Mike Newell Movies
A film director of sure hand and considerable range, Mike Newell credits his ability to juggle numerous genres and subject matters to his diverse assignments and early experiences in British television. Generally shunned as a redheaded stepson to film, Newell considers television a key component in the scheme of the entertainment industry, claiming that his work at Granada Television fueled his versatility by allowing him the room for experimentation that the non-existent British film industry of the late '60s and early '70s couldn't provide. Born in England in March of 1942, Newell studied at Cambridge, later moving on to work at Granada Television as a trainee in 1963, where he worked in various aspects of production for several years before making his TV directorial debut. Spawning such contemporaries as Ken Loach, Stephen Frears, and Michael Apted, television work provided the creative outlet that many young filmmakers of the time so desperately needed. Newell's U.K. television feature debut, The Man in the Iron Mask (1977) served as his springboard to international success, finding theatrical release in the U.S. Continuing with work in television in the following years, Newell began to concentrate on his attempts to move into feature territory in the late '70s. Newell's first theatrical feature The Awakening (1980), a U.S./U.K. co-produced adaptation of Bram Stoker's Jewel of the Seven Stars, earned mixed reviews, though it began to cement Newell's reputation as a talented and versatile director with a gift for getting the best performances possible from his actors. Following Awakening with Bad Blood (1982), a disturbing study in small town alienation set in New Zealand, Newell continued to refine his gift for darkly enchanting, personalized films on a feature level. Working through the remainder of the decade in multiple genres, including crime (Dance With a Stranger, [1985]), drama (Soursweet, [1989]), and the activist sports drama Amazing Grace and Chuck (1987), Newell proved time and again that his sure directorial hand and sharp eye for storytelling transcended genre restrictions in favor of deeply rooted character studies. Though he had over 54 credits to his name upon entering the final decade of the millennium, the 1990s proved to be the decade in which Newell began to gain the international recognition that he so richly deserved. Making his '90s theatrical debut with the charmingly romantic Enchanted April (1992), Newell continued with a critically praised melancholy family fable in 1993, Into the West, before making his breakthrough with the influential romantic comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). Offered directorial hand on a slew of similarly themed romantic comedies in the wake of the success of Four Weddings (including Notting Hill, [1999]), and taking advantage of one such offer with the less successful Hugh Grant comedy An Awfully Big Adventure, Newell proved his versatility and struck gold again in 1997, with Donnie Brasco. In 1999, Newell spun a tale of dysfunctional air-traffic controllers with Pushing Tin, "a movie about people crashes, not plane crashes." ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Ubisoft's popular video-game series of the same name gets adapted for the big screen in this sweeping fantasy adventure starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton. The setting is sixth century Persia. A nefarious nobleman covets the Sands of Time, a legendary gift from the gods that allows its possessor to turn back time. Whoever owns the Sands of Time has the power to rule the world, and this villainous lord would use that power to enslave all of humanity. The only person capable of defeating this tyrant and saving the world is Dastan (Gyllenhaal), a youthful prince. Now, with plucky princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) by his side, Dastan will attempt to prevent the Sands of Time from falling into the wrong hands. Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) directs a script penned by Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro, Jordan Mechner, and Boaz Yakin. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, (more)
Based on Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel García Márquez's novel of the same name, director Mike Newell's Love in the Time of Cholera details a passionate love triangle that unfolds in turn-of-the-century South America. Oscar-winning Pianist scribe Ronald Harwood adapts the story of two young lovers who bide their time for years while anxiously awaiting the day they can finally be together. Through marriages, affairs, careers, and deaths, the couple never loses hope that destiny will unite them in the end. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Javier Bardem, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, (more)
- 2005
- PG13
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Directed by Mike Newell, the fourth installment to the Harry Potter series finds Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) wondering why his legendary scar -- the famous result of a death curse gone wrong -- is aching in pain, and perhaps even causing mysterious visions. Before he can think too much about it, however, Harry boards the train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he will attend his fourth year of magical education. Shortly after his reunion with his best friends, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson), Harry is introduced to yet another Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: the grizzled Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson), a former dark wizard catcher who agreed to take on the infamous "DADA" professorship as a personal favor to Headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon). Of course, Harry's wishes for an uneventful school year are almost immediately shattered when he is unexpectedly chosen, along with fellow student Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson), as Hogwarts' representative in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, which awards whoever completes three magical tasks the most skillfully with a thousand-galleon purse and the admiration of the international wizard community. As difficult as it is to deal with his schoolwork, friendships, and the tournament at the same time (not to mention his feelings toward the ever unfathomable Professor Snape (Alan Rickman), Harry doesn't realize that the most feared wizard in the world, Lord Voldemort, is anticipating the tournament, as well. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, (more)
Up until the day that a 15-year-old patient committed suicide right in the middle of his office, prosperous L.A. psychiatrist Dr. Craig "Huff" Huffstodt (Hank Azaria) had been sublimely confident that his was the most secure and well-ordered of lives. But as he finds out in the course of Huff's first season on Showtime, our hero is the central figure in a bizarre, often incomprehensible real-life scenario festooned with hitherto untapped neuroses, sexual hang-ups, dysfunctional family members, and jaw-dropping plot convolutions. Just your typical, everyday midlife crisis. Inasmuch as the parents of his unfortunate teenage patient hold Huff responsible for the suicide, Huff's attorney, Russell Tupper (Oliver Platt), would seem to be the "go-to guy" whenever the going gets too rough. Unfortunately, despite his sympathy toward Huff's plight and his pithy words of wisdom, Tupper himself is an angst-ridden mess, as he proves via his weird behavior during a Medical Board hearing. There's worse in store for Tupper when his latest client turns out to be the hooker (Nichole Mercedes Robinson) with whom he'd previously enjoyed a spontaneous one-night orgy. As for Huff's self-absorbed mother, Izzy (Blythe Danner), she had never been a pillar of moral support before, and is even less of one now as she prepares to divorce Huff's long-estranged father, Ben (Robert Forster). Izzy's other son, Teddy (Andy Comeau), wouldn't have been of any help even if he hadn't gotten himself lost in the middle of a field trip. And Huff's own son, Byrd (Anton Yelchin), has begun messing around with illegal substances, much to the dismay of Huff's wife, Beth (Paget Brewster), who already has a big-time cross to bear in the form of the grave illness that is sapping the life from her mother, Madeleine (Swoosie Kurtz). And believe it or not, this litany of misfortune is often played for laughs -- successfully! Adding to Huff's burdens are the ravings of his bipolar patient Melody Coatar (Lara Flynn Boyle), and his brief flirtation with infidelity as he dallies with a sexy pharmaceutical rep. It's not for nothing that the series' holiday offering is titled "Christmas Is Ruined" -- just as the season finale, "Crazy Nuts & All Fucked Up" bears an appropriate moniker, given Huff's anguished response to his mom Izzy's post-menopausal love affair with...well, let's not give away the entire plot! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hank Azaria, Paget Brewster, (more)
Set in 1953, Mona Lisa Smile tells the story of Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts), a new young art history professor at Wellesley College, an all-female campus with a prestigious reputation for academic excellence. Unfortunately for free-minded Berkeley grad Watson, her East Coast teaching stint comes during a less-progressive time that finds most of her students -- among them Betty Warren (Kirsten Dunst), Joan Brandwyn (Julia Stiles), and Giselle Levy (Maggie Gyllenhaal) -- more interested in nabbing a good husband than achieving scholastic and intellectual growth. Watson challenges her students and the Wellesley faculty to think outside of the current mores of the community and redefine what it means to be a success; meanwhile, she tries to come to terms with her own heart's desires. Mona Lisa Smile co-stars Marcia Gay Harden, Juliet Stevenson, and, as Watson's conflicting love interests, Dominic West and John Slattery. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, (more)
Based on the novel by Dodie Smith (101 Dalmatians), director Tim Fywell's comic romance follows 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain (Romola Garai) and her quirky family as they attempt to make the best of their meager existence in a crumbling English castle. While her father (Bill Nighy) has been struggling for over a decade to repeat the success of his debut novel, her beautiful sister Rose (Rose Byrne) frequently voices her displeasure with their current situation, and nudist stepmother Topaz (Tara Fitzgerald) proves little help at much of anything. The arrival of American landlord Simon Cotton (Henry Thomas) and his brother Neil (Marc Blucas) provides a glimmer of hope as the initially repelled Rose soon takes a liking to Simon and the two arrange to marry. Lost in the chaotic shuffle of marriage plans and increasingly complicated relationships, the hapless Cassandra soon begins to blossom into womanhood as she experiences aspects of life that were heretofore unknown to her. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Romola Garai, Rose Byrne, (more)
Described by director Steven Soderbergh as "Nashville meets The French Connection," this multi-character drama explores the effects of international drug trafficking on all fronts: from their source, to the U.S. border, to the federal government, to the private lives of users. Based upon a miniseries originally aired on Britain's Channel 4, Traffic divides its time among three main storylines and almost a dozen locales. The first and primary plot thread, set in Ohio and Washington, D.C., concerns freshly-appointed drug czar Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas), whose enthusiasm for his new prestige position is quickly offset when he realizes his 16-year-old daughter Caroline (Erika Christensen) is graduating from recreational drug use to habitual abuse -- a secret that his wife, Barbara (Amy Irving), has kept from him. South of the border, Mexican cop Javier Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro) attempts to wage his own war on drugs, heading off a cocaine shipment in the middle of the desert with his less-than-virtuous partner Manolo Sanchez (Jacob Vargas). Surrounded by corruption, Javier approaches the drug war with an attitude of patience and compromise, which opens him up to investigation from General Arturo Salazar (Tomas Milian), the country's dubious drug-enforcement liaison to the U.S. Meanwhile, San Diego drug kingpin Carlos Alaya (Steven Bauer) is caught in a sting operation spearheaded by DEA agents Montel Gordon (Don Cheadle) and Ray Castro (Luis Guzman), leaving behind his very pregnant and very oblivious wife, Helena (Catharine Zeta-Jones). At the behest of Carlos' lawyer and shady confidante, Arnie Metzger (Dennis Quaid), Helena decides to carry on the family business -- with tragic consequences. Adapted by Rules of Engagement scribe Stephen Gaghan, Traffic marked Soderbergh's second major release in 2000 after the critical and box-office success of Erin Brockovich, as well as his second feature as cinematographer (credited under the pseudonym Peter Andrews). A favorite with various guild and critics' awards, Traffic won four Academy Awards in 2001, including statues for Best Supporting Actor (Del Toro) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Gaghan), and surprise wins for Steven Mirrone's editing and Soderbergh's direction. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Douglas, Don Cheadle, (more)
A man discovers that there's more to love than a good mixed tape in this dramatic comedy about music and relationships. Rob (John Cusack), an obsessive record collector in his mid-thirties, is struggling to reconcile his adolescent enthusiasm for pop music with adult responsibilities and a more mature outlook. He runs a record shop with his friends Barry (Jack Black) and Dick (Todd Louiso), who are known to drive away customers whose taste in music doesn't match their exacting standards -- which may have something to do with why the shop is losing money. But Rob's biggest problem is his failing relationship with Laura (Iben Hjejle), a lawyer who needs more out of the relationship than Rob is capable of giving. To Rob's horror, Laura starts dating Ian (Tim Robbins), his upstairs neighbor, known throughout the building for his long and noisy sex sessions. Rob, on the other hand, finds himself catching the attention of singer/songwriter Marie DeSalle (Lisa Bonet), as he tries to deal with his breakup by tracking down his previous ex-girlfriends and taking a fresh look at what he's been doing wrong. Based on the acclaimed novel by Nick Hornby, High Fidelity also features Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lili Taylor, and Joelle Carter as three of Rob's ex-lovers, and Sara Gilbert as Dick's new girlfriend, who gets a crash course in U.K. punk bands that influenced Green Day. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, (more)
The intense world of air-traffic controllers is played for both drama and laughs in Pushing Tin. John Cusack plays Nick Falzone, the top air traffic controller at New York's Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) Center, where he negotiates air traffic and landing patterns for the Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports, America's most congested airspace. It's a tough, stressful job that's highly demanding and Nick is very good at it -- and he takes no small amount of pride in that. So Nick is less than enthusiastic when a new controller comes on board; Russell Bell (Billy Bob Thornton) transferred into TRACON from the Southwest, in search of a greater challenge. In direct contrast to the wired edginess of Nick's personality, Russell is a model of Zen cool who is so focused on planes it's said he once stood in the wake of a 747 just to know what it felt like. Soon work becomes a constant competition between Russell and Nick, and their competitiveness doesn't stop when work is over. However, the rivalry begins to take a different turn when Nick takes notice of Russell's beautiful but hard-drinking wife Mary (Angelina Jolie), while Nick's wife Connie (Cate Blanchett) finds herself more than a bit intrigued by Russell. Pushing Tin was written by Glen Charles and Les Charles, who previously received notice for their television work on such series as M*A*S*H, Cheers and Taxi, and directed by British filmmaker Mike Newell, who's last project, Donnie Brasco, also took him into a little seen side of New York City. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, (more)
Absolutely nobody is who he or she seems in this stylish thriller about a guy who wants to get out of his fly-speck hometown, the girlfriend who wants to help him, and the successful friend who just might make it possible. When Bryce (Josh Brolin) returns to his tiny hometown of Tropico, NV, he finds pal Nick (Alessandro Nivola) still living there unhappily. One night the pair meets a beautiful blonde at the bar and eventually Bryce takes her back to the house where he's staying. When the girl, Lissa (Reese Witherspoon), reveals that she's under age and threatens to turn Bryce in for statutory rape, he panics, ties her up in the basement, and puts in an anguished call to Nick. Little does Bryce realize, however, that Lissa is actually Nick's very grown-up girlfriend, and that the two lovers have decided Bryce and the ritzy house where he's staying will play a major role in their bid to leave behind dead-end Tropico forever. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alessandro Nivola, Father Terrance Sweeney, (more)
This drama about an undercover cop who learns the hidden dangers of working his way inside the mob was based on a true story. Joe Pistone (Johnny Depp) is an FBI agent who is given an assignment to infiltrate the Mafia; calling himself Donnie Brasco, he befriends Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino), a low-level mob hit man whose personal life is in tatters. Lefty's marriage is falling apart, his son is a junkie, and his health is failing, which only adds to his growing disillusionment about having spent 30 years with the Mafia (and killing 26 people) with little to show for it. But in Donnie, Lefty sees someone who can succeed where he failed; he takes the young man under his wing, and under Lefty's tutelage Donnie quickly rises through the ranks of organized crime; however, the longer he plays the role of the gangster, the more Joe Pistone finds himself becoming Donnie Brasco in his increasingly rare off hours; it drives a wedge between himself and his wife (Anne Heche) and children, and Joe realizes that a break in character among the hoodlums he's come to know could mean a death sentence for himself and his family. Just as importantly, Joe has come to regard Lefty as a close and trusted friend, and Joe realizes that when the day comes where he has to turn in his Mob associates, he'll be ending Lefty's life as surely as if he put a slug in his head himself. The supporting cast includes Michael Madsen as Sonny, Lefty's boss, and Bruno Kirby as Nicky, one of Sonny's henchmen. The real-life Joe Pistone today lives under an assumed name with a 500,000-dollar contract on his life still in effect. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Depp, Al Pacino, (more)
- 1997
Featuring neat special effects, this romantic fantasy is loosely based on the story of the Cottingley Fairies, a tale of two cousins who, in 1917, swore that they had photographed the magical wee folk dancing in their garden. The story the girls told captured the war-weary imagination of Britishers everywhere. That the girls later admitted it was all a hoax, didn't matter much to "true believers" of fairy and magic books. This tale, like the original story, is set in the British countryside but centers on a jaded WW I photographer who makes a living in 1918 London debunking phony pictures of ghosts and other supernatural phenomenon -- that is until one day a woman brings him a picture of a fairy that defies explanation.
Charles Castle didn't set out to be a hard case towards humanity, It just happened. Shortly after his wedding day, his new bride Anne-Marie died after falling down a suddenly appearing ice fissure on a Swiss Alp. He has never gotten over his grief and desperately wants to see and speak to her again. Charles spends the war on battlefields photographing the dead. The photo that changes his life is given to him by the enigmatic Bea Templeton who claims that her daughters took the picture outside their country home. Unable to restrain his curiosity, Charles visits the area. Soon after, Bea dies mysteriously, and Charles becomes obsessed with the idea that talking to the fairies will somehow allow him the chance to contact his late wife. A magic white flower provides the key to his happiness and helps lead into the story's beautifully done climax. Parents may want to know that some of the fairies appear in various states of undress. This is one of two 1997 films based on the same true story. The other film is titled Fairy Tale: A True Story. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Charles Castle didn't set out to be a hard case towards humanity, It just happened. Shortly after his wedding day, his new bride Anne-Marie died after falling down a suddenly appearing ice fissure on a Swiss Alp. He has never gotten over his grief and desperately wants to see and speak to her again. Charles spends the war on battlefields photographing the dead. The photo that changes his life is given to him by the enigmatic Bea Templeton who claims that her daughters took the picture outside their country home. Unable to restrain his curiosity, Charles visits the area. Soon after, Bea dies mysteriously, and Charles becomes obsessed with the idea that talking to the fairies will somehow allow him the chance to contact his late wife. A magic white flower provides the key to his happiness and helps lead into the story's beautifully done climax. Parents may want to know that some of the fairies appear in various states of undress. This is one of two 1997 films based on the same true story. The other film is titled Fairy Tale: A True Story. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Toby Stephens, Emily Woof, (more)
This acclaimed British comedy centers on the intermittent romance between a charming (if slightly bumbling) Englishman and a beautiful American woman, who seem to always run into each other at weddings. Indeed, it is at the first of the title's four weddings that Charles (Hugh Grant) and Carrie (Andie McDowell) meet, enjoying a brief but fleeting connection. The spark is rekindled several months later, when they unexpectedly meet at another wedding. Unfortunately, however, Carrie has become engaged to another, a fact that complicates matters for them both. The story may seem simple, but the film is elevated by screenwriter Richard Curtis' ear for witty dialogue and a colorful supporting cast. Director Mike Newell's sympathetic attention to character keeps the proceedings believable, and prevents the film's more serious moments from seeming mawkish. These elements, along with Grant's star-making performance as Charles, helped the film achieve unexpected international success, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, (more)
A misleading title and a different type of performance from Hugh Grant are two of the offbeat features of An Awfully Big Adventure. Virginal theatre fanatic Stella (Georgina Cates), who speaks with her dead mother by phone, joins a theatrical troupe in 1947 England headed by manipulative director Meredith Potter (Grant). Stella quickly falls for Potter, but he doesn't return her affections, driving her into the arms of the troupe's arrogant star, P.L. O'Hara (Alan Rickman). O'Hara eventually takes Stella's virginity, although she secretly remains devoted to Potter. More secrets of the troupe are revealed at the story's climax, although nothing is really resolved to any of the characters' satisfaction. Not quite a satire and not quite a drama, An Awfully Big Adventure is occasionally mean-spirited and frequently dour, which may just be a result of its subject matter. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant, (more)
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
- Starring:
- Gabriel Byrne, Ellen Barkin, (more)
Previously filmed in 1935 with Ann Harding, Enchanted April, a romantic novel by Elizabeth, was remade in 1992. The first film skips along superficially at 66 minutes: the second, directed by the always intriguing Mike Newell, runs 101 minutes, allowing for richer characterizations and a bottomless reserve of brilliant dialogue. Two cloistered, married English women (Josie Lawrence, Miranda Richardson) impulsively rent an Italian villa and embark upon a vacation without their spouses. They are joined by two other ladies: the high-flown aging widow Joan Plowright, and elegant upper-crust beauty Polly Walker) whom they've never met. Under the spell of an exotic new location, the foursome are in for quite a few life-altering experiences, many of them amusing, and not a few very surprising. Impeccably accurate in its recreation of European manners and mores in the 1920s, Enchanted April is sheer bliss from fade-in to fade-out. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miranda Richardson, Joan Plowright, (more)
- 1990
J. Anthony Lukas' 1985 Pulitzer Prize winning book Common Ground served as the basis of the two-part TV movie Common Ground. Jane Curtin plays Alice McGoff, and CCH Pounder plays Rachel Twymon, two Boston housewives and mothers on opposite sides of one of the city's bitterest racial battles. In 1974, the decision is made to improve the level of education received by Boston's black youth. The solution: bus black kids to white schools, and vice versa, on a quota basis. Spearheading the movement is idealistic Harvard-educated attorney Colin Diver (Richard Thomas). Nobody emerges the winner of this debacle, as newly integrated Charleston High School becomes a battlefield. Part one of Common Ground premiered March 25, 1990 (see separate entry for details on part two). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
In part one of the 4-hour TV movie Common Ground (see separate entry for details), the city of Boston embarks upon its 1974 school busing program. Instead of bringing unity and harmony, the buses have brought dissension, divisiveness, and some of the ugliest overt bigotry since the 1950s. The impact of Boston's well-meaning integration program has its most profound impact upon black and white Charleston High schoolmates Cassandra (Erika Alexander) and Lisa (Georgia Emelin). They can see most clearly what the adults are doing wrong-but no one listens. Also starring in Common Ground are Jane Alexander, CCH Pounder, Richard Thomas, and, as beleagured Boston mayor Kevin White, James Farentino. The film strives to be fair to both sides, pointing out the racist behavior of both white and black extremists. For the most part, this impartiality works; what doesn't work are the thick, irritating Bostonian accents adopted by some of the actors. Adapted from the fact-based, Pulitzer Prize-winning book by J. Anthony Lucas, Part Two of Common Ground was first telecast March 27, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
The stars of the British laughfest Alas Smith and Jones briefly abandoned their traditional sketch-comedy format in favor of brief "book" shows. The four 20-minute playlets offered herein included "The Whole Hog," "The Boat People," "Second Thoughts," and "The Waiting Room." Exercising their usual prerogative, Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones wrote most of their own material, which sometimes required the services of stunt coordinator Tom Delmar. Smith and Jones in Small Doses aired over BBC2 from October 19 to November 9, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- R
With this melodrama about a Chinese immigrant couple trying to succeed in the harsh realities of Margaret Thatcher's economically depressed England, the sobering social commentary of director Mike Newell's television work met the airy charm of his romantic films. After their wedding in Hong Kong, Lily (Sylvia Chang) and Chen (Danny Dun) arrive in London's Chinatown to begin building a life together in the West. After five years working as a waiter in an expensive Chinese restaurant, Chen and his wife welcome a son, and Lily's older sister Mui (Jodie Long) follows them to London and moves in with them. Chen has finally raised enough capital to start his own business, which takes off, and his family seems to have achieved the ideal of modern capitalist success. Soon, however, Chen is caught up in a violent feud between rival Chinese gangs, each of which wants to muscle in on his lucrative outfit. Soursweet (1989) was based on a novel by Timothy Mo. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvia Chang, Danny Dun, (more)
- 1987
When young Chuck Murdock (Joshua Zuehlke) visits a nuclear missile site, he learns that one bomb would destroy the earth in less time than it would take a piece of silverware to drop from his hand to the floor. This information sends the sensitive boy into existential angst. Wondering why anybody should do anything when the world can be destroyed so quickly, and hoping to raise consciousness about nuclear weapons, Chuck quits his Little League team. He gains a little bit of local press. One of those stories is read by NBA star "Amazing Grace" Smith (Alex English), who is so moved by the boy's story that he too quits playing his sport. This produces a great deal of national press, as well as a handful of stars from other sports that decide to join the ranks of Amazing Grace and Chuck. Some powers that be in the sports world, as well as the government, do not look kindly upon these "strikes" and set about to end the movement. Amazing Grace and Chuck came near the end of a cycle of nuclear anxiety films that included Testament, The Day After, and Threads. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamie Lee Curtis, Alex English, (more)
Anthony Hopkins stars in The Good Father as a publishing executive whose wife Julie Walters has left him, taking their son with her. Walking around like a zombie after this blow, Hopkins is brought back to life by involving himself in the profound problems of his friend Jim Broadbent. Feeling that his misguided pro-feminist stance has caused him all his trouble, Hopkins encourages Broadbent, whose own wife is leaving him with their son in tow, to fight for custody of the child in court. Hopkins even agrees to finance Broadbent's legal fees. As Broadbent's custody battle intensifies into a bitter, all-out war, Hopkins becomes more relaxed concerning his own domestic difficulties. Allowing Broadbent to be his emotional surrogate, a becalmed Hopkins feels secure enough to try to reconcile with his ex-wife Walters. But she is aware, even if he isn't, that his problems stem not from his relationship with women, but from his resentment of his son, whose birth was the beginning of the end of his marriage. Contrary to the title and his own self-deceptions, Hopkins is not "the good father." The film was scripted by Christopher Hampton from a novel by Peter Prince. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Hopkins, Jim Broadbent, (more)
This darkly haunting slightly fictionalized film is a retelling of the life and death of Ruth Ellis (Miranda Richardson), the last woman to be executed in England. Ellis, a divorcee and ex-prostitute works as a "hostess" in a tacky nightclub. There she meets and begins an obsessive love affair with upper-class David Blakely (Rupert Everett), who eventually discards her. Still obsessed and jealous because of David's upcoming marriage to a woman of his own class, Ellis murders him. Miranda Richardson, in a stark, knock-out performance is outstanding as the cold, calculating Ellis, unscrupulous in her use of everyone to get what she wants. Ian Holm, in an often-overlooked performance, is superb as the man who loves Ellis, supporting her and her teenage son, without ever gaining her love. He is her mainstay and the surrogate father to her teenage son, who Ellis has little time for. In his own, quiet way he is as obsessed as Ellis. The screenplay, adapted by Shelagh Delaney remains faithful to the true story, taking only minor dramatic license. Dance With a Stranger is an uncompromising look at obsessive love and its consequences on others. The story is made even more poignant because of the sad life and eventual suicide of Ellis' real son. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miranda Richardson, Rupert Everett, (more)
- 1983
Blood Feud was a two-part TV drama, originally presented as an "Operation Prime Time" special. Robert Blake is disturbingly convincing as labor leader Jimmy Hoffa, engaged in a decade-long war of words with attorney (and later attorney general) Robert F. Kennedy. Cotter Smith makes his TV debut as Kennedy, a role he'd repeat on future occasions. Thoroughly compelling when sticking to the facts, the drama falls apart whenever indulging in flight of fanciful speculation (Sample: two of Hoffa's lieutenants watch the live telecast of Lee Harvey Oswald's murder, then celebrate the fact that Oswald will never be able to reveal their complicity in the JFK assassination!) Blood Feud was syndicated to local TV stations beginning April 24, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Blake, Cotter Smith, (more)
- 1982
- NR
Jack Thompson plays Stan Graham, a tragic and notorious figure of New Zealand's war years. Not the most easygoing person in the world to begins with, Graham is pushed over the edge when his farm is foreclosed. With seemingly no other options, he turns into a homicidal maniac, killing everyone he considers an enemy -- in short, everyone who crosses his path. Graham's murder spree plays right into the hands of Nazi propagandists, notably British turncoat Lord Haw-Haw. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Thompson, Carol Burns, (more)
