Leon Pownall Movies

Set largely in England (but filmed in Canada), Four Minutes is the story of Sir Roger Bannister, doctor by profession and runner by preference -- and the first man to run under a four-minute mile. Played by Jamie Maclachlan, Bannister is accurately depicted as a brilliant Oxford medical student, who in the years following WWII gains a reputation as England's fastest runner, but who regards his sports accomplishments as merely an adjunct to his studies, and thus avoids formal athletic training. Only after he fails to win a medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics does Bannister come to realize how important he has become as a morale-booster for a postwar Britain plagued by shortages, rationing, and unemployment. Shouldering this spiritual responsibility, Bannister submits himself to a grueling (but surprisingly scientific) training regimen imposed by disabled ex-athlete Archie Mason (Christopher Plummer). Originally slated for release in 2004 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Roger Bannister's "great run," Four Minutes was not seen until it was picked by the ESPN2 cable service on October 6, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this Canadian comedy, Richard (Gil Bellows) departs his office, driving north for a Christmas holiday at the country home of his fiancé Sarah (Kristin Leeman), the daughter of his boss George Billings (Leon Powhall). When his car collapses en route, he arrives instead at a house inhabited by a kooky family. He is subjected to various humiliations and indignities, but amid the madness and general goofiness, he soon finds himself attracted to the clan's sleepwalking Celia (Parker Posey), "the world's greatest hair stylist," causing him to question his planned marriage. Shown at the 1997 Mill Valley and Hollywood film festivals. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

After their music has endured centuries, it's hard to believe that some classical composers were not as successful in their own lifetimes. In this edition of the composer series from HBO, George Friderick Handel travels to Dublin to try to revive his failing music career by premiering his first oratorio, "The Messiah," what would become his greatest work. While searching for singers to perform in the production, Handel meets street urchin Jamie O'Flaherty, who has the perfect voice for a solo. Handel saves Jamie from poverty, and Jamie saves the show and Handel's career. Historically accurate and musically adept, this video is a valuable resource for music appreciation programs. Recommended for ages nine to 12. ~ Heather M. Fierst, All Movie Guide

In writer/director Anne Wheeler's Bye Bye Blues, a blue-collar family finds all sorts of unorthodox means to confront the tribulations of World War II. In Angel Square, Wheeler deals with a more contemporary subject: random street crime. Ned Beatty stars as a standard-issue husband and father in a "safe" neighborhood. Beatty's sense of security is violated when he is brutally beaten by a youth gang. The familial spirit of Bye Bye Blues is carried over into the climax of Angel Square, with Beatty's neighbors uniting to track down his assailants. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Robin Williams toned down his usually manic comic approach in this successful period drama. In 1959, the Welton Academy is a staid but well-respected prep school where education is a pragmatic and rather dull affair. Several of the students, however, have their thoughts on the learning process (and life itself) changed when a new teacher comes to the school. John Keating (Williams) is an unconventional educator who tears chapters of his textbooks and asks his students to stand on their desks to see the world from a new angle. Keating introduces his students to poetry, and his free-thinking attitude and the liberating philosophies of the authors he introduces to his class have a profound effect on his students, especially Todd (Ethan Hawke), who would like to be a writer; Neil ( Robert Sean Leonard), who dreams of being an actor, despite the objections of his father; Knox (Josh Charles), a hopeless romantic; Steven (Allelon Ruggiero), an intellectual who learns to use his heart as well as his head; Charlie (Gale Hansen), who begins to lose his blasé attitude; unconventional Gerard (James Waterston); and practical Richard (Dylan Kussman). Keating urges his students to seize the day and live their lives boldly; but when this philosophy leads to an unexpected tragedy, headmaster Mr. Nolan (Norman Lloyd) fires Keating, and his students leap to his defense. Dead Poets Society was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Williams; it won one, for Tom Schulman's original screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this well-wrought drama, WW II dramatically changes the lives of the Cooper family when its patriarch is called to battle, captured, and sent to a Japanese POW camp. Back at home the heretofore coddled wife, who doesn't know if her husband is still alive, must somehow figure out how to support her family and carry on in the British tradition of courage and dignity under pressure. Her solution is to join a swing band. As she becomes increasingly confident and independent, she begins wondering whether or not she still loves her missing spouse. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Reni Santoni, the talented star of Carl Reiner's Enter Laughing, heads the cast of this Canadian film. Santoni plays a luckless 23-year-old who has vague plans of becoming a novelist. Unwilling to do anything so mundane as getting a job, he begs, borrows and steals, driving even his best friends to distraction. There were a whole slew of aimless-youth pictures in the late 1960s, many of them as aimless as the youths they were portraying. That The Great Big Thing has a little more coherence than usual can be attributed to the guiding hand of British-born director Eric Till. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide