Nicolas Wright Movies

Bruce Dern and Cindy Sampson star in director David Winning's horror film about a young girl who reluctantly returns to her home in the southern bogs in order to help her estranged father. Melanie Blaime though that she had escaped the swamps forever, but when her father is accused of killing a teenage girl she must race back home to seek out the source of the trumped up charges against him. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A female car thief becomes the target of a notorious serial killer after stealing his mint-condition '66 Dodge Charger in this made for cable thriller from director Kari Skogland (Zebra Lounge, The L Word). Sage Rion (Taryn Manning) is a car thief who's so proficient at her profession that she's earned the nickname Banshee in certain criminal circles. Her skill for stealing cars is unmatched, and when she stumbles across the Dodge Charger of her dreams the temptation proves too powerful to deny. Unfortunately this particular muscle car belongs to a genuine "Badass" (as indicated on the license plate), a fact that Sage discovers all too late after arriving home and finding her boyfriend's severed ear along with a threatening note. Should Sage fail to return the car to its rightful owner by midnight, her recently-hearing impaired boyfriend will meet a grisly demise. But Sage isn't up against your typical murderous madman, because this particular psycho (Christian Campbell) is a popular local DJ who records the screams of his victims, mixes them with the sound of his accelerated hearbeat, and uses the resulting sounds to keep local clubbers on their feet all through the night. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The true story of an upset victory that helped change the sport of golf forever provides the basis for this period drama. Francis Ouimet (played by Shia LaBeouf) was born in 1893 to a working-class family in Massachusetts, and grew up fascinated by golf. However, at that time golf was considered a pastime of the wealthy and privileged, and British and Scottish players dominated the professional game. Ouimet's familial home was near the Brookline, MA, Country Club, and over the stern objections of his father, Francis got a job there as a caddy. Honing his skill in his spare time, Francis displayed a tremendous natural talent for the game and an understanding of its strategies, and 1913 he became the first amateur to play in the U.S. Open, held at the Brookline Country Club. Ouimet's presence was considered little more than a novelty at the time; Harry Vardon (Stephen Dillane), a British champion with six tournament victories under his belt, was considered a shoo-in to win, with Ted Ray (Stephen Marcus) his only serious competition. However, Vardon, a fellow working-class boy who had overcome tuberculosis to become Britain's premier professional golfer, had more in common with Ouimet than anyone expected, and the tournament unexpectedly became a hard-fought competition between an established star and a promising unknown. Directed by Bill Paxton in his second directorial effort, The Greatest Game Ever Played also stars Elias Koteas as Francis' father, Josh Flitter as the ten-year-old boy who becomes Francis' caddy, and Peyton List as Sarah Wallis, Francis' sweetheart. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The Canadian teen comedy Hatley High sends up high school sports rituals by placing a most unlikely competitive game at the center of its story: that of chess. Tommy (Nicholas Wright) is a new arrival in his parents' hometown of Hatley, whose mother recently died. He discovers, after the fact, that his mom was once a chess pro and thus a legend in the community. Tommy's chess-fixated peers accept him almost instantly, inferring that he must have inherited his dear mother's skills, but in time Tommy carves out a niche for himself independently of his mom's legacy, and strikes up an enduring romance with Hyacinthe (Rachelle Lefevre) a "chess cheerleader." Two fictional British filmmakers "frame" the tale by filming it for a documentary that they are producing, and thus provide witty, ongoing narration. Phil Price directs, from a script penned by Myles Hainsworth. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi