Jon Amiel Movies
- 2009
- PG13
Actor Paul Bettany and his real-life wife, Jennifer Connelly, star as controversial English scientist Charles Darwin and his wife, Emily, in this biopic adapted from Randal Keynes' book Annie's Box, which tells the story of Darwin's struggle to reconcile his religious views following the death of his beloved daughter, Annie. John Collee adapts Keynes' revelatory tome (Keynes is Darwin's great-great grandson) for director Jon Amiel. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Bettany, Jennifer Connelly, (more)
- 2007
Reportedly based on an actual Long Island business concern called "Leonard's", the Fox dramedy The Wedding Bells was the saga of a family-owned wedding planning business, the Wedding Palace (one of the original titles for this series--along with "The Wedding Album", "The Wedding Planners" and "The Wedding Store"!) Having inherited the establishment from their divorced parents, the three Bell sisters struggled to keep their heads above water, financially and otherwise, with mixed results. KaDee Strickland headed the cast as Annie Bell, the most sensible of the sisters, whose former lover David Conlon (Michael Landes) was The Wedding Palace's chief photographer. Teri Polo played Jane Bell, who was none-too-happily married to Russell Hawkins, the company's chief operating officer. And Sarah Jones was Sarah Bell, the youngest of the siblings and an unpentant party animal who tended to salivate over handsome bridegrooms and Best Men. Also seen was Chris Williams as Ralph Snow, a versatile and eternally frustrated wedding singer. Produced by David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal, Boston Legal), The Wedding Bells premiered March 6, 2007. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- KaDee Strickland, Teri Polo, (more)
- 2005
The weekly, hour-long Fox drama series Reunion covered 20 years in the lives of the six protagonists, from high school graduation in 1986 to adulthood in 2006. As conceived by creator Jon Harmon Feldman (Tru Calling), each episode would cover a different year, with different casts and locales, all leading up to the murder of one of the main characters in "the present." For season one, scenes of a police interrogation in 2005 led to flashbacks of 1986, allowing viewers tantalizing "then and now" glimpses of the principals, and providing clues as to who would be killed, who would be the killer, and why it all happened. Featured in the cast were Amanda Righetti as Jenna, Alexa Davalos as Samantha, Will Estes as Will, Sean Faris as Craig, Gregory Harrison as Russell Bennett, Dave Annable as Aaron, Chyler Leigh as Carla, and Mathew St. Patrick as Detective Marjorino. Reunion premiered September 8, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dave Annable, Alexa Davalos, (more)
An unlikely band of scientists and soldiers join forces to save the world from certain destruction in this action-drama. As the world is struck with a variety of inexplicable phenomena -- attacks by enormous swarms of birds in London, the explosion of the Colosseum in Rome, a potentially deadly malfunction which forces the Space Shuttle into a Los Angeles riverbed, and the simultaneous deaths of 32 people with pacemakers in Boston -- a team of top scientific minds from around the globe is assembled to determine what has thrown the world into such a frenzy. Dr. John Keyes (Aaron Eckhart) makes the startling discovery that the Earth's electromagnetic forces have begun to collapse, thanks to a sudden lack of movement of the molten ore at the center of the Earth. If the planet is to be saved, the core of the Earth needs a jump start, and Keyes assembles a team to burrow to the center of the planet and bomb the insides back into action. Joining Keyes on this dangerous, last-chance mission are the brilliant but arrogant Conrad Zimsky (Stanley Tucci), French arms expert Dr. Serge Levesque (Tchéky Karyo, maverick researcher "Brazz" Brazzleton (Delroy Lindo), geeky computer genius Rat (DJ Qualls), and two no-nonsense military types, Commander Richard Iverson (Bruce Greenwood) and Major Rebecca Childs (Hilary Swank). However, as the crew digs deeper into the Earth, the more they discover what they haven't been told about their mission and what's really been causing the worldwide chaos. The Core was originally scheduled for release in the fall of 2002, but the movie didn't reach theaters until the spring of 2003 as special-effects experts perfected the film's more spectacular scenes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, (more)
An airy romance in the tradition of classic Hollywood comedies of the Depression Era, Simply Irresistible (1999) also presses into service the food-obsessed magical realism of Like Water for Chocolate (1992). Sarah Michelle Gellar stars as Amanda Shelton, the chef at Southern Cross, a trendy Tribeca restaurant she inherited from her legendary mother. Not the most inspired of culinary artists, Amanda is running the establishment into the ground, until a cab-driving, Cupid-like guardian angel (playwright Christopher Durang) intervenes with a magical crab that puts Amanda in the path of slick spin master Tom Bartlett (Sean Patrick Flanery). Tom is opening a restaurant for his boss Jonathan Bendel (Dylan Baker), who wants to assure the eatery is no less than a four-star affair, but the temperamental French chef is giving fits to Bartlett and his secretary Lois (Patricia Clarkson). Enter Amanda, who falls head over heels for Tom, love suddenly bestowing upon her the gift of infusing her dishes with powerful amorous emotions that overwhelm diners with a rapturous ecstasy. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Michelle Gellar, Sean Patrick Flanery, (more)
After a long career playing good guys, Sean Connery gets to have some fun playing a crook for a change in the romantic crime thriller Entrapment -- and he even gets to break the law with the lovely Catherine Zeta-Jones. When a priceless Rembrandt painting is stolen from a New York skyscraper in a daring and technically sophisticated robbery, ace insurance investigator Virginia "Gin" Baker (Catherine Zeta-Jones) begins looking into the matter and is soon convinced it's the work of master art thief Robert "Mac" MacDougal (Sean Connery). Gin thinks the best way to get the goods on Mac (and perhaps recover the painting) is to work her way inside his operation, so she locates him in London and, posing as a fellow art thief, offers to work as his partner. While Mac is smart enough to not accept an offer like that from just anyone, most thieves don't look as good as Gin does in a leotard, and she soon proves an able assistant in a shakedown robbery where they pinch a rare Chinese mask from a British museum. After this success, Mac agrees to join forces with Gin for what is literally the heist of the millenium -- as Midnight rolls around in Kuala Lumpur on December 31, 1999, the security computers in a major multinational banking facility will be breached for a split second as the computers roll over to a new program for Y2K. Is that long enough for Gin and Mac to nab $8 billion in bank transfers? Is 14 days long enough to prepare for a robbery of this scale? And will Mac and Gin's professional relationship pave the way for some capers in the bedroom? In addition to playing the male lead, Sean Connery also co-produced this film; the supporting cast includes Ving Rhames and Maury Chaykin. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Catherine Zeta-Jones, (more)
Jon Amiel directed this satire on mistaken-identity thrillers and the spy genre, scripted by Robert Farrar, Tim John, and Oliver Butcher from Farrar's unpublished novel, Watch That Man. In the female lead, Joanne Whalley returned to films after a three-year absence, choosing to do so with director Amiel. Farrar's Hitchcockian-style story focuses on naive Blockbuster Video clerk Wallace Ritchie (Bill Murray) who travels from Des Moines, Iowa, to London to celebrate his birthday with his wealthy younger brother, James (Peter Gallagher). When he turns up on the same night that James has plans to attend a high-profile client dinner party (that he hopes will bring him millions from a German investment firm), James needs to keep Wallace away during the evening, so he gives Wallace a ticket to the participatory Theater of Life. The theater game requires Wallace to assume a character and interact with actors portraying people in dramatic situations.
At the corner phone booth, the initial call should begin the evening of innocent fun. However, the phone instructions Wallace receives are actually intended for an assassin, part of a scheme to end the current UK regime and revive the Cold War. The real assassin gets the call from the Theater of Life. Blissfully unaware, Wallace walks without fear into a complex web of intrigue involving defense ministers, call girls, and Russian hitmen. For Wallace, all the world's a stage, and he's amazed at the skill of the actors, including beautiful enigmatic Lori (Joanne Whalley) -- while Wallace's pursuers are mystified by their adversary's fearlessness in the face of threats, torture and bullets. Farrar got the idea for this comedy from a chance remark at a party: "The inspiration came from a dinner party, when somebody told me about these strange live theater performances which were all the rage in England in the '80s. The idea was to telephone for instructions if you wanted to take part. My immediate reaction was, 'Wouldn't it be fabulous if somebody got the wrong number, and it all went hopelessly wrong?'" Filming took place in London's East End (Three Mills Studios), at a variety of London locations, and just outside London at the Elstree Film Studios. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
At the corner phone booth, the initial call should begin the evening of innocent fun. However, the phone instructions Wallace receives are actually intended for an assassin, part of a scheme to end the current UK regime and revive the Cold War. The real assassin gets the call from the Theater of Life. Blissfully unaware, Wallace walks without fear into a complex web of intrigue involving defense ministers, call girls, and Russian hitmen. For Wallace, all the world's a stage, and he's amazed at the skill of the actors, including beautiful enigmatic Lori (Joanne Whalley) -- while Wallace's pursuers are mystified by their adversary's fearlessness in the face of threats, torture and bullets. Farrar got the idea for this comedy from a chance remark at a party: "The inspiration came from a dinner party, when somebody told me about these strange live theater performances which were all the rage in England in the '80s. The idea was to telephone for instructions if you wanted to take part. My immediate reaction was, 'Wouldn't it be fabulous if somebody got the wrong number, and it all went hopelessly wrong?'" Filming took place in London's East End (Three Mills Studios), at a variety of London locations, and just outside London at the Elstree Film Studios. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Murray, Peter Gallagher, (more)
A serial killer stalks the streets of San Francisco; unlike his many predecessors does not choose a distinctive, identifying pattern. No, this killer prides himself on his unoriginality: he is a copycat, recreating the violent murders of some of the country's most notorious serial killers, his heroes. On the case, is criminal psychologist Helen Hudson who is the reigning expert on serial killers; she has also become agoraphobic after having too close of a brush with killer, Daryll Lee Cullum. Though he has finally been locked up, she is unable to function outside her apartment. It is homicide detective M.J. Monahan and her partner Ruben who involve Hudson after they begin suspecting that the recent rash of bizarre murders they investigate is the work of a new mass murderer. Using her career and her vast knowledge, she figures out the killer's game. She knows he is well-versed in history and that the killings are tributes to the old masters. Unfortunately, she cannot predict his next style of killing, who he will kill, or when. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sigourney Weaver, Holly Hunter, (more)
This Americanized remake of the French classic The Return of Martin Guerre (1982) transports the story's setting from the 16th century Gallic countryside to 19th century Tennessee at the conclusion of the U.S. Civil War. Richard Gere stars as Jack Sommersby, a wealthy landowner who returns to his small cotton farming town of Vine Hill three years after the Civil War's end. The defeated Confederate soldier is ready to resume his past life with his young wife Laurel (Jodie Foster). Thinking her husband long dead, however, Laurel has become engaged to Orin Meecham (Bill Pullman), an arrangement she quickly calls off, enraging and embittering Orin. Soon it becomes evident that his experiences have changed Jack thoroughly. A callous and cruel man widely feared before the war, he is now charming and sensitive, offering financial opportunities to an ex-slave and caring for Laurel and his young son. Jack even persuades the town's citizenry that he can rescue their fortunes by pooling resources and switching Vine Hill's chief crop from cotton to tobacco. Jack's scheme works, but Orin becomes increasingly convinced that Jack is in fact an impostor masquerading as the wealthy Sommersby, a suspicion that the smitten and quickly pregnant Laurel secretly shares. When Jack is arrested and charged with a murder he drunkenly committed years before, the court trial leads to some startling revelations about the past. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Jodie Foster, (more)
Tune in Tomorrow is based on Mario Vargas Llosa's novel, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter. In New Orleans, circa 1951, a news writer for a local radio station, Martin Loader (Keanu Reeves), meets and falls in love with his aunt Julia (Barbara Hershey), a divorced woman who is looking for a new husband. Meanwhile, new-in-town eccentric radio-soap-opera writer, Pedro Carmichael (Peter Falk) has been hired to help boost the station's bad ratings. Pedro begins manipulating Martin and Julia's affair and using it as the basis for his radio show. Director Jon Amiel uses the same story-within-a-story construction from The Singing Detective, the miniseries that he directed for British television. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Keanu Reeves, (more)
- 1989
- PG
The Queen of Hearts is an essentially Italian story given full and proper treatment by a virtually all-British crew. Anita Zagaria plays a lovely Italian lass, consigned to an arranged marriage with a wealthy Sicilian man. She balks at the altar and runs off, while the jilted bridegroom swears revenge. She marries another Italian (Joseph Long), and together they set up the quaint "Lucky Cafe" in the middle of London. Though the family vendetta that results from this union has its unfortunate consequences, there are quite a few laughs along the way as well. The Queen of Hearts was directed by Jon Amiel, best known for his handling of the quirky TV serial The Singing Detective. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Duse, Joseph Long, (more)
- 1986
With the notable exception of Pennies From Heaven, The Singing Detective was the best-known TV miniseries project of the iconoclastic, darkly humored Dennis Potter. A reworking of Potter's first novel Hide and Seek, the six-part series starred Michael Gambon as crime novelist Philip E. Marlow. Suffering from a hellish skin-and-nerve disease called psoriatic arthroparthy (a painful infliction which ultimately killed the real-life Potter), Marlow was confined to a hospital bed, where under the influence of numerous prescription drugs he began to imagine himself as the hard-boiled hero of his latest detective novel. While trying to solve a difficult case, Marlow continually drifted backward in time to his childhood in the Forest of Dean, occasionally bursting into song to express his emotions. As fantasy and reality merged into one, Marlow was forced into a tortuous session of self-analysis and personal discovery. Virtually everyone in the cast was seen in double and triple roles, including nominal leading ladies Alison Steadman and Joanne Whalley (aka Joanne Whalley-Kilmer). The series earned two BAFTA awards (the British equivalent of the Emmys), one for Best Actor to Michael Gambon. After its initial BBC1 run from November 16, to December 21, 1986, The Singing Detective was shown in the United States via public and cable television, where it picked up another award, the prestigious Peabody, in 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Gambon, Patrick Malahide, (more)
- 1985
The psychotic behavior of a set of twins, Jennifer (Shirley Parker) and June Gibbons (Sharon Parker) is the focus of this disturbing true story. While still quite young, the twins vow never to speak to anyone except each other -- though their own relationship is clearly either abusive or conspiratorial. Various vignettes underscore their abnormality, making anyone wonder why they were not given the psychiatric treatment they so obviously needed. In the end, it took a drastic and tragic action on their part before the public sat up and noticed they were desperately in need of therapy. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sharon Parker, Shirley Parker, (more)
