Phyllida Law Movies

Glenn Close co-wrote and stars in this period drama based on the short story The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs by author George Moore, centering on the experiences of a 19th century Irish woman who poses as a man in order to work as a butler at an opulent Dublin hotel for the upper class. Maintaining her elaborate ruse over the course of two decades, Albert (Close) suddenly finds her dedication to the role challenged by the unexpected arrival of a painter who turns out to understand Albert better than anyone she could have imagined. Meanwhile, Albert finds her attempts to help pretty hotel maid Helen (Mia Wasikowska) thwarted when Helen becomes enamored with a charming but callous handyman (Aaron Johnson). Albert Nobbs played at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Two strangers find their chance meeting in a South London train station suddenly bringing together two entirely separate groups of friends, colleagues, lovers, and acquaintances in director Roger Goldby's tale of intersecting lives. Anna (Anne-Marie Duff) and Stephen (Rolf Little) were sitting in a deserted train platform when kindly senior citizen Roger (Frank Finlay) engaged them in conversation while eagerly awaiting the arrival of his beloved wife. As they listen to Roger fondly reminiscing about all of the things that he and his wife did when they were younger, Anna and Stephen realize that they have made a real connection and, if only for a moment, allow their individual lives to slip out of focus. Having recently separated from Toby (Adrian Bower), single mother Anna is now faced with the task of bringing up her young daughter Charlie all by herself. Anna's neighbors are married young parents Jem (Zoe Telford) and George (Rupert Graves). While Jem and Anna are close friends who share all of their secrets, the one thing that Anna hasn't let out is the fact that she has entered into a troublesome affair with George. Stephen, on the other hand, has recently moved in with Fiona (Christine Bottomly), who is so eager to start a family that even her parents are pressuring she and Stephen to get pregnant. But the more intense the pressure gets, the less certain Stephen becomes that he is prepared for such a commitment. It seems like the only peace Stephen can find these days is in his work at a local old folk's home and his friendship with understanding resident Helen (Phyllida Law). Later, after Stephen and Anna go their separate ways, their lives both move into a pivotal period as they find themselves wondering just what would happen should they ever meet again. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The true story of the woman who created some of the most beloved characters in children's literature comes to the screen in this drama leavened with elements of comedy and romance. Beatrix Potter (Renée Zellweger) is a imaginative but gently eccentric woman living in the socially and intellectually confining circumstances of Victorian England. Potter's wealthy parents are eager for her to marry a successful man and settle down, but she has ideas of her own, and has been writing and illustrating a series of stories for children centered around a character she calls Peter Rabbit. Potter's efforts to find a publisher for her stories prove difficult, but in time she finds a firm who agrees to give her book a chance, and Norman Warne (Ewan McGregor) is put in charge of the project. While Warne is new to the publishing game, he believes Potter has great talent and potential, and throws himself into the work with enthusiasm. A strong personal bond grows between Potter and Warne, and in time he asks her to marry him; however, Beatrix's parents do not approve of Norman, and she is forced to choose between her mother and father and the man she loves. Norman's sister Mille (Emily Watson) urges Beatrix to follow her heart, and she accepts Norman's proposal, but fate has other plans. Miss Potter was directed by Chris Noonan, who created an international sensation with his first feature film, Babe. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

When a young Vienna Music Conservatory student and aspiring composer accepts a job as a copyist for Ludwig von Beethoven, she soon finds her destiny forever interlinked with that of the legendary classical musician in director Agnieszka Holland's romantic period drama. Beethoven (Ed Harris)'s "Ninth Symphony" is about to make its historical debut, but Beethoven's publisher Herr Schlemmer is dying of cancer. Now in desperate need of a copyist to complete the score, the ailing Schlemmer enlists the aid of ambitious student Anna Holz (Diane Kruger); who readily accepts the job despite an explicit warning that the composer is a callous wretch. As Anna begins the arduous process of copying Beethoven's career-defining work, her soul-stirring kindness causes the composer to view their collaboration as a blessing that will enable him to produce some of the most sublime music ever created. When Anna works up the courage to show Beethoven some of her own work, however, his thoughtless derision of the composition causes his sensitive assistant to abandon their current collaboration. Subsequently determined to flee Vienna and marry her devoted paramour Martin, Anna is quickly tracked down by Beethoven and forced to choose between love and duty. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A nanny reveals ways of making children behave that are much more effective than a time-out in this fantasy comedy based on the "Nurse Matilda" books for children by Christianna Brand. Near the dawn of the twentieth century, Mr. Brown (Colin Firth) is a widower who must tend to his business as an undertaker while looking after his brood of seven children. Brown's offspring are a singularly ill-mannered lot who have managed to drive away 17 different nannies when their father arranges for one Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson) to help out with the children. McPhee is an strange looking woman with a large nose, protruding teeth, and pock-marked skin, but it isn't long before the kids realize she has magical powers and isn't afraid to use them to help keep them in line. While the children aren't taken with McPhee's insistence on such things as saying "please" and listening to their elders, it becomes clear everyone has bigger things to worry about. Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury) has insisted that if Mr. Brown cannot find a new wife within a month, she'll take custody of one of the children and cut off Brown's inheritance, and while Brown and the widow Mrs. Quickly (Celia Imrie) seem fond of one another, his ineptitude in courtship seems to insure he'll never get her to the altar. But while the Brown Children realize Nanny McPhee is a formidable opponent, she can also be a valuable ally as they learn to make use of her talents by being better children; they also discover that as they behave better, she begins to look less frightening. Emma Thompson, who played the title role in Nanny McPhee, also wrote the film's screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Three stories of human treachery are given an unexpected link in this dry comedy drama from Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur. Holt (Forest Whitaker) is an insurance investigator who is sent to Minnesota to look into a bus accident; the bus seems to have had significantly more passengers after it crashed than it had when it left the station, and Holt, posing as a police detective, needs to know who is telling the truth and who is attempting to cash in on the tragedy. Later, Holt is back on the job, when a badly burned body is found in a wrecked car, and the ID on the corpse indicates the victim was a small-time con artist with a police record. The victim's sister, Isold (Julia Stiles), claims that her brother's accident happened after his gas tank was drained and he was struggling to make his way home on a stormy night, but Holt isn't buying it; and Isold's husband, Fred (Jeremy Renner), and son, Thor (Alfred Harmsworth), don't seem especially trustworthy. Finally, a man and a woman struggle to make their way to shore after their car sails off a cliff into a body of water. While they seem grateful to make it back to dry land, it seems the woman has reason to be unhappy with her mate when she viciously attacks him. Who are these people, and what is their story? A Little Trip to Heaven received its North American premier at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Susan Vreeland's novel The Girl in Hyacinthn Blue was the source for this made-for-TV drama. Utilizing a complex flashback-within-flashback structure, the film chronicles the 300-year history of a lost painting said to have been created by Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer. The story is framed by the present day narrative of an eccentric history teacher (Glenn Close) who has the inside track on the number of lives profoundly altered, for both good and ill, by the elusive painting. The teacher's tale interconnects individual stories of tragedy, romance, success, failure and even the Holocaust. Even the narrator herself has a personal and emotional stake in the supposed Vermeer. Advertised as the most expensive and ambitious project ever undertaken during the 52-year history of television's Hallmark Hall of Fame anthology series, Brush With Fate debuted February 2, 2003, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The classic science fiction novel by H.G. Wells becomes this big-budget adventure directed by the author's great-grandson Simon Wells. Guy Pearce stars as Alexander Hartdegen, a scientist, professor, and inventor in 1895 New York City who believes that time travel is possible. The sudden and unexpected death of his fiancée spurs Alexander to build a time machine, which he hopes to use in an effort to change the past. When he is unable to change the past, Alexander hurls himself more than 800,000 years into the future, seeking answers about the nature of time, but instead encountering a dystopian world where humanity has divided up into two races, the peaceful Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks. Befriending the beautiful Eloi woman Mara (pop singer Samantha Mumba), Alexander must set out to save her from the underground world of the Morlocks when she is captured by them. Along the way, he is aided by Vox (Orlando Jones), a bio-mechanical being from the 21st century. Ultimately, Alexander makes a shocking discovery about the true nature of the Eloi and Morlocks and decides that the only way to change the future is to alter the present. Due to exhaustion, director Wells was briefly replaced during the last few weeks of production by Gore Verbinski, director of The Mexican (2001). The Time Machine co-stars Jeremy Irons and Mark Addy. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Italian director Roberto Faenza creates this complex psychological drama about love and tragedy in the cultural minefield of the Middle East. Thirteen years ago, Asya (Juliet Aubrey) and Adam (Ciaran Hinds) witnessed the violent death of their three-year old son in London. Though the couple eventually moved to Tel Aviv, Asya never fully recovered from the misfortune, growing emotionally distanced from her husband and teenaged daughter Dafi (Clara Bryant). When young Frenchman Gabriel (Stuart Bunce) appears, however, Asya comes to believe that the youth is her dead child. Though Adam is simply happy that his wife is laughing again, the bond between Gabriel and Asya soon starts to navigate that disquieting gray area between parental love and carnal passion. Then, just as suddenly as he appears, he mysteriously disappears in his grandmother's old Morris, driving the utterly distraught Asya to search the ends of Israel for him. Meanwhile, Dafi falls for gentle Palestinian mechanic Na'im (Erick Vazquez), though their young love is tested by cultural misunderstandings and prejudice. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

The first feature by Bill Brookfield, Milk is an offbeat British comedy about a family in mourning. The death of an 81-year-old woman sets the scene for this tale about family funerals and the difficulty of burying one's mother. Adrian is an unmarried, unworldly, and unstable dairy farmer dissatisfied with his life. He has had his share of youthful ambitions, but now all he is capable of doing is sloping after dairy cows. Between his filial duty to his bed-ridden cosmopolitan mother Lucy and his obligation to the dairy farm, he has never had a chance in life until his mother suddenly dies. Set in the Wiltshire countryside, the action begins when Adrian discovers her body and ends with its offbeat disposal 48 hours later. His first reaction is to execute his mother's pet parrot and confiscate her precious painting before his extended family swarms the dilapidated farmhouse to pillage her loot. They all want a piece of Lucy and they all have conflicting plans for the funeral. But Adrian intends to surprise them on both counts. The idea that a family member's death brings out the true nature of family dynamics is not a novelty in cinema, but Brookfield dabs the subject with local color, gently poking fun at the quarrels of people whose blood ties do not guarantee similarities of character. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

Adapted from a stage play by Sharman McDonald, this film marks the directorial debut of British character actor Alan Rickman. Set against a bleak winter landscape of rural Scotland, the story centers around the recently widowed Frances (Emma Thompson) and a visit from her mother, Elspeth (Phyllida Law, Thompson's real-life mother). Elspeth seeks to console Frances, but Frances resists. The mother and daughter have a prickly relationship. While they thrust and parry emotionally, Frances' son Alex (Gary Hollywood) longs for the tomboy Nita (Arlene Cockburn). Two young boys, Tom (Sean Biggerstaff) and Sam (Douglas Murphy), are in the neighborhood looking for adventure. Two older women, Chloe (Sandra Voe) and Lily (Sheila Reed), go to funerals of strangers. The epidosic film eventually ties together all these characters in a surprising way, but the core of the drama is the evolution of the difficult mother-daughter relationship. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

Based on the novel by Jane Austen (who in the '90s seemed to be in the running alongside William Shakespeare and Stephen King for the honors of most adapted author in Hollywood), this period romantic comedy stars Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma Woodhouse, a young woman who imagines herself an authority on matters of the heart. With the best of intentions, Emma plays matchmaker for her friends, most notably her friend Harriet (Toni Collette), who Emma links up with the Reverend Elton (Alan Cumming), and her governess, (Greta Scacchi), who she introduces to her future husband, Mr. Weston (James Cosmo). However, Emma is not nearly as good at playing Cupid as she likes to imagine, and she spends so much time trying to solve everyone else's romantic problems that it takes her quite some time to realize that she's fallen in love with Mr. Knightly (Jeremy Northam). A television miniseries based on Austen's book appeared a year later, while a year prior to Emma, the story appeared in modernized form in the popular teen comedy Clueless. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi