Anthony O'Donnell Movies

A clandestine love affair sends one man's charmed life into a tailspin in this dark, disturbing drama written and directed by Woody Allen, his first film set and shot in Great Britain and one his few films sans any humor. Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) is an Irish tennis player with an impoverished background. Just accomplished enough to make his way onto the professional circuit, but not skilled enough to be a consistent winner, he now works as an instructor at a London tennis club. The wealthy Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), who is as impressed by Chris's charm and good looks as he is by his game, takes a tennis lesson from the young man. Chris's intelligence and wit also make a strong impression on Tom's pretty sister, Chloe (Emily Mortimer), who soon falls for him. It isn't long before Chris and Chloe are engaged to be married, a match that pleases both Tom and his father, Alec (Brian Cox), a successful businessman who believes Chris has a bright future in his firm. However, Chris also feels an overwhelming attraction to Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson), a sexy blonde from the United States who is dating Tom. Though Nola initially puts up some resistance, Chris gently nudges her in the direction of an affair. Passion soon ignites between the two, and they have a one-time sexual encounter, even as Chris and Chloe plan their wedding. Nola resists, however, when Chris makes additional attempts to wheedle her into bed. Nola drops out of Chris's life shortly before his wedding, but a chance meeting a few months later resurrects the relationship as Chris and Chloe try to start a family. Match Point received its world premiere in an enthusiastically received presentation at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Written and directed by Academy Award-nominee Mike Leigh and set in England during the 1950s, this movie revolves around Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton), whose unrelenting dedication to her family is well known throughout her blue-collar town. However, there are more people than her rapidly aging mother and ill neighbor who depend on Vera's care. Though abortion was illegal and, of course, widely frowned upon in the '50s, Vera sees women going through unwanted pregnancies the same as she would anyone else -- human beings deserving of treatment. With this in mind, she regularly induces miscarriages for those who need them, and her patients are consistently grateful for her gentleness and understanding. Unfortunately for Vera, the law doesn't see her as aiding those in need; they interpret the abortions as murder, as do most of the other people in her life. When Vera's activities are revealed, her family life and relationships with those around her -- including the ones she helped nurse back to health -- are put in jeopardy. Vera Drake also features performances from Jim Broadbent, Heather Craney, and Philip Davis. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

With Breaking The Waves, director Lars von Trier fashions an often disturbing tale of the singular power of love. Bess (the Oscar-nominated Emily Watson) is a naïve, borderline simple young woman who lives in a Scottish coastal town ruled by the religious doctrine of its council of elders. Recovering from a mental breakdown caused by the death of her brother, Bess marries a rough yet compassionate and attentive oil rig worker named Jan (Stellan Skarsgård). For a brief time, the couple enjoys peaceful wedded bliss, with the worldly Jan introducing Bess to the mysteries of sex. Jan must soon return to his job on the rig, however, where he is paralyzed from the neck down in a freak accident. Bess' emotional trauma over Jan's injury turns into obsession as she prays to God for his recovery and offers to do anything to have her husband back whole. Jan, constantly medicated and profoundly depressed, asks Bess to have sex with other men and tell him about it, thinking this will allow her to return to a normal life. Bess, on the other hand, sees it as an expression of her devotion to Jan that even God won't be able to ignore. Bess' resultant downward spiral leads to a finale of both tragedy and spirituality. Breaking the Waves is widely regarded as one of the most distinctive European movies of the 1990s, marking von Trier's movement toward his influential Dogma 95 school of filmmaking, which emphasizes realistic situations of contemporary life, filmed without background music and with a hand-held, restlessly moving camera. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

Initially conceived as a theatrical feature, but originally aired on television in the United States, Robin Hood puts slight, but effective, twists on the legendary tale. Starring Patrick Bergin in the title role, the film follows Robin and his group of bandits as they fight Prince John and save Maid Marion (Uma Thurman). This version is a little grittier than both Errol Flynn's classic movie or the contemporary extravaganza starring Kevin Costner, since Bergin is quite down-to-earth and Thurman makes Marion into a brat, not a helpless maiden. However, these qualities and the stately photography make the film quite entertaining, and it easily equals Costner's version, even if it can't match Flynn's timeless movie. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, Julie Walters and Ian Charleson play a married couple, Jacqueline and Gerald, who somehow endure a fractious relationship that would have sent others running to divorce court in a second. One point of contention is Gerald's new Jaguar, a car he would take over Jacqueline any day. When she is trapped inside the new car with an amorous salesman in a compromising clinch, the police have to cut up the Jag in order to get them out. From that point onward, Gerald has murderous designs on his wife, and the comedy thins out even more. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Keith (Roger Sloman) and Candice Marie (Alison Steadman) take a trip to a campsite in the English countryside. They're folk-singing vegetarian types, but Keith is very controlling, and Candice Marie is manipulative as well, in her own childlike way. Keith is also very anal, taking down every expenditure in a ledger, using his various guidebooks to lead them through every attraction, and refusing to diverge from his detailed plan for their trip. "What's the point of having a schedule if you don't stick to it?" he asks. He rushes ahead of Candice Marie, and she struggles to keep pace. The couple spends a good deal of time trying to find a dairy farm that will sell them unpasteurized milk. Their idyll, such as it is, is interrupted by the arrival of Ray (Anthony O'Donnell), a geology student, who disturbs the couple by playing his radio. Candice Marie goads Keith into confronting Ray, but Ray refuses to turn off his radio, so the couple move to a new location a bit further away. Returning home from one of their day trips in the rain, the couple stops to offer a ride to a pedestrian who turns out to be Ray. Keith refuses to speak to him, but Candice Marie makes polite conversation, and soon decides that Ray is "nice." Candice Marie's attempts to be social infuriate the quietly jealous Keith. But he goes along when she invites Ray over for tea, and the couple bullies Ray into joining them in a little singalong. But things are shaken up again when a couple of young bikers, Finger (Stephen Bill) and Honky (Sheila Kelley), show up flouting the "country code." Nuts in May was written and directed (or "devised and directed") by Mike Leigh for the BBC program, Play for Today. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide