Aaron Johnson Movies
- 2010
Mark Millar's violent comic tale of wannabe superheroes is adapted by writer/director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake) with this Marv Films production. Aaron Johnson stars as a teen who steps out of his house one day with a mask and a painted baseball bat and starts to fight crime even though he has no superpowers. Lyndsy Fonseca co-stars as the character's object of desire, with Nicolas Cage also appearing as an ex-cop whose hatred of a drug lord forces him to train his daughter to be a lethal vigilante. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aaron Johnson
- 2009
The true story of John Lennon's troubled childhood and difficult relationship with his family is brought to the screen in this period drama. Young John (Alex Ambrose) is a bright but sharp-tongued boy living in the coastal town of Liverpool during the 1950s with his Aunt Mimi (Kristin Scott Thomas) and Uncle George (David Threlfall). John's father walked out on the family when he was four years old, and the boy was given to Mimi to raise, even though his mother Julia (Anne-Marie Duff) is still alive. While Mimi's straight-laced nature runs counter to John's more reckless personality, they clearly love one another and the household is thrown into chaos when George dies suddenly. At the funeral, teenage John (now played by Aaron Johnson) sees Julia, and learns to his surprise that she lives only a few blocks away from Mimi. John pays her a visit, and Julia gratefully welcomes him back into her life. Julia's personality is a much closer fit to John than Mimi, and she encourages his love for writing and music, teaching him to play the banjo. However, John's renewed relationship with Julia brings up a number of unanswered questions, and causes new tensions between Mimi and John. And as rock & roll becomes the hot new sound of the day, John falls in love with the bold new music and makes a friend who is interested in forming a band, Paul (Thomas Brodie Sangster). The first feature film from artist turned director Sam Taylor-Wood, Nowhere Boy was the closing night attraction at the 2009 BFI London Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aaron Johnson
- 2008
Director Matthew Thompson crafts this alternately humorous and poignant tale of two brothers who each rely on vastly different coping mechanisms to deal with a monumental family tragedy. While eccentric pre-teen Jack opts to minimize his malaise by engaging in some decidedly odd private behavior, his more extroverted older brother Danny opts to immerse himself in a passively self-destructive world of wild parties and loose women. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aaron Johnson, Thomas Grant, (more)
A thieving band of orphans who steal from the rich simply to survive encounter a supernatural merry-go-round with mysterious powers in this screen adaptation of award-winning author Cornelia Funke's popular series of children's books. Left in the care of their abusive aunt following the death of their mother, two young boys flee to Venice, Italy in hopes that life will be easier on their own. Times are tough in Venice though, and after meeting mysterious young thief Scipio the desperate runaways soon agree to join his band of pint-sized pickpockets. When a detective assigned the task of bringing the youngsters in becomes privy to their impoverished plight, he joins them in solving the mystery of a powerful merry-go-round that appears to have special powers. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Despite having lived relatively close to one another their entire lives, twins Tom and Thomas (both played by Aaron Johnson) have never met, though they are well aware of each other's existence. Coming together as people sometimes do in dire circumstances, Thomas finally runs into Tom as the latter is on the run from some malevolent child smugglers. As the kidnappers mistake Thomas for Tom and attempt to smuggle him out of the country via airplane, the original target must take matters into his own hands if he is ever to see his brother again and bring the family together. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Bean, Aaron Johnson, (more)
- 2009
- R
Tragedy opens the wounds a family has long struggled to ignore in this powerful emotional drama. Bennett Brewster (Aaron Johnson) was a bright, handsome and talented young man who was suddenly killed in an auto accident late one night while driving home with Rose (Carey Mulligan), a girl who has been a close friend for years but had only recently become romantically involved with him. Bennett's death devastates his family; his mother Grace (Susan Sarandon) is overcome with grief and can't stop wondering what his final minutes must have been like, father Allan (Pierce Brosnan) is forced to turn away from his mistress (Jennifer Ehle) and try to comfort a woman he no longer certain he loves, and brother Ryan (Johnny Simmons) mourns Bennett while becoming painfully aware that he will never live up to his late brother's example in the eyes of his parents. As grief slowly brings the family's emotional troubles to the surface, two unwelcome characters come into the picture -- Rose, who has discovered she's pregnant with Bennett's child, and the truck driver (Michael Shannon) who unwittingly took Bennett's life. The first feature film from writer and director Shana Feste, The Greatest received its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, (more)
A fifteen year-old boy still recovering from the death of his father fantasizes that his deceased dad returns in ghostly form to put his new stepfamily to the ultimate test. Six years after David lost his father in a tragic car accident, his mother has moved on and found a new husband. But as these two separate families take their first tenuous steps toward becoming a whole, David finds that his new stepsiblings, tempestuous granny, and other quirky family members are simply too much to contend with. But David isn't the only one who seems to have a problem with his new family, because his father's ghost appears frequently to comment on the situation as well. Will David prove capable of leaving the past behind and building his future with a new family, or are his memories of a simpler past just too perfect to let go? Imogen Stubbs and Steven Geller star in a spirited family comedy featuring Rosanna Arquette, James Callis, and Anthony Calf. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Imogen Stubbs, Steven Geller, (more)
A supernaturally talented magician attempts to undermine the rigid social structure of turn-of-the-century Vienna by using his powers to win the love of his upper-class, childhood sweetheart in director Neil Burger's cinematic adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Steven Millhauser's short story. Though the ill-fated childhood romance between cabinetmaker's son Eisenheim (Edward Norton) and upper-class Sophie von Teschen (Jessica Biel) eventually resulted in the heartbroken young man leaving Austria to explore the world, his dreams of one day reuniting with the beautiful duchess never faded. Upon returning to Vienna 15 years later as a talented and renowned illusionist, Eisenheim's hopes of a reunion seem dashed when he learns that Sophie is currently engaged to the Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell). As the tensions between the Eisenheim and Leopold elevate, urbane Chief Inspector Uhl (Paul Giamatti) finds his sympathy toward Eisenheim growing, despite his formal obligations to the powerful prince. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, (more)
East and West team up to take on bad guys in the British Empire in this sequel to the action comedy hit Shanghai Noon. Chon Wang (Jackie Chan), once an Imperial Guard in China, is now the Sheriff of Carson City, NV, while his onetime cohort, former train robber Roy O'Bannon (Owen Wilson), scrapes together a living writing dime novels based on his adventures and waiting tables in New York City. However, when Wang learns that his father was killed by bandits who broke into the Emperor's palace and stole the Imperial Seal, he's determined to bring the criminals to justice. Wang's sister Lin (Fann Wong) has learned that the killers have escaped to London, so Wang travels to England to meet her, with O'Bannon in tow. As Wang and Lin -- whose martial arts skills rival those of her brother -- look for the culprits, they discover that Lord Rathbone (Aidan Gillen), who is looking to shorten his path of succession to the British throne, is in cahoots with Wu Chan (Donnie Yen), the bastard son of the Chinese Emperor's father, who needs the Imperial Seal as part of his plan to win control of the nation. As Wang and Lin try to get to the bottom of Chan's schemes, O'Bannon finds himself infatuated with his pal's sister. While set in Victorian London, Shanghai Knights was actually filmed on locations in the former Czech Republic, which more closely resembled turn-of-the-century England. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson, (more)
