Matthew Marsh Movies

Vantage Point director Pete Travis turns his attention from high-profile political assassinations to the high-risk talks that ushered in the end of apartheid while securing the release of Nelson Mandela in this historical drama starring William Hurt, Chiwetel Ejiofer, Mark Strong, and Johnny Lee Miller. The time is the late '80s, a crucial period in the history of South Africa. President P.W. Botha is hanging on to power by a thread as the African National Congress (ANC) takes up arms against apartheid and the country tumbles toward insurrection. A British mining concern called Consolidated Gold is convinced that their interests would be better served in a stable South Africa, and they quietly dispatch Michael Young, their head of public affairs, to open an unofficial dialogue between the bitter rivals. Assembling a reluctant yet brilliant team to pave the way to reconciliation by confronting obstacles that initially seem insurmountable, Young places his trust in ANC leader Thabo Mbeki and Afrikaner philosophy professor Willie Esterhuyse. It is their empathy that will ultimately serve as the catalyst for change by proving more powerful than the terrorist bombs that threaten to disrupt the peaceful dialogue. As the story shifts between Mandela's jail cell, Botha's chambers, ANC headquarters, and a rented car occupied by a British bureaucrat, the prospect for peace becomes more than just a distant hope. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

First-time feature director Marc Munden's Miranda is a story about a man obsessed with an elusive woman. Frank (John Simm) is a librarian who falls hard for Miranda (Christina Ricci) the second he sees her in the library. She is secretly helping the nefarious Christian (John Hurt) in a real estate scam involving the library. Miranda, a master of disguise, soon travels to London where she goes to work on Nailor (Kyle McLachlan). She does not know that Frank is following her. Miranda was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Brad Pitt is reunited as a co-star with his A River Runs Through It (1992) director Robert Redford for this espionage thriller from Tony Scott. On the verge of retirement from the Central Intelligence Agency, veteran spy Nathan Muir (Redford) learns that his one-time protégé Tom Bishop (Pitt) has gone rogue and been taken prisoner after attempting to smuggle a prisoner out of China. Although Muir and Bishop had once been close friends, sharing adventures from Vietnam to Berlin, bad blood and resentment developed between them, and the two men haven't seen each other in years. As his memories of their friendship come flooding back, Muir sets about arranging the rescue of his old friend from a Communist jail. Spy Game (2001) co-stars Catherine McCormack as a human rights activist and Bishop's love interest. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Many years before, police commissioner Otto Schatz (Robert Lindsay) was an ardent participant in the Nazi experience, and he still cherishes a profound (and secret) affection for Hitler. Now it is 1958, and all that is over and done with. He just does his job in a small Bavarian town in an ordinary way. Lately, however, he has been having some strange experiences. In fact, he's getting quite a taste for such classic kosher dishes as chopped liver and gefilte fish. It seems that he is being haunted by the ghost of a Jewish ventriloquist named Genghis Cohn (Anthony Sher) whose anti-Nazi routines earned him an early visit to the gas chambers. Together, this unlikely pair sets out to solve a serial killing. This odd comedy is based on the novel The Dance of Genghis Cohn by Romain Gary. One highlight of the film is lively performance by Diana Rigg as a man-hungry matron with lofty cultural pretensions. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Dark Obsession is a slow, English-made, psychological thriller dealing with erotic obsession, guilt and betrayal. Sir Hugo Buckton (Gabriel Byrne), an aristocrat strapped for money, is married to beautiful, sensual and successful Virginia (Amanda Donohoe). His alcoholism and his envy of her lead to his obsessive jealousy and belief in her lack of fidelity. During one drunken evening while out driving with friends, Hugo hits and kills a pedestrian who resembles Virginia. When Hugo begins to receive vague blackmail letters, he suspects one of his friends, and the group begins to plot a murder. Dark Obsession has all the ingredients of a first-rate thriller but fails despite its excellent cast to generate any excitement. The pace of the film is languid, the motivations of the characters are unclear, and after the accidental death, nothing much really happens. Dark Obsession, originally released as Diamond Skulls, despite the best efforts of its cast, is a thriller that fails to thrill. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

In this British thriller, a married woman uses her feminine wiles to convince her lover to murder her husband so they can be together forever. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide