Frances McDormand Movies
Born the daughter of an Illinois minister on June 23, 1957, Frances McDormand attended West Virginia's Bethany College and later studied acting at the prestigious Yale Drama School. After her graduation, McDormand could be seen gaining professional experience in numerous stage productions across the country. In 1984, McDormand made her film debut playing a somewhat dim-witted adulterous wife in the Coen brothers' Blood Simple, thus beginning an association that would culminate in her marriage to director Joel Coen. Despite winning critical acclaim for her performance, it would be four years, save for a cameo in the Coens' Raising Arizona (1987) and various small roles, before she would be featured in another major film production. In the meantime, McDormand's stage career flourished, and she received a Tony nomination for the 1987 Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire. She also did periodic television work, co-starring on the short-lived detective drama Legwork (1987) and appearing in a recurring role on Hill Street Blues.In 1988, McDormand found her way back into the Hollywood spotlight, and won an Oscar nomination for her role as a Klan wife who testifies against a good ol' boy sheriff in Alan Parker's Mississippi Burning. Her film career picked up significantly afterwards, and led to appearances in a wide variety of well-wrought dramas, including Ken Loach's controversial Hidden Agenda (1990), which featured the actress one of a group of American attorneys working to improve prisoner rights throughout a war-torn Ireland. 1990 would also find her playing a small role in the Coens' Miller's Crossing, which led to a similar performance in Robert Altman's Short Cuts. In 1996, McDormand won a Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of sheriff Marge Gunderson in Fargo, yet another Coen brothers film. The following year, she co-starred as a German doctor in Bruce Beresford's WWII drama Paradise Road, and then tried her hand at children's films with a starring role in Madeline (1998).
In 2000, McDormand made memorable supporting appearances in two films. First was the part of an adulterous academic wife in Curtis Hanson's overlooked Wonder Boys; late that year she could be seen playing the well-meaning, yet unarguably overprotective mother in Cameron Crowe's critically successful coming-of-age drama Almost Famous. The latter would net her another Supporting Actress nomination. In 2001, McDormand could be seen playing a camped-out version of a film noir lush in the Coens' The Man Who Wasn't There. Her subsequent role in 2002's Laurel Canyon -- as an aging, wild-child record producer -- earned her critical hosannas, even if the film was little-seen. The issue picture North Country offered her the challenge of playing a working-class woman gradually succumbing to Lou Gehrig's disease, and in early 2006, earned her another Best Supporting Actress nomination. She followed it up with an acid-tongued role in the ensemble comedy-drama Friends With Money. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Based on the animated series by Peter Chung, Aeon Flux imagines a future in which 99 percent of the world's population is killed through industrial disease, and the survivors live in a single city that, despite utopian appearances, is quite totalitarian. Disinclined to embrace any particular ideology outside of a hatred for Trevor Goodchild (Marton Csokas), the leader of the council that governs the walled city, hyper-sexualized assassin Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron) seeks to bring about a revolution. Retaining the title character's trademark jet-black hair and sleek, revealing clothing, this film adaptation fleshes out the story behind the sexual and romantic tension between Aeon and Trevor. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlize Theron, Marton Csokas, (more)
Writer and director Cameron Crowe's experiences as a teenage rock journalist -- he was a regular contributor to Rolling Stone while still in high school -- inspired this coming-of-age story about a 15-year-old boy hitting the road with an up-and-coming rock band in the early 1970s. Elaine Miller (Frances McDormand) is a bright, loving, but strict single parent whose distrust of rock music and fears about drug use have helped to drive a wedge between herself and her two children, Anita (Zooey Deschanel) and William (Patrick Fugit). Anita rebels by dropping out of school and becoming a stewardess, but William makes something of his love of rock & roll by writing album reviews for a local underground newspaper. William's work attracts the attention of Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman), editor of renegade rock magazine Creem, who takes William under his wing and gives him his first professional writing assignment -- covering a Black Sabbath concert. While William is unable to score an interview with the headliners, the opening act, Stillwater, are more than happy to chat with a reporter, even if he's still too young to drive, and William's piece on the group in Creem gains him a new admirer in Ben Fong-Torres (Terry Chen), an editor at Rolling Stone. Torres offers William an assignment for a 3,000-word cover story on Stillwater, and over the objections of his mother (whose parting words are "Don't use drugs!"), and after some stern advice from Bangs (who says under no circumstances should he become friends with a band he's covering), Williams joins Stillwater on tour, where he becomes friendly with guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) and singer Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee). William also becomes enamored of Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), a groupie traveling with the band who is no older than William, but is deeply involved with Russell. Lester Bangs and Ben Fong-Torres, incidentally, were real-life rock writers Crowe worked with closely during his days as a journalist. Almost Famous' original score was composed by Nancy Wilson of Heart (who is also Crowe's wife).
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Fugit, Billy Crudup, (more)
In a role originally intended for Meg Ryan, Patricia Arquette plays Dr. Laura Bowman in director John Boorman's film of an American abroad in a strange country. It's 1988 and Laura is desperate to flee the United States and the memory of her husband and son's murders. Accompanied by her sister, Andy (Frances McDormand), she heads for Burma just as the peaceful protests against the country's military government take a more violent turn. Andy and the rest of their party flee in a hurry, but Laura is forced to stay behind when she loses her passport. A former professor (Aung Ko) offers her guidance to the border of Thailand, where they both hope to make their escape. Boorman's scenes of action and violence are well-staged, but Arquette is not big enough to carry the film and her plight seems inconsequential next to that of the Burmese as the military begins its ruthless crackdown. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patricia Arquette, Frances McDormand, (more)
In the first film of brothers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, M. Emmett Walsh plays Visser, an unscrupulous private eye hired by Texas bar owner Marty (Dan Hedaya) to murder Marty's faithless wife Abby (Frances McDormand) and her paramour, Ray (John Getz), one of Marty's employees. But Visser is no more up-front with Marty than with anyone else; he makes some slight modifications of the original plan so that it better serves his own best interests. After a surprise double-cross and the murder of one of the important players, matters spiral out of control, and the plot gyrates through a complicated string of darkly humorous events. False assumptions, guilt, and fear all lead to a frantic attempt to conceal evidence and the heart-pounding, irony-filled denouement. Blood Simple was re-released in the summer of 2000 with a digitally-remastered soundtrack and -- at the Coens' behest -- a few minutes of dialogue trimmed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Getz, Frances McDormand, (more)
Joel and Ethan Coen's jet-black comedy Burn After Reading begins with CIA agent Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) losing his job. This prompts his long-suffering, unfaithful wife (Tilda Swinton) to consult a lawyer about divorcing him. Osborne decides to write a book about his exploits, but an early draft of his work ends up lost at a gym where it's found by the dim-witted Chad (Brad Pitt, and the plastic-surgery obsessed Linda (Frances McDormand). They decide to blackmail Osborne in order to help Linda pay for the numerous procedures she wants to undergo. Things grow even more complicated when Linda starts an affair with Harry (George Clooney), who also happens to be sleeping with Cox's wife. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Clooney, Frances McDormand, (more)
Since Chattahoochee is a story based on true events, it may seem absurd to suggest that the actual events of Chattahoochee are pirated from other true-life tales like Gideon's Trumpet. But it certainly seems as if true stories are just as derivative as any fictional narrative coming out of Hollywood. The Chattahoochee saga details the Emmett Foley (Gary Oldman) story. The film takes place in 1955, when Foley, a Korean war veteran depressed and shattered by continual unemployment, snaps and shoots up his neighborhood, hoping that the police will come and shoot him down like a crazed dog so that his wife Mae (Frances McDormand) can collect on the insurance money. Instead of being gunned down by the law enforcement officers, he is sent to Chattahoochee, a notorious prison for the mentally ill which makes The Snake Pit look like a vacation in Bermuda. The gruesome conditions in the jail send Foley into listlessness. But then his anger gets the better of him and, encouraged by a friend, Walker Benson (Dennis Hopper), he begins sending letters to the authorities protesting the sub-human conditions in the mental facility. Due to his efforts, a state commission is formed to investigate conditions in Chattahoochee, and Foley has a chance to tell the world of the horrible conditions. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Oldman, Dennis Hopper, (more)
A man struggling to come to terms with the sins of his father makes the terrible discovery that his own son has fallen into a life of crime in a drama based on a true story. Vincent LaMarca (Robert DeNiro) is a dedicated and well-respected New York City police detective who has gone to great lengths to distance himself from his past; four decades earlier, Vincent's father Angelo killed a young child, and since then Vincent has carried emotional scars from this incident that he refuses to show to the world. Vincent lives alone in a small apartment building, though he has nurtured a close if tentative relationship with his downstairs neighbor, Michelle (Frances McDormand). One day, Vincent and his partner, Reg Duffy (George Dzundza), are assigned to investigate a murder when the body of a young man is found dead in a dumpster. It turns out the body was that of a drug dealer, and the dealer's partner in crime, Spyder (William Forsythe), believes the killer was one of his regular customers -- a junkie would-be musician who calls himself Snake (Brian Tarantina). City By the Sea was adapted from a piece by journalist Mike McAlary which first appeared in Esquire magazine; the cast also includes Eliza Dushku and Anson Mount. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Frances McDormand, (more)
- 1992
Set amidst the glorious greens and blues of one of the many islands of Washington's Puget Sound, this made-for-cable television family drama centers on three generations of women and their lovers. The main story centers on one insecure bride who though madly in love with her spouse, still cannot quite trust him. She berates herself because she can see no obvious reason for her distrust. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Neglecting Julie (Frances McDormand), his lawyer lady friend, Dr. Peyton Westlake (Liam Neeson) works feverishly to perfect his latest invention -- artificial skin that could be used to treat burn victims. Peyton himself falls victim to an explosion when one of Julie's crooked clients sends his henchmen to sniff out an incriminating document that's been left in Westlake's lab. Hideously disfigured and left for dead, the good doctor receives an experimental medical treatment that renders him super-strong, impervious to pain and prone to heightened fits of rage. Rebuilding his lab into an underground hideout, Westlake begins using his synthetic skin to impersonate various characters and engineer his revenge against those who destroyed his life. Reconnecting with Julie, however, becomes the unsightly vigilante's biggest challenge. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand, (more)
Filmmaking siblings Joel Coen and Ethan Coen both embraced and poked satirical fun at their Minnesotan roots with this comedy-drama-thriller that earned seven Oscar nominations, winning for Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay. Frances McDormand stars as Marge Gunderson, a pregnant police chief whose affable, folksy demeanor masks a whip-smart mind. When a pair of motorists are found slain not far from the corpse of a state trooper, Marge begins piecing together a case involving a pair of dopey would-be kidnappers, Carl (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear (Bergman stock player Peter Stormare). They've been hired by Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy), a car salesman under the thumb of his wealthy, overbearing boss and father-in-law, Wade (Harve Presnell). Jerry's raised some money illegally through a petty scam he's run on General Motors and he's about to get caught. When Wade sours a business deal that could save his son-in-law's hide, the desperate Jerry hires Carl and Gaear to kidnap his wife and hold her for ransom. Things go predictably wrong and a series of murders occur, with Marge, waddling along behind her enormous belly and ever-hungering for an all-you-can-eat buffet, hot on the trail of the killers. Although the credits for Fargo state that the film is loosely based on real events, the story is entirely fictional, the claim being just an ironic jibe on the part of the Coens. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, (more)
A single woman envies the security of her married friends, while they in turn dream of her freedom in this comedy drama. Olivia (Jennifer Aniston) is a single woman in her mid-thirties who feels she's reached a crossroads in her life. Unhappy with her career as a teacher, Olivia quits and takes a job as a maid until she sorts out her feelings. However, Olivia feels as if she could use some support, both personal and financial, from her best friends, all of whom at very least have more in the bank than she does. But that's not to say they don't have problems of their own. Christine (Catherine Keener) and her husband Patrick (Jason Isaacs) are screenwriters who have discovered that collaborating is more stress than they can deal with. Jane (Frances McDormand) is married to Aaron (Simon McBurney); they work together as designers, but while their professional relationship is cordial, they've become numb to one another as lovers and friends. And Franny (Joan Cusack) and Matt (Greg Germann) are a couple who comfortably support themselves and their children thanks to an inherited fortune; while their material needs are met, emotionally they can barely handle marriage and parenthood. Friends With Money was written and directed by Nicole Holofcener, who previously made the acclaimed independent features Walking and Talking and Lovely & Amazing. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Aniston, Joan Cusack, (more)
This political thriller is set against the backdrop of Northern Ireland's "Troubles" and directed in the documentary fashion common to British filmmaker Ken Loach's films. Paul Sullivan (Brad Dourif) and Ingrid Jessner (Frances McDormand) are American attorneys serving on a human rights group working to monitor cases of prisoner mistreatment in war-torn Belfast. When Paul learns of some information that may be injurious to the Thatcher government, he is killed, and a top-secret tape disappears. Assigned to the case, Inspector Kerrigan (Brian Cox) is joined by Ingrid in probing Paul's death, which seems to be related to rumors of a high-ranking cabal within the British government working to undermine the Irish Republican Army and liberal policies toward Irish separatists through violent and illegal means. Ingrid meets with Harris (Maurice Roeves), a former British Secret Service agent who's now turned on his former cronies. Together, they look for the top-secret tape. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frances McDormand, Brian Cox, (more)
This moving drama explores a real, but often hidden American problem, hunger. It tells the story of how a lay-off destroys the life of a widower father and his children, reducing them to dire poverty. Part of the problem is that the man is too proud to accept welfare monies. Fortunately, a caring doctor comes to the rescue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beau Bridges, Jena Malone, (more)
- 1985
Married...With Children's Ed O'Neill guest stars as parole officer Dan Colson, an old pal of Detective Sgt. Rick Hunter (Fred Dryer). Unfortunately, the pressures of having to deal with the scum of the earth (to say nothing of enduring the murder of a close friend) have pushed Colson off the deep end, and now he is practicing his own bloody brand of vigilante justice. Grimly, Hunter sets about to stop Colson from murdering a framed parolee. Watch for a young Frances McDormand in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Scripter John Raffo made his directorial debut with this noir-slanted mystery thriller about free-lance crime-scene photographer Johnny Scardino (Peter Gallagher) and recovering alcoholic Alice (Frances McDormand). Scardino takes blackmail pictures of well-to-do types in rundown motels. After the blackmailers are bumped off, Scardino wonders if he's next on the hit list, so he searches for evidence or clues that might become visible in photo blowups. Shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Gallagher, Frances McDormand, (more)
Writer/director Lisa Cholodenko follows up her much-acclaimed 1997 debut High Art with this examination of a young couple seduced into a hedonistic, left-coast lifestyle. Taking its title from its central locale, Laurel Canyon focuses on a pair of upper-middle class lovebirds from the East Coast who relocate to Los Angeles. Freshly minted from Harvard, Sam (Christian Bale) and Alex (Kate Beckinsale) are eager to continue their medical studies out West, but they need some lodging while they hunt for a home. Enter Jane (Frances McDormand), Sam's estranged, Age-of-Aquarius mom, who's more than willing to put the couple up in her lavish digs. Jane is a successful record producer whose latest charge -- both in the studio and in her bedroom -- is Ian (Alessandro Nivola), a brazen, libidinous twentysomething Brit-rocker. As Sam and Alex settle in at Jane's, they gradually lose their straight-and-narrow approach to life and begin to experiment. Alex takes to Ian and Jane, while Sam is wooed by co-worker Sara (Natascha McElhone). Laurel Canyon features a score by Shudder to Think's Craig Wedren; the music for Ian's band was provided by Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous and indie-rockers Folk Implosion. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frances McDormand, Christian Bale, (more)
Reminiscent of a fine novel in depth and complexity, writer-director John Sayles' acclaimed drama uses the investigation of a 25-year-old murder as the framework for a detailed exploration of life in a Texas border town. The nominal center of the film is Sheriff Sam Deeds (the superb, subtle Chris Cooper), the chief law officer of the town of Frontera. The low-key Sam is also the son of the late Buddy Deeds (played in flashbacks by Matthew McConaughey), who also served as town sheriff and still maintains a legendary status for ousting the vicious, corrupt Charlie Wade (a memorably vicious Kris Kristofferson). The discovery of Wade's decades-old skeleton, however, calls this legend into question, and forces Sam to begin an investigation. During this search for the truth, Sam must come to terms with his own troubled emotions about his father and his still-lingering romantic feelings for Pilar (Elizabeth Peña), a Hispanic woman that Buddy had prevented him from seeing as a young man. Lone Star's scope encompasses not only this story but the whole town, addressing Pilar's difficulties as a schoolteacher, the conflict between incoming immigrants and border patrol officers, and the troubles faced by the African-American commander of the local military base. Sayles expertly moves between past and present, weaving his stories together to illustrate, as in his earlier City of Hope (1991), how the seemingly disparate parts of a community are in fact intimately interconnected. Raising issues of race, politics, and identity, Lone Star nevertheless focuses most of its attention on its complex, believable characters, well-performed by an excellent ensemble cast. One of the most financially successful of Sayles' low-key movies, Lone Star received glowing notices and an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Peña, (more)
Daisy von Sherler Mayer directed this family film, an adaptation of the famed book series that Austrian-born writer-illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans (1898-1962) launched in 1939 with the opening lines, "In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. In two straight lines they broke their bread and brushed their teeth and went to bed. They smiled at the good and frowned at the bad and sometimes they were very sad. They left the house at half past nine in two straight lines in rain or shine -- the smallest one was Madeline." This live-action film interpretation, set during the mid-1950s, expands on plot elements found throughout several books in the series. Lord Covington (Nigel Hawthorne) plans to sell the small French boarding school where the young orphan Madeline (nine-year-old British actress Hatty Jones) lives with other girls under the supervision of sympathetic schoolmistress Miss Clavel (Frances McDormand). Hospitalized after an appendectomy, Madeline wanders down the hospital hallway and meets Covington's dying wife, Lady Covington (Stephane Audran), an encounter which becomes an asset in Madeline's efforts to save the school. Moving into the house adjacent to the school is the family of the Spanish Ambassador (Arturo Venegas), including his young son Pepito (Kristian de la Osa), who spends a good deal of time wheeling about on his Vespa, so noisy it serves to irritate possible buyers of the school.
When Madeline falls into the Seine, she is rescued by a dog, Genevieve, who immediately becomes the school's mascot and pet, despite the "no pets" rule and Miss Clavel's allergy to dogs. Pepito's somewhat sinister British tutor Leopold (Ben Daniels) engineers a plan that leads to the county fair kidnapping of Pepito and Madeline. First filmed by UPA in the early '50s as the Oscar-nominated animated cartoon short, Madeline (1952), decades passed before other adaptations appeared: the 23-minute Madeline's Rescue and Other Stories (1990, available from Facets Video), narrated by Louise Roberts; and the 1989-1993 series of half-hours narrated by Christopher Plummer -- Madeline, Madeline and the Bad Hat, Madeline and the Gypsies, Madeline in London, Madeline's Christmas, and Madeline's Rescue. MGM's 1945 Fred Astaire/Vincente Minnelli film Yolanda and the Thief also adapted Bemelmans. Daisy von Scherler Mayer's earlier Party Girl (1995) was the first feature film seen in its entirety on the Internet. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
When Madeline falls into the Seine, she is rescued by a dog, Genevieve, who immediately becomes the school's mascot and pet, despite the "no pets" rule and Miss Clavel's allergy to dogs. Pepito's somewhat sinister British tutor Leopold (Ben Daniels) engineers a plan that leads to the county fair kidnapping of Pepito and Madeline. First filmed by UPA in the early '50s as the Oscar-nominated animated cartoon short, Madeline (1952), decades passed before other adaptations appeared: the 23-minute Madeline's Rescue and Other Stories (1990, available from Facets Video), narrated by Louise Roberts; and the 1989-1993 series of half-hours narrated by Christopher Plummer -- Madeline, Madeline and the Bad Hat, Madeline and the Gypsies, Madeline in London, Madeline's Christmas, and Madeline's Rescue. MGM's 1945 Fred Astaire/Vincente Minnelli film Yolanda and the Thief also adapted Bemelmans. Daisy von Scherler Mayer's earlier Party Girl (1995) was the first feature film seen in its entirety on the Internet. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frances McDormand, Nigel Hawthorne, (more)
Joel and Ethan Coen's third collaboration, the gangster film Miller's Crossing, stars Gabriel Byrne as Tom Reagan, the right-hand man of big-city Irish mob boss Leo (Albert Finney). The film opens with Italian mobster Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito) and his second in command Eddie Dane (J.E. Freeman) informing Leo and Tom that they are going to kill bookie Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) because he has been revealing Caspar's fixed fights to other gamblers. Leo informs Caspar that Bernie pays for protection and is not to be touched. After the Italians leave in a huff, Tom informs Leo that he should give up Bernie. Tom and Leo are both involved with Verna (Marcia Gay Harden), Bernie's sister. After a failed hit on Leo starts a full-scale mob war, Tom reveals to Leo the truth about his relationship with Verna. This leads to a falling-out between the pair. Tom goes to work for Caspar, but in truth, he is still loyal to Leo. Tom figures out how to manipulate all of the situations so that Leo survives, but this may cost Tom his relationship with Verna. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, (more)
- 2008
- PG13
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A late-'30s-era London governess hired to work in the home of a high-profile nightclub chanteuse gets a taste of the good life when she is assigned the task of sorting out the singer's many unseemly affairs in a period comedy starring Frances McDormand and adapted from the novel by Winifred Watson. Unfairly and unceremoniously dismissed from her latest position without so much as a penny of severance pay, Miss Guinevere Pettigrew (McDormand) realizes that in order to stay financially afloat she'll need to find a new job fast. Though she has worn out her welcome at the unemployment office due to her propensity to loose jobs, she's determined to seize the day and keep an open mind. Before she's booted from the office, she takes note of a job opening that is a little outside of her experience, but decides to pursue it, pretending she is the prospective employee the office was planning to recommend. Becoming a "social secretary" may not be exactly what Miss Pettigrew had in mind when the time came to seek out a new job, yet she hopes that her enthusiasm will offset her inexperience and throws caution to the wind.
Upon arriving at the penthouse of up-and-coming American entertainer Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams), the unassuming Miss Pettigrew becomes instantly swept up in the high-society milieu. But serving as social secretary to one of the busiest women in the city is no easy task, and before the day is over, Miss Pettigrew and her new charge will both learn a thing or two about life and love. Now, as Miss Pettigrew helps Delysia make informed career decisions and choose between one of three potential suitors, her own attraction to a handsome clothing designer named Joe (Ciarán Hands) could prove her undoing. Joe's current fiancée, Edythe (Shirley Henderson), is an insolent fashion maven with little patience for those she deems incompetent or unworthy of the spotlight, and she currently has her targets locked onto a certain social secretary who doesn't yet grasp the complex social mechanisms of the high-society lifestyle. Simon Beaufoy and David Magee co-author a screenplay directed by Bharat Nalluri. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Upon arriving at the penthouse of up-and-coming American entertainer Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams), the unassuming Miss Pettigrew becomes instantly swept up in the high-society milieu. But serving as social secretary to one of the busiest women in the city is no easy task, and before the day is over, Miss Pettigrew and her new charge will both learn a thing or two about life and love. Now, as Miss Pettigrew helps Delysia make informed career decisions and choose between one of three potential suitors, her own attraction to a handsome clothing designer named Joe (Ciarán Hands) could prove her undoing. Joe's current fiancée, Edythe (Shirley Henderson), is an insolent fashion maven with little patience for those she deems incompetent or unworthy of the spotlight, and she currently has her targets locked onto a certain social secretary who doesn't yet grasp the complex social mechanisms of the high-society lifestyle. Simon Beaufoy and David Magee co-author a screenplay directed by Bharat Nalluri. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frances McDormand, Amy Adams, (more)
Mississippi Burning is an all-names-changed dramatization of the Ku Klux Klan's murders of three civil rights workers in 1964. Investigating the mysterious disappearances of the three activists are FBI agents Gene Hackman (older, wiser) and Willem Dafoe (younger, idealistic). A Southerner himself, Hackman charms and cajoles his way through the tight-lipped residents of a dusty Mississippi town while Dafoe acts upon the evidence gleaned by his partner. Hackman solves the case by exerting his influence upon beauty-parlor worker Frances McDormand, who wishes to exact revenge for the beatings inflicted upon her by her Klan-connected husband Brad Dourif. Many critics took the film to task for its implication that the Civil Rights movement might never have gained momentum without its white participants; nor were the critics happy that the FBI was shown to utilize tactics as brutal as the Klan's. The title Mississippi Burning is certainly appropriate: nearly half the film is taken up with scenes of smoke and flame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, (more)
A fictionalized account of one of America's most groundbreaking sexual harassment lawsuits comes to the screen in this hard-hitting drama. In the late '80s, Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron) fled her abusive husband, and needed to find a way to support her two children. Aimes returned to her hometown in Minnesota and followed the lead of her old friend Glory (Frances McDormand), who had bucked tradition and found a job in the iron mines that had long provided employment for much of the community. Aimes found honest labor and a living wage working the mines, but she also discovered she was working with men who were uncomfortable working with women (whose right to work in the mines had been mandated by law almost 15 years prior), and didn't care to show them much respect. However, as Aimes found herself the growing target of sexist jokes and abhorrent behavior, she found that many of her female co-workers were reluctant to stand beside her, afraid of losing a good-paying job at a time when they were increasingly hard to find. But as a personal crisis became a public war of words, Aimes became the center of a nationwide controversy when she attempted to file a class action sexual harassment suit against the mine owners, which put her and her family in a position of scrutiny beyond her worst expectations. North Country also stars Sean Bean, Sissy Spacek, and Woody Harrelson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlize Theron, Frances McDormand, (more)
Three likable losers attempt "a momentary shift in lifestyle" by becoming part-time thieves in this comedy. Russ (Vincent Gallo) is living with his family, who don't get along especially well, and he fools around with the teenage girl who lives next door. Jerry (Adam Trese) is married to Betty (Linda Gay Hamilton), who -- unlike her husband -- has a job and wants to keep it, even if that means having an affair with her boss. And Sid (William Forsythe) has a soft spot for dogs, which helped derail his plans for a taxi service for senior citizens. All three guys are out of work and need quick money; Russ comes up with a plan to rob a jewelry store, but things go haywire when they accidentally break into a bakery instead, though they at least make off with a large supply of doughnuts. Despite their initial failure as criminals, the would-be thieves raise their sights and plan to knock over an armored car, but they soon discover just how far out of their league they really are. Palookaville was based on a series of short stories by Italian writer Italo Calvino. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Forsythe, Vincent Gallo, (more)
Based on the testimony of survivors, this historical drama recounts the WWII heroism of female prisoners of war. (Glenn Close) stars as Adrienne Partiger, a society doyenne who flees Singapore with other expatriate women, mostly the wives of servicemen, when Japanese forces invade in 1942. When their gunboat is sunk in an air attack, the survivors wash ashore on Japanese-held Sumatra. The women are interned in a grim POW camp where punishments for even minor infractions are extreme. With the help of a missionary (Pauline Collins), Partiger corrals the women, including a tough American (Julianna Margulies), an Australian nurse (Cate Blanchett) and a young wife (Jennifer Ehle) into a musical group. Since singing is not allowed, the a cappella chorus dubs itself "a vocal orchestra" and is tolerated -- if barely -- by their Japanese captors. Though living conditions are squalid, food is scarce, and a thin sliver of soap inspires a shower brawl, the music keeps spirits uplifted and a Jewish-German doctor (Frances McDormand) provides some medical aid. Writer-director Bruce Beresford interviewed real-life participants in similar POW musical groups. Some provided, from memory, sheet music of the pieces they performed, which were used in the film. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Close, Pauline Collins, (more)
- 1992
- PG13
In this black comedy, elderly Jack Scanlan (Jack Warden) passes away just as he's about to tell his oldest son Johnny (Bob Hoskins) what he's decided is truly important in life, which does little to ease Johnny's mid-life anxieties. Jack's funeral and the subsequent wake brings together the various members of the Scanlan Family, most of whom are having troubles of their own. Johnny's mother Mary (Maureen Stapleton) is not dealing well with losing her husband. His brother Frank (William Petersen), a would-be union delegate, has a nagging wife, Denise (Debra Rush), and a pregnant daughter, Rachel (Teri Polo). His sister Nora (Frances McDormand) is a leftist nun who has brought along a guest, a South American dissident wanted by the INS. Terry (Pamela Reed) is splitting up with her husband Boyd (Tim Curry) after finally realizing that he's gay. And Johnny is thinking of quitting his job and leaving his wife Amy (Blair Brown), which makes the mysterious Cassie (Nancy Travis) seem all the more attractive. Passed Away marked the directorial debut of successful screenwriter Charlie Peters. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hoskins, Jack Warden, (more)
