Patsy Kensit Movies

Concert for Diana captures a 2007 tribute to the deceased Diana Spencer, the former Princess of Wales. Among the many performers who appear on the bill are Nelly Furtado, Elton John, Duran Duran, Rod Stewart, and Kanye West. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

This compendium of material from the BBC sketch comedy program French & Saunders pokes fun at everything from Baywatch and the Batman franchise to Björk and Ingmar Bergman, stopping along the way to mock British tennis players and postcolonial biddies. Most of the material dates from the early to mid-'90s; all of it features future Absolutely Fabulous writer/actress Jennifer Saunders and Vicar of Dibley star Dawn French, who parody pop culture figures (Liam Neeson and Mel Gibson in a faux Braveheart/Rob Roy crossover) and inhabit their usual assortment of original characters. Guest players include supermodel Kate Moss and singer/actress/celebrity wife Patsy Kensit. The title refers to the duo's parody of Madonna's Truth or Dare, which, bowing to that film's British title, is called "In Bed With French & Saunders." Other French & Saunders collections include French & Saunders: At the Movies, French & Saunders: Gentlemen Prefer, and French & Saunders: The Ingenue Years. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Mario Azzopardi's adaptation of the Mary Higgins Clark mystery Loves Music, Loves to Dance follows the producer of a talk show who begins to investigate the murder of her friend. The murder occurred not long after the friend responded to an advertisement in the personals; an ad that contained the phrase that gives the film its title. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

This suspense thriller, set in the Civil War period, concerns a beautiful woman and her father, who find themselves on the run from the law. Two men have offered to help them, but the men have had long-standing differences, and they have to learn to overcome their own problems before they can help anyone else. The Pavillion stars Patsy Kensit, Richard Chamberlain, Craig Sheffer, and Daniel Riordan.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A 19th-century British naturalist falls in love with the beautiful daughter of a wealthy aristocrat, but he soon discovers that her family's perfect facade disguises unexpectedly grim secrets. Director and co-screenwriter Philip Haas's adaptation of A.S. Byatt's Morpho Eugenio eschews the usual gentility of Victorian period pieces in favor of subtle creepiness. The unsettling mood is emphasized by the film's detailed attention to its protagonist's scientific endeavors, which center on the study of insects and their behavior. In fact, it is his love of insects that brings William (Mark Rylance) to the well-heeled Reverend Alabaster (Jeremy Kemp), who takes a personal interest in William's welfare when a shipwreck leaves William practically penniless. William is welcomed into the Alabaster home, and he resumes his entomological studies while courting the reverend's daughter, Eugenia (Patsy Kensit). Close-up glimpses of insect society parallel this aristocratic world and hint at the dark secrets with which William soon becomes unexpectedly familiar. As in Haas's previous film, The Music of Chance, an unusual, highly symbolic filmmaking approach creates an effective drama, with the potentially detached intellectualism balanced by unusual characterizations and an absorbing attention to detail. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Based on Alicia Scott's best-selling novel, this made-for-television romance centers on the passionate love affair that gradually develops between a brilliant scientist/widower and the down-to-earth woman he hires to care for his children. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When the call went out for a Baldwin, Stephen answered and was cast in the lead of Bitter Harvest. Patsy Kensit and Jennifer Rubin costar as a pair of oversexed young ladies who get their jollies by victimizing their male lovers. Wide-eyed Baldwin, in need of emotional aid and comfort after the death of his father, finds himself the object of the girls' attentions. Even when he realizes he's being played for a chump, Baldwin hasn't got the inclination to escape the ladies' clutches. And then things take a sinister turn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Brevity may be the soul of wit, but that doesn't make the 79-minute Blame It on the Bellboy any funnier. Orton (Dudley Moore) is an ambitious real estate agent. Horton (Richard Griffiths) is a middle-aged married man looking for extracurricular activity via a dating service. And Lawton (Bryan Brown) is a professional hit man. Orton, Horton and Lawton all check into adjoining rooms at a posh Venetian hotel. Bellboy Bronson Pinchot, whose grasp of the English language is virtually nonexistent, delivers the wrong messages to the three men. That's why Orton is trying to sell a valuable piece of property to a roomful of mafiosi, Horton is "paired up" with an unwitting female real estate broker, and Lawton is preparing to rub out a hapless dating-service subscriber......Written by director Mark Herman, this old-style doorslamming farce might have passed muster as a dinner-theater attraction, but on film it comes across as strained and tiresome. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The rise of teen culture in 1950s Britain provides the backdrop for Julien Temple's unconventional rock musical Absolute Beginners. The film centers on Colin, an 18-year-old with a talent for photography and a fondness for the neon nightlife of British jazz clubs. He also is in love with Crepe Suzette, an impulsive, ambitious young beauty who abandons him after attracting the attention of a powerful fashion designer. Depressed and aimless, Colin turns for help to a flashy ad executive (David Bowie) who promises to make him a star photographer. The former lovers take parallel paths to success, capitalizing on the youth mania gripping the nation. The film's nostalgic yet gently satirical look at teen culture is tempered by a recognition of the era's social tension, particularly a disturbing rise in racism. Despite these serious undertones, however, the film tells its story with a colorful vibrancy reminiscent of both MTV and old Hollywood musicals, filled with such show-stopping numbers as a memorable sequence in which Bowie dances on a giant typewriter. Critical reception was mixed, with some hailing the film's spectacular cinematography and ambitious scope, while others found the mixture of tones and style too inconsistent. The film also drew lukewarm response at the box office, with the memorable soundtrack receiving more attention than the film itself. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

This version of the classic tale of estranged twin brothers, one good and one evil, whose lives and swords cross as adults, was made for British television. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide