Rupert Friend Movies
After studying at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts, Rupert Friend made his big-screen debut with the supporting role of Downs in the 2004 historical drama The Libertine. Art house films would prove to be a good niche for the actor, and he subsequently made waves with roles in The Moon and the Stars and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Friend then scored an even bigger break when he was cast as the title role in the 2009 Stephen Frears film Chéri. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie GuideA man who lives for pleasure finds his hedonism betrays him in time in this film adaptation of the play by Stephen Jeffreys. The second Earl of Rochester, John Wilmot (Johnny Depp), was a notorious figure in 17th century Europe; well-respected as a poet and author, Wilmot also earned no small degree of gossip for his freewheeling sex life and appetite for decadence. Wilmot was close friends with Charles II (John Malkovich), the powerful and Machiavellian ruler of England, and enjoyed a passionate romance with Elizabeth Barry (Samantha Morton), an actress of note. But Wilmot's seemingly charmed life took a turn for the worse when he wrote a satirical play lampooning his friend Charles II; the monarch failed to see the humor, and exiled the author from Britain. Wilmot found little solace in his relationship with Barry, especially after he contracted syphilis and began drinking heavily as the disease tore away at his body and his mind. The Libertine was produced in part by John Malkovich, who played the role of John Wilmot in a production of Stephen Jeffreys' original play. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Depp, John Malkovich, (more)
Jane Austen's perennially popular story of the game of love among the British upper classes returns to the screen in this polished film adaptation. The Bennets (Brenda Blethyn and Donald Sutherland) are the parents of five daughters near the close of the 18th century. Comfortable within their means but well short of rich, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are looking for suitable husbands for their girls, and they are encouraged to learn that an eligible young bachelor from a wealthy family, Charles Bingley (Simon Woods), has moved into a nearby estate. Eager to see if a match can be made, the Bennets bring their daughters Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) and Jane (Rosamund Pike) to a ball thrown by their new neighbor to see if sparks will fly. Jane seems to like Charles, and he appears to feel the same, but Elizabeth takes an immediate dislike to Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen), Charles' egocentric best friend. While Elizabeth is infatuated with military man Lt. Wickham (Rupert Friend) and finds herself courted by William Collins (Tom Hollander), a well-meaning but drab man of the cloth, fate causes Elizabeth and Darcy to frequently cross paths, and while they don't care for one another, they can't stop thinking about each other, either. Pride & Prejudice also stars Jena Malone, Judi Dench, and Penelope Wilton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keira Knightley, Matthew MacFadyen, (more)
An elderly widow and a young would-be author strike up an unlikely friendship in this comedy drama. Mrs. Palfrey (Joan Plowright) has been uneasy since the death of her husband, and she decides to move from her long-time home in Scotland to London so she can be closer to her grandson Desmond (Lorcan O'Toole). Mrs. Palfrey settles into the Claremont Hotel, a shabby residential inn for senior citizens that has seen better days. She tries to contact Desmond, but isn't able to get in touch with him, and at first she has a hard time relating to the other folks at the Claremont, especially friendly busybody Mrs. Arbuthnot (Anna Massey). Lonely and out of sorts, Mrs. Palfrey goes out for a walk one day and takes a nasty spill after losing her balance. Ludovic Meyer (Rupert Friend), a struggling writer in his mid-twenties, finds Mrs. Palfrey on the pavement and helps her, taking her back to her room and making sure she's OK. The two strike up a conversation and discover they have a surprisingly amount in common. A friendship grows between them, even though Mrs. Palfrey asks Ludovic to pose as her absent grandson so her neighbors will stop asking questions about him. Mrs. Palfrey even gives her new friend romantic advice, encouraging Ludovic to ask a pretty girl he meets at the video store out on a date. Based on a novel by the British author Elizabeth Taylor, Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont was directed by Dan Ireland. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Plowright, Rupert Friend, (more)
A handful of men find themselves forced to deal with acts of brutal violence in an increasingly lawless Britain in this hard-hitting crime thriller from writer and director Nick Love. Sgt. Danny Bryant (Sean Bean) comes home injured from a tour of duty in Iraq to find things aren't what they once were -- a gang of thugs has moved into the neighborhood, and his wife is sleeping with another man. Angry Gene Dekker (Danny Dyer) is roughed up by toughs on the day he's to be married, and rather than head out to the church, he sets out to get revenge on the men who beat him. Terence Manning (Rob Fry), a gangster who has been one of the leaders of London's underworld, is currently on trial, with lawyer Cedric Munroe (Lennie James) heading the prosecution's legal team. Manning's men attack both Munroe and his wife, and persuade Munroe's bodyguard Walter (Bob Hoskins) not to intervene. In time, the men set out to even the score against those who wronged them, though their contempt for the law puts them outside the lines of conventional justice. Outlaw also stars Sean Harris and Rupert Friend. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Bean, Bob Hoskins, (more)
Author E.L. Doctorow's acclaimed short story Jolene: A Life gets the big screen treatment in Mrs. Palfrey at the Clairemont's director Dan Ireland's independent drama about life on the road. Jolene (Jessica Chastain) is a red-haired wanderer who isn't content to call one place home for any expended stretch of time. Setting off to explore the outside world at age fifteen, the free-spirited teen embarks on a decade-long cross-country of adventure which finds her crossing the paths of everyone from a firebrand Texan (Dermont Mulroney) who steals her heart and destroys her marriage to his wealthy fundamentalist nephew (Michael Vartan), to an ex-mobster (Donald Sutherland) attempting to make good in Las Vegas. Denise Richards, Rupert Friend, and Theresa Russell co-star in a film adapted from the story by screenwriter Dennis Yares. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jessica Chastain, Dermot Mulroney, (more)

- 2008
- PG13
- Add The Boy in the Striped Pajamas to QueueAdd The Boy in the Striped Pajamas to top of Queue
Vera Farmiga, David Thewlis, and Asa Butterfield star in Little Voice writer/director Mark Herman's adaptation of John Boyne's novel concerning the forbidden friendship that between an eight-year-old German boy and a Jewish concentration camp prisoner in World War II-era Germany. The innocent son of a high-ranking Nazi commandant, Bruno has been largely shielded from the harsh realities of the war. When Bruno discovers that his father has been promoted and that their family will be moving from Berlin into the countryside, he doesn't take the news well. Increasingly bored in his sprawling yet dreary country abode and forbidden by his mother from exploring the backyard, young Bruno searches for something to do while his older sister plays with dolls and vies for the attention of handsome Lieutenant Kotler (Rupert Friend). One day, bored and gazing out his bedroom window, Bruno spies what first appears to be a nearby farm; his parents refuse to discuss it, and all of the inhabitants there are curiously clad in striped pajamas. But while Bruno's mother naïvely believes the "farm" to be an internment camp, her husband has sworn under oath never to reveal that it is in fact an extermination camp specifically designed to help the Nazis achieve their horrific "Final Solution." Eventually defying his mother's rules and venturing out beyond the backyard, Bruno arrives at a barbed wire fence to find a young boy just his age emptying rubble from a wheel barrel. Like Pavel, the kitchen worker who cooks all of Bruno's meals, the young boy is wearing striped pajamas. His name is Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), and before long the two young boys become fast friends. But the closer these two boys grow, the more Bruno becomes awakened to the horrors unfolding all around them. His mother is catching on quickly as well, a fact that causes great tension in her marriage to Bruno's father. Later, after Bruno swipes a piece of cake for Shmuel, Lt. Kotler accuses the Jewish boy of stealing and delivers a swift punishment. When Bruno's father announces that the young boy and his mother will be going to live with their aunt in Heidelberg, Bruno grabs a shovel and makes his way to the camp, setting into motion a tragic and devastating sequence of events. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Asa Butterfield, Jack Scanlon, (more)

- 2009
- PG
- Add The Young Victoria to Queue
Director Jean-Marc Vallée takes the helm for this look at the turbulent early years of Queen Victoria (Emily Blunt), who was crowned at the age of 18, and whose ill-fated marriage to Prince Albert (Rupert Friend) would later prompt her into a life of mournful seclusion. Graham King and Martin Scorsese produce a film penned by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, (more)
Stephen Frears, the director who bolstered his international reputation with his Choderlos de Laclos adaptation Dangerous Liaisons (1988), returns to the annals of period intrigue over 20 years later with this melodrama, which reunites him with Liasons scripter Christopher Hampton and star Michelle Pfeiffer. An adaptation of Colette's 1920 novel of the same name, the tale unfurls in late 19th century Paris -- La Belle Époque -- where numerous courtesans (or female companions of noblemen who occupied the royal courts) have worked their way up through the ranks of high society. Two retired courtesans, Charlotte Peloux (Kathy Bates) and Lea (Michelle Pfeiffer), meet for some routine gossip; Lea then meets Charlotte's hedonistic playboy son, nicknamed "Chéri" (Rupert Friend), and a passionate, erotic affair blossoms for the next six years between Lea and Chéri. Eventually, Charlotte makes an aggressive attempt to interfere with the situation by setting up an arranged marriage between Chéri and the virginal 18-year-old Edmée (Felicity Jones), the daughter of another ex-courtesan, Marie-Laure (Iben Hjejle). Lea feels irritated, and responds by seeking out young male lovers during a vacation in Biarritz, but the attached Chéri is not far behind, and in seemingly no time at all the two resume their bedroom liaisons. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathy Bates, (more)
















