Sarah Polley Movies
Known as much for her intelligence as for her talent, Canadian actress Sarah Polley has been wowing television and film audiences since she was barely out of diapers. Born January 8, 1979, in the Toronto area, Polley got her first screen role at the age of six, in Disney's One Magic Christmas. From 1987 to 1988, Polley made her name in the title role of the Canadian television series Ramona. Her work on the show led to more screen work, first in the Matt Dillon flop The Big Town (1987) and then in Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989).In 1990, Polley got a lead role on the acclaimed TV series The Road to Avonlea, a part that she played for five seasons. In 1994, she had a small but significant role in Atom Egoyan's Exotica and again collaborated with the director in 1997, for his critically lauded The Sweet Hereafter. The film was nominated for a host of awards, including a Best Director Oscar for Egoyan, and won a Special Grand Prize at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. Polley drew her share of praise for her performance as the paralyzed survivor of a catastrophic bus accident and soon Hollywood was courting the waifishly unconventional actress, whom one critic remarked looked like Uma Thurman's wiser younger sister. However, for her next picture, Polley opted for a small Canadian production, The Last Night (1998), directed by Don McKellar.
Hollywood did become part of the picture with Polley's casting in Doug Liman's Go (1999), in which she starred with such other young notables as Katie Holmes, Scott Wolf, Taye Diggs, and Breckin Meyer. Her role in the film, combined with her performance in David Cronenberg's eXistenZ (1999) and a lead role in Guinevere (also 1999), helped to classify her as one of the most talented actresses of her generation, not a bad accomplishment for someone who repeatedly stated that her primary goal in life was to become a writer.
In 2000, Polley returned to Canada to star in Kathryn Bigelow's The Weight of Water, a drama about the efforts of a photojournalist and her husband (Catherine McCormack and Sean Penn) to investigate a 19th century murder. That same year, she also appeared in Michael Winterbottom's The Claim, playing the daughter of a gold miner (Peter Mullan) who sells his family for a bag of gold.
Over the next four years, Polley continued to stick mostly to smaller independent films. She played a journalist opposite a monster in Hal Hartley's 2001 fantasy No Such Thing and won rave reviews and a Vancouver Film Critics Circle award for her performance as a terminally ill young woman in 2003's My Life Without Me.
In 2004, Polley took another stab at Hollywood, heading up the ensemble cast in the remake of George Romero's horror classic Dawn of the Dead. She returned to artier fare with the 2005 film The Secret Life of Words opposite Tim Robbins.
Polley made her direcotiral and screenwriting debuts in 2007 with an adaptation of Alice Munro's story The Bear Came Over the Mountain, a beautifully observed drama about an elderly married couple dealing with the wife alzheimer's disease. The film earned a handful of year-end awards and nominations, garnering Polley a nod for Best Adapted Screenplay from the Academy. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- 1985
The "magic" in One Magic Christmas is often (and surprisingly) of the "black" variety. Like Jimmy Stewart before her, worn-out wife and mother Mary Steenburgen wishes that she'd never been born. And like Stewart, Steenburgen is visited by a guardian angel, in this case the western-garbed Harry Dean Stanton. Instead of granting Steenburgen's wish, Stanton shows her what life would be like without Christmas--and that vision is as grim as anything you're ever likely to see in any Holiday film. Throughout the horrendous tragedies heaped upon Steenburgen, we are comforted in the knowledge that Stanton is working in concert with Steenburgen's young daughter. Steenburgen learns her lesson of course, but what a ride! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Steenburgen, Gary Basaraba, (more)
- 1987
This slick throwback to the giant-mutant-insect movies of the 1950's has built a small reputation solely on its irrelevant title -- the film contains no monkeys, blue or otherwise -- which confused both reviewers and viewers alike. (This dilemma was solved in its second video incarnation, under the more honest title Insect.) The story begins when a gardener becomes infected with a plant-borne insect larva, which he disgorges upon his arrival at the County Memorial Hospital. When the bug-baby ingests a large dose of growth hormone called NAC-5 (hospitals are always leaving that stuff around where bugs can get at it), it immediately bulks up to the size of a bulldozer. The plot quickly shifts into Alien mode, as scientists, police (namely wild-eyed cop Steve Railsback) and hospital personnel creep down the hospital's labyrinthine corridors in search of the insectoid monster, which they hope to destroy with conveniently-provided experimental laser equipment before it can test the capacity of the maternity ward with a few million larvae. Despite the lurid promotional materials (showing pretty nurses SCREAMING IN HORROR!!), the story is played quite straight -- more of an homage to films like Them! than a parody of same -- and benefits from good performances (John Vernon is great as the hospital director), a tight script and a strong emphasis on suspense and action from director William Fruet. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Railsback, Gwynyth Walsh, (more)
The Big Town is Chicago, circa 1957. Matt Dillon stars as a small-town crapshooter who heads to the Windy City to seek his fortune. There he becomes the pawn of two high-rolling professional gamblers, played by Lee Grant and Bruce Dern. He later gets mixed up in a revenge scheme cooked up by Diane Lane, the embittered wife of strip-joint owner Tommy Lee Jones. Before he knows what's happened, Dillon is embroiled in two torrid romances, one with Lane and the other with "nice" girl Suzy Amis; he also nearly loses his life by ending up in the middle of a deadly feud between Dern and Jones. Based on The Arm, a novel by Clark Howard, Big Town tends towards uneveness, a result perhaps of the defection of its first director, Harold Becker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, (more)
- 1987
- R
In this grim exploitation outing, a luckless detective begins working for a worried madam who wants him to find one of her hookers, a woman suffering from a dual personality, one of whom is a cold-blooded killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Birney, Season Hubley, (more)
- 1987
Hands of a Stranger was adapted by playwright Arthur Kopit from the best-selling novel by Robert Daley. Armand Assante plays a New York City narcotics officer who aids DA Blair Brown in her investigation of a rape case in which drugs were involved. In the subsequent days, Assante becomes something of an expert in rape evidence. Thus, when his wife Beverly D'Angelo is sexually assaulted while en route to a rendezvous with her lover, Assante suspects something even though D'Angelo remains mum about the incident. Conducting his own investigation, Assante determines the rapist's identity while wiretapping a phoned-in attempt to blackmail his wife. Will Assante forget everything he's learned about police procedure and attempt to take the law into his own hands? Co-starring in Hands of a Stranger is Arliss Howard as the scummy rapist. Preceded by a warning that the film contained scenes of a violent and graphic nature, Hands of a Stranger was originally broadcast in two parts, on May 10 and 11, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
This 15-part family-oriented series chronicles the lively adventures of author Beverly Cleary's much loved and ever mischievous 8-year-old Ramona as she grows up in a midwestern middle-class suburb. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1988
This is a live-action episode from the popular children's books written by Beverly Cleary. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1988
These are two live-action episodes from the popular children's books written by Beverly Cleary. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1988
This is a live-action episode from the popular children's books written by Beverly Cleary. ~ All Movie Guide
Children's book authors Jean and Laurent de Brunhoff's most beloved elephant comes to the big screen in this animated family tale. Elephant monarch King Babar tells the tale, that unfolds via flashback, of how a much-younger Barbar and his girlfriend Celeste save her village from the pugnacious rhinoceroses that have come to raid it. Though primarily aimed at younger audiences, parents should note that some scenes of abandoned babies maybe upsetting for little viewers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gordon Pinsent, Gavin Magrath, (more)
- 1988
This is a live-action episode from the popular children's books written by Beverly Cleary. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1988
These are two live-action episodes from the popular children's books written by Beverly Cleary. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1988
This live-action episode is from the popular children's books written by Beverly Cleary. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1989
- PG
- Add The Adventures of Baron Munchausen to QueueAdd The Adventures of Baron Munchausen to top of Queue
Director Terry Gilliam adroitly applies his Monty Python sensibilities upon the "career" of famed German prevaricator Baron von Munchausen. Played herein by John Neville, the baron is seen quelling a war that he himself started, flying into the stratosphere on the back of a cannonball, ballooning to the moon, exploring the innards of a volcano, being swallowed by a whale....In short, all of Munchausen's fabulous lies are here presented as "truth," played out in full view of nonplussed witnesses Eric Idle, Charles McKeown, Jack Purvis, and Sarah Polley. Fringe benefits include several loving medium shots of jaybird-naked Uma Thurman as Boticelli's Venus and an extended unbilled cameo by Robin Williams -- that is, by the head of Robin Williams -- as the King of the Moon. Filmed under considerable duress on a budget eventually exceeding 45 million dollars, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen never quite caught on with moviegoers, though it has enjoyed a lucrative afterlife on videocassette. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Neville, Eric Idle, (more)
- 1990
Season two of Road to Avonlea (aka Tales From Avonlea) begins as Sara Stanley (Sarah Polley) reluctantly returns to Montreal after spending a happy year living with her relatives, the King family, in the Prince Edward Island village of Avonlea. But upon her arrival home, Sara discovers to her dismay that her wealthy father has been killed in an accident -- and to make matters worse, she is later kidnapped by a pair of greedy fortunehunters. After this ordeal, Sara's strict but loving aunt Hetty (Jackie Burroughs) welcomes Sara back to Avonlea with open arms -- and even manages to persuade the girl's overprotective nanny (Frances Hyland) to let her stay. This season marks the introduction of Gus Pike (Michael Mahonen), a vagabond teenager from a poor (and mysterious) background whom Hetty selects as a test case to prove her schoolteaching skills when her job is placed in jeopardy by the "progressive" new provincial school supervisor, Muriel Stacey (Marilyn Lightstone). In a later episode, Peter Coyote guest stars as Hetty's onetime sweetheart Romney Penhallow, whose reunion with Hetty after all these years is a most bittersweet experience. Joseph Bottoms shows up in a subsequent story as the man who might have married Hetty's younger sister, Olivia (Mag Ruffman), if Hetty hadn't dismissed him as unsuitable; ironically, this fellow's return prompts Olivia to fall in love with an even less "suitable" character, local eccentric Jasper Dale (R.H. Thompson). Eventually, and with (surprisingly) Hetty's blessing, this alliance will become permanent by marriage (but not quite yet). Also, Hetty's brother Alec (Cedric Smith) is racked by guilt by a visit from his crippled brother, Roger (Andrew Gillies); Michael York guests in a brace of episodes as reclusive ex-sea captain Ezekiel Crane, who inadvertently delivers Gus Pike into the hands of Gus' outlaw father, and later makes up for this misstep by involving Gus in a search for hidden gold. And Madeline Kahn tears a passion to tatters as traveling actress Pigeon Plumtree, who nearly lures the impulsive Sara into a life upon the wicked stage. The season closes with the episode "Misfits and Miracles," wherein a desperate Sara has to improvise when her pregnant aunt Janet (Lally Cadeau) suddenly goes into labor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Polley, Jackie Burroughs, (more)
Season one of the phenomenally popular Canadian series Road to Avonlea (aka Tales From Avonlea) begins in the early 20th century, as Sara Stanley (Sarah Polley), the pampered and privileged daughter of a wealthy Montreal merchant, is sent to the Prince Edward Island town of Avonlea to avoid public scrutiny while her dad, Blair Stanley, suffers through an embezzlement scandal. Sara is to live with her late mother's relatives, the King family, with whom Blair has not gotten along in years. Since there is no room at the home of Sara's uncle Alec (Cedric Smith) and aunt Janet (Lally Cadeau), Sara must stay with her domineering aunt Hetty (Jackie Burroughs), Alec's sister and the town's schoolteacher. At first, Hetty and Sara clash, mainly over the subject of Sara's overprotective nanny, Louisa (Frances Hyland), whom Hetty dismisses out of hand. Gradually, Sara will win over the sharp-tongued but golden-hearted Hetty, and she will also become close friends with her cousins, Alec and Janet's children, Felicity (Gema Zamprogna), Felix (Zachary Bennett), and Cecily (Harmony Cramp). Cementing Sara's acceptance in the community is her newfound reputation as "The Story Girl," based on her skill at weaving imaginative variations of classic fairy tales. This season, Colleen Dewhurst makes her first appearance as Hetty's equal in stubbornness Marilla Cuthbert, who semi-adopts the orphaned Keith children, much to the dismay of her lifelong friend and companion Rachel (Patricia Hamilton). Zoe Caldwell is the first of the series' "special guest stars," playing the eccentric title character in the episode "Old Lady Lloyd." And Sara will perform the first of many good deeds when she saves a foundling, who will subsequently be adopted by Janet's sister Abigail (Rosemary Dunsmore). In another episode, Hetty takes in a young, trouble-prone handyman named Peter Craig (Miklos Perlus) -- one of the few actual "carryover" characters from the Lucy Maud Montgomery novels on which Road to Avonlea was based -- after the boy is pulled through a serious illness by Avonlea's resident "witch," Peg Bowen (Susan E. Cox). The 13th and final episode of the season finds Sara's dad cleared of all criminal charges, meaning that Sara can now return to Montreal...except that she doesn't want to. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Polley, Jackie Burroughs, (more)
- 1990
This Canadian TV movie stars Marion Bennett as a young girl possessed of mysterious powers. No Carrie she, Bennett hopes to harness her unique gifts for good. Her main mission is to reunite her long-estranged mother and father. The film makes excellent atmospheric use of its mist-enshrouded Prince Edward Island locations. Lantern Hill was originally telecast in two parts on PBS' weekend Wonderworks series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
The early 20th century Canadian village of Avonlea is a busy place indeed during season three of the popular series Road to Avonlea (aka Tales From Avonlea). The first of the season's 13 episodes is "Ties That Bind," in which the domineering but lovable Hetty King (Jackie Burroughs) oversees the marriage of her younger sister Olivia (Mag Ruffman) and erstwhile inventor Jasper Dale (R.H. Thompson) -- however, her well-meaning interference not only puts a strain on the couple's relationship but also causes dissension in the marriage of her brother Alec (Cedric Smith) and his wife, Janet (Lally Cadeau). Elsewhere, Alec and Janet's insecure son, Felix (Zachary Bennett), has trouble saying goodbye to his beloved horse Blackie; when schoolteacher Hetty resigns, her replacement, Mr. Dimple (Christopher Lloyd), wins over his pupils with his delightfully unorthodox teaching methods -- until he is exposed as a fraud; and in the series' only two-parter, "And When She Was Bad," Hetty's headstrong niece Sara (Sarah Polley) tries to duck out of her family duties by trading places with a lookalike street waif named Jo Pitts (also Sarah Polley) -- leading to a not-so-fine mess when Jo turns out to be an accomplished thief, and Sara and her friend Gus (Michael Mahonen) are kidnapped. Also, Janet drives her husband and kids to distraction when she embraces the Woman's Suffrage movement; Christopher Reeve appears as the hero in a gothic novel in which Sara is hopelessly engrossed in the delightful episode "Dark and Stormy Night"; Ned Beatty plays traveling shoe salesman Wally Higgins, who jauntily begins a-courting the highly resistant Hetty; and in another romantic development, low-born Gus decides to campaign for the heart and hand of Alec and Janet's haughty daughter Felicity (Gema Zamprogna). The season ends on a disturbing note, as the sudden death of Avonlea's unofficial matriarch, Marilla Cuthbert (Colleen Dewhurst), leaves a multitude of fates hanging tenuously in the balance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Polley, Jackie Burroughs, (more)
- 1993
Season four of Road to Avonlea (aka Tales From Avonlea) serves to introduce the Pettibone family, specifically widower Clive Pettibone (David Fox), the new schoolteacher hired to replace the semi-retired Hetty King (Jackie Burroughs); Clive's son, Arthur (Zachary Ansley), a talented veterinarian; and Clive's brilliant but oversensitive daughter, Isolde (Heather Brown), better known as "Izzy." The season opener finds an uncharacteristically nervous Hetty lending a helping hand when her pregnant sister, Olivia (Mag Ruffman), who the previous year had wed eccentric would-be inventor Jasper Dale (R.H. Thompson), goes into premature labor. In a subsequent episode, Hetty forms an unexpected bond with her successor, Clive Pettibone, when they discover that they are both writing children's books under assumed names. Later, Meg Tilly guest stars as Evelyn, the wife of an old school chum of Hetty's brother Alec (Cedric Smith), who, when she suddenly becomes a widow during a visit to Avonlea, turns to the married Alec for comfort -- and sets gossipy tongues a-wagging in the process. Also contributing a guest appearance is Treat Williams as traveling showman Zak Morgan, on whom Hetty's city-bred niece, Sara (Sarah Polley), develops a disturbingly serious crush. And the episode "The Disappearance" boasts two guest stars, Robby Benson and Diana Rigg, in the story of a young antiques collector who may or may not be heir to a vast fortune. In other plotlines, earthy but naïve Gus Pike (Michael Mahonen) continues to court the haughty but likable Felicity King (Gema Zamprogna) -- only to find himself in competition with newcomer Arthur Pettibone; Felicity's enterprising brother, Felix (Zachary Bennett), unexpectedly becomes a hero when he takes a job at the local White Sands Hotel; and Hetty and Jasper team up to make a home movie (this in 1906 or thereabouts) to prevent a covetous industrialist from taking over Avonlea. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Polley, Jackie Burroughs, (more)
- 1994
Felix King (Zachary Bennett) finds himself torn between holding on to his job at Avonlea's White Plains Hotel and upholding family tradition by becoming a farmer like his dad, Alec (Cedric Smith), in "Fathers and Sons," the fifth-season opener of the popular Canadian drama series Road to Avonlea. Soon thereafter, the 50th birthday celebration of Alec's sister Hetty King (Jackie Burroughs) is tarnished by the likelihood that she will lose her job -- to say nothing of a sudden appendicitis attack. Later on, Hetty helps arrange for her sister Olivia (Mag Ruffman) and her eccentric, slightly impractical brother-in-law, Jasper (R.H. Thomson), to take charge of the local lobster cannery. And as for Hetty's city-bred niece, Sara (Sarah Polley), she does her bit for the greater good by coming to the aid of a young boy who has managed to coast through school without ever learning to read or write. Also, Alec courts trouble when he hires a mysterious farmhand, played by guest star Bruce Greenwood; and another guest performer, the highly respected Canadian character actor Gordon Pinsent, is cast as a noted politician whom Alec idolizes -- until the truth about the politician's clay feet is revealed. Elsewhere, Alec's daughter Felicity (Gema Zamprogna) receives the first of several marriage proposals from Gus Pike (Michael Mahonen), a former drifter now gainfully employed; however, Felicity has her heart set on attending medical school, an extremely lofty goal for a young girl in early 20th century Canada. Other developments include the arrival of a new minister and his wife, Viola (guest star Stockard Channing), who exhibits some mighty peculiar behavior -- and for a mighty disturbing reason; and the concerted efforts by certain interested parties to play matchmaker for widowed schoolteacher Clive Pettibone (David Fox) and provincial school superintendent Muriel Stacey (Marilyn Lightstone). By far the most crucial development during season five is the revelation that Alec and Janet King's youngest daughter, Cecily (Harmony Cramp), is suffering from tuberculosis -- and must be bundled off to a more healthy climate if she ever hopes to recover. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Polley, Jackie Burroughs, (more)
The action in Canadian provocateur Atom Egoyan's cryptic Exotica revolves largely around the strip club, which lends the film its name, a faux-tropical hothouse where young female dancers cater to their customers' sexual and psychological needs. Among the regulars is Francis (Bruce Greenwood), a troubled taxman haunted by Christina, a young stripper played by Mia Kirshner. As the film hypnotically unfolds, their relationship is slowly explored, the narrative dovetailing with the stories of a gay pet shop owner (Don McKellar), the Exotica's pregnant owner (Arsinee Khanjian), and its embittered DJ (Elias Koteas). Like all of Egoyan's films, Exotica is a riddle, its answers only fostering more questions. The director's recurring themes of family breakdowns, voyeurism and obsession are all in the mix here as well, but essayed with a new clarity of vision and intensity. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Greenwood, Mia Kirshner, (more)
