Jamie Draven Movies
British actor Jamie Draven specialized in slightly tough, machismo-infused onscreen roles when he began acting onscreen. He did particularly memorable work in the comedy drama Billy Elliot (2000) -- as Tony, the macho sibling of the title character, who objects vociferously and projects tremendous misunderstanding when his little brother takes up a ballet career. Draven scored one of his first leads nearly a decade later, as a veteran driven to psychosis by the horrors of battle and marital infidelity, in the psychological drama Badland (2007), and landed a plum role (one of the leads) as a Special Air Service operative on the U.K. series Ultimate Force (2007). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Coronation Street scribe John Fay pens this three-part conspiracy thriller concerning a mobile phone engineer who blames his job for giving him an inoperable brain tumor, and who becomes the prime suspect in a murder investigation when a drug dealer is shot dead and a mobile phone mast is destroyed. Set against the backdrop of the Iraq War, the film opens as mobile phone engineer Eddie (Neil Fitzmaurice) is diagnosed with a deadly brain tumor. Though his wife Donna (Julie Graham) and their two children vow to make his final days truly memorable, all vengeful Eddie can think about is making sure that someone pays. Eddie's efforts to track down the responsible party backfires though when a murdered drug dealer and a destroyed cell phone mast lead police to suspect that he may be responsible for a series of murders around the city. Also hungry for vengeance is broken soldier Maurice Stone (Jamie Draven), whose wife and son were killed by a driver that was talking on their cell phone. That driver has never been found, and Maurice won't rest easy until he's gotten his revenge. Later, when the identity of the hit-and-run driver is finally revealed, the true mastermind behind this mobile phone terror plot finally steps out from the shadows as a labyrinthine conspiracy slowly comes to light. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Kitchen, Jamie Draven, (more)
A veteran of the first Gulf War who later went on to serve in Afghanistan and Iraq discovers that returning to civilian life after the trauma he endured is but an empty dream in director Francesco Lucente's harrowing drama. Years ago, when he served in the first Gulf War, Jerry (Jamie Dreven) was a patriotic Marine reservist driven by a desire to protect his fellow countrymen. Later, despite being embittered by the broken promises of the military and still not having received the respect that he so badly craved, the civically minded father of three is redeployed to Afghanistan and Iraq only to be irreversibly damaged by the horrors of war. Now Jerry has returned home to his wife and family, struggling beneath the poverty line in a cramped trailer and devastated by night terrors. Jerry's wife Nora is unsympathetic to her husband's plight, and soon begins stashing their children's newspaper route earnings in order to fund an escape. When Jerry discovers that Nora has betrayed him, the atrocity that he commits proves so shocking that even the most seasoned war veterans will recoil in horror. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamie Draven, Grace Fulton, (more)
- 2001
Not a religious program, the British mystery miniseries Messiah nonetheless contained Biblical elements, albeit sinister ones. London Detective Red Metcalfe (Ken Stott) and his crack team of investigators tackled the case of a serial killer who removed the victims' tongues and replaced them with silver spoons. It didn't take Metcalfe long to realize that the victims all had names that were strikingly similar to the names of Jesus' 12 disciples. Racing against time, Metcalfe attempted to prevent further killings, but the fanatical murderer always seemed to be a step or two ahead of him -- almost as if someone in Metcalfe's own circle of acquaintances was providing "inside information." Adapted from a novel by Boris Starling, the two-part Messiah was seen over the BBC's Northern Ireland service beginning May 26, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Stott, Jamie Draven, (more)
Brassed Off meets My Name Is Joe in this gritty coming-of-age drama about a young son of a poor English coal miner who dreams of being a ballet dancer. The film is set during a 1984 miners' strike in Durham county, where angry clashes between picketers and cops in riot gear are nearly daily occurrences. Among the most vociferous protestors are Tony (Jamie Driven) and his dad (Gary Lewis), who nags his youngest son Billy (Jamie Bell) into taking boxing classes. Though the kid can do some fancy footwork, he can't take a punch. One day at the gym, he notices a ballet class taught by hard-bitten Mrs. Wilkinson (Julie Walters), whose young daughter dares him to join. When his father gets wind of this less-than-manly pursuit, he pulls him from the class. Sensing a raw and natural talent, Mrs. Wilkinson offers to teach the lad for free in preparation for the local auditions to the Royal Ballet School. When Tony gets in trouble with the cops, Billy is forced to miss the trials, leading to a confrontation between Billy's pop and Ms. Wilkinson. Though at first he steadfastly refuses to consider his son's desires of going into ballet, he comes to realize that this might be the one shot that Billy has in order to escape the danger and grinding tedium of a miner's life, so he sets out to earn the money by any means necessary to send his son to London. This film is the directorial debut of renowned British stage director Stephen Daldry. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Walters, Jamie Bell, (more)
In this drama, John McKeown (Pete Postlethwaite) is a police detective who has come to have severe reservations about his job and his life. When two teenage boys are brought in on suspicion of murder, McKeown comes to the conclusion that the kids simply found the body while trying to rob a factory and were not involved with the killing. McKeown discovers that one of the would-be thieves, 17-year-old Dex (Jamie Draven), has no parents and is raising his younger brother and sister on his own. Dex supports himself and his siblings as a gardener and groundskeeper, for which he shows a natural talent, and McKeown believes that poverty rather than a criminal nature led Dex to consider a life of crime. McKeown and his girlfriend Sandra (Alison Newman) befriend Dex and often check in to see how he and his siblings are doing, but subsequent events lead the detective to wonder just how Dex lost his parents in the first place -- and if his role in the murder was as innocent as he first believed. The Butterfly Collector was originally produced as a three-hour mini-series for British television. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pete Postlethwaite, Rachel Davies, (more)
