Clive Parsons Movies

A young boy is sent on a remarkable odyssey as he flees a Communist prison camp in this historical drama, set in Eastern Europe in the early '50s. David (Ben Tibber) is a 12-year-old boy who was sentenced with his parents to a Bulgarian labor camp when they were found guilty of political subversion; he hasn't seen his folks in years, and looks to fellow inmate Johannes (Jim Caviezel) for protection and guidance. One day, David is able to escape, and as he flees, he is given a sealed envelope with strict instructions that he is to travel to Denmark, and he cannot open the letter until he gets there. David makes his way to Greece, stows away on an Italian ship, and is befriended by Maria (Viola Carinci), a girl he saves from a fire. Maria convinces her wealthy family to take David in, but when they become curious about his background, David realizes he's in danger and is soon on the run once again. In time, David makes friends with Sophie (Joan Plowright), a kind Swiss woman who gives him a home and is willing to help him complete his long journey. I Am David was adapted from the novel North to Freedom by Anne Holm, and represented a change of pace for director Paul Feig, best known for his work on such offbeat television comedies as Arrested Development and Freaks and Geeks. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

To Oxford University's rowing team, the annual competitive boat race holds more potential glory than the Olympics. When their long-running winning streak is shattered by the skilled Cambridge athletes, the shattered but determined Oxford rowers begin the long and arduous journey to reclaim their title at next year's race. Matters are complicated when the Oxford team's unconventional methods of preparation clash with the long-standing traditions of the Ivy League school, and the rivalry between old and new threatens to sink their chances of victory. If Oxford is to reclaim their title of boat race champion from their fierce archrivals at Cambridge, they must put aside their differences and row harder than ever before to restore the pride of their beloved school. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Writer/director Bill Forsyth's follow-up to his best film, Local Hero, is another comic exploration of a man undergoing a personal crisis. In Local Hero, the American played by Peter Riegert finds himself enchanted by the people and ambience of a Scottish village he has been dispatched to purchase for an oil company. In Comfort and Joy, Alan (Bill Paterson) is a Glasgow radio disc jockey whose air name is the chirpy Dickey Bird. After Maddy, his girlfriend (Eleanor David), walks out on him at Christmas, he's spurred to re-evaluate his life. Looking for more meaningful work than spinning pop tunes and offering inane chatter to his geriatric listeners, Alan decides to make a radio documentary. He chances upon a local rivalry between two ice cream companies, who are sabotaging each other's trucks in an effort to monopolize the market. Attracted to Charlotte (C.P. Grogan), the daughter of one of the company owners, Alan finds himself playing peacemaker rather than documentarian. That this cold war takes place in the dead of a bitter Scottish winter is only one of Forsyth's many sly touches. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide

This dark comedy charts the chaos that results when the panicked staff of a major English hospital attempts to prepare for a visit by the Queen Mother, only to face every problem imaginable. Britannia Hospital clearly attempts to recapture the anarchic bite of director Lindsay Anderson's previous satires If... and O Lucky Man, but fails to achieve the same combination of intelligent political critique, comic lunacy, and skillful filmmaking. (Indeed, the three films are often considered a loosely linked trilogy, largely due to the presence in all three of lead Malcolm McDowell). The film does make a valiant effort, but its commentary on the poor, labor disputes, and the inhumanity of bureaucratic institutions mixes uneasily with the film's broader elements, like the experiments of a cartoonish mad scientist. The result is often quite entertaining on a scene-by-scene basis, but the film never reaches the level of delirious, farcical energy or satirical sharpness to which it clearly aspires. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

This British rock musical tells a tale older than dirt -- the saga of the rise to fame of an eager young star, only to discover that fame is not all that it is cracked up to be. Hazel O'Connor is a young punk-rocker, singing her angry diatribes on the splintered stages on third-rate London venues. Soon enough, she meets up with a young, aspiring manager Phil Daniels, and she rises to the top. But success puts a damper on a burgeoning love relationship, and when Jon Finch arrives, playing a sleek and smooth record promoter, the duo's artistic independence is also compromised. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this British drama, a teenager gets out of reform school and heads for a seaside vacation with three friends. Their fun is interrupted by a gang of Scottish punks who come to cause trouble. The two groups tangle, but eventually the hero is able to prove to his girl that he is a good fellow and win her heart. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Writer/director John Byrum filmed this bizarre and controversial period picture on one massive set. It takes place in the 1930s, and stars Richard Dreyfuss as Boy Wonder, a once-great Hollywood director, who spends all of his time in decrepitude in his rococo mansion (which will soon be leveled and replaced by a major highway), half-soused, unshaven and clad in his bathrobe and pajamas. Instead of shooting major Hollywood pictures, this impotent has-been is now reduced to shooting pornographic films with a coke-addled actress, Harlene (Veronica Cartwright) and a moronic leading man, Rex (Stephen Davies). Rex's employer, the financier Big Mac (Bob Hoskins) turns up, bringing along his shy and dim-bulb fiancee, Cathy Cake (Jessica Harper), whom he treats condescendingly but hopes to launch to megastardom as a movie actress. When Harlene overdoses, Rex and Big Mac haggle over her body. Mac then leaves Cathy with Boy Wonder, who tells the burned-out director that her one dream in life is to appear in movies, and asks if she could pose for insert shots for his next stag film. By shooting the inserts, Boy Wonder manages to regain his potency, but he is completely put off by Cathy, who suddenly realizes, after the fact, that the camera wasn't running. At that point, Big Mac returns and catches them in the filmmaking process. Although he is not really sure what went on, Big Mac vamooses with Boy Wonder's camera and paraphernalia and takes Cathy with him. Meanwhile, an aspiring thesp named Clark Gable turns up at the door, wanting Boy Wonder to direct him to stardom. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide