Lynn Horsford Movies
Two English G.I.s find themselves blamed for the widespread corruption of the War in Iraq in this timely drama. Mark (Gerard Kearns) and his friend Shane (Matthew McNulty) are a pair of British soldiers who are sent to Iraq, where they've been assigned duty as guards in a holding facility for Prisoners of War. While the official command is that the prisoners are to be treated with care and respect, Mark and Shane soon learn this isn't always the practice, and that it's considered a good thing to occasionally rough up prisoners so that their compatriots will understand not to get cross with the British. While incidents of violence and humiliation are the exception rather than the rule, that changes after the base commander is killed in a terrorist attack, and Corporal Gant (Shaun Dooley) decides the prisoners should pay for the acts of the Iraqi insurgents. Before long, random torture and abuse of the prisoners is commonplace, and when Shane returns home, he shows photos of his misdeeds to his girlfriend Shelly (Naomi Bentley). When Shelly learns that Shane has been unfaithful to her, she hands Shane's photographs of the abuse of prisoners to a reporter, and soon Shane, Mark and their comrades are at the center of an international scandal. The British military is willing to back Gant and his superiors who condoned the abuse, but they're not about to defend soldiers like Mark and Shane, and soon they've been made scapegoats for crimes they committed but did not instigate. The Mark of Cain won the "Movies that Matter" Award (a prize sponsored by the international human rights group Amnesty International) at the 2007 Rotterdam Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew McNulty, Gerard Kearns, (more)
A man looking to shed his former identity in order to move beyond his traumatic past discovers that the past and the future are inexorably linked in director John Crowley's feature adaptation of a novel by author Jonathan Trigell. Terry (Peter Mullan) is a caseworker whose job it is to help people create new lives. His latest charge is a young man with a troubled past who eventually decides on the new name Jack (Andrew Garfield). Jack has decided to start a new life in Manchester, where no one is aware of his sordid history. As Jack begins his new job in a new town, he quickly catches the attention of beautiful co-worker Michelle (Katie Lyons). While Michelle's advances are unmistakable, Jack remains somewhat awkward in his new skin and the initial encounters between the pair are somewhat awkward. Later, as the two new lovers begin experiencing the thrill of connecting with a kindred soul, Jack performs a heroic feat that finds him celebrated as a local hero and it begins to look like he has successfully made the transition into his new life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andrew Garfield, Peter Mullan, (more)
- 2000
The "hero" of this two-part British miniseries was John Parlour (John Simm), usurious collector for a seedy loan agency. While going about his appointed rounds of extorting money from the residents of a public housing project, Parlour was attacked and robbed. Now broke, and afraid to tell his boss what happened, Parlour moved into the project himself, where he fell in love with one of his debtors, unwed mother Jo Weller (Sophie Okonedo). Turning over a new leaf, John helped his fellow tenants set up a credit union -- only to become embroiled in a murder case. Never, Never was telecast by Britain's Channel 4 on November 5 and 6, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
