Frances Tomelty Movies

Stephen Frears, the director who bolstered his international reputation with his Choderlos de Laclos adaptation Dangerous Liaisons (1988), returns to the annals of period intrigue over 20 years later with this melodrama, which reunites him with Liasons scripter Christopher Hampton and star Michelle Pfeiffer. An adaptation of Colette's 1920 novel of the same name, the tale unfurls in late 19th century Paris -- La Belle Époque -- where numerous courtesans (or female companions of noblemen who occupied the royal courts) have worked their way up through the ranks of high society. Two retired courtesans, Charlotte Peloux (Kathy Bates) and Lea (Michelle Pfeiffer), meet for some routine gossip; Lea then meets Charlotte's hedonistic playboy son, nicknamed "Chéri" (Rupert Friend), and a passionate, erotic affair blossoms for the next six years between Lea and Chéri. Eventually, Charlotte makes an aggressive attempt to interfere with the situation by setting up an arranged marriage between Chéri and the virginal 18-year-old Edmée (Felicity Jones), the daughter of another ex-courtesan, Marie-Laure (Iben Hjejle). Lea feels irritated, and responds by seeking out young male lovers during a vacation in Biarritz, but the attached Chéri is not far behind, and in seemingly no time at all the two resume their bedroom liaisons. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A priest deals with the constant struggle between his spiritual goals, his earthly temptations, and his personal ideals in this British drama. Eddie Dawson (John Michie) and Bobby Winterman (Ben Taylor) are best friends attending a Catholic school in North Yorkshire in the mid-1950s. Eddie feels a calling to God as he grows older and decides to study for the priesthood, but his unorthodox ideas about church policies mark him as a rebel early on; he also finds himself uncomfortably attracted to a fellow seminarian in his all-male environment. When Eddie is given a parish to tend in a working class village, he sparks a scandal by honoring the request of an unwed mother to baptize her child. Transferred to a more open-minded congregation in London, Eddie finds his vow of celibacy sorely tempted by the sexy teenage daughter of one of his churchgoers, and he angers his superiors when he questions church doctrine in a controversial magazine article. The furor brings Bobby back into Eddie's life when the former, now a journalist, decides to write a story about his old friend. Monk Dawson was the debut feature for producer/director Tom Waller. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Ann-Margret stars in the made-for-cable movie Nobody's Children, filmed on-location in Bucharest, Romania, and based on a true story. Ann-Margret and Jay O. Sanders star as the real-life Carol and Joe Stevens, a married couple from Detroit who are unable to conceive a child of their own. They travel to Bucharest in 1990, just following the end of Ceausescu's regime, where a secret police controls the populace and state institutions are filled with abandoned children. The Stevenses bear witness to the deplorable conditions under which the unwanted babies must live as well as the extreme poverty and illness of the other Romanian children. French doctor Stephanie Vaugier (Dominique Sanda) helps Carol wade through the bureaucracy so she is able to adopt two children and return to the States. Originally aired on the USA television network in March of 1994. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

In this mystery, a member of Parliament is murdered. A sexist journalist and a criminologist reluctantly team up to solve the case. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This spy outing hones in on secret agent Magnus Pym (Peter Egan). Having impersonated so many different people during his career as a British spy, Pym eventually lost track of who he really was -- a confusion compounded by the fact that he knew nothing of his actual past. Ultimately feeling that he could trust no one -- not even his so-called friends -- Pym turned his back on the British and began trading secrets with the Enemy. Filmed on location in England, Europe, and the U.S., the seven-episode A Perfect Spy originally aired in the U.K. in 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This story is about a crusading scientist out to stop nuclear testing who is motivated by scientific fact, conscience and faith. Dr. Alex Carmody (Martin Sheen) is a physicist who becomes convinced that if the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. continue to test nuclear weapons, eventually one of these tests will set off an atomic chain reaction that will obliterate the world. Carmody travels to Portugal where he tries talks to one of the women who in 1911 saw a vision of the Virgin Mary that spoke to her and her two companions about the future. Carmody is certain that the Virgin Mary predicted the very chain reaction he and his co-worker Dr. Kenneth Parrish (Peter Firth) envision. Failing in his attempt to talk to the woman, Carmody then travels to Paris and elsewhere, warning Soviet and American officials that the tests they are planning should be cancelled before they become their last. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

A benefit play put on by the Law Moan Spectacular comedy troupe is featured in this film. ~ Rovi

A critic impacts the life of a talented man in this drama. ~ Rovi

Plot is a secondary consideration in this partially successful, partially failed take-off on the Bulldog Drummond series of the 1930s. "Bullshot" Crummond (Alan Shearman) is a square-jawed hero of World War I who longs to face off against his German arch-nemesis Count Otto von Bruno (Ron House) one more time. He gets his chance when he must save Rosemary Fenton (Diz White), a damsel in distress -- her father made a top-secret discovery before he died and Count von Bruno wants that secret for himself, no matter what happens to the good Rosemary. As the hijinks unfold inside the requisite Sinister Mansion (Bullshot fights a giant octopus and leaps onto a plane in mid-air as the action reaches a crescendo), caricature, and zany anarchy provide the humor. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Tom Stoppard and Thomas Wiseman's intricate script for The Romantic Englishwoman credibly explores the notion that a writer can manipulate the people in his life as deftly as he can manipulate the characters in his imagination. The title character Elizabeth, played by Glenda Jackson, is the wife of Lewis (Michael Caine), a novelist. At this point in his life, Lewis thinks in nothing but literary terms: Elizabeth is vacationing in Europe alone, ergo she must be having an affair. Half out of frustration, she confirms her husband's suspicions by romancing German drug dealer Thomas (Helmut Berger). Things get even dicier when Lewis invites Thomas into his home, requesting his technical advice on a screenplay he is working on. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi