Ian McShane Movies
Another distinguished product of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, Lancashire-born
Ian McShane made his professional stage, film and TV debut all in the same year: 1962. McShane's subsequent stage credits were as extensive as they were impressive, ranging from centuries-old classics to
Tennessee Williams and Joe Orton. His TV resumé includes any number of TV-movies and miniseries: he played Judas in the internationally produced
Jesus of Nazareth (1977) and was seen as the title character in the British "mini" Disraeli (1979). In America, he was a regular on the 1989-90 season of
Dallas, playing Don Lockwood. McShane gained an international fan following as a result of his starring role in the widely-distributed TV series
The Lovejoy Mysteries, originally filmed in 1986, then brought back by popular demand in 1990.
Throughout the 90s, McShane was mostly absent from both the big screen and the small one. However, in 2000, he received recognition for playing a tough crime boss in the critically acclaimed Sexy Beast. It was certainly this hard-edged persona that attracted the producers of HBO's Deadwood to McShane. In 2004, he found himself with a regular gig on the foul-mouthed Western series, starring as an unscrupulous tavern-owner in a lawless 19th-century American prospecting town. He stayed with the show for its entire run, soon moving on to star as Max in the Broadway revival of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming, before signing on to star in the NBC drama Kings in 2008. Loosely based on the story of King David, the show followed the story of a dynastic family in present-day America, but was cancelled after just a season. He went on to appear in the quirky thriller A 44 Inch Chest, before joining the likes of Donald Sutherland in the fantasy mini-series The Pillars of the Earth in 2010. Sticking with the fantastical theme, McShane next signed on to play the legendary pirate Blackbeard in the 2011 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
In years to come, McShane would appear in several films, like Snow White and the Huntsman, as well as the mini series Pillars of the Earth.
From 1965 to 1968,
Ian McShane was married to actress
Suzanne Farmer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

- 2013
- PG13
- Add Jack the Giant Slayer to Queue
The beloved fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk gets the big-screen treatment courtesy of director Bryan Singer (Valkyrie) and screenwriters Darren Lemke (Shrek Forever After), Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects), and Dan Studney in this fantasy adventure about a naïve farm boy who attempts to rescue a beautiful princess from a race of vengeful giants. When Jack (Nicholas Hoult) inadvertently opens a passageway that allows giants to cross into our reality, the towering titans stake their claim on the world of humans. Should they succeed, Jack's kingdom will be but the first of many to fall. Now, in order to save his people and rescue a noble princess, Jack must summon every ounce of bravery to drive out the invading giants. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Nicholas Hoult, Stanley Tucci, (more)

- 2012
- PG13
- Add Snow White and the Huntsman to Queue
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The enchanting Snow White (Kristen Stewart) joins forces with the fierce Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth), who was recruited by the diabolical Queen (Charlize Theron) to kill the fair beauty, and together they fight to rid their kingdom of evil in this bold new take on the fairy-tale classic from commercial director Rupert Sanders. Obsessed with being the fairest woman in the land, the Queen learns that Snow White will soon surpass her in beauty, and seeks to achieve immortality by consuming the young girl's heart. But the Huntsman is the only one capable of braving the dark forest to seek out Snow White. Threatened with death should he refuse to follow his order, the Huntsman finds Snow White, and begins training her for the arduous battle ahead. Meanwhile, a handsome prince (Sam Claflin) falls hopelessly under Snow White's spell. Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, Eddie Izzard, Bob Hoskins, Toby Jones, Eddie Marsan, and Stephen Graham co-star as the seven dwarfs. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, (more)

- 2010
-
- Add The Pillars of the Earth to Queue
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Ian McShane, Donald Sutherland, and Rufus Sewell headline this eight-part miniseries adapted from the best-selling novel by author Ken Follett. As England moves out of the Dark Ages, the tensions between ambitious mason Tom Builder (Sewell), Bishop Waleran Bigod (McShane), and the heirs of King Stephen (Toony Curran), King Henry (Clive Wood), and Queen Maud (Alison Pill) come to a head when Builder's plan to construct an opulent cathedral threaten to trudge up some damning secrets that the royal families would rather remain buried. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Ian McShane

- 2010
- R
- Add Case 39 to Queue
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Prompted to rescue ten-year-old Lillith Sullivan (Jodelle Ferland) from her parents after allegations of abuse suggest that the child is not safe in her own home, kind-hearted social worker Emily Jenkins (Renée Zellweger) discovers to her horror that the situation is far deadlier than she ever suspected. Ian McShane and Bradley Cooper also star in the thriller from Antibodies director Christian Alvart. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Renée Zellweger, Jodelle Ferland, (more)

- 2009
- R
- Add 44 Inch Chest to Queue
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Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, John Hurt, Tom Wilkinson, Stephen Dillane, and Joanne Whalley star in first-time feature filmmaker Malcolm Venville's darkly comic tale of a man who rallies his friends in order to seek revenge against the French waiter who recently slept with his wife. Sexy Beast scribes Louis Mellis and David Scinto pen the screenplay for a film produced by Richard Brown and Steve Golin. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, (more)

- 2009
- PG
- Add Coraline to Queue
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A young girl walks through a secret door and discovers a parallel reality that is eerily similar to the life she already knows, yet deeply unsettling in a number of ways, in director Henry Selick's animated adaptation of Neil Gaiman's international best-seller. Eleven-year-old Coraline Jones (voice of Dakota Fanning) is fearlessly courageous, and perhaps far too adventurous for her own good. Coraline and her parents (Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman) have recently relocated to Oregon from Michigan. Bored in her new home since her parents are distracted by work and she has yet to make any new friends, Coraline passes the time by exploring her new neighborhood with an annoying local boy named Wybie Lovat (Robert Bailey Jr.). But after paying a visit to her eccentric neighbors Miss Spink (Jennifer Saunders) and Miss Forcible (Dawn French), a pair of aging British actresses, and crossing paths with the outright weird Mr. Bobinsky (Ian McShane), the precocious young girl becomes convinced that her new surroundings are just as dull as she'd initially suspected. Shortly thereafter, Coraline discovers a hidden door in her new house, and decides to investigate. Venturing into the eerie passageway inside, Coraline emerges into an alternate version of her own reality. At first glance, this strange new world seems even better than the real thing; there her parents aren't distracted by work, and Coraline is always the center of attention. There's even a mysterious Cat (Keith David) that's fascinated by her every move. But when Coraline's button-eyed Other Mother (also Hatcher) attempts to make her stay permanent, the frightened young girl must summon her resourcefulness and bravery in order to find her way back home and save her real family. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, (more)

- 2008
- R
- Add Death Race to Queue
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The Transporter star Jason Statham takes the wheel in director Paul W.S. Anderson's remake of the Roger Corman classic about a hyper-violent cross-country race that breaks all of the traditional rules of the road. The time is the not-so-distant future, and as America's prisons begin overflowing with violent criminals, the powers that be devise a grisly game that will free up space in the cells and entertain the masses at the same time. Jensen Ames (Statham) is a three-time speedway champion with a dark past. A survival expert and ex-con whose sordid history comes back to haunt him when he is framed for a murder he didn't commit, Ames is forced to choose between donning the metallic mask of a mythical racer known as Frankenstein or languishing away on Terminal Island -- America's most notorious penitentiary. Over the course of the next three days, this unlikely champion will get behind the wheel of a nightmare machine outfitted with machine guns, grenade launchers, and flamethrowers in a desperate attempt to outrun some of the most violent criminals ever imprisoned. Should Ames be the first to cross the checkered flag, he will win his freedom; should he come in second, however, death would be preferable to a grim future in a cramped concrete cell. Co-stars include Joan Allen, Ian McShane, Natalie Martinez, and Tyrese Gibson, who takes over the role of Machine Gun Joe, made famous by Sylvester Stallone in the original. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson, (more)

- 2008
- PG
- Add Kung Fu Panda to Queue
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A clumsy panda bear becomes an unlikely kung fu hero when a treacherous enemy spreads chaos throughout the countryside in this animated martial arts adventure featuring the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, and Jackie Chan. On the surface, Po (voice of Black) may look like just another portly panda bear, but beneath his fur he bears the mark of the chosen one. By day, Po works faithfully in his family's noodle shop, but by night he dreams of becoming a true master of the martial arts. Now an ancient prophecy has come to pass, and Po realizes that he is the only one who can save his people from certain destruction. With time running short and malevolent snow leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane ) closing in, Furious Five legends Tigress (Jolie), Crane (David Cross ), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), Monkey (Chan), and their wise sensei, Master Shifu (Hoffman), all draw on their vast knowledge of fighting skills in order to transform a lumbering panda bear into a lethal fighting machine. Now, if the noble Po can master the martial arts and somehow transform his greatest weaknesses into his greatest strengths, he will fulfill his destiny as the hero who saved his people during their darkest hour. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, (more)

- 2007
- PG
- Add Shrek the Third to Queue
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Shrek and Fiona's (Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz, respectively) fairy-tale wedding has gone off without a hitch, yet just as the beaming newlyweds prepare to enjoy their blissful "happily ever after," the sudden death of King Harold (John Cleese) finds everyone's favorite ornery ogre being reluctantly fitted for the royal crown. Troubled to learn that not only will he be compelled to rule Far Far Away, but that he and Fiona are also expecting a little ogre, Shrek determines to track down his new bride's rebellious cousin, Artie (Justin Timberlake) -- the one true heir to the throne -- in order to focus on fatherhood without the added distraction of having to preside over the kingdom. As Shrek sets out with faithful companions Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) to locate the medieval high-school slacker and bring him back to become the reigning sovereign of Far Far Away, handsome snake Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) slithers back to the castle in the company of the dreaded Captain Hook (Ian McShane) to stage a diabolically timed coup and assume control of the throne. Now, as Shrek, Donkey, and Puss in Boots do their best to wrangle up the feisty Artie, Fiona must enlist the aid of fighting princesses Snow White (Amy Poehler), Sleeping Beauty (Cheri Oteri), Rapunzel (Maya Rudolph), and Cinderella (Amy Sedaris) to barricade the castle and fend off Prince Charming's invading army of fairy-tale villains until her beloved husband can return with the cavalry to save the day. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, (more)

- 2007
- PG13
- Add The Golden Compass to Queue
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A young girl embarks on a perilous journey to rescue her best friend and fight the forces of darkness in director Chris Weitz's adaptation of the first installment of author Philip Pullman's best-selling fantasy trilogy. Screen newcomer Dakota Blue Richards stars as young heroine Lyra Belacqua, Casino Royale star Daniel Craig appears as Lyra's ruthless adventurer uncle, Lord Asriel, and Nicole Kidman assumes the glamorous guise of the villainous Mrs. Coulter. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Nicole Kidman, Dakota Blue Richards, (more)

- 2007
- PG13
- Add Hot Rod to Queue
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The comedy trio known as Lonely Island attempt their first feature-length comedy with Hot Rod. Andy Samberg stars as Rod Kimble, an inept would-be stuntman who believes his dad worked for daredevil Evel Knievel. His stepfather abuses him at every opportunity, but Rod keeps attempting tricks on his moped. After the stepfather becomes very ill, Rod gets the brilliant idea to attempt a stunt more dangerous that Knievel ever considered in order to raise the money to cure him. His master plan being that, after the stepfather improves, Rod will finally get his revenge and beat him in a fight. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Andy Samberg, Isla Fisher, (more)

- 2006
- PG
- Add We Are Marshall to Queue
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A true story of tragedy, hope, and resilience comes to the screen in this sports drama. Huntington, WV, is home to Marshall University, a school where college football is a way of life. Huntington is also a town that learned to deal with tragedy in the fall of 1970 when Marshall's "Thundering Herd" boarded an airliner to return home after a football game in North Carolina. The jet crashed into a hill due to bad weather, and 75 members of Marshall's football squad and athletic staff died that night. The accident dealt a crippling blow to the city of Huntington, as well as Marshall's faculty and student body, and university president Donald Dedmon (David Strathairn) considered abandoning the school's football program. But instead Coach Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey) was recruited from Ohio's College of Wooster to rebuild Marshall's football program. Lengyel was not naïve about the task ahead of him, and working beside Red Dawson (Matthew Fox), an assistant coach who narrowly missed the doomed flight and was one of the program's only survivors, he came to understand his job was not just to put a team on the field, but help a college and a community heal their wounds from the tragic accident. Together Lengyel and Dawson turned a handful of rookies and second-string players into a competitive team who in 1971 showed the world what they could do in a legendary game against Marshall's rivals, Xavier University. Produced with the cooperation of Marshall University and filmed in part on their campus, We Are Marshall also stars Ian McShane, Anthony Mackie, and January Jones. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, (more)

- 2006
- PG13
- Add Scoop to Queue
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Both laughs and thrills are on the masthead in this comedy drama about a would-be reporter written and directed by Woody Allen. Sondra Pransky (Scarlett Johansson) is an American journalism student who travels to England to visit friends. While in London, she attends a magic show where magician Sid "Splendini" Waterman (Woody Allen) brings her on-stage as part of a trick in which he makes her disappear. However, while waiting to be "de-materialized," she's visited by the ghost of a murdered reporter (Ian McShane), who passes along the scoop of the decade. The spirit claims that Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman), the wealthy and handsome son of a well-known aristocrat, is leading a double life as "the Tarot Card Killer," a serial murderer who has been terrifying the nation and eluding police. With the magician's help, Jane begins investigating the story and is able to piece together some incriminating evidence against Lyman. However, the more she learns, the more dangerous her investigation becomes -- especially when she falls into a romance with the suspected killer. Scoop was Woody Allen's second consecutive film with leading lady Scarlett Johansson, after the critically acclaimed Match Point; it was also Allen's second feature to be shot in Great Britain. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Woody Allen, Hugh Jackman, (more)

- 2004
- R
- Add Nine Lives to Queue
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Filmmaker Rodrigo García takes an unusual look into the lives of nine different women in this episodic drama. Each of the film's nine sequences has been staged as a single shot, using the Steadicam system to allow the camera to follow the action fluidly and without cuts. In these short episodes (lasting between ten and 14 minutes), Holly (Lisa Gay Hamilton) has a brief moment of reverie while confronting the specters of her past in her old neighborhood. Maggie (Glenn Close) escorts her young daughter Maria (Dakota Fanning) to a cemetery as they visit the graves of their family members. Ruth (Sissy Spacek) is a married woman contemplating an affair while visiting Henry (Aidan Quinn) in his hotel room. Diana (Robin Wright Penn) unexpectedly runs into an old boyfriend, Damian (Jason Isaacs), while shopping for groceries. Camilla (Kathy Baker) is a hospital patient awaiting surgery for cancer. Samantha (Amanda Seyfried) is a teenage girl who helps look after her handicapped father Larry (Ian McShane). Sandra (Elpidia Carrillo) is a female prison inmate who is expecting a visit from her children. Sonia (Holly Hunter) lashes out at her boyfriend Martin (Stephen Dillane) when she finds out he's been cheating on her. And Lorna (Amy Brenneman) has an unexpectedly moving encounter with her ex-husband Andrew (William Fichtner) as she pays her respects to his second wife, who has just passed away. Nine Lives premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Kathy Baker, Amy Brenneman, (more)

- 2004
-
Forget Gunsmoke and Bonanza. The HBO series Deadwood was as close to the "real thing" as any Western fan was ever going to see on television -- and in its pursuit of reality, the series was not afraid of smashing icons or skewering sacred cows. Could anything less be expected of executive producer David Milch (NYPD Blue)? The series began its story in 1876, two weeks after Custer's demise at the Little Big Horn, and in the midst of "gold fever" brought about by a major ore strike in the Black Hills of Dakota Territory. Into the wide-open and illegal settlement of Deadwood rode a terrifying variety of hard-bitten men and hard-living women. Keith Carradine headed the cast (at least in the early episodes) as gunfighter and Indian scout Wild Bill Hickok -- not the clean-cut hero of movie and TV fame, but an embittered, disillusioned, cold-hearted killer who trusted no one, least of all himself. Traveling to Deadwood with old friend Charlie Utter (Dayton Callie) and devoted, foul-mouthed sidekick Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert), Hickok quickly met and befriended former lawman Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant), the archetypal man with a past who held out hope (but not much) that Deadwood would permit him a new start in life. The destinies of both Hickok and Bullock were gradually intertwined with that of self-styled town boss Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), the manipulative, cheerfully decadent owner of Deadwood's biggest "saloon," the Gem. Several major and minor characters passed through Deadwood, some for a long time, some only as long as it took to be shot down in the street. One of the more fascinating peripheral characters was gimlet-eyed cardsharp Eddie Sawyer, well played by real-life magician and master card manipulator Ricky Jay. Festooned with sex, sadism, sudden death, rampant profanity, and mud, mud, mud, Deadwood was not your father's "cowboy" show. The series drew huge ratings and enthusiastic critical plaudits from the moment it made its first appearance on March 21, 2004 -- and within a few weeks of this debut, all audience expectations were dashed to bits when one of the series' "stars" paid homage to historical accuracy by being abruptly killed off. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Timothy Olyphant, Ian McShane, (more)

- 2004
-
- Add Deadwood: Season 01 to Queue
Add Deadwood: Season 01 to top of Queue
"Welcome to Deadwood...a hell of a place to make your fortune." These are the words that serve as greeting for saddle-weary former lawman Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) as he rides into the illegal Dakota Territory settlement of Deadwood, a scant few weeks after Custer's defeat at the Little Big Horn. Before long, Bullock makes the acquaintance of another displaced Westerner, the cynical, burnt-out gunslinger Wild Bill Hickok (Keith Carradine) -- and not long after that, both men have had their first run-in with town boss Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), the confident, corrupt owner of the Gem Saloon (an establishment largely populated by flint-hearted whores). Thus begins season one of the iconoclastic HBO Western series Deadwood, arguably the most realistic program of its kind ever seen on American television. In the 11 episodes that follow the season opener, a group of vicious outlaws tries to foment another Indian war; Swearengen's status as the lord of the flies on the Deadwood dungheap is challenged by a Chicago "syndicate" (yes, they had them as far back as 1876); a valuable land claim held by feisty, wealthy frontierswoman Alma Garret (Molly Parker) becomes the focus of a deadly serious power struggle; the notorious Black Jack McCall (Garret Dillahunt) kills Hickok during a poker game (quite a jolt, to knock off one of the series' main characters so early in the game!); Deadwood is ravaged by an epidemic, during which the rambunctious but compassionate Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert) becomes a legend; Bullock is marked for death after bringing a murderer to heel; Swearengen is double-crossed by duplicitous "working girl" Trixie (Paula Malcomson); the town's criminal element tries to block annexation of the Dakotas, which would bring much-despised law and order to the territory; a minister finds himself less welcome in town than an opium dealer; and at season's end, Seth Bullock becomes Deadwood's official sheriff -- a position that offers neither job security nor much chance for survival. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Timothy Olyphant, Ian McShane, (more)

- 2003
- PG
- Add Agent Cody Banks to Queue
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A teen learns that all the gadgets in the world can't help him overcome his awkwardness around the opposite sex in this big-budget family entertainment. In Agent Cody Banks, Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz plays a young man plucked from suburban obscurity to be trained as a CIA super-agent. His mission? Get friendly with his classmate Natalie (played by another teen TV star, Lizzie McGuire's Hilary Duff) so that he can uncover her father's diabolical scheme to create indestructible robots. To compound his problems, Cody also has to deal with the same stresses as any adolescent: nagging parents, insufferable classwork, and a fragile sense of self-esteem. Agent Cody Banks was produced by MGM, not coincidentally the studio responsible for another popular spy franchise, the venerable James Bond series. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Frankie Muniz, Hilary Duff, (more)

- 2003
-

- 2003
- R
- Add Nemesis Game to Queue
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College student Sara Novak (Carly Pope) becomes involved in a mysterious game involving riddles and elaborate mind games. As she roams the city seeking -- and finding -- answers to each question, she finds herself deeper in a conspiracy that leads to the murder of a classmate (Jay Baruchel). Refusing the help of her detective father (Ian McShane), Sara turns to a New Age-minded comic book shop owner (Adrian Paul) for help. Big mistake? ~ Buzz McClain, Rovi
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- 2002
-
- Add Bollywood Queen to Queue
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A half-parody and half-loving tribute to the over-the-top style of Indian musicals, this song-and-dance-filled musical comedy-drama concerns Geena (Preeya Kalidas), a pretty and virtuous young women who has been raised by a loving but strictly traditional Indian family. One day, Geena happens to meet a charming and footloose visiting Englishmen named Jay (James MacAvoy), and it's love at first sight for the both of them. However, Geena's family does not approve of her dating a relative stranger, and as her brothers keep an eye on her every move, Geena is forced to meet Jay on the sly. Before long, she impulsively leaves for England with him, with her family giving chase. Along the way, the story stops periodically to give the characters the opportunity to burst into song, though along with the expected Hindi pop tunes, the characters let loose with blues, folk, and roots rock compositions. Bollywood Queen was screened in competition at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Preeya Kalidas, James McAvoy, (more)