together in times of crisis. As a young couple searches desperately for their missing child, a Thai survivor whose loved ones have been swept away with the rushing waters struggles to prevent real estate developers from seizing the land that was once his village. Meanwhile, a high-profile Thai meteorologist struggles with the knowledge that his dire warnings were repeatedly ignored by officials as an Englishwoman sets out to find her missing husband and son, and an emotional British official whose faith in the system is slowly eroding in the face of tragedy. Tim Roth, Toni Collette, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sophie Okonedo, and Hugh Bonnevill star in a dramatized account of disaster that sent shockwaves rippling across not only Thailand, but the entire planet as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Roth, Chiwetel Ejiofor, (more)
- 2006
The BBC sci-fi-mystery series Life on Mars commences in 21st century Manchester, England, where a young detective, Sam Tyler (John Simm) attempts to track down a serial killer preying on residents in the area. Suddenly, Sam's girlfriend is kidnapped, and Sam suspects that the same individual is responsible for both the murders and the abduction, but before he can pursue the investigation further, he survives an extreme automobile accident and comes to - only to discover that the year is 1973. Unable to determine if he has actually traveled back in time, is dreaming or has lost his sanity, Sam sets about trying to solve the mystery; meanwhile, he continues to work on detective cases under the aegis of boss DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister), a no-nonsense type who resorts to violence as his first method when attempting to solve a conflict. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 2004
In the tradition of the classic movie The Sting and the '60s television show The Rogues, the lighthearted British adventure series Hustle was about a gang of London con artists who only ripped off the rich, the nasty, and the greedy -- in other words, people who deserved being conned, and who could afford to lose the cash. Masterminding the gang was "Mickey Bricks" Stone (Adrian Lester), a veteran of 49 successful scams who had ironically done jail time on unrelated charges. The father-figure of the bunch was Alfred Stroller (Robert Vaughn), a slick and stylish "roper" who located likely suckers. Ash Morgan (Robert Glenister) was the "detail man" of the outfit, a positive wizard with technical devices and indispensable in meticulously researching each assignment; hot-headed young amateur Danny Blue (Marc Warren) was Mickey's protégé and verbal sparring partner; and Stacie Monroe (Jaime Murray) provided the feminine interest. Created by Tony Jordan, the series was distinguished by two trademarks -- the constant breaking down of the "fourth wall" as the characters directly addressed the camera to explain potentially confusing plot points; and the inevitable third-act twist, in which the con job at hand was imperiled by unforeseen circumstances. First telecast by the BBC on February 24, 2004, Hustle made its American bow on January 14, 2006, by way of cable's American Movie Classics, which partially bankrolled the series' third season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Premiering May 13, 2002, on BBC1, the British espionage-adventure series Spooks pitted undercover agents of the country's MI-5 squad (the U.K. equivalent of the NSA) against international troublemakers and terrorists. Though extremely violent and almost unbearably tense, the series scored its biggest points by dramatizing the pressures brought to bear against "average" people engaged in a top-secret profession: For example, one of the many plot threads involved the love life of Senior Case Officer Tom Quinn (Matthew MacFadyen), whose girlfriend was convinced that Tom was merely a lower-level computer tech. Other members of the "Spooks" team included Quinn's second-in-command, Zoe Reynolds (Keeley Hawes), technical genius Danny Hunter (David Oyelowo), reckless Tessa Phillips (Jenny Agutter), and department head Harry Pierce (Peter Firth). During the series' first season on the air, Spooks made headlines throughout the British Isles by virtue of its explosive second episode, in which a popular soap opera actor, misleadingly advertised as one of the series' "stars," was abruptly and nastily killed off; thereafter, audiences could never take anything that happened on the series for granted -- and the viewership soared. Spooks debuted over the American A&E cable network under the title MI-5 on July 22, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, (more)
After forays into period war drama (Regeneration) and globe-trotting bohemia (Hideous Kinky), Scottish director Gillies MacKinnon returns to social realist melodrama with this tale of a ten-year-old desperately trying to parent his heroin-addicted mother. Pure revolves around Paul (Harry Eden), a young boy who finds his life torn apart after the untimely demise of his father. Despondent in the wake of her husband's death, Paul's mother, Mel (Molly Parker), turns to a less-than-reputable old friend for consolation: Lenny (David Wenham), a long-time acquaintance of her husband's who also happens to be the main drug dealer in their West London neighborhood. Lenny divides his time between Mel and his other customers, including Louise (Keira Knightley), a pregnant, crack-addicted waitress. Paul is so accustomed to his mother's addiction that it doesn't occur to him that it's a problem, but as Mel's behavior grows more and more unstable -- and as local police start investigating the area drug scene -- Paul realizes that it's his responsibility to take care of himself and his younger brother. Pure premiered at the 2002 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Molly Parker, David Wenham, (more)
- 1997
Created by Paul Abbott, the popular British police series Touching Evil chronicled the exploits of the elite Organised & Serial Crime Unit, headed by Detective Inspector Dave Creegan (Robson Green). His relentless pursuit on such venal criminals as child rapists and serial killers, inevitably took a toll on Creegan's private life, breaking up his marriage and straining his relationships with his children. Unlike similar American cop dramas, this one required full viewer attention, with intricate plot lines and sudden, unexpected clues abounding. The editing of the series earned a Royal Television Society award for Sue Wyatt. Presented by Granada Television, Touching Evil originally ran 16 hour-long episodes from 1997 to 1999. It was subsequently followed by a brace of sequels, Touching Evil 2 and Touching Evil 3. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
