Naomi Watts Movies
Naomi Watts had already been a working actress for over a decade when she earned notice as a promising newcomer in David Lynch's Cannes Film Festival prizewinner Mulholland Drive (2001).Born September 28th, 1968, Watts began acting in her teens, landing her first film role in For Love Alone (1986). Watts subsequently appeared with future Hollywood headliners Nicole Kidman and Thandie Newton in John Duigan's disarming teen romance Flirting (1991). Watts's next film with Duigan, Wide Sargasso Sea (1992), was not so well received. After her first taste of Hollywood with Joe Dante's schlock movie homage Matinee (1992), Watts nabbed a starring role as Jimmy Smits's disturbed student in George Miller's little seen courtroom drama Gross Misconduct (1993). Watts then starred as Jet Girl to Lori Petty's Tank Girl (1995), but the science fiction fantasy suffered an ignominious box office fate. After a series of TV movies and thrillers, including Sleepwalkers (1997) and Children of the Corn IV (1996), Watts appeared in Marshall Herskovitz's high-toned Venetian courtesan costumer Dangerous Beauty (1998) and successful TV docudrama The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer (1999).
Watts's breakthrough finally arrived when David Lynch cast her in his ABC pilot Mulholland Drive. Though ABC canceled the project in 1999 after Lynch turned in a typically mood-drenched work, StudioCanal financed its transformation into a feature that debuted to acclaim at Cannes in 2001. A Los Angeles dreamscape akin to Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive featured Watts as the blonde half of a female duo caught in a mystery of shifting identities. Drawing attention for her not-for-network TV love scene with co-star Laura Harring, Watts also earned praise as a rising "new" actress.
Though ignored for an Oscar nomination, Watts's tour-de-force dual performance earned her numerous accolades and critics' awards, igniting her career. Working steadily in the wake of Mulholland Drive, Watts scored a box-office as well as critical success a year later with The Ring (2002), the Hollywood remake of the Japanese horror blockbuster. Starring Watts as an intrepid reporter investigating the origins of a lethal videotape, The Ring overcame studio doubts to become a sleeper hit, solidifying Watts's new star status. Watts subsequently donned period dress for the Showtime western The Outsider (2002), and to co-star alongside fellow Aussie Heath Ledger in The Kelly Gang (2003). Balancing her genre work with potentially headier fare guided by notable directors, Watts also appeared with Kate Hudson, Glenn Close and Stockard Channing in the Merchant-Ivory romantic comedy Le Divorce (2003), and won a leading role opposite formidable actors Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro in Alejandro González Iñárritu's 21 Grams (2003).
In 2004, Watts worked opposite Mark Ruffalo for the independent film We Don't Live Here Anymore, and reteamed with Sean Penn for The Assassination of Richard Nixon. She landed the starring role of Ann Darrow in director Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong (2006), and starred in the 2006 remake of The Painted Veil. Watts was praised for her work as a British midwife who accidentally gets involved in the Russian mafia in director David Cronenberg's psychological thriller Eastern Promises.
Watts starred along with Clive Owen in 2009's The International, for which she played the part of an assistant district attorney who participates in a plan to rob a bank, and co-starred alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Annette Benning, and Kerry Washington for the drama Mother and Child. Watts was later cast in Dream House (2011), a thriller starring Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz, and worked with Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2011 biopic J. Edgar. In 2012 she played the mother of a family trapped in a catastrophic storm in The Impossible, garnering a Best Actress nomination for her work in the film.
~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
- 2010
- R
- Add You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger to Queue Add You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger to top of Queue
Two couples find their lives turned upside down by their unfulfilled longings in this ensemble comedy from director Woody Allen. Alfie (Anthony Hopkins) and Helena (Gemma Jones) have been married for years. They have a grown-up daughter named Sally (Naomi Watts), who is married to a successful novelist named Roy (Josh Brolin), but finds the future of her marriage in jeopardy after falling for Greg (Antonio Banderas), the dapper owner of a prominent art gallery. Meanwhile, as Roy develops a fixation on Dia (Freida Pinto), an exotic beauty he encounters on the street, Alfie ditches Helena for Charmaine (Lucy Punch), an impressionable young call girl. Now it seems that the harder everyone tries runs away from their problems, the faster their lives seem to fall apart. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, (more)
- 1992
- NC17
Director John Duigan brings Jean Rhys' difficult 1966 best-selling novel to the screen. It's a story meant to be a prequel to Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre, surmising what drove the first Mrs. Rochester mad in that novel. In Jamaica in the 1840s, slavery has been recently outlawed. Plantation owner Annette Cosway (Rachel Ward) has become so poor that she marries a rich, boorish Englishman whom she does not love. Her husband, Paul Mason (Michael York), is a sexist, racist tyrant who mistreats his servants and his wife. Paul flees to England after the servants and their countrymen revolt and burn down the mansion, killing Annette's young son. Annette goes insane and is consigned to the care of a servant. Her daughter Antoinette (Karina Lombard) is placed in a convent until she is old enough to inherit the property, but the inheritance depends on her marrying a proper husband. By previous arrangement, she marries Edward Rochester (Nathaniel Parker). At first they are lustily in love, but Rochester proves to be as elitist who is as disrespectful as Mason. Rochester has title to all of Antoinette's property, but he despises Jamaica and wants to return to England. He also fears the black magic of Christophene (Claudia Robinson), who mixes up a voodoo potion which ends up driving the couple farther apart. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Starring:
- Karina Lombard, Nathaniel Parker, (more)
Two marriages and four lives are brought to a crossroads by infidelity in this drama, based on a pair of short stories by author Andre Dubus. Jack (Mark Ruffalo) is a college professor whose marriage to Terry (Laura Dern) has been going through a rough patch. Beyond the tensions over Terry's failings as a mother and housekeeper, Jack is deeply infatuated with Edith (Naomi Watts), the beautiful wife of his best friend, Hank (Peter Krause), a fellow professor and struggling poet. As it happens, Edith is also attracted to Jack, and they soon begin an affair that Edith is certain will soon be found out. Hank, meanwhile, is a man with a flexible attitude about his own fidelity, and he falls into a relationship with Terry. Before long, all four parties learn about the infidelity of their spouses and friends, with differing reactions; Terry becomes desperate to save her marriage, Jack decides he's in love with Edith, but neither couple is willing to divorce. We Don't Live Here Anymore received its world premiere at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, where it was honored with the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Ruffalo, Laura Dern, (more)
Directed by Nick Hurran, Undertaking Betty revolves around the competitive world of undertaking in the Welsh countryside. One of the most respected names in the biz -- Plotz Funeral Homes -- is directed by Boris Plotz (Alfred Molina), whose youthful dreams consisted of two decidedly cheerier concepts than the embalming process: dancing and marrying his childhood crush, Betty Rhys-Jones (Brenda Blethyn). Unfortunately, the pressure to take over the family business became too much for Boris to resist, particularly after Betty, despite being secretly in love with Boris, was married off to a known gold digger. Both Betty and Boris' lives remain firmly status quo until the death of Betty's mother-in-law, whose funeral arrangements throw the unsatisfied couple back together. While the spark between Betty and Boris is reignited, rival funeral director Frank Featherbed (Christopher Walken) grows increasingly angry; the American funeral director desperately wants to revolutionize the U.K. undertaking business with his unique "theme" funerals. Ultimately, Boris and Betty resort to desperate measures -- since the only thing keeping him away from Betty is her two-timing husband, they decide to stage Betty's demise and elope somewhere far away from the death business. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brenda Blethyn, Alfred Molina, (more)
- 1997
- NR
Harry and his much-younger girlfriend surprise their friends one vacation weekend by announcing their desire to marry immediately. As they are visiting a small island village off the coast of west Australia, that is easier said than done. The weekend began with the aforementioned couple and their friends Louise and David sailing out to Rocknest Island to visit their friends Garth, a doctor, and Juliet. The island is truly beautiful, as is the watercolor-like cinematography, and everyone has a good time. It is Emma who drops the bomb, and even Harry is surprised, for he has made no plans for their ceremony. It turns out that neither of the island ministers can do the job on such short notice. Emma then drops another bomb, telling them that she is terminally ill. This galvanizes all to action, and in very little time and with much resourcefulness, the wedding takes place followed by a grand party. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack Thompson, Jacqueline McKenzie, (more)
- 1996
This made-for-TV drama is a prequel to the 1995 feature The Christmas Box, which starred Maureen O'Hara as the formidable dowager Mary Parkin. Set in the '40s, Timepiece stars Naomi Watts as the much-younger Mary, a British transplant not yet married to her widowed boss, small-town businessman David Parkin (Kevin Kilner). By way of explaining how the older Mary came into possession of the priceless watch which figured so prominently in Christmas Box, Timepiece unfolds the story of Lawrence Flynn (James Earl Jones), an old black clock-maker who is accused of murdering the bullying white bigot who'd been tormenting him. As the town's legal authorities are poised to throw the book at Flynn, David Parkin steps forward to make a statement that will win him the undying love and fidelity of the impressionable Mary. Weaving in and out of the proceedings is a poignant subplot involving Parkins' daughter, Andrea (Mercedes Villamil), a victim of meningitis. Adapted from a novel by Richard Paul Evans, Timepiece made its first CBS network appearance on December 22, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Naomi Watts, Kevin Kilner, (more)
This two-part British miniseries was based on a classic gothic novel by Sheridan J. LeFanu. Having inadvertently caused the death of one of his tenants, wicked Squire Fairfield (Derek Jacobi) adopted the dead man's daughter Alice (Naomi Watts). No sooner had Alice grown to womanhood that the satyr-like squire attempted to "have his way" with her. Escaping the Squire's clutches, Alice eloped with Fairfield's virtuous son Charles (Iain Glen) -- but she was not quite out of the wood yet, thanks to a series of disturbing nightmares, a wraithlike mystery woman, and the machinations of Charles' diabolical brother Harry (Jack Davenport). The Wyvern Mystery originally aired on March 5 and 12, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Naomi Watts, Derek Jacobi, (more)
At the Millennium Building in NYC, the elevators have a problem... they just can't stop killing people! Pregnant women, skater dudes -- they're all on the menu for these possessed motorized beasts. As elevator repairman Mark Newman (James Marshal) delves deeper into the mystery, everyone from his boss to the building manager stand in his way. His only help comes from Jennifer Naomi Watts, a nosy reporter that smells a cover-up when she sees it. As the "accidents" pile up, the President and FBI get involved as the heroic couple come face to face with technology gone horribly, horribly wrong. Down is a direct remake (shot for shot at times) of director Dick Maas' early 80's cult flick The Lift. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Marshall, Naomi Watts, (more)
A terrifying legacy haunts a single mother in this sequel to the frightening box-office hit The Ring. Hoping to leave their terrifying experiences in Seattle behind them, Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) and her son, Aidan (David Dorfman), move to the small town of Astoria, OR, where Rachel takes a job writing for the local newspaper. When Rachel learns of an unexplained murder, which occurred after a teenager watched a strange videotape with his girlfriend, she suspects her past is following her and she begins looking into the case. Rachel believes that the otherworldly Samara has come back; however, as she tries to convince others of the young girl's powers, her own son falls ill and is hospitalized, and Rachel's stories fail to convince either Dr. Emma Temple (Elizabeth Perkins), who suspects Rachel is guilty of child abuse, or David Rourke (Simon Baker), one of Rachel's colleagues who fears for Aidan's safety. Also starring Sissy Spacek, The Ring 2 was directed by Hideo Nakata; it was the first English-language project for the Japanese filmmaker, who previously made Ringu, the picture that was the basis for The Ring. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Naomi Watts, Simon Baker, (more)
A disturbing videotape appears to hold the power of life and death over those who view it in this offbeat thriller. A strange videotape begins making the rounds in a town in the Pacific Northwest; it is full of bizarre and haunting images, and after watching it, many viewers receive a telephone call in which they are warned they will die in seven days. A handful of teenagers who watched the tape while spending a weekend at a cabin in the mountains scoff at the threat, but as predicted, they all die suddenly on the same night. Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts), the aunt of one of the ill-fated teens, is a journalist who has decided to investigate the matter and travels West with her young son, Aidan (David Dorfman), a troubled child who has been drawing pictures of strange and ominous visions. Rachel managed to find the cabin in the woods and watches the video herself; afterward, she receives the same phone call, and realizes she must solve the puzzle of the video and the person or persons behind it within a week. Rachel turns to her ex, Noah (Martin Henderson), an expert in video technology, who at first is convinced the story is a hoax until he digs deeper into the mystery. The Ring was adapted from a 1996 Japanese film by Hideo Nakata, which became a massive box-office success in Asia and spawned two sequels. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, (more)
A couple with a broken relationship learns some valuable lessons about love, life, and sacrifice in this romantic drama based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It's 1925, and Dr. Walter Fane (Edward Norton) is a physician and bacteriologist who has become smitten with Kitty (Naomi Watts), the beautiful daughter of a wealthy and socially prominent family. Walter proposes marriage to Kitty and she accepts; however, while he clearly loves her, Kitty is more interested in her reputation than Walter's feelings, as she's recently turned 25, an age by which most of her peers have already wed. Kitty and Walter move to Shanghai, where he sets up a practice and she takes a lover, the British Vice Consul Charles Townsend (Liev Schreiber). When Walter learns of his wife's infidelity, he becomes furious, and impulsively volunteers to travel to China to work in a village stricken with a major cholera epidemic. While Walter's actions are meant to punish Kitty rather than reflect his own benevolence, the daily trials of living in a community in crisis have a striking impact on the couple, giving them a new and deeper perspective on their relationship. The Painted Veil is the third screen adaptation of Maugham's best-selling novel of the same name; a 1934 version starred Greta Garbo and Herbert Marshall, while Eleanor Parker and Bill Travers played the leads in a 1957 remake titled The Seventh Sin. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Naomi Watts, Edward Norton, (more)
The made-for-cable Western The Outsider would seem to have its roots in the classic John Wayne theatrical feature Angel and the Badman. In the Montana of the late 19th century, wounded outlaw Johnny Gault (Tim Daly) is given refuge by widowed sheep farmer Rebecca Yoder (Naomi Watts). This puts Rebecca on the outs with her own people, a pacifist Quaker sect, and also incurs the wrath of a ruthless cattle baron, who has long coveted the Quakers' land--and who also was responsible for the death of Rebecca's husband. Not surprisingly, Johnny Gault turns out to be the traditional "good bad man", capable of solving everyone's problems--except, perhaps, his own. The Outsider first aired over the Showtime cable network on November 10, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Clive Owen and Naomi Watts star in Run Lola Run director Tom Tykwer's action thriller concerning an ambitious Interpol agent who targets corruption at the top levels of the world's largest banking institutions. The world's most powerful banks have become hopelessly corrupt, prompting Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Owen) and Manhattan assistant district attorney Eleanor Whitman (Watts) to follow a dangerous money trail from Berlin to Milan to New York and Istanbul. But as determined as Agent Salinger and ADA Whitman are to ensure that justice is served, their targets are equally determined to ensure that war and terror continue to propagate so the powers that be can continue to profit. John Woo, Terence Chang, and Jeff Lurie executive produced the film, which was penned by emerging screenwriter Eric Warren Singer. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, (more)
- 1999
Based on a true story, The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer concerns the notorious Ira Einhorn, a political activist turned murder suspect who eluded Philadelphia police for nearly 20 years. In 1968, Texas-born Holly Maddux (Naomi Watts) left home to attend Bryn Mawr College, and two years later she made the acquaintance of Einhorn (Kevin Anderson), a community organizer and activist well known for leading peaceful crusades and as the key figure in Philadelphia's radical community. Holly and Ira became romantically involved, but, despite his public image, behind closed doors Einhorn was often abusive and manipulative, though Holly, for her own reasons, accepted his poor treatment and infidelity. In 1977, Holly had reached the end of her rope and told friends she was leaving Ira, intending to return to their apartment only to collect her belongings. She was not seen again for several months, until her corpse was found stuffed in a trunk in Ira's apartment. Einhorn was arrested in connection with the crime, but was released on bail, only to flee the country, surfacing in France four years later. Convicted 'in absentia' for Holly's murder in 1993, Einhorn was extradited to the United States in 1997 under the condition he receive a new trial. The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer was produced for NBC Television, and was first aired as a two-part miniseries in May 1999. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kevin Anderson, Tom Skerritt, (more)
- 1993
Anthony LaPaglia, who's probably played more cops than Pat O'Brien, Edgar Kennedy and Fred Kelsey combined, dons brass and blue once more in The Custodian. LaPaglia plays a frustrated Australian policeman who decides to take on departmental corruption in a most unorthodox fashion. When he's not wrestling with bureaucracy and the good-ole-boy network, the policeman must contend with his unhappy marriage. All of the protagonist's various travails come to a head in the offbeat finale. The Custodian cannot be recommended for children, so pop it in your VCR after the little darlings are snuggled in bed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anthony LaPaglia, Hugo Weaving, (more)
- 1998
Returning to his home town after the death of the grandfather who raised him, slick and cynical Wall Street trader Will Martin (Neil Patrick Harris) feels decidedly out of place, and not at all in tune with the Christmas preparations being made by the local citizenry. But Will isn't really taking a sentimental journey at all: He's merely in town to modernize and streamline his family's real-estate company. While going through his grandfather's effects, Will and his grandmother (Debbie Reynolds) come across the old man's diary--which reveals a lengthy relationship with a woman named Lillian. Determined to locate this mystery mistress (if indeed that's who Lillian is), Will learns a few vital lessons about love, forgiveness, and recapturing the Yuletide spirit that has so long eluded him. Adapted from a novel by Richard Siddoway, the made-for-TV The Christmas Wish premiered December 6, 1998, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2004
- R
- Add The Assassination of Richard Nixon to Queue Add The Assassination of Richard Nixon to top of Queue
The true story of a man who, on February 22, 1974, was thwarted from an ambitious plan for political assassination provides the basis for this striking psychological drama. Sam Bicke (Sean Penn) is a salesman for an office-supply company whose life is slowly beginning to unravel. Bicke's job is going nowhere, his wife, Marie (Naomi Watts), has left him, and his boss (Jack Thompson) keeps pushing self-help books on him that make a mockery of his state of mind. One of Bicke's few friends is Bonny Simmons (Don Cheadle), an auto mechanic, and together they come up with an idea for a tire shop on wheels; while neither has the money to finance the project, Bicke has learned of a program for small-business loans instituted by President Richard Nixon, which he's certain will come through for him. But Bicke is denied his loan, which dovetails with his increasing suspicion of the president's Vietnam policies and a sudden interest in the "by any means necessary" political activism of the Black Panther Party. Desperate to seem important in some way, Bicke becomes increasingly obsessed with the duplicity of Richard Nixon, until he chooses to take it upon himself to stop the president once and for all. The Assassination of Richard Nixon was the first feature film from director Niels Mueller. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sean Penn, Don Cheadle, (more)
Based on a popular British cult comic book, this film is the story of a futuristic feminist superhero and her fight to preserve the environment against an evil government bureaucracy. The action is set in the year 2033, after an ecological disaster of drought and pollution has ravaged the countryside, and water is scarce. Tank Girl (Lori Petty) is a sassy punker who has her own vintage tank in tow, along with other high-tech weapons. Her mutant friends join her in bizarre battles against the corporate-statist Department of Water and Power and its villainous chief, Kesslee (Malcolm McDowell). At stake is the world's water supply, which the Department is hoarding and which the rebels frequently raid. Rock star Iggy Pop has a cameo as Rat Face, one of the half-human, half-kangaroo Rippers. Courtney Love coordinated the post-punk soundtrack. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lori Petty, Malcolm McDowell, (more)
The second film of Emma-Kate Croghan, who made her debut in 1996 with Love and Other Catastrophes, Strange Planet is a romantic comedy about two apparently different groups of friends. During 12 months, we follow six characters and their problems in search of love and happiness. Judy, Alice, and Sally live together and are best friends, but they have different needs and ambitions. Judy tries to cure her passion for elderly men by concentrating on her career; Alice suffers from a broken heart and high morals; and Sally wants everything. Ewan, Joel, and Neil run a law firm together and also have their problems. Ewan does not like his new adult life of responsibility, so he quits; Joel's world falls apart when his wife leaves him; and Neil is desperately looking for someone to love. The coming of the millennium provides the crucial moment when they meet in a secluded beach house on New Year's Eve 1999 and everything is unraveled. The film was screened at the Stockholm International Film Festival in 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi
- Starring:
- Claudia Karvan, Naomi Watts, (more)
A man struggling to save the life of another finds himself drawn into a strange netherworld he didn't know existed in this stylish thriller. Sam Foster (Ewan McGregor) is a psychiatrist living in New York City with his girlfriend, Lila Culpepper (Naomi Watts), who was once one of his patients. However, it's another one of his patients who becomes the focus of his obsessions when Henry Letham (Ryan Gosling), a disturbed young man whom Foster took over from a colleague, announces during a session that he intends to commit suicide in three days, on his 21st birthday. Sam takes the threat quite seriously and tries to track down Henry, who seems to have disappeared. Sam speaks to a number of Henry's friends and acquaintances -- his mother (Kate Burton), the man he claimed was his father, Dr. Leon Patterson (Bob Hoskins), a waitress who regularly served Henry at the coffee shop where she works (Elizabeth Reaser), and his former therapist Dr. Beth Levy (Janeane Garofalo). As Sam talks to people in Henry's circle, he finds he's learning more about himself than the man he's supposed to save, and he begins to drift into an emotional netherworld where the supposedly dead and the living cross paths. Stay was directed by Marc Forster, who had previously enjoyed breakthrough hits with two very different films, Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts, (more)
- 2002
Filmmaker David Lynch built his reputation as a pioneer of unconventional and surrealistic material, a trend epitomized by the memorably bizarre web series Rabbits. A collection of 8 webisodes, filmed in longshot with a fixed camera, it takes place in some nightmarish, otherworldly and slightly sinister realm where the steady patter of distant rain can be heard continually. As suggested by the title, the characters are not homo sapiens but human-sized leporines with black fur, clad in regular street clothes. All of the action takes place in a single living room, and no particularly significant "events" (in the dramatic sense) actually occur over the course of the series. Adding to the uniqueness, the rabbits frequently speak in non-sequiturs that Lynch follows with a disorienting laugh track, and the writer-director interpolates other sitcom-style devices as well, as in the case of a canned audience cheer/applaud that sounds when one character enters the room. If the synopsis of this sounds vaguely familiar, that may be because Lynch subsequently worked the series into his surrealistic drama Inland Empire (2006). ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
This tightly woven, fast-paced thriller begins when Amanda (Kelly Lynch), a sexy gal on in-line skates, trips because alcoholic ex-cop/security expert Jim Holland (Joe Mantegna) bumps into her. Something between the two clicks and they spend the night together. Jim has no idea that he has just been victimized until one of his less-than-savory clients is robbed of a fortune. He sets out on Amanda's trail and discovers that she acted in cahoots with her sister Molly. Eventually, he learns where they stashed the cash and decides that he's been so down on his own luck lately that perhaps he should keep the money. Things become more complicated when he realizes that the client he has been protecting is a ruthless drug dealer who is hell-bent on killing the larcenous sisters. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Joe Mantegna, Kelly Lynch, (more)
Gregor Jordan's version of the Australian legend Ned Kelly stars Heath Ledger as the title outlaw. Sixteen-year-old Irish immigrant Ned is sentenced to three years in prison for stealing a horse. After his release he finds work tending to horses owned by Richard Cook (Nicholas Bell), whose wife (Naomi Watts) grows interested in Ned. Fitzpatrick (Kiri Paramore) is a police officer with a yen for Ned's sister, Kate (Kerry Condon). When she rejects him, Fitzpatrick steals the family's animals. The brothers are falsely accused of a crime and go into hiding, leading to the assault and arrest of their beloved mother. Francis Hare (Geoffrey Rush) is eventually brought on to stop the gang, which becomes famous after a string of bank robberies. The film also features Orlando Bloom (of Lord of the Rings fame) and Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under). The most recent version of this oft-filmed tale featured Mick Jagger as the infamous Kelly in 1970. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, (more)
David Lynch wrote and directed this look at two women who find themselves walking a fine line between truth and deception in the beautiful but dangerous netherworld of Hollywood. A beautiful woman (Laura Elena Harring) riding in a limousine along Los Angeles' Mulholland Drive is targeted by a would-be shooter, but before he can pull the trigger, she is injured when her limo is hit by another car. The woman stumbles from the wreck with a head wound, and in time makes her way into an apartment with no idea of where or who she is. As it turns out, the apartment is home to an elderly woman who is out of town, and is allowing her niece Betty (Naomi Watts) to stay there; Betty is a small-town girl from Canada who wants to be an actress, and her aunt was able to arrange an audition with a film director for her. Betty befriends the injured woman, who begins calling herself "Rita" after seeing a poster of Rita Hayworth. While Betty's audition impresses a casting agent, and she catches the eye of hotshot director Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux), Kesher's producers and moneymen insist with no small vehemence that he instead cast a woman named Camilla Rhodes. As Rita attempts to put the pieces of her life back together, she pulls the name Diane Selwyn from her memory; Rita thinks it could be her real name, but when she and Betty find a listing for Diane Selwyn and visit her apartment, they discover the latest victim of a mysterious killer who is eluding police detective Harry McKnight (Robert Forster). Rita's emotional identity soon takes a left turn, and it turns out that neither woman is quite who she once appeared to be. David Lynch originally conceived Mulholland Drive as the pilot film for a television series; after the ABC television network rejected the pilot and declined to air it, the French production film StudioCanal took over the project, and Lynch reshot and re-edited the material into a theatrical feature. The resulting version of Mulholland Drive premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, where David Lynch shared Best Director honors with Joel Coen. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts, (more)
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