Amanda Plummer Movies
The daughter of Canadian actor Christopher Plummer and American stage actress Tammy Grimes, Amanda Plummer grew up on the East Coast with a love of horseback riding and literature. After studying at Middlebury College and the Neighborhood Playhouse, she settled into an acting company in Massachusetts. Plummer made her film debut in the 1981 Western Cattle Annie and Little Britches opposite Burt Lancaster. Working on Broadway, she won the Tony and the Drama Desk award for her performance as Agnes in the 1982 stage production of Agnes of God. She lost the role in the film version to Meg Tilly and stayed in the theater. Some of her stage credits include The Glass Menagerie, You Never Can Tell, and A Taste of Honey. She earned another Tony nomination for her performance in Pygmalion, opposite Peter O'Toole. On television, she earned an Emmy nomination for her recurring role of mentally challenged Alice on L.A. Law.Plummer's feature film work would consist of playing small, fragile, almost invisible characters who nevertheless leave a big impression. On the big screen, Plummer displayed her silent intensity in the non-speaking role of Ellen James in The World According to Garp (1982). She also created the interesting, if little-seen, character of Dagmar in John Patrick Shanley's Joe Versus the Volcano (1990). Her big film breakthrough came about in 1991 in Terry Gilliam's The Fisher King. She played awkward and plain office worker Lydia Sinclair, who inspires the love of a homeless man played by Robin Williams. The next year, she earned her first Emmy award for her role of concentration camp survivor Lusia Weiss in the post-war drama Miss Rose White (1992), a made-for-TV adaptation of an off-Broadway play. In feature films during the late '90s, Plummer often played slightly off-kilter women just on the verge of violent behavior. She was a disturbed sister in So I Married an Axe Murderer and an semi-balanced Castle Rock resident in Needful Things (both 1993). In 1994, she played a partner-in-crime with Tim Roth in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. As the gun-pointing Honey Bunny, Plummer gained a lot of exposure with a minimum of screen time. The next year, she played a serial killer in Michael Winterbottom's Butterfly Kiss (1995).
Returning to television, Plummer earned another Emmy for the role of Professor Theresa Given in a 1996 episode of Showtime's The Outer Limits. For the rest of the '90s, she continued portraying delicately damaged characters in small independent films like Matthew Bright's Freeway (1996) and Peter Cohn's Drunks (1997). She also appeared in the family film A Simple Wish (1997) and lent her voice to the TV series Stories From My Childhood as well as the animated feature Hercules (1997). In 1999, Plummer revisited her earlier days as a horseback rider to play a member of the title harem in Peter Greenaway's bizarre 8 1/2 Women (1999). In 2003, she played Sarah Polley's food-obsessed co-worker in My Life Without Me. Plummer's projects for 2004 included the horror film Satan's Little Helper and Tobe Hooper's Brew. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- 2008
A physician who helps his clients bring new life into the world is accused of an ethical breach that's also criminal in this independent drama. Dr. Freeman (Colm Feore) is a doctor who runs an upscale fertility clinic in Las Vegas, Nevada. Freeman specializes in helping women who have had trouble getting pregnant conceive, usually through artificial insemination techniques or transplanting donated eggs into his patients. Over the course of several weeks, Freeman inseminates nine women from different walks of life, ranging from middle-aged but newly married Lottie (Andie MacDowell) and a lesbian whose reproductive clock is ticking, Elsa (Donna D'Errico) to Frances (Geraldine Chaplin), an aging socialite who needs a son to inherit her husband's fortune and sassy, outspoken Salome (Jennifer Tilly). Of these nine women, eight become pregnant and give birth to healthy children, but when the new mothers compare notes, they discover their children bear a striking resemblance to one another. When journalist Tallulah (Elizabeth McGovern) looks into their story, they begin to suspect that Freeman used his own sperm to fertilize his patients rather than the donor samples they selected, a breach of conduct that lands the doctor in court. Inconceivable also stars Kerry Fox, Amanda Plummer and Colin Mochrie; Geraldine Chaplin's daughter Oona Chaplin co-stars as Frances's grown daughter. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colm Feore, Jennifer Tilly, (more)
- 2006
Part one of the two-part story arc "Exodus" gets underway as Sharon and her crew successfully deflect a surprise attack by the Cylons and Tyrol stages a daring mission to rescue a group of suspected insurgents from the Cylon firing squad. While these two events indeed provide the human population with a newfound sense of hope, uncertainty lingers over human and android alike as President Baltar hears his Cylon overlords pondering the prospect of simply nuking the colony and abandoning plans to live peacefully with humans. Meanwhile, as the insurgents learn of Ellen Tigh's complicity with the Cylons, Kara Thrace embraces her new role as a mother and Cylon D'Anna becomes convinced that her child is still alive. Back on the Galactica, everyone says their goodbyes as Admiral Adama prepares for his dangerous rescue mission to New Caprica. Should the insurgents on New Caprica prove successful in their plans to launch a massive attack in tandem with the rescue mission, perhaps the crews of the Galactica and the Pegasus will be able to meet up and celebrate their success as planned. But in order for the mission to truly succeed, Sharon must first mix among the Cylons in a daring bid to obtain the launch keys for the grounded Colonial ships that will carry the humans to safety. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amanda Plummer
- 2004
Mary Stuart Masterson makes the first of three appearances as psychologist Rebecca Hendrix, whom exacutive producer Fred Wolf had brought in as a temporary replacement while series regular B.D. Wong (Dr. Huang) was appearing in the Broadway musical "Pacific Overtures." Dr. Hendrix joins the SVU team to track down rapist Thomas Mathers (Dallas Roberts), who targets mentally or physically disabled women. Mathers' most recent victim is Hendrix's patient Miranda Cole (an Emmy-winning portrayal by Amanda Plummer). Unfortuanately, Miranda's schizophrenia, coupled with a plethora of contradictory evidence, may well allow Mathers to slip through the fingers of the authorities--and the fact that Hendrix and Detective Benson (Mariska Hargitay) absolutely cannot agree on anything further complicates matters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Jeff Lieberman, celebrated by horror film buffs for his imaginative cult favorites Squirm and Blue Sunshine, returns to filmmaking with this offbeat shocker. It's late October, and Douglas (Alexander Brickel), like most nine-year-olds, is looking forward to Halloween, especially trick or treating. Doug's mother (Amanda Plummer) has made him a costume based on a character from his favorite video game, Satan's Little Helper, and his big sister Jenna (Katheryn Winnick) will be home from college to collect candy with him. But Douglas is angry when Jenna's new boyfriend, Alex (Stephen Graham), tags along, and he soon ditches his sister to go trick or treating alone. While making the rounds, Douglas happens upon a serial killer (Joshua Annex) dressed up like a monster from his video game; Douglas admires the killer's grisly handiwork, and offers to act as his assistant, just like in the game. First Douglas leads the maniac to Alex, whom he soon kills, and then he brings him home, where Jenna and Mom think the masked killer is just Alex in his Halloween costume. Shot on digital video, Satan's Little Helper was screened at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amanda Plummer, Alexander Brickel, (more)
- 2003
While pursuing a story in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1994, Italian investigative reporter Ilaria Alpi and her cameraman Miran Hrovatin were brutally murdered for uncovering what was later discovered to be one of the largest governmental corruption scandals in European history. Director Ferdinando Vincentini Orgnani retells the journalists' final month prior to their murder in his 2003 drama Ilaria Alpi: Il Più Crudele Dei Giorni (The Cruelest Day). The younger and more career-driven Alpi (portrayed by Giovanna Mezzogiorno) has been incessantly investigating the money that Italian humanitarian organizations have been donating to Third World countries under the auspices of building roads and generally improving the beneficiary countries' infrastructure. Meeting Hrovatin (Rade Sherbedgia) after beginning her investigation, the two uncover the shocking truth: These "humanitarian organizations" are actually fronts for secret Italian governmental agencies who are shipping tons of toxic waste to these countries for surreptitious disposal. Just as Alpi and Hrovatin begin to dig deeper into their story, they are ambushed and killed -- but not before the truth had been revealed to an unsuspecting European populace. Ilaria Alpi: Il Più Crudele Dei Giorni was selected for inclusion into the 2003 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Rade Sherbedgia, (more)
- 2002
Directed by Josh Rofé, The Gray In Between centers around Cully (Rofé), a mischievous teen whose exploits are suddenly curtailed after being shot in the back. Permanently paralyzed and deeply depressed, the now wheelchair-bound Cully finds solace in Julie (Natasha Gregson Wagner), an older friend who agrees to take him in. The Gray In Between also features Billy Kay, Kyle Sabihy, and Amanda Plummer. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Rofé, Amanda Plummer, (more)
- 2002
Filmmaker Larry Clark reunites with Kids screenwriter Harmony Korine, with some additional directorial assistance from cinematographer Ed Lachman, for this look at a group of troubled teens and their guardians living in Southern California. The film opens at a skate park, where a troubled character takes his own life; it then proceeds to chronicle the somewhat-interrelated lives of his classmates. The audience is introduced to Tate (James Ransome), a young man living in relative misery with his board-game-playing grandparents. Also tormented by his living situation is Claude (Stephen Jasso), a quiet, shy teen constantly henpecked by his brutish father (Wade Andrew Williams). Meanwhile, the vapid Shawn (James Bullard) occasionally trades verbal spars with his mother, in between leaving the house for sex sessions with his girlfriend's mom. Finally there is Peaches (Tiffany Limos), living alone with her devoutly religious father as she covertly experiments with her boyfriend (Mike Apaletegui). Though Ken Park played at such festivals as Toronto and Telluride in the fall of 2002, it would languish on the shelf for months and months afterward, as its explicit content made finding a U.S. distributor near-impossible. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Ransome, Tiffany Limos, (more)
John Bradshaw's crime comedy Triggermen begins when a pair of professional killers (Michael Rapaport and Donnie Wahlberg) are hired to execute one of the major figures in organized crime (Pete Postlethwaite). Soon the pair are mistaken with a pair of British conmen (Neil Morrissey and Adrian Dunbar). When the money they were promised for completing the task turns up missing, the duo has a remarkably difficult time tracking it down. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Neil Morrissey, Donnie Wahlberg, (more)
In 1976 a group of English villagers led by cop Carl (Nick Brimble) journey to a remote house where they discover a traumatized man and the corpse of his wife. Twenty-three years later, the remote house is home to Martin (Sean Pertwee), a burned-out novelist, and his American wife Ellen (Amanda Plummer), who have settled there following the freak death of their young son. Faster than you can say "Heeere's Johnny!" weird things start to happen: Ellen becomes convinced that she's going to die, while Martin's behavior is increasingly erratic and combative. Ellen decides to solve the mystery of her lodgings, which locals insist is located on a primeval bog with a somewhat unpalatable history. Although set in England, this film was actually shot in the Czech Republic. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amanda Plummer, Sean Pertwee, (more)
Mika Kaurismaki directed this British-French-Finnish romantic comedy adapted from Richard Rayner's autobiographical novel about a series of Hollywood misadventures. Vacationing in the North of England, aspiring Los Angeles actress Barbara (Vinessa Shaw) stops briefly in a village where she meets town undertaker and obit writer Richard (David Tennant) -- who just can't stop thinking about her. Flying to California, Richard arrives at the Japanese restaurant where Barbara is a waitress, and a relationship begins -- while Richard learns about Hollywood at the hands of various hustlers and agents. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Tennant, Vinessa Shaw, (more)
Shimon Dotan directed this Canadian comedy-drama from Oren Safdie's screenplay based on Safdie's play, Hyper-Allergenic, set in a hospital room where a dysfunctional family awaits the results of surgery. Shirley Cooperberg (Ellen Burstyn) heads a Montreal Jewish family, and during her husband's operation, her brood arrives at the hospital -- failed writer Eli (Ted Levine), neurotic Susan (Amanda Plummer), and successful theatrical producer Edward (Mark Blum). Edward's wife Linda (Macha Grenon) is also present, as is Eli's ex, Diane (Mary McDonnell). An onslaught of one-liners find targets amid sibling rivalries and angst-ridden animosities. Shown at the 1998 Montreal Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ellen Burstyn, Amanda Plummer, (more)
- 1997
Dutch cult filmmaker Rene Daalder (Massacre at Central High, Habitat) directed this surreal tale of thought-control experiments on the inmates of an insane asylum. Like his other films, Hysteria is a rich and thematically dense sociopolitical allegory, but this time around the concept is overwhelmed by a particularly risible execution. Patrick McGoohan stars as Dr. Harvey Langston, a mad genius who spouts twisted philosophical nonsense while conducting experiments in universal consciousness and group thought. His latest guinea pig is Veronica (Emmanuelle Vaugier), who hallucinates ants all over her body and attempts to stab her doctor (Michael Maloney) in the eye with a corkscrew. Langston implants a computer chip in Veronica's head, and she enters the group consciousness of a contrived assembly of patients including a mannish Tourette's sufferer who speaks in rhyme, a musician who has separate identities in each of his arms, and Amanda Plummer as a wheelchair-bound dancer. Plummer has the film's most memorable scene, spinning about in her chair as the asylum's inmates copulate in every possible combination for the orgiastic finale. Whether the entire escapade is a dangerous cult or a radical new model for a communal civilization (as in the similarly offbeat Phase IV) is open to interpretation, but most of the time the events onscreen are too laughable for it to really matter. Daalder's unique vision walks a very thin line, and he is capable of taking outrageous concepts and making them believable (as in Habitat), but this time he misses the mark by a mile. Nevertheless, McGoohan does his best and the film is still worth watching, for even if it is a failure (and it is), it's at least an interesting one. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick McGoohan, Amanda Plummer, (more)
In this noir-influenced road movie, Jake (Robert Forster) is a criminal psychiatrist who has come to the conclusion that our lives are dictated primarily by chance, and has given himself over to this notion by making most of his decision by the flip of a coin. Sandra (Amanda Plummer) is a neurotic woman on her way to pick up her younger sister, a teenage delinquent named Alice (Fairuza Balk) when she's run off the road and left stranded by a madman named Santini (David Thewlis). When Jake happens by and Sandra asks him for help, Sandra is lucky at first: she wins the coin toss, and he elects to help her rather than kill her. When they have to make a stop, Sandra sees Santini's car parked by the side of the road; Santini catches Sandra as she tries to rip off some money that he's stashed in the car, and though she gets away, Santini isn't done with her yet. Director Paul Chart probably didn't have much trouble securing Amanda Plummer for the role of Alice: Chart and Plummer were married in 1994. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1994
This lightweight comedy is part of a trilogy about Lisbon. Scatter-brained Franny is in Lisbon to deliver a valuable package. Unfortunately she has lost the address and only knows that the recipient's name is Joao. When she meets an old hooker, Esmeralda, the two join forces and begin cruising the town and the local bars to find Joao. The contents of the package are truly surprising. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amanda Plummer, Isabel Ruth, (more)
- 1993
In this fact-based made-for-television movie, a little girl finds herself a pawn in a bitter custody battle between her adoptive parents and her biological parents. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Dey, Michael Ontkean, (more)
- 1992
In this Hallmark Hall of Fame TV film set in the post-war era, Kyra Sedgwick is the title character, a New Yorker who has long kept her Jewish heritage under wraps. Born in Poland but sent to the U.S. before the Holocaust, the young career woman receives word that the older sister she presumed was dead has in fact survived the Nazi terror and is coming to America, forcing Rose to confront her own past and future. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maureen Stapleton, Kyra Sedgwick, (more)
- 1992
In this two-part adventure drama based on a thriller by author Sidney Sheldon, three nuns must run for their lives from a cruel colonel. Their flight leads them straight to a renowned Spanish rebel. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Deborah Raffin, Michael Nouri, (more)
- 1990
A rich businessman, his wife and son are involved in illegal transactions as Kojak investigates. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Telly Savalas
- 1989
The gentle animated tale chronicles the adventures of two globe-trotting frogs, George and Gertrude. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1988
A mother who has lost three sons to the sea is plagued with worry that the same fate is in store for her last son. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1988
Amanda Plummer stars as an unorthodox substitute teacher in Gryphon. Assigned to an inner-city classroom, Amanda tries to shake her pupils out of their apathy through her storytelling skills. She manages to "reach" Ricky (Alexis Cruz), the classroom's most contentious student. Unfortunately, Ricky is subjected to peer pressure when he displays an eagerness to learn more about life outside his own neighborhood. Gryphon was originally telecast May 29, 1988, as part of PBS' Wonderworks series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
