Pip Torrens Movies

An outwardly confident but unmarried woman on the verge of her fortieth birthday reflects on her past suitors and the choices she once made while attempting to help her marriage minded niece choose between a number of potential suitors in this tale inspired by the life and letters of Jane Austen. Jane Austen (Olivia Williams) is about to turn forty, but she still hasn't found her ideal man. When Jane is approached by her niece Fanny (Imogen Poots) and asked to help select the perfect husband for the young girl, the ageing spinster begins to wonder why it is that she never found a man to share her own life with. Perhaps if Jane had accepted the proposal of a wealthy landowner she could have saved her family from financial ruin, and what of the handsome young physician who once warmed to Jane after tending to her ailing family members? In this speculative tale, director Jeremy Lovering and screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes ponder the potential reasons why the real Jane Austen never found her own Mr. Darcy. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This five-hour ABC miniseries depicts the events leading up to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, through the scope of a handful of intelligence and counter-terrorism officials in the U.S. government. Harvey Keitel plays John O'Neill, the counter-terrorism chief of the FBI whose belief that Osama bin Laden was planning assaults on U.S. soil fell on deaf ears and failed to gain the traction necessary to stop the events. In a tragic twist, O'Neill later went to work at the World Trade Center and was killed on that fateful day. Also starring Donnie Wahlberg and Stephen Root, The Path to 9/11 garnered controversy for its questionable depiction of the Clinton administration's failings related to the threat. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

As the first season of Rome draws to a close, Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and Pullo (Ray Stevenson) learn that they are heroes on the streets of the city, "symbols of brotherly love and redemption." On a trip to consecrate the land he and his wife have been given, Vorenus tells Niobe (Indira Varma) that Caesar (Ciarán Hinds) might exile him for disobeying his orders by helping Pullo. But Caesar later explains that it's politically unfeasible to punish the heroes, and if he does nothing, he'll appear weak, so, as part of a larger plan to incorporate (loyal) "plebs" and foreign citizens into the Senate, he makes Vorenus a senator. Of course, Caesar's ulterior motive is to have the "ferocious" Vorenus at his side so that no one will try to kill him. Pullo, near death, still manages to make his way from his sick bed, eager to reap the bounty of his newfound celebrity. Instead, he ends up collapsing at Vorenus' home, where Niobe assigns his care to Eirene (Chiara Mastalli), who contemplates murder. With Vorenus joined to Caesar on the Senate floor, the growing group of conspirators fears they will not have the opportunity to kill Caesar. While some would be content to poison him, or murder him in his bed, Brutus (Tobias Menzies) insists that the deed "must be done honorably." Then Servilia (Lindsay Duncan) realizes where she's heard Vorenus' name before, and sets a plot in motion to separate the hero from the dictator at the pivotal moment. While the plot is unfolding, Servilia invites Atia (Polly Walker) and Octavian (Max Pirkis) to her home, and tells them of her further plans for vengeance. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

In this tribute to the man considered by many to be the father of the science fiction genre, a reporter interviewing author H.G. Wells makes a startling revelation that could forever change mankind's relationship with the universe. Upon arriving at Wells' London home on a fog enshrouded evening in 1946, newspaper reporter Ellen McGillivray is regaled with tales of time travel dating back to Wells' days at London's Imperial College of Science. It seems that Wells and colleague Jane Robbins stumbled across a previously undiscovered rift in time during a series of midnight experiments, and though the pair swore to keep the discovery a secret, the experience forever bonded the adventurous scientists. When Ellen accepts Wells' outlandish tales at face value, his shock at her lack of disbelief is countered by the revelation that she is an underground government agent posing as a reporter in hopes of discovering the secrets of a crystal orb rumored to hold the secrets of the entire universe. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Amanda Burton starred in this intense two-part British miniseries as Laura Tracey, a minor employee of a major international banking firm. While going through a routine record search, Laura found a number of irregularities in the bank's overseas accounts. Further investigation revealed that certain of the bank's CEOs were using company funds to finance a large drug cartel. Upon reporting her findings to the authorities, Laura realized that the lives of herself and her family were in danger, thus she agreed to enter a witness protection program. This middle-aged "change of life" forced Laura and her husband Dominic (Neil Pearson), previously a college professor, to assume jobs that both have been avoiding all their lives: Now she was nothing more than a housewife, while he was reduced to teaching grade-school children. Worse still, a Mexican hit man, hired to shut Laura up before she could go to trial, was coming ever closer to locating and eliminating the fugitive family. Capped by a truly startling denouement, The Whistle-Blower was first telecast in the U.K. on April 14 and 15, 2001, and has since been seen as a single, 170-minute "movie" over the BBC America cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

European locations (UK, France, Netherlands) highlight this romantic thriller set in the art world. In New York, top forger Harry Donovan (Jason Patric) is hired by British art dealers to fake a $500,000 Rembrandt, despite pressure from his ill father (Rod Steiger) to use his talent on originals rather than fakes. Harry plans to re-create a Rembrandt lost 350 years earlier when it was shipped from Rotterdam to San Sebastian, Spain. Off to research in Paris, Harry meets art student Marieke (Irene Jacob), uses her to acquire necessary scrapings from a real Rembrandt, sleeps with her in a hotel on the Seine, and then heads for an Amsterdam attic where he fabricates the "masterpiece." When he delivers the painting, he finds his clients won't pay until they are sure they've tricked the London experts. On the scene is Marieke, revealed as no student at all but a respected Rembrandt authority. When she rejects the painting as phony, the situation turns tense, guns go off, and Harry retreats -- with Marieke his hostage. At midpoint, this film features a sequence that reveals the specific details involved in forgery, including canvas aging, precise paints, and other deceptions. For a related film, see Orson Welles' "film essay," F for Fake (1973) with a segment on famed forger Elmyr de Hory. Shown at the 1997 London Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

In Patriot Games, Harrison Ford plays former CIA agent Jack Ryan, taking over from Alec Baldwin, who had played author Tom Clancy's brainy protagonist in Hunt for Red October. This time around, Ryan foils an attempted assassination, thereby incurring the wrath of a maniacal Irish radical (Sean Bean). After seemingly neutralizing the villains, and deciding to celebrate the occasion with his wife (Anne Archer) and daughter (Thora Birch), everything appears to be back to normal; then all hell breaks loose. Author Tom Clancy himself bemoaned the liberties taken with his novel in the final sequences; the picture scored with audiences, however, and soon inspired a followup, A Clear and Present Danger (1994), also starring Ford. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Polish bureaucrat Jozef Burski (Donald Sutherland) all but loses his reason for living when he is "downsized" by his government. Reduced to non-person status, Burski reaches out to his friends for moral support, but they turn their backs on him. Worse still, he doesn't know why he's been targeted for this emotional abuse; every time he tries to find out, something calamitous happens. The emotional strain takes its biggest toll on Burski's wife Mira (Anne Archer), who ends up in a state asylum. Suddenly, Burski's exile is lifted: it's all been a test of his loyalty to his homeland. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Bob Rafelson fulfilled a lifelong dream when he finally received backing to complete Mountains of the Moon. The film recreates the exploratory adventures of 19th century visionaries Sir Richard Burton (Patrick Bergin) and John Henning Speke (Iain Glen). The heart of the film is the effort by Burton and Speke to discover the true source of the Nile river. This occurs well into the film, after several torturous scenes involving the injuries sustained by the protagonists during other expeditions and their growing friendship (which, the film intimates, goes far beyond friendship). Rafaelson's fascination with this story, and his insistence upon painstaking historical accuracy, unfortunately compromises his ability to make an interesting film. There are so many starts and stops during the first half that we sincerely hope Burton and Speke will chuck it all and set up a pub in Bristol or something. What saves Mountains of the Moon is the rapport between its stars and the brilliant, epic-like cinematography of Roger Deakins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After years of capitalizing on the weaknesses of a gullible public, a London advertising executive finds that his worst qualities have literally taken on a life of their own in this scathing satire. Successful copywriter Dennis Bagley (Richard E. Grant) lives a posh life with his lovely wife, Julia (Rachel Ward), in the London suburbs. Pushed to distraction by a bothersome new pimple-ointment account, he flirts with renouncing his career and becoming socially aware. Immediately thereafter, Bagley discovers that he's developed a zit of his own -- a monstrous boil on his neck that begins whispering evil things in his ear. Convinced that he's being taken over by his dark half, Bagley soon finds his "good" self relegated to the boil while his malevolent alter ego returns to the world of advertising with a vengeance. At first, Julia is relieved that her husband seems to have bounced back from the abyss of mental illness, but soon she realizes that she prefers the gentle but crazy Dennis to the poisonous professional. Written and directed by Withnail & I's Bruce Robinson, How to Get Ahead in Advertising reunites the director with that film's leading man Richard E. Grant. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by Evelyn Waugh, Handful of Dust is set amongst Britain's aristocracy of the 1930s. At sumptuous Hetton Abbey, tradition-bound country squire James Wilby and his wife Kristin Scott Thomas open their doors to well-connected but impoverished Rupert Graves. Graves returns Wilby's hospitality by having an affair with Scott Thomas, while Wilby gamboles about his estate without a clue of what is going on. Wilby's cloistered world comes tumbling down when Scott Thomas coolly demands a divorce, shortly after the accidental death of their young son. Wilby discovers that his divorce settlement will cost him Hetton Abbey; he faces this circumstance by not facing it at all, preferring to escape to South America, stiff upper lip intact, in the company of a dotty explorer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lady Jane Grey, the 16-year-old girl who for nine days in the 16th century was Queen of England, is here portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter. Lady Jane Grey's sickly cousin, who becomes Edward VI upon the death of Henry VIII, is on the threshold of death himself. The Protestant powers-that-be, fearing that England will fall under Catholic rule, contrive to marry off Edward VI's most likely successor Lady Jane to the wastrelly Guilford Dudley (Cary Elwes), the future Duke of Suffolk. The dying Edward is coerced into naming Jane as his successor. Jane is forced to assume the throne, attempting to impose reforms on the corrupt Protestant government during her brief reign. A coup led by Jane's cousin Princess Mary (Jane Lapotaire) results in the ouster, and eventual execution, of Queen Jane and her consort. The story is told through anti-establishment themes; teen-agers Lady Jane and Guilford Dudley are seen as the only hope for a brighter future, making their deaths all the more tragic. An earlier version of the same story, Tudor Rose, was filmed in 1936. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide