Patrick Doyle Movies

A poor woman is the beneficiary of a case of mistaken identity in this comedy. Luckless Connie (Ricki Lake) leaves home to move to New York, only to find herself stuck with no job, no money, and a louse of a boyfriend (Loren Dean) who gets her pregnant and abandons her. Despondently taking a train back to Boston, Connie meets Hugh and Patricia Winterbourne (Brendan Fraser and Susan Haskell), a wealthy couple also expecting a baby. Patricia notices Connie admiring her wedding ring, and lets her try it on; moments later, the train jumps the tracks, and Connie wakes up in a hospital to discover that the staff thinks she's Patricia Winterbourne, who died in the wreck along with Hugh. The Boston Winterbournes, led by sharp-tongued Grace (Shirley MacLaine), had never met Patricia, so they have no way of knowing that Connie isn't Patricia. While Connie isn't trying to cheat anyone, it doesn't take her long to realize that this isn't a bad environment for raising her baby, especially after she meets Bill Winterbourne, Hugh's twin brother (also played by Fraser). Mrs. Winterbourne was based on a short story by Cornell Woolrich, previously filmed as No Man of Her Own and J'ai Epouse Une Ombre. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A privileged, free-spirited young girl tries to adapt to life in a strict boarding school in this charming, critically acclaimed children's fantasy. Adapting a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, also the author of The Secret Garden, the film shifts the story's setting to World War I. 10 year-old Sara Crewe (Liesel Matthews) has been left in a respected New York City boarding school while her British father heads overseas to fight. Filled with wild stories and a playful attitude, the unconventional Sara becomes popular amongst her classmates but quickly comes into conflict with the harsh headmistress, Miss Minchin (Eleanor Bron), who attempts to quash the child's individuality. The young girl's situation takes a serious turn for the worse when she unexpectedly receives word of her father's death, and, suddenly impoverished, is forced into life as a servant. Treated as a lesser class of person by her former companions, Sara instead befriends her fellow servants and turns to the power of imagination in order to maintain hope for the future. In addition to changing the story's setting, screenwriters Richard LaGravenese and Elizabeth Chandler add a layer of Indian mythology to the tale, allowing director Alfonso Cuaron the chance to punctuate the riches-to-rags fable with a series of lush, imaginative fantasy sequences. Though A Little Princess had difficulty attracting audiences during its initial run, its visual splendor and touching storytelling were praised by many critics, several of whom proclaimed the film one of the best family-oriented productions of its time. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

When his professional career hits a lull, an actor attempts to revitalize his career by staging a production of Hamlet, directed by and starring himself. Director and star Kenneth Branagh would in fact release his own film version of Shakespeare's classic play a year later, but this comedy provides his fictional counterpart with far less in terms of production value. Lacking money and time, he recruits a rather motley group of drunks, incompetents, and oddballs, including a middle-aged female impersonator in the crucial role of Queen Gertrude. Given only three weeks of rehearsal, and an abandoned church in a remote town in the English countryside, this unlikely group nevertheless struggles valiantly to make theatrical magic. The film attempts to pay loving tribute to the madness that surrounds the staging of a play, with all of the backstage dramas, inevitable disasters, and unexpected triumphs, but the end result is often less amusing than it ought to be. The film was released in the United States under the title A Midwinter's Tale. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

This sexy farce stars Dan Aykroyd and Rosie O'Donnell as Fred Lavery and Sheila Kingston, a pair of cynical detectives investigating the disappearance of a key witness in a diamond-smuggling case. The case leads them to a Club Med-styled S&M resort where dog collars and cat o' nine tails abound; further complicating matters, the smugglers end up on the island as well. The missing witness, photographer Elliot Slater (Paul Mercurio), takes a job as a bondage boy, and he falls in love with the resort manager, Mistress Lisa (Dana Delany. Adapted from Anne Rice's novel of the same name. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

Mike Newell directs Jim Sheridan's screenplay (based on a story by Tim Palmer) in this enchanting and magical modern-day fairy tale. Gabriel Byrne plays Papa Reilly, a widower who lives with his two young sons, Ossie (Ciaran Fitzgerald) and Tito (Ruaidhri Conroy), in the slums of Dublin. There seems to be no hope for their bleak existence until the children's grandfather (David Kelly) arrives. Accompanying him is a beautiful and imposing white stallion named Tir na nOg, a magical creature from ancient Irish legends. The stallion takes a shine to the boys and they love the horse in return. But a legion of corrupt police plot to impound the horse for the purpose of selling it to a rich businessman. Ossie and Tito sneak off to rescue Tir na nOg. Grabbing the stallion, they get their father and, as the police chase after them, they make their way west. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Satan opens an antique shop in a small town and lures the residents into evil actions in this supernatural chiller. Based on a novel by the prolific Stephen King, the film bears many of the author's trademarks, such as the New England setting and the focus on regular people tempted by the forces of supernatural evil. Here, the enticements toward bad behavior comes from the "Needful Things" shop, owned by new resident Leland Gaunt (Max von Sydow). Gaunt's shop offers an odd collection of goods, each of which happens to be the object of desire of a local resident. Instead of money, however, Gaunt demands that townspeople perform a series of simple pranks. He has a plan, and these actions escalate until the town is at violent war with itself. The residents are brought to life by a talented cast, led by von Sydow's suave devil and including Ed Harris as the local sheriff, J.T. Walsh as a corrupt politician, and Amanda Plummer as a seemingly innocent baker. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Regis Wargnier's epic about French Indochina -- from the years of French colonial imperialism to the days when American presence made itself felt and the country became known as Vietnam -- is a story of romance and separation told through the backdrop of a country in turmoil. The film centers on the relationship of the beautiful and imperious Eliane (Catherine Deneuve), a French rubber-plantation owner, and Camille (Linh Dan Pham), her adopted Indochinese daughter. The mother and daughter are very close until a diffident naval officer, Jean-Baptiste (Vincent Perez) enters their lives. Eliane is in love with him, but Jean-Baptiste and Camille become attracted to each other and fall in love. Thinking that she is doing Camille a favor, Eliane arranges to have Jean-Baptiste transferred to the far-away Tonkin Islands. But Camille flees the plantation to go to the man she loves. As she travels the country, she gains a greater knowledge and respect for the people of her homeland. When the government tears her from Jean-Baptiste and their infant child and arrests her for crimes against the state, she becomes politicized and becomes a supporter of the communists in the country's civil war. As the country rocks in turmoil, Eliane becomes a personification of France, coolly walking amid her peasant workers, neither bowed nor afraid, grimly looking westward. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel Haakon Haakonsen, Shipwrecked is a family film about a cabin boy (Stian Smestad) whose ship is hit by a hurricane just before it is about to be ambushed by pirates. The boy and his stowaway friend wash up on a South Seas island which happens to be where the pirates' treasure is buried. Soon, the pirates--led by Lieutenant Merrick (Gabriel Byrne)--arrive at the island with hopes of reclaiming their treasure, and the boy decides to construct a series of elaborate booby traps to prevent them from reaching the booty. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Made for British television, 1989's Look Back in Anger is the third film adaptation of John Osborne's legendary "kitchen sink" stage drama. Kenneth Branagh plays working-class roisterer Jimmy Porter, the archetypal "angry young man" whose college education has led nowhere. Stuck in a go-nowhere job at a candy store, Porter rebels against the establishment through his boorish treatment of his wife (Emma Thompson) and mistress (Siobhan Redmond). Branagh's forceful performance allows us to ignore the structural shortcomings inherent in the play (Osborne writes in fluent tract). Earlier filmizations of Look Back in Anger starred Richard Burton and Malcolm McDowell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide