Steven Mackintosh Movies
With the blond, knowing looks of a choir boy gone wrong and a resumé boasting some of the more offbeat films and television series of the last decade, British actor Steven Mackintosh is one of the more versatile and unpredictable actors on either side of the Atlantic. Although largely unknown in the United States, Mackintosh has worked steadily in his native England since his first role at the age of 13.Born in Cambridge in 1967, Mackintosh got his start on the stage but segued into television in 1985, with parts in The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 and The Browning Version. After touring with the National Theatre Company for two years, Mackintosh won his first screen role in 1987, as a minor character in the critically acclaimed story of playwright Joe Orton, Prick Up Your Ears. After secondary parts in two more features, 1989's Treasure Island and 1990's Memphis Belle, Mackintosh landed a leading role in Hanif Kureishi's London Kills Me (1991). Mackintosh, in his role as a hustler by the name of Muffdiver, was one of the odder and thornier aspects of an odd and thorny film. The actor's off-kilter versatility was further displayed via performances in subsequent films and television miniseries such as Roger Michell's 1993 miniseries The Buddha of Suburbia; Dennis Potter's final project, the comedy spoof Midnight Movie (1994); and an obscure 1995 film called The Grotesque, co-starring Alan Bates and Sting.
In 1996, Mackintosh came to the attention of American art house audiences, first with his turn as Sebastian in Trevor Nunn's lavish screen adaptation of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Co-starring Helena Bonham Carter, Richard E. Grant, and Nigel Hawthorne, the film received favorable reviews which nicely complemented those garnered by Mackintosh's other outing, Different for Girls. Mackintosh co-starred with Rupert Graves as a prim transsexual in the comedy, which was remarkable for both its complex subject matter and the honesty with which such matter was dealt. The release of the film in such close context with that of Twelfth Night also gave Mackintosh further opportunity to display his startling flexibility, something he did again the following year with the World War II drama The Land Girls. After his turn as an amorous farmer, Mackintosh characteristically went in a completely different direction, with his hilarious portrayal of a ne'er-do-well pot grower in the 1998 film Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. The film, which was equal parts Quentin Tarantino and testosterone, was a smash hit in Britain, and made another offbeat addition to Mackintosh's already diverse resumé. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- 2009
- R
- Add Underworld: Rise of the Lycans to QueueAdd Underworld: Rise of the Lycans to top of Queue
The Underworld series gets the prequel treatment with this third outing that fleshes out the story of the ancient war between the vampiric Death Dealers and their wolfman counterparts, the Lycans. F/X technician Patrick Tatopoulos (Godzilla, Independence Day) steps out of the effects lab and into the director's chair with this entry, which sees stars Bill Nighy returning as Viktor, the King of his vampire clan and father to Sonja (Rhona Mitra), a free-minded heir who tests her parent by heading outside of their castle's borders and doing battle with the ravenous werewolves of the surrounding area. Sonja also harbors a secret love affair with Lucien (Michael Sheen), the first of the Lycans, a race of lycanthropes who were bred by the vampires to be slaves and protectors to the bloodsucking clan. As the news of their love spreads to Viktor, ranks of the vampire elite help Lucien escape, leading to a revolution of the Lycans against their masters and setting up the mythology of the later latexed adventures featured in Len Wiseman's two previous films. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Sheen, Bill Nighy, (more)
A career criminal seeks redemption for himself, his family, and his friends by busting out of a penitentiary in this intelligent thriller. Frank (Brian Cox) is a criminal who was forced to leave his wife and six-year-old daughter behind when he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Frank openly acknowledges he was guilty and has made his peace with life behind bars, but when he learns that a drug overdose has left his daughter seriously ill, he feels a powerful need to reconnect with his family, and his only option is to escape. Knowing he can't do it alone, Frank assembles a team from various factions of the prison population, including Viv (Seu Jorge), who makes and deals drugs from his cell; Lenny (Joseph Fiennes), a wiry tough guy who doesn't speak if he can avoid it; and Lacey (Dominic Cooper), Frank's new cellmate who is a white-collar criminal not cut out for prison life. Frank soon realizes if his plan is to work, he'll have to bring aboard some of the more dangerous and unpredictable members of the prison's community, including vicious and corrupt brothers Rizza (Damian Lewis) and Tony (Steven Mackintosh). The Escapist was the first feature film from writer and director Rupert Wyatt. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes, (more)
- 2008
Viggo Mortensen and Jason Isaacs star in this period drama set in 1930s-era Germany, and detailing the ways in which an otherwise "good" man can be slowly seduced by dark forces. John Halder is a professor of literature. When he's not teaching, most of John's time is dedicated to looking after his neurotic wife, tending to the couple's two young children, and caring for his elderly mother, who suffers from senile dementia. Disheartened by his mother's downward spiral, John authors a novel supporting euthanasia for the terminally ill. Much to John's surprise, the Nazi party singles out his tome as the "way forward," and soon begins to heap flattery on the author in the form of glowing compliments and extravagant gifts. As a result, John finds himself making a variety of minor moral compromises that soon begin to snowball. As his moral compass becomes less and less reliable and music manifests in John's conscience at the most inopportune moments -- such as the time a Bavarian boy choir bursts in as he's attempting to seduce a young lover -- the author begins to question his own motivations while also taking pause to consult with his best friend, a Jewish psychoanalyst named Maurice (Jason Isaacs). Unfortunately for Maurice, the situation is quickly worsening for the Jews of Germany as John continues his ascent in the party ranks. While John does everything within his power to save Maurice, the risks involved in truly removing his old friend from harm's way may already be too great for the morally compromised author to consider. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Viggo Mortensen, Jason Isaacs, (more)
- 2007
An aspiring country singer and a weary mechanic living in a quiet Northern Ireland community receive an uneasy chill when an old friend is released from prison in director Niall Heery's affecting study of male vulnerability and human weakness. Doug (Iian Glen) is a wannabe country singer who sports a demo he won't let anyone listen to despite his desire to get some airtime and play for locals in the local tavern. Doug's best friend is hapless local mechanic Bill (Steven Mackintosh), a man who longs to pass the family's small engine repair shop on to his hesitant son Tony (Laurence Kinlan). When Doug and Bill's deeply disturbed friend Burley (Stuart Graham) returns to the town following a stint in prison, their reluctance to accept him back into the fold leads all involved on an introspective journey that will force them to reexamine both their lives and their expectations for the future. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Iain Glen, Steven Mackintosh, (more)
Actor-turned-director Gary Love makes his feature debut with this screen adaptation of co-screenwriter Dominic Leyton's acclaimed stage production Collision. Tom (Steven Mackintosh) is a middle class city boy who is currently scouring the back streets of London in search of an elusive and unnamed object. When Tom comes into contact with desperate young crack addict D (Ashley Walters), it looks as if he may have finally found what he's been looking for. Now, with time running out for Tom and D and psychotic local crime-lord Hoodwink (Andy Serkis) quickly closing in, the pair enter into a deadly game of cat and mouse that finds their mysterious goals gradually coming into focus as their hope to see another day glows ever more dim. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ashley Walters, Steven Mackintosh, (more)
A woman who wanted nothing more in life than to become a mother finds her sanity slipping after the birth of her child in a terrifying look at the horrors of parenthood starring Academy Award nominee Elisabeth Shue. The only thing that seems to be missing from Laura (Shue)'s otherwise perfect life is a child, and when Laura and her husband discover that she has become pregnant it seems that all the pair's dreams are finally coming true. Motherhood is far from the simple and instinctual task that Laura imagined it would be, however, and soon after the birth of her child the confused new parent finds herself struggling with the pains of post-partum depression. Despite her determination to protect her baby at all costs, Laura begins to question her abilities as a parent after moving into a large and isolated new home. Now, as a plague of rats flood into the basement of the home, a mysterious diary is pulled from inside the decrepit walls of the home, and a new nanny is hired to help the distressed mother care for her newborn child, the situation soon descends into a harrowing battle for sanity as the fate of a young child hangs in the balance. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elisabeth Shue, Steven Mackintosh, (more)
Tribes of vampires and werewolves battle for supremacy among the undead in this follow-up to the horror hit Underworld. Tracing the bloody history of the ongoing war between the Death Dealers, a gang of upper-crust vampires, and the Lycans, a pack of scruffy werewolves, Underworld: Evolution finds beautiful Death Dealer Selene (Kate Beckinsale) and hunky Lycan Michael (Scott Speedman) exploring their own pasts as well as those of their comrades in hope of uncovering the secrets of this centuries-old conflict. As Selene and Michael deal with their bloody legacy as well as their forbidden romance, the violence between the Death Dealers and the Lycans escalates in what may be the final face-off between them. Directed by Len Wiseman, who also helmed the first film, Underworld: Evolution also stars Shane Brolly, Bill Nighy, Tony Curran, and Derek Jacobi. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, (more)
A troubled war veteran tries to unlock his memories of a terrible crime in this stylish thriller, the first American project for British filmmaker John Maybury. In 1991, Jack Starks (Adrien Brody) was an American soldier serving in the Persian Gulf when he was shot in the head; pronounced dead by a field surgeon, Starks somehow returned to life, though with no small number of psychological problems to show for his troubles. A year later, Starks is walking through the snowy Vermont wilderness when he discovers a woman whose truck has broken down, Jean (Kelly Lynch). Starks tries to help Jean and her young daughter, and later flags down a car for a ride into town; however, the car is being driven by a criminal on the run from the police (Brad Renfro), and not long after the car is cornered by police, Starks' memory goes blank. When he comes to, Jack is accused of killing a patrolman in the violent standoff that followed, and is told the woman, her daughter, and the criminal existed only in his imagination. Declared insane in his murder trial, Starks is sentenced to a mental institution run by Dr. Becker (Kris Kristofferson), who seems to believe that the more brutal the treatment, the better. As Starks suffers frequent beatings and long spells in a frozen locker, his mind drifts from his harrowing past into the future, where he visits with Jackie (Keira Knightley), who once was the young girl Starks tried to help. The Jacket also features Jennifer Jason Leigh as Dr. Lorenson, a compassionate doctor who tries to help Starks and his fellow patients. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, (more)
Writer-director Isabel Coixet's (My Life Without Me) beautifully wrought chamber drama The Secret Life of Words opens on Hanna (Sarah Polley), a laconic, backward and introverted girl in her early '30s, quietly drowning in her own isolation. Partially deaf from working an untold number of hours in a loud factory, Hanna must wear a hearing aid. When her supervisors -- deeply concerned about the four years that have lapsed in Hanna's life without a break -- force her to go on holiday for a month, she hesitantly takes off for a coastal village in the north of Ireland. Once there, she decides to dine in a local restaurant, and overhears, by chance, a telephone conversation conducted by Victor (Eddie Marsan), regarding an accident on a nearby oil rig that he precipitated, which left a victim, Josef (Tim Robbins) in its wake. Hanna tells Victor that she is a nurse, and is instantly flown to the rig to treat the bedbound Josef -- temporarily blind from extensive cornea damage, and his body blanketed with severe burns. She also encounters the structure's motley and eccentric band of workers -- from ecologist Martin (Daniel Mays), who spends his time studying mutated mussels that collect on the ship's base and the waves that strike the side of the rig, to Josef, to chef Simon (Javier Camára), who prepares "gourmet" food no one else can stand, to Dimitri (Sverre Anker Ousdal), an elderly gentleman who is as much of a loner as Hanna. As Hanna begins to foresee a new place for herself among these individuals, a relationship gradually develops between Hanna and Josef, who holds his new friend rapt with lyrical, evocative, magisterial tales from his past -- unknowingly drawing Hanna, one step at a time, toward inner joy, self-expression, and revelation of her own sad and complex story. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Polley, Tim Robbins, (more)
- 2004
- PG13
In this drama set in Eastern Europe in 1944, (Martin Landau) plays Josef Krauzenberg, a wealthy Hungarian Jewish business owner who, despite his fortune, finds his life hanging in the balance as the Nazi "final solution" is being enacted throughout Eastern Europe. Under the terms of the Third Reich's "Europa Plan," Krauzenberg arranges with Nazi leaders to exchange his fortune, his business holdings (textile plants, steel mills, ownership of several banks) and a collection of rare art for safe passage to Switzerland for himself, his wife Rachel (Judy Parfitt), and their family. Such is Krauzenberg's wealth and power that when he agrees to sign over his property, two of the most powerful men in the Nazi regime announce they will come to his house to handle the paperwork -- Adolf Eichmann (Steven Mackintosh) and Heinrich Himmler (Danny Webb); however, as the Nazi leaders are ushered into Krauzenberg's home, they notice something unusual -- his two most trusted servants, Hans Vassmann (Kenny Doughty) and his wife Ingrid (Caroline Carver) are a married Aryan couple who are still working for a Jew despite the pogrom. As it happens, Eichmann and Himmler's suspicions are well-founded -- Hans and Ingrid are actually Jews working undercover with a team of resistance fighters, and as they serve the Nazis, they wonder if they should kill Eichmann and Himmler for the greater good, even if it would mean certain death for the Krauzenbergs and themselves. While The Aryan Couple is fictional, it was inspired by actual events, and the existence of the "Europa Plan" has been documented, though no one appears to have been saved from death through its application. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Landau, Judy Parfitt, (more)
- 2003
The third installment of screenwriter Peter Greenaway's anticipated 16-episode story finds Tulse Luper, the protagonist, whittling away his time in jail. (In the previous episode, Tulse had been arrested in a bathroom just prior to the German invasion of Belgium in 1940.) Without the company of either of his two lovers, Tulse's favorite activity is posting fictional accounts on his wall in hopes of foretelling his own future, thus cementing his status around prison as a top storyteller. Unfortunately for Tulse, his jailers are less concerned with his innocence than they are with using him for their own nefarious purposes, and do their best to fabricate evidence that Tulse is, in fact, a fascist sympathizer. The cast includes JJ Feild, Drew Mulligan, Debbie Harry, Isabella Rossellini, and Jack Wouterse. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- JJ Feild, Valentina Cervi, (more)
- 2003
Iconoclastic director Peter Greenaway begins his most ambitious project to date with this feature, the first in a proposed series of films, television programs, and multimedia projects that examine the contents of 92 suitcases, each revealed by title character Tulse Henry Purcel Luper. Broken into three sections spanning 1928 to 1940, The Tulse Luper Suitcases: Part One follows our young hero from age 10, when he is reprimanded by his father for scrawling some graffiti on a wall in his desolate South Wales neighborhood. Years later, Tulse (JJ Field) is a desert explorer who winds up being further punished by the aptly-named dominatrix Passion Hockmeister (Caroline Dhavernas). Finally, in the film's last section, Tulse is in Antwerp at the start of World War II, where he ends up being imprisoned by Nazis. Told in a fractured, non-narrative style, The Tulse Luper Suitcases also incorporates many inter-titles, superimposed images, an ever-present narrator presented in a picture-within-picture format, intentionally fake-looking sets, and many, many references to other Greenaway films and characters. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- JJ Feild, Valentina Cervi, (more)
U.K. documentary filmmaker Philippa Lowthorpe brings an experimental approach to the costume drama The Other Boleyn Girl, produced for television by BBC Films. Shot with a handheld digital camera, the film is a largely improvised project based on the best-selling novel by Philippa Gregory. In 16th century England, the recently married Mary Boleyn (Natascha McElhone) is encouraged to have an affair with the notorious King Henry VIII (Jared Harris) in order to improve the power of her family. When she gets pregnant, the king turns his attention to her sister Anne Boleyn (Jodhi May). Learning to play by the degrading rules of the king's court, Anne conspires with her brother George (Steven Mackintosh) to produce a male heir. The Other Boleyn Girl first aired on BBC Two March 28, 2003. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Natascha McElhone, Jodhi May, (more)
Hanif Kureishi wrote this drama about a woman whose late-blooming romance causes a serious rift with her family. May (Anne Reid) and Toots (Peter Vaughan) are an elderly couple who travel to London to visit their two grown children, Bobby (Steven Mackintosh) and Paula (Cathryn Bradshaw). While Bobby tries to be attentive to his parents, he's busy with his two young children, a major project at work, and completing some renovations on his large and expensive house, while his wife, Helen (Anna Wilson-Jones), shows little interest in her in-laws. Meanwhile, Paula is unsatisfied with her work and carries on an affair with Darren (Daniel Craig), a builder who is working on Bobby's home. When Toots suddenly dies, May moves in with Paula, but with Paula at work all day, she has little to do. Darren stops by Paula's flat periodically, and soon he strikes up a friendship with May; their conversations soon develop into flirtation, and before long, the two have become lovers, meeting regularly for afternoon trysts in Paula's spare room. While May's relationship with Darren makes her feel happier and more alive than she has in years, it leads to an ugly confrontation when Paula learns about the affair. The Mother was screened as part of the Director's Fortnight series at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Reid, Daniel Craig, (more)
- 2002
Gemini awards went to star Wendy Crewson, director Jerry Ciccoretti, writer Karen Walton and film editor George Roulston for their contributions to the fact-based Canadian TV movie The Many Trials of One Jane Doe. Crewson plays the title character, the fifth victim of the High Park Rapist, who has been systematically preying on women in Scarborough, Toronto, and Niagara Falls. After her ordeal, "Jane Doe" discovers that the police knew full well that the rapist was operating in the vicinity, but did nothing to prevent her attack; in fact, the authorities were all but using women like "Jane" as bait to flush out the perpetrator! Hiring Sean Dewart (Steven Mackintosh) as her attorney, "Jane" files suit against the police, only to be caricatured by a hostile press as a hysterical "man-hater" and irresponsible zealot--and thanks to the ruthlessness of the defense team, she is treated in court as though she were the criminal instead of the victim! First telecast by the CBC in 2002, The Many Trials of One Jane Doe subsequently received American airplay on cable's Lifetime channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Filmed several times during the silent era (most notably as a 1915 vehicle for Theda Bara), Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Victorian sensation novel Lady Audley's Secret was revamped as a British TV movie in 2000. Neve McIntosh heads the cast as Lucy, a mysterious woman with a shady past who manages to inveigle a proposal of marriage from her wealthy and aristocratic employer Sir Michael Audley (Kenneth Cranham). Upon his return to England after several years of prospecting for gold, Sir Michael's nephew, Robert (Steve Mackintosh), is immediately smitten by his glamorous young aunt. Equally impressed is Robert's scoundrelly mining partner, George (Jamie Bamber), who apparently knows the whole sordid truth about Lady Audley's past. The plot thickens when the blackmail-minded George abruptly disappears. Lady Audley's Secret was first telecast in the U.K. on May 17, 2000, several weeks after its March 23, 2000, world premiere on the American PBS anthology Mystery! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this gritty crime drama, Jasper (Steven Mackintosh) is drinking in a pub one evening when he meets a beautiful woman named Sarah (Natasha Little), who after some conversation, seems quite willing to go back to Jasper's apartment. Later that same evening, a pair of cops, White (Holly Aird) and Walker (Bernard Hill), are called to investigate a noise complaint, arriving at Jasper's flat to discover Sarah has been murdered. Jasper insists he had nothing to do with the crime and that a hooligan broke into his apartment and killed the woman. The police are skeptical, but they lack sufficient evidence to hold him, so Jasper is released, with White assigned to follow him. As Jasper tries to track down evidence that would clear his name, other murders fall into his path, and he soon realizes that someone is taking great pains to frame him. The Criminal also features popular British comedian Eddie Izzard -- well known for his drag stand-up act -- in a rare non-humorous role as Peter, a forensics expert with the police. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Mackintosh, Bernard Hill, (more)
One of several British miniseries adaptations of Charles Dickens' novel Our Mutual Friend, this four-part version debuted over the BBC in 1998. The production's generous running time (total: six hours), enabled scenarist Sandy Welch to include virtually every important detail in this complex Victorian-era saga of how a mysterious waterfront death inextricably linked the lives of two young women, Lizzie Hexam (Keeley Hawes) and Bella Wilfer (Anna Friel). The richness of the Dickensian prose was complemented by the visuals, which incorporated everything from documentary-style handheld camerawork to Eisenstein-ish montages, and by the eerily polytonal musical score by Adrian Johnston. Our Mutual Friend was brought to America courtesy of PBS beginning January 3, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul McGann, Keeley Hawes, (more)
- 1998
- R
- Add Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels to QueueAdd Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels to top of Queue
British writer Guy Ritchie made his feature directorial debut with this crime-caper comedy-drama set in London's East End and heavy on the Cockney dialogue (with one scene in subtitled Cockney rhyming slang). A big-bucks scheme goes awry: Cardsharp Eddy (Nick Moran) and pals Bacon (Jason Statham), Tom (Jason Flemyng), and Soap (Dexter Fletcher) scuffle to pile up enough money to put Eddy at the card table opposite gangland porn lord Hatchet Harry (P.H. Moriarty). Unfortunately, the whole plan backfires, leaving Eddy owing Harry a huge sum, payable within the week. In truth, Harry hopes to acquire the bar run by his rival, J.D. (Sting), who is Eddy's father. To raise the cash, Eddy sets out to steal from a marijuana business run by Winston (Steven Mackintosh), but the inevitable gunplay doesn't make for an easy heist. World premiere at the 1998 Edinburgh Film Festival (Focus on British Cinema). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, (more)
Robert Louis Stevenson's tale of high-seas adventure comes to the screen in this feature film adaptation starring Robbie Coltrane, Steven MacKintosh, and Chris Barnes. Three hapless adventurers have agreed to deliver a cargo of vintage Champagne from Australia to Tahiti. As they set sail for their destination, however, their journey takes a troubling turn when the men discover that the bottles are filled with seawater, and that their ship was meant to sink en route. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robbie Coltrane, Steven Mackintosh, (more)
- 1997
This downbeat Welsh drama is set in a mining town that's been crushed by an economic collapse. Sid (Steven MacKintosh), Gwenny (Lisa Palfrey), and Boyo (Matthew Rhys) are three grown siblings who must care for their emotionally unstable mother (Sian Phillips) as they try to scrape together a living. Fascinated with American culture, the siblings emulate the hard-living lifestyle of the Beat Generation authors of the 1950s; their mother has told them that their father moved to the United States 15 years ago, and they often write him, hoping to someday join him there. However, he never returns their messages, and no one can explain why. Desperate for money, Sid and Boyo learn that a coal mine in a nearby town is looking for workers, but their mother is terrified that her children will abandon her and begs them not to go. Eventually, Gwenny and Sid, both desperate for comfort, fall into an incestuous relationship. House of America was the first theatrical feature for director Marc Evans after a number of television films; he was the recipient of the "Best Directorial Debut" award at the 1997 Stockholm Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1997
- R
David Leland (Wish You Were Here) directed this adaptation of Angela Huth's novel about the British Women's Land Army (aka "land girls"), a WW II regiment which recruited women to work on farms during the war. The volunteer "land girls," from all walks of life, were dispatched across the British countryside to replace the farm workers who had gone to the front. Answering the call and ready to pitch in, three young WLA women arrive at a remote farm in the Dorset countryside. Romantic Stella (Catherine McCormack) plans to wed naval officer Philip (Paul Bettany). Cambridge grad Ag (Rachel Weisz) is quirky and cerebral. Working-class Prue (Anna Friel) is a flirt whose impudent wit conceals her innocence. The farm is owned by the Lawrences (Tom Georgeson, Maureen O'Brien), whose handsome son Joe (Steven Mackintosh) gets involved with all three land girls. Joe dreams of leaving the family farm to become a fighter pilot, but he's thwarted by health problems. For the women, the work is hard, the days are long, and the war is never far from their thoughts. But the women's camaraderie strengthens them, individually and as a unit. They form close friendships with each other, and Stella finds true love with Joe. All experience exhilaration and passion, and with the war's end, altered destinies (revealed in an epilogue in which the land girls are reunited some years after the war). The soundtrack features memorable '40s songs. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine McCormack, Rachel Weisz, (more)
