Aden Young Movies

Based on the same real-life events that inspired Ranulph Fiennes' gripping best-seller The Feather Men, writer/director Gary McKendry's globe-trotting action thriller follows the adventures of an ex-special-ops agent (Jason Statham) as he emerges from retirement to track down his missing mentor (Robert De Niro). But accomplishing that goal won't be easy, because a master killer (Clive Owen) has dispatched a trio of fierce assassins to exterminate the hardboiled former agent by any means necessary. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The true story of Li Cunxin and his journey from rural China to the bright lights of ballet stardom is brought to the screen in this biographical drama from director Bruce Beresford. In 1972, 11-year-old Li Cunxin (Huang Wenbin) is living with his parents, Niang (Joan Chen) and Dia (Wang Shuangbao), and six siblings while attending a tumbledown school in Shandog province. Li's life changes when representatives of Madame Mao's Beijing Dance Academy visit his school, and he is one of several students believed to have promise as a dancer. While life at the school is difficult for Li and many of the instructors are harsh and unforgiving, Chan (Zhang Su) takes the boy under his wing and grooms him into one of the school's star pupils. In 1981, Li (now played by Chi Cao) is chosen to travel to the United States as part of a student exchange with the Houston Ballet Company. Under the tutelage of Ben Stevenson (Bruce Greenwood), the company's director, Li impresses his peers and is given a key role in a televised production of Die Fledermaus; despite an attack of stage fright, Li's performance is a triumph. As Li came to love life in the United States, he also falls for an attractive young dancer, Elizabeth (Amanda Schull), and when his time in America draws to a close, he makes the decision to leave his old life behind and pursue a life of personal and creative freedom in America. Also starring Kyle MacLachlan and Camilla Vergotis, Mao's Last Dancer received its world premiere at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Based on the 2005 bestselling novel by Gigi Levangie Grazer, the six-part miniseries The Starter Wife starred former Will & Grace leading lady Debra Messing as Molly Kagan, an archetypal "Hollywood wife" who for ten years had enjoyed the perks and privileges of being married to powerful studio executive Kenny Kagan (Peter Jacobson). All of this changed drastically when Kenny dumped his spouse for a much-younger pop singer named Shoshanna (Trilby Glover), adding insult to injury by informing Molly that their marriage was through via cell-phone. Having carefully timed the breakup to coincide with the expiration of the couple's pre-nuptual agreement, Kenny was able to escape without providing Molly with a huge monetary settlement, leaving our benumbed heroine high and dry. Also, Molly was now "persona non grata" in her Brentwood community, with many old doors (especially those on stores and restaurants) being literally closed in her face, and such fair-weather friends as Cricket Stewart (Miranda Otto) and Joan McAllister (wonderfully played as a self-hating lush by Judy Lewis) conspicuously unavailable. Vowing to start life anew for the sake of herself and her teenaged daughter, Molly relocated to Malibu, where she found a new best friend in the form of airheaded Malibu gate guard Lavender Caraway (Arika Noni Rose). She also entered into a brace of tempestuous relationships with aging, moody movie producer Lou Manahan (Joe Mantegna) and handsome but untrustworthy beachcomber Sam Knight (Stephen Moyer). All of the episodes were scripted by Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott and directed by Jon Avnet--and curiously, all were filmed in Australia rather than "La-la Land". Making its USA Network debut on May 31, 2007 with a two-hour episode, The Starter Wife ran on a weekly, hourly basis until June 28 of that year. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Crikey! Following a brief cameo in Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), hyperactive, high-energy cable television star and native Australian naturalist Steve Irwin parlays his success as a confronter of all things scaly, fanged, and venomous into this feature-film adventure. Irwin and his wife Terri Irwin play themselves as animal activists who rescue an endangered crocodile, not realizing that the critter has swallowed a downed top-secret satellite beacon that's the subject of an intense search by CIA personnel. Believing that the spies are poachers out to steal the animal's precious hide, the Irwins evade their pursuers while attempting to get the crocodile to safety in a remote area of the Outback, adopting an orphaned joey (a baby kangaroo), and grappling with bird-eating spiders and poisonous snakes along the way. In the meantime, the secret agents mistakenly believe the Irwins are enemy operatives trying to steal their highly valuable technology. The real-life Irwins donated all of their fees from The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course (2002) to wildlife conservation efforts. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Director Mojgan Khadem's exotic drama draws on research conducted by Christine Stevens to tell the tale of Jalil - the daughter of an Aboriginal Australian and an Afghan cameleer. As a young girl living in Australia, Jalil was raised as an Aborigine by her grandfather. Later, Jalil's childhood beliefs begin to clash with her education during her time at a Lutheran mission run by Pastor Hoffman (David Gulpilil). Pastor Hoffman's son Johan is five years older than Jalil, and it doesn't take long for love to blossom between this unlikely couple. Eventually, Jalil's grandparents die and she is placed in the custody of her father and his new family. Now forced to abide by the rules of a Moslem household, the drifting Jalil is informed by her father that she will marry a man of his choosing. But Jalil's father had never been there for her in the past, and now she is determined to break free of the arranged marriage so that she and Johan can live happily ever after. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Meg Richman made her feature directorial debut with this modernization of Henry James' Wings of the Dove, set in Seattle where musician Cynthia (Molly Parker) breaks up with drug-addict Buck (Aden Young). After Cynthia answers an ad for a live-in caretaker, she meets Eleanor Dunston (Joely Richardson), who is dying of cancer. The two becomes friends, despite Cynthia's obvious envy of Eleanor's life of luxury at her large estate. Realizing that she still loves Buck, she introduces him to Eleanor as her half-brother, and he gets work as a gardener on the grounds. Observing Eleanor's interest in Buck, she moves to manipulate the situation and has the reluctant Buck begin a relationship with Eleanor. Made for telecasting by Showtime, this feature was shown at the 1998 Sundance film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

In this Australian comedy, adapted by Louis Nowra from his own play and updated from a '70s to a '90s setting, a Sydney slacker gets the chance to stage an opera, but his cast is assembled from the ranks of the mentally ill. After a long stretch sponging off his law-student girlfriend Lucy (Rachel Griffiths), college dropout Lewis (Ben Mendelsohn) fakes his way into a job doing occupational therapy with a group of asylum inmates. Although his original assignment is to stage a variety show, manic-depressive patient Roy (Barry Otto) soon hijacks the project and convinces Lewis to helm an adaptation of his favorite opera, Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutti. Lewis' unlikely cast ranges from psycho firebug Doug (David Wenham) and scruffy loudmouth Sandra (Kerry Walker) to depressive, dirt-obsessed Ruth (Pamela Rabe) and self-effacing drug addict Julie (Toni Collette). Given the dearth of acting and singing experience among these players, Lewis opts to translate the piece from Italian to English and stage it as a play with only a few pieces of music. The show still proves to be more than its director bargained for -- despite the dubious assistance of his friend Nick (Aden Young), an actor/director who's currently staging his own over-the-top production of Diary of a Madman. Although Cosi reteams Muriel's Wedding co-stars Collette and Griffiths, their characters here never share a scene. The production also includes former Men at Work singer Colin Hay in a featured role, plus cameos from Greta Scacchi and Paul Mercurio (who appeared alongside Otto in Strictly Ballroom). ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Sleazy real estate wheeler-dealer Ben Egan (Aden Young) is brought up short when a deal catastrophically falls through. After he hits a policeman, Egan winds up doing several months of community service at a youth drop-in center. Before that, he had been all set up to marry the boss's daughter (Tammy MacIntosh) and rise swiftly in the old man's firm. The woman who runs the center (Essie Davis), and one of the children get his attention and he begins to have charitable thoughts occasionally. However, old habits die hard. When he learns that the youth center is situated in a prime development area, he tries very hard to get hold of the property. Will his growing conscience break through the shell he has built around it in time to prevent him from closing this deal? ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This Australian drama, based on the novel Priest Island by E.L. Grant, tells the tale of a man exiled to a lonely island after he is caught stealing sheep. The story is set in an unnamed time in an unknown time. Peter had been stealing the sheep to pay the dowry for his beloved, Jean. He is sentenced to spend his life on an uninhabited island with only a few simple tools. If he leaves the island, he will be killed. While he learns to survive, Jean is forced to marry another. She gets pregnant but loses the baby during childbirth. Mary is a servant at the local inn. She is curious about the rumors of a good looking man exiled on a nearby island. She goes to the island with some chickens and a goat. Though Peter still mourns the loss of Jean, he and Mary soon become lovers. Mary bears him a son. Later a priest comes to baptize the child and marry the couple. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Somewhere in the Northeastern U.S., Alma (Olympia Dukakis) is a 60-year-old recent widow who has never been on her own since her early marriage to a domineering husband. Her son tries to immure her in a dowdy apartment in the basement of his house and showers her with perfunctory and thoughtless shows of public affection while preventing her from having any sort of life of her own. Her other child is a socially ambitious woman married to an ambitious Australian politician. Offended by the patronizing and heavy-handed attentions of her son, Alma flies off to see her daughter in Australia but swiftly discovers that she is not wanted there. In fact, she overhears her daughter and son-in-law talking about how to get her to leave. Rather than stay where she is unwelcome, she buys a vintage-model Chevy and charges off into the countryside, contemplating suicide -- or at the very least, kicking over the traces. She runs into Dutch (Derek Fowlds), a cantankerous but generous man about the same age as she is, and the two of them begin an impromptu tour of the glories of Australia. For the first time in her life, she has a romance between equals, and it takes her some time to adjust to it. While her daughter is worried that her neglect of her mother will reflect badly on her in public life and is anxious to track her down, Alma is having the time of her life and is discovering that she's a pretty spunky, capable woman in the bargain. This quiet little gem of a movie sparked little interest at the box-office but has done well in televised showings, and is available on tape. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Adapted by Brian Moore from his own novel, The Black Robe is a sprawling recreation of a turbelent period in Canadian history. In 1634, Jesuit missionary Father Laforgue (Lothair Bluteau) arrives in the New World, hoping to convert the Huron Indian tribe to Catholicism-and, incidentally, to expedite the French colonization of Quebec. Laforgue is regarded with a combination of warmth and wariness by the natives, who refer to Laforgue and his fellow priests as "black robes". Offering his services as both guide and friend is Algonquin chief Chomina (August Schellenberg). The by-the-book Laforgue does little to endear himself to the Indians-one of whom, a holy man, labels the priest as a demon who will bring nothing but death and destruction. The one who suffers most is Chomina, the man who most desires peaceful coexistence. In an ironic coda, we learn that the "black robes" have set into motion the fall of the Hurons, simply by imposing their Christian values upon them. Black Robe has been compared to Dances with Wolves, but the films do not share the same philosophy: while the idealistic hero of Wolves strives to understand and appreciate his new Indian comrades, the pious protagonist of Black Robe has only conversion in mind. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi