Exclusive: eOne secures UK/Ire and Australia pre-buy with HanWay for Liam Neeson-Neil Jordan project.
Entertainment One (eOne) has swooped on UK/Ire and Australia rights to Liam Neeson drama The Trainer, which is being sold by HanWay Films at the Afm.
The hot market project, set to shoot next year, will reteam the Schindler’s List star with his Michael Collins director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game). Additional casting is underway.
The deal is one of he most high profile to take place so far at this year’s Afm.
In The Trainer Neeson will play John Moore, a premier race horse trainer in the west of Ireland, who becomes beset by tragedy. When a teenage refugee comes into his life the two bond over horse Allabelle.
Script comes from David Donohue, James Villemaire and Todd Komarnicki (Sully). Producers are Arthur Lappin, Todd Komarnicki, Robin Gurland and Gregory O’Connor.
The film has...
Entertainment One (eOne) has swooped on UK/Ire and Australia rights to Liam Neeson drama The Trainer, which is being sold by HanWay Films at the Afm.
The hot market project, set to shoot next year, will reteam the Schindler’s List star with his Michael Collins director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game). Additional casting is underway.
The deal is one of he most high profile to take place so far at this year’s Afm.
In The Trainer Neeson will play John Moore, a premier race horse trainer in the west of Ireland, who becomes beset by tragedy. When a teenage refugee comes into his life the two bond over horse Allabelle.
Script comes from David Donohue, James Villemaire and Todd Komarnicki (Sully). Producers are Arthur Lappin, Todd Komarnicki, Robin Gurland and Gregory O’Connor.
The film has...
- 11/5/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
HanWay to commence sales on drama from Sully writer at the Afm.
Liam Neeson is to star in drama The Trainer for director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game).
Neeson will play John Moore, a premier race horse trainer in the west of Ireland, who becomes beset by tragedy. When a teenage refugee comes into his life the two bond over horse Allabelle.
Script comes from David Donohue, James Villemaire and Todd Komarnicki (Sully).
The film is produced by Arthur Lappin, Todd Komarnicki, Robin Gurland and Gregory O’Connor.
Neeson and Jordan previously collaborated on prestige biopic Michael Collins.
The film was developed with the support of the Irish Film Board and is set to commence principal photography in Ireland next summer.
CAA is arranging financing for the film and represents its domestic distribution rights. HanWay will be introducing the film to buyers at the Afm.
The new look HanWay, whose sales team will be led by Gabrielle...
Liam Neeson is to star in drama The Trainer for director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game).
Neeson will play John Moore, a premier race horse trainer in the west of Ireland, who becomes beset by tragedy. When a teenage refugee comes into his life the two bond over horse Allabelle.
Script comes from David Donohue, James Villemaire and Todd Komarnicki (Sully).
The film is produced by Arthur Lappin, Todd Komarnicki, Robin Gurland and Gregory O’Connor.
Neeson and Jordan previously collaborated on prestige biopic Michael Collins.
The film was developed with the support of the Irish Film Board and is set to commence principal photography in Ireland next summer.
CAA is arranging financing for the film and represents its domestic distribution rights. HanWay will be introducing the film to buyers at the Afm.
The new look HanWay, whose sales team will be led by Gabrielle...
- 11/1/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Arthur Lappin, film and television producer of films such as 'In America', 'My Left Foot', 'The Field' and 'Some Mother's Son', will join the list of panellists participating in a debate entitled 'The Arts and the Economy' which takes place on Thursday, April 15th and is organised by Ireland's association of writers, Irish Pen. The debate will take place at the United Arts Club, Upper Fitzwilliam Street in Dublin and will see Lappin examine Ireland's arts and the effect of the economy thereon alongside Aidan Burke, Operations Director with the Arts Council; Gerry Godley, broadcaster and spokesperson for the National Campaign for the Arts (Ncfa); Claire Doody, Project Manager of Cultural Odyssey and Declan Kiberd, literary critic and Chair of Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama at Ucd.
- 4/15/2010
- IFTN
Participant Media's Jeff Skoll will be honored with the Producers Guild of America's 2009 Visionary Award at the 20th annual PGA Awards on Jan. 24 at the Hollywood Palladium.
The award honors producers and/or a TV or film production that demonstrates a "unique and uplifting quality."
Skoll founded Participant in 2004 and has served as executive producer on a slate of socially relevant films that includes "Charlie Wilson's War," "The Kite Runner," "Darfur Now," "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "An Inconvenient Truth," which won two Oscars, including best feature documentary.
"When I first saw movies such as 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and 'Gandhi,' I realized the tremendous power of film to inspire people to do good," Skoll said. "My hope is that this award will inspire others to continue to use this medium to make the world a better place."
With this award, Skoll joins past honorees that include Joel Gallen...
The award honors producers and/or a TV or film production that demonstrates a "unique and uplifting quality."
Skoll founded Participant in 2004 and has served as executive producer on a slate of socially relevant films that includes "Charlie Wilson's War," "The Kite Runner," "Darfur Now," "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "An Inconvenient Truth," which won two Oscars, including best feature documentary.
"When I first saw movies such as 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and 'Gandhi,' I realized the tremendous power of film to inspire people to do good," Skoll said. "My hope is that this award will inspire others to continue to use this medium to make the world a better place."
With this award, Skoll joins past honorees that include Joel Gallen...
- 11/18/2008
- by By Leslie Simmons
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Like the Eminem starrer "8 Mile", "Get Rich or Die Tryin'", starring rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, takes many elements from the rap star's real life and folds them into the contours of a quasi-fictional film that charts the entertainer's path through poverty and despair to stardom. Both stories are similar in that this path is littered with daunting obstacles, which its true-life hero did overcome. The difference here is that for all its biographical truth, "Get Rich"'s journey into a ghetto of hustlers, gangstas and mindless violence is all too familiar.
Stretching back to blaxploitation in the '70s to recent films by John Singleton, Ernest Dickerson and others, we've moved down these mean streets, watched drive-by shootings and witnessed drug deals and gang feuds ad infinitum. Fortunately for the film's boxoffice, it will draw from two distinct demographics. Director Jim Sheridan has a definite following in major urban markets, colleges and special venues thanks to such films as "In America" and "My Left Foot", while 50 Cent, of course, has a huge following among rap fans and blacks. So boxoffice looks strong.
Sheridan and writer Terence Winter, once a staff writer on "The Sopranos", do have several things going for them to partially offset the been-there, done-that feeling. One is a ruthlessly unsentimental and nonjudgmental approach to a life mired in poverty, where crime seems the only way out. The film offers no emotional pleas or social messages; rather, its makers deliver an unblinking distillation of the urban experience for far too many young black males.
Another positive is 50 Cents himself. There should be no surprise that rappers such as Eminem and 50 Cent prove talented actors. As performers onstage, performers who have renamed themselves, they have long played a character based on but not to be confused with their own personas. They are actors.
50 Cent's range is not as wide as Eminem's, but he creates plenty of empathy for the fatherless boy, here called Marcus, whose drug-dealer mom (Serena Reeder) dies when he is 12. Marcus' grandparents take him in, but the boy heads down the only path he sees open to him when he gets into crime just like his mom.
The film hits all the well-publicized highlights of the life of 50 Cent in his ascension in a gang of drug dealers, their war with Colombian dealers, a flirtation with rap that never takes hold since crime seems so much easier and finally the nine gunshot wounds that miraculously failed to take his life.
In cinematographic terms, Winter's screenplay is always in intense medium close-up, never pulling back for a wider angle of society or even New York. Does his character really have no other options than crime? Does society take any blame? Could his grandparents (Viola Davis and Sullivan Walker) have intervened? The film doesn't even ask. It just barrels ahead with a life heading for tragedy that, again miraculously, takes a detour into creativity. That it leads to musical success is merely gravy. For the portrait here is one of creativity winning the day and saving a life -- or maybe several -- when Marcus' girlfriend (Joy Bryant) gives birth to his son and he accepts responsibility for his family's well-being.
As with all Sheridan movies, this one contains fine acting. The suddenly hot Terrence Howard stands out as Bama, a fellow ex-con and friend who encourages Marcus' move into rap and winds up as his manager. London-born Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje brings an icy chill to his portrait of a gangsta whose friendship can turn lethal in a moment.
Veteran Bill Duke enters "Godfather" territory with his heavy-limbed, dignified portrait of a ruthless drug kingpin. Newcomer Reeder shows exceptional talent and beauty as Marcus' mother.
And, as with many Sheridan movies, the director demonstrates a fascination with how family units function and flourish under adverse conditions. It is especially attentive to the changing attitudes of its lead character, who is marvelously played as a child by Marc John Jefferies until 50 Cent can take over.
The soundtrack is not, fortunately, chockablock with music and rap. Music is used discreetly for dramatic impact, though there is more than enough to guarantee huge album sales. Declan Quinn and designer Mark Geraghty, both of whom worked with Sheridan on "In America", definitely capture the grit and seemingly omnipresent darkness of the South Bronx.
GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN'
Paramount Pictures
An Interscope/Shady/Aftermath/MTV Films production
Credits:
Director: Jim Sheridan
Screenwriter: Terence Winter
Producers: Jimmy Iovine, Paul Rosenberg, Chris Lighty, Jim Sheridan
Executive producers: Gene Kirkwood, Stuart Parr, Van Toffler, David Gale, Arthur Lappin, Daniel Lupi
Director of photography: Declan Quinn
Production designer: Mark Geraghty
Music: Quincy Jones, Gavin Friday, Maurice Seezer
Costumes: Francine Jamison-Tanchuck
Editors: Conrad Buff, Roger Barton
Cast:
Marcus: Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson
Bama: Terrence Howard
Charlene: Joy Bryant
Levar: Bill Duke
Majestic: Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje
Keryl: Omar Benson Miller
Justice: Tory Kittles
Grandma: Viola Davis
Young Marcus: Marc John Jefferies
Antwan: Ashley Walters
Katrina: Serena Reeder
Running time -- 112 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Stretching back to blaxploitation in the '70s to recent films by John Singleton, Ernest Dickerson and others, we've moved down these mean streets, watched drive-by shootings and witnessed drug deals and gang feuds ad infinitum. Fortunately for the film's boxoffice, it will draw from two distinct demographics. Director Jim Sheridan has a definite following in major urban markets, colleges and special venues thanks to such films as "In America" and "My Left Foot", while 50 Cent, of course, has a huge following among rap fans and blacks. So boxoffice looks strong.
Sheridan and writer Terence Winter, once a staff writer on "The Sopranos", do have several things going for them to partially offset the been-there, done-that feeling. One is a ruthlessly unsentimental and nonjudgmental approach to a life mired in poverty, where crime seems the only way out. The film offers no emotional pleas or social messages; rather, its makers deliver an unblinking distillation of the urban experience for far too many young black males.
Another positive is 50 Cents himself. There should be no surprise that rappers such as Eminem and 50 Cent prove talented actors. As performers onstage, performers who have renamed themselves, they have long played a character based on but not to be confused with their own personas. They are actors.
50 Cent's range is not as wide as Eminem's, but he creates plenty of empathy for the fatherless boy, here called Marcus, whose drug-dealer mom (Serena Reeder) dies when he is 12. Marcus' grandparents take him in, but the boy heads down the only path he sees open to him when he gets into crime just like his mom.
The film hits all the well-publicized highlights of the life of 50 Cent in his ascension in a gang of drug dealers, their war with Colombian dealers, a flirtation with rap that never takes hold since crime seems so much easier and finally the nine gunshot wounds that miraculously failed to take his life.
In cinematographic terms, Winter's screenplay is always in intense medium close-up, never pulling back for a wider angle of society or even New York. Does his character really have no other options than crime? Does society take any blame? Could his grandparents (Viola Davis and Sullivan Walker) have intervened? The film doesn't even ask. It just barrels ahead with a life heading for tragedy that, again miraculously, takes a detour into creativity. That it leads to musical success is merely gravy. For the portrait here is one of creativity winning the day and saving a life -- or maybe several -- when Marcus' girlfriend (Joy Bryant) gives birth to his son and he accepts responsibility for his family's well-being.
As with all Sheridan movies, this one contains fine acting. The suddenly hot Terrence Howard stands out as Bama, a fellow ex-con and friend who encourages Marcus' move into rap and winds up as his manager. London-born Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje brings an icy chill to his portrait of a gangsta whose friendship can turn lethal in a moment.
Veteran Bill Duke enters "Godfather" territory with his heavy-limbed, dignified portrait of a ruthless drug kingpin. Newcomer Reeder shows exceptional talent and beauty as Marcus' mother.
And, as with many Sheridan movies, the director demonstrates a fascination with how family units function and flourish under adverse conditions. It is especially attentive to the changing attitudes of its lead character, who is marvelously played as a child by Marc John Jefferies until 50 Cent can take over.
The soundtrack is not, fortunately, chockablock with music and rap. Music is used discreetly for dramatic impact, though there is more than enough to guarantee huge album sales. Declan Quinn and designer Mark Geraghty, both of whom worked with Sheridan on "In America", definitely capture the grit and seemingly omnipresent darkness of the South Bronx.
GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN'
Paramount Pictures
An Interscope/Shady/Aftermath/MTV Films production
Credits:
Director: Jim Sheridan
Screenwriter: Terence Winter
Producers: Jimmy Iovine, Paul Rosenberg, Chris Lighty, Jim Sheridan
Executive producers: Gene Kirkwood, Stuart Parr, Van Toffler, David Gale, Arthur Lappin, Daniel Lupi
Director of photography: Declan Quinn
Production designer: Mark Geraghty
Music: Quincy Jones, Gavin Friday, Maurice Seezer
Costumes: Francine Jamison-Tanchuck
Editors: Conrad Buff, Roger Barton
Cast:
Marcus: Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson
Bama: Terrence Howard
Charlene: Joy Bryant
Levar: Bill Duke
Majestic: Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje
Keryl: Omar Benson Miller
Justice: Tory Kittles
Grandma: Viola Davis
Young Marcus: Marc John Jefferies
Antwan: Ashley Walters
Katrina: Serena Reeder
Running time -- 112 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 12/5/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
SYDNEY -- Irish producer Arthur Lappin, managing director of Hell's Kitchen, the production company he established with director Jim Sheridan in 1992, was named on Wednesday as a keynote speaker for the 13th Small Country: Big Picture conference later this month. The event takes place in Wellington, New Zealand, Nov.17-19, under the auspices of industry agency the Screen Production and Development Association (SPADA). "As the only production company in Ireland that produces and services international productions, he will share his insights with New Zealand producers," SPADA said.
- 11/2/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
SYDNEY -- Irish producer Arthur Lappin -- managing director of Hell's Kitchen, the production company he established with director Jim Sheridan in 1992 -- has been confirmed as one of the keynote speakers for the 13th annual Small Country: Big Picture conference. The confab, sponsored by industry agency the Screen Production and Development Assn., will run Nov.17-19. Held in Wellington, New Zealand, Lappin's work with Sheridan includes My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father and In America.
- 11/2/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
BRUSSELS -- Tommy Lee Jones' directorial debut The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada won the Grand Prix at the Flanders International Film Festival in Ghent this weekend. The jury -- which included Brenda Blethyn, Arthur Lappin, Dominique Deruddere and Jose Luis Castineira de Dios -- awarded the festival's prestigious best music prize to Stephen Warbeck for John Madden's Proof. Best screenplay went to Singapore's Eric Khoo and Wong Kim Hoh for Be With Me, also directed by Khoo. China's Li Yu won the best director prize for his film Dam Street. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, which won awards in Cannes for best screenplay (Guillermo Arriaga) and best actor (Jones), also stars Barry Pepper, Julio Cesar Cedillo, January Jones and Dwight Yoakam. A gruesome tale of a man who is shot in the Texas desert and hastily buried before being twice disinterred, it is already tipped to feature strongly in Oscar nominations.
- 10/24/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Opens
April 30
"Laws of Attraction" is no "Adam's Rib". The key problem to this romantic comedy about husband-and-wife lawyers on opposite sides of a court battle is that one is never convinced that Pierce Brosnan's Daniel Rafferty and Julianne Moore's Audrey Woods are really a couple. There is not one reason for them even to like each other. The only chemistry that takes place between the actors is the combustible kind, and the screenplay goes to great lengths to cast each in the worst possible light, both professionally and personally.
This comedy about the attraction of opposites is aimed at older audiences, especially women. But the film lacks the sophistication or smarts to draw such an audience in sufficient numbers to ensure above-average boxoffice. The film should do better on television and DVD/video.
Moore is certainly one of our better screen actresses, but she understandably struggles to get a purchase on this unevenly written role. Audrey is supposedly a top New York divorce lawyer in a high-powered law firm. Yet Aline Brosh McKenna and Robert Harling's screenplay insists that she would stoop to following a rival attorney into the men's room or get so flustered when she finds herself alone in his office that she knocks over objects, sets off alarms and gets caught on security cameras fleeing the disaster.
Brosnan's role is better suited to the actor's talents, which no doubt reflects the fact that his company helped develop the script. Daniel is an equally proficient divorce attorney who relies on Irish charm and dirty-pool tactics to win his cases. His sartorial accouterments change from rumpled to savvy depending on the image he wishes to convey that particular day.
Daniel beats Audrey badly when first their paths cross in court. But they seemingly get pitted against each other in case after case. Things come to a head when each represents opposite sides in a particularly vitriolic divorce between an airhead rock star and his mad-as-hell fashion-designer wife (Michael Sheen and Parker Posey in over-the-top performances). The major bone of contention is a castle in Ireland that each desperately covets.
In a probability stretcher, the two lawyers find themselves together in Ireland to seek depositions from the castle's staff. They get wildly drunk -- their second such drinking bout in the movie -- and wake up the following morning in bed, each wearing a wedding ring.
When the New York press gets wind of the nuptials, the lawyers put a brave face on their mistake by pretending to live together while still representing their battling clients. The only happy person appears to be Audrey's much-divorced mom (Frances Fisher), who still thinks marriage is wonderfully romantic.
Even this somewhat tortured plotting fails to convince one that anything could exist between these two other than professional animosity. Brosnan lets his face go all earnest and gooey-eyed when he wants to convey sincerity, while Moore furrows her brow when wishing to project a similar emotion. For comedy, director Peter Howitt relies on halfhearted slapstick as the script contains little of the sharp dialogue one might expect from a script written at least in part by Harling ("Steel Magnolias", "Soapdish").
The smaller roles are more entertaining, with Fisher having glorious fun with the age-conscious former beauty queen, while Sheen and Posey display real passion in their utter contempt for each other.
Howitt's technical crew lends solid though unspectacular support.
LAWS OF ATTRACTION
New Line Cinema
New Line and Mobius Pictures in association with Stratus Film Co., Intermedia, MHF Zweite Academy Film and Initial Entertainment Group presents a Deep River/Irish Dreamtime production
Credits:
Director: Peter Howitt
Screenwriters: Aline Brosh McKenna, Robert Harling
Story: Aline Brosh McKenna
Producers: David T. Friendly, Marc Turtletaub, Beau St. Clair, Julie Durk, David Bergstein
Executive producers: Pierce Brosnan, Basil Iwanyk, Bob Yari, Mark Gordon, Mark Gill, Arthur Lappin, Elie Samaha, Toby Emmerich, Guy Stodel, Oliver Hengst
Director of photography: Adrian Biddle
Production designer: Charles J.H. Wood
Music: Edward Shearmur
Costume designer: Joan Bergin
Editor: Tony Lawson
Cast:
Daniel Rafferty: Pierce Brosnan
Audrey Woods: Julianne Moore
Thorne Jamison: Michael Sheen
Serena: Parker Posey
Sara Miller: Frances Fisher
Judge Abramovitz: Nora Dunn
Leslie: Heather Ann Nurnberg
Running time -- 90 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
April 30
"Laws of Attraction" is no "Adam's Rib". The key problem to this romantic comedy about husband-and-wife lawyers on opposite sides of a court battle is that one is never convinced that Pierce Brosnan's Daniel Rafferty and Julianne Moore's Audrey Woods are really a couple. There is not one reason for them even to like each other. The only chemistry that takes place between the actors is the combustible kind, and the screenplay goes to great lengths to cast each in the worst possible light, both professionally and personally.
This comedy about the attraction of opposites is aimed at older audiences, especially women. But the film lacks the sophistication or smarts to draw such an audience in sufficient numbers to ensure above-average boxoffice. The film should do better on television and DVD/video.
Moore is certainly one of our better screen actresses, but she understandably struggles to get a purchase on this unevenly written role. Audrey is supposedly a top New York divorce lawyer in a high-powered law firm. Yet Aline Brosh McKenna and Robert Harling's screenplay insists that she would stoop to following a rival attorney into the men's room or get so flustered when she finds herself alone in his office that she knocks over objects, sets off alarms and gets caught on security cameras fleeing the disaster.
Brosnan's role is better suited to the actor's talents, which no doubt reflects the fact that his company helped develop the script. Daniel is an equally proficient divorce attorney who relies on Irish charm and dirty-pool tactics to win his cases. His sartorial accouterments change from rumpled to savvy depending on the image he wishes to convey that particular day.
Daniel beats Audrey badly when first their paths cross in court. But they seemingly get pitted against each other in case after case. Things come to a head when each represents opposite sides in a particularly vitriolic divorce between an airhead rock star and his mad-as-hell fashion-designer wife (Michael Sheen and Parker Posey in over-the-top performances). The major bone of contention is a castle in Ireland that each desperately covets.
In a probability stretcher, the two lawyers find themselves together in Ireland to seek depositions from the castle's staff. They get wildly drunk -- their second such drinking bout in the movie -- and wake up the following morning in bed, each wearing a wedding ring.
When the New York press gets wind of the nuptials, the lawyers put a brave face on their mistake by pretending to live together while still representing their battling clients. The only happy person appears to be Audrey's much-divorced mom (Frances Fisher), who still thinks marriage is wonderfully romantic.
Even this somewhat tortured plotting fails to convince one that anything could exist between these two other than professional animosity. Brosnan lets his face go all earnest and gooey-eyed when he wants to convey sincerity, while Moore furrows her brow when wishing to project a similar emotion. For comedy, director Peter Howitt relies on halfhearted slapstick as the script contains little of the sharp dialogue one might expect from a script written at least in part by Harling ("Steel Magnolias", "Soapdish").
The smaller roles are more entertaining, with Fisher having glorious fun with the age-conscious former beauty queen, while Sheen and Posey display real passion in their utter contempt for each other.
Howitt's technical crew lends solid though unspectacular support.
LAWS OF ATTRACTION
New Line Cinema
New Line and Mobius Pictures in association with Stratus Film Co., Intermedia, MHF Zweite Academy Film and Initial Entertainment Group presents a Deep River/Irish Dreamtime production
Credits:
Director: Peter Howitt
Screenwriters: Aline Brosh McKenna, Robert Harling
Story: Aline Brosh McKenna
Producers: David T. Friendly, Marc Turtletaub, Beau St. Clair, Julie Durk, David Bergstein
Executive producers: Pierce Brosnan, Basil Iwanyk, Bob Yari, Mark Gordon, Mark Gill, Arthur Lappin, Elie Samaha, Toby Emmerich, Guy Stodel, Oliver Hengst
Director of photography: Adrian Biddle
Production designer: Charles J.H. Wood
Music: Edward Shearmur
Costume designer: Joan Bergin
Editor: Tony Lawson
Cast:
Daniel Rafferty: Pierce Brosnan
Audrey Woods: Julianne Moore
Thorne Jamison: Michael Sheen
Serena: Parker Posey
Sara Miller: Frances Fisher
Judge Abramovitz: Nora Dunn
Leslie: Heather Ann Nurnberg
Running time -- 90 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Opens
April 30
"Laws of Attraction" is no "Adam's Rib". The key problem to this romantic comedy about husband-and-wife lawyers on opposite sides of a court battle is that one is never convinced that Pierce Brosnan's Daniel Rafferty and Julianne Moore's Audrey Woods are really a couple. There is not one reason for them even to like each other. The only chemistry that takes place between the actors is the combustible kind, and the screenplay goes to great lengths to cast each in the worst possible light, both professionally and personally.
This comedy about the attraction of opposites is aimed at older audiences, especially women. But the film lacks the sophistication or smarts to draw such an audience in sufficient numbers to ensure above-average boxoffice. The film should do better on television and DVD/video.
Moore is certainly one of our better screen actresses, but she understandably struggles to get a purchase on this unevenly written role. Audrey is supposedly a top New York divorce lawyer in a high-powered law firm. Yet Aline Brosh McKenna and Robert Harling's screenplay insists that she would stoop to following a rival attorney into the men's room or get so flustered when she finds herself alone in his office that she knocks over objects, sets off alarms and gets caught on security cameras fleeing the disaster.
Brosnan's role is better suited to the actor's talents, which no doubt reflects the fact that his company helped develop the script. Daniel is an equally proficient divorce attorney who relies on Irish charm and dirty-pool tactics to win his cases. His sartorial accouterments change from rumpled to savvy depending on the image he wishes to convey that particular day.
Daniel beats Audrey badly when first their paths cross in court. But they seemingly get pitted against each other in case after case. Things come to a head when each represents opposite sides in a particularly vitriolic divorce between an airhead rock star and his mad-as-hell fashion-designer wife (Michael Sheen and Parker Posey in over-the-top performances). The major bone of contention is a castle in Ireland that each desperately covets.
In a probability stretcher, the two lawyers find themselves together in Ireland to seek depositions from the castle's staff. They get wildly drunk -- their second such drinking bout in the movie -- and wake up the following morning in bed, each wearing a wedding ring.
When the New York press gets wind of the nuptials, the lawyers put a brave face on their mistake by pretending to live together while still representing their battling clients. The only happy person appears to be Audrey's much-divorced mom (Frances Fisher), who still thinks marriage is wonderfully romantic.
Even this somewhat tortured plotting fails to convince one that anything could exist between these two other than professional animosity. Brosnan lets his face go all earnest and gooey-eyed when he wants to convey sincerity, while Moore furrows her brow when wishing to project a similar emotion. For comedy, director Peter Howitt relies on halfhearted slapstick as the script contains little of the sharp dialogue one might expect from a script written at least in part by Harling ("Steel Magnolias", "Soapdish").
The smaller roles are more entertaining, with Fisher having glorious fun with the age-conscious former beauty queen, while Sheen and Posey display real passion in their utter contempt for each other.
Howitt's technical crew lends solid though unspectacular support.
LAWS OF ATTRACTION
New Line Cinema
New Line and Mobius Pictures in association with Stratus Film Co., Intermedia, MHF Zweite Academy Film and Initial Entertainment Group presents a Deep River/Irish Dreamtime production
Credits:
Director: Peter Howitt
Screenwriters: Aline Brosh McKenna, Robert Harling
Story: Aline Brosh McKenna
Producers: David T. Friendly, Marc Turtletaub, Beau St. Clair, Julie Durk, David Bergstein
Executive producers: Pierce Brosnan, Basil Iwanyk, Bob Yari, Mark Gordon, Mark Gill, Arthur Lappin, Elie Samaha, Toby Emmerich, Guy Stodel, Oliver Hengst
Director of photography: Adrian Biddle
Production designer: Charles J.H. Wood
Music: Edward Shearmur
Costume designer: Joan Bergin
Editor: Tony Lawson
Cast:
Daniel Rafferty: Pierce Brosnan
Audrey Woods: Julianne Moore
Thorne Jamison: Michael Sheen
Serena: Parker Posey
Sara Miller: Frances Fisher
Judge Abramovitz: Nora Dunn
Leslie: Heather Ann Nurnberg
Running time -- 90 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
April 30
"Laws of Attraction" is no "Adam's Rib". The key problem to this romantic comedy about husband-and-wife lawyers on opposite sides of a court battle is that one is never convinced that Pierce Brosnan's Daniel Rafferty and Julianne Moore's Audrey Woods are really a couple. There is not one reason for them even to like each other. The only chemistry that takes place between the actors is the combustible kind, and the screenplay goes to great lengths to cast each in the worst possible light, both professionally and personally.
This comedy about the attraction of opposites is aimed at older audiences, especially women. But the film lacks the sophistication or smarts to draw such an audience in sufficient numbers to ensure above-average boxoffice. The film should do better on television and DVD/video.
Moore is certainly one of our better screen actresses, but she understandably struggles to get a purchase on this unevenly written role. Audrey is supposedly a top New York divorce lawyer in a high-powered law firm. Yet Aline Brosh McKenna and Robert Harling's screenplay insists that she would stoop to following a rival attorney into the men's room or get so flustered when she finds herself alone in his office that she knocks over objects, sets off alarms and gets caught on security cameras fleeing the disaster.
Brosnan's role is better suited to the actor's talents, which no doubt reflects the fact that his company helped develop the script. Daniel is an equally proficient divorce attorney who relies on Irish charm and dirty-pool tactics to win his cases. His sartorial accouterments change from rumpled to savvy depending on the image he wishes to convey that particular day.
Daniel beats Audrey badly when first their paths cross in court. But they seemingly get pitted against each other in case after case. Things come to a head when each represents opposite sides in a particularly vitriolic divorce between an airhead rock star and his mad-as-hell fashion-designer wife (Michael Sheen and Parker Posey in over-the-top performances). The major bone of contention is a castle in Ireland that each desperately covets.
In a probability stretcher, the two lawyers find themselves together in Ireland to seek depositions from the castle's staff. They get wildly drunk -- their second such drinking bout in the movie -- and wake up the following morning in bed, each wearing a wedding ring.
When the New York press gets wind of the nuptials, the lawyers put a brave face on their mistake by pretending to live together while still representing their battling clients. The only happy person appears to be Audrey's much-divorced mom (Frances Fisher), who still thinks marriage is wonderfully romantic.
Even this somewhat tortured plotting fails to convince one that anything could exist between these two other than professional animosity. Brosnan lets his face go all earnest and gooey-eyed when he wants to convey sincerity, while Moore furrows her brow when wishing to project a similar emotion. For comedy, director Peter Howitt relies on halfhearted slapstick as the script contains little of the sharp dialogue one might expect from a script written at least in part by Harling ("Steel Magnolias", "Soapdish").
The smaller roles are more entertaining, with Fisher having glorious fun with the age-conscious former beauty queen, while Sheen and Posey display real passion in their utter contempt for each other.
Howitt's technical crew lends solid though unspectacular support.
LAWS OF ATTRACTION
New Line Cinema
New Line and Mobius Pictures in association with Stratus Film Co., Intermedia, MHF Zweite Academy Film and Initial Entertainment Group presents a Deep River/Irish Dreamtime production
Credits:
Director: Peter Howitt
Screenwriters: Aline Brosh McKenna, Robert Harling
Story: Aline Brosh McKenna
Producers: David T. Friendly, Marc Turtletaub, Beau St. Clair, Julie Durk, David Bergstein
Executive producers: Pierce Brosnan, Basil Iwanyk, Bob Yari, Mark Gordon, Mark Gill, Arthur Lappin, Elie Samaha, Toby Emmerich, Guy Stodel, Oliver Hengst
Director of photography: Adrian Biddle
Production designer: Charles J.H. Wood
Music: Edward Shearmur
Costume designer: Joan Bergin
Editor: Tony Lawson
Cast:
Daniel Rafferty: Pierce Brosnan
Audrey Woods: Julianne Moore
Thorne Jamison: Michael Sheen
Serena: Parker Posey
Sara Miller: Frances Fisher
Judge Abramovitz: Nora Dunn
Leslie: Heather Ann Nurnberg
Running time -- 90 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 4/21/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Producers Guild of America has selected In America to receive the Stanley Kramer Award, an honor recognizing a company, individual or production that addresses provocative social issues in an uplifting fashion. The award will be presented to producers Jim Sheridan and Arthur Lappin at the 15th annual PGA Awards on Jan. 17 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City. "In honoring Jim Sheridan and Arthur Lappin for 'In America, ' we honor the fierce humanity of Stanley Kramer and his determination to find the essential human truths at work on both sides of our social, political and cultural divides," said PGA Awards co-chairs Lawrence Gordon and Debra Hill. "It has long been accepted that America is a nation of immigrants, but rarely has the immigrant experience been captured with such heartbreaking immediacy as in 'In America.' "...
LONDON -- Jim Sheridan's In America, an autobiographical film about an Irish family in Manhattan, won the 25,000 ($29,175) grand prize for best film at the 30th Flanders International Film Festival Saturday in Ghent, Belgium. Producer Arthur Lappin, Sheridan's partner in Hell's Kitchen Prods., accepted the award from actress Vanessa Redgrave. Sheridan had attended the festival for his film's screening last week, but Lappin said Sheridan was on his way to New York ahead of the film's Nov. 26 Fox Searchlight release. "This is the first prize that In America has achieved and we are truly honored," Lappin said.
- 10/20/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
LONDON -- Jim Sheridan's "In America", an autobiographical film about an Irish family in Manhattan, won the €25,000 ($29,175) grand prize for best film at the 30th Flanders International Film Festival Saturday in Ghent, Belgium. Producer Arthur Lappin, Sheridan's partner in Hell's Kitchen Prods., accepted the award from actress Vanessa Redgrave. Sheridan had attended the festival for his film's screening last week, but Lappin said Sheridan was on his way to New York ahead of the film's Nov. 26 Fox Searchlight release. "This is the first prize that 'In America' has achieved and we are truly honored," Lappin said.
- 10/19/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
New Line Cinema has acquired U.S. rights to the Intermedia/Stratus Films production Laws of Attraction in a negative pickup. A romantic comedy starring Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore as New York divorce lawyers who face off against each other inside of court and out, Laws is being directed by Peter Howitt and will start shooting June 16 from a script penned by Aline Brosh McKenna, Karey Kirkpatrick and Robert Harling, with a recent polish by Howitt. Deep River Prods.' David Friendly, who originated the idea for the project, will produce with his partner Marc Turtletaub along with Beau St. Clair, Brosnan's producing partner in their Irish DreamTime, and Julie Durk. Moritz Borman, Basil Iwanyk, Mark Gordon, Bob Yar, Mark Gill and Arthur Lappin are executive producing. New Line executives Mark Ordesky and Guy Stodel are overseeing for the studio. CAA, which represents Brosnan and Moore, was instrumental in putting the project together.
"Bloody Sunday" is an autopsy of a film, a provocative dramatization of the raging events that led up to one of the most appalling confrontations in the Irish-British wars that continue in Northern Ireland. It perambulates as an even-handed dramatization of the horrible confrontation in which 13 civilian lives were lost.
A British-Irish co-production involving Granada and James Sheridan's Hell's Kitchen company, it's an attempt to make an even-handed depiction of the events and personal stories that led to that terrible day in January 1972 when British soldiers met Irish protesters. Certain viewers, who have the stomach to endure yet another film about the mindless onslaught that goes on in Northern Ireland, may consider it "Blarney Sunday", in reference to its last-point editorial emphasis on the British whitewash of the carnage.
Still, for those who can sit through in-your-face, ground-level camera work, a war zone-sounding soundtrack and the sense that here we go again, "Bloody Sunday" might have appeal beyond the north of Ireland. Commercially, it's likely to be a festival staple or, at best, an independent offering that will fare best in Europe.
Aesthetically, "Bloody Sunday" bangs along like a cab ride where the driver speaks in a foreign tongue and you're jarred all the way with swirls and quick stops and the constraint crackle of the receiver, where only every seventh or eight word can be distinguished. And, in this case, there's the dialogue: "Kroist", "Immmerershceean, roight", and other thick Irish utterings that are virtually incomprehensible. Admittedly, such a stylistic is appropriate to the buildup of the murderous confrontation that results.
The filmmaker's viewpoint will undoubtedly be skewered in these post-Sept. 11 times. With the onslaught of TV -- where we've sided with our Special Forces against he rabble of a zealot, makeshift opponent -- the filmmakers may find that Americans are now siding with the guys in the uniforms with the walkie-talkies. In short, it's hard not to view "Bloody Sunday" post-Sept. 11 as anything more than a generic TV war, and in these times, U.S. audiences are not going to want to sympathize with unorganized, slogan-shouting types, with a few fringers packing guns.
Intelligently made and well-crafted, "Bloody Sunday"'s assaultive aesthetic documents the buildup to the bloody confrontation between British soldiers and Irish protesters that resulted in 13 civilian deaths. Centering on a well-meaning yet preening parliamentarian, Ivan Cooper (James Nesbitt), a Protestant who represents a Catholic district and wants to lead a peaceful march in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr., the film delineates through a representative throng of touchstone characters how things go so quickly bloody.
In addition to the Irish side, the filmmakers sagely show the British side -- young soldiers who fear the "hooligans" and are burned out with being taunted and having rocks thrown at them. In short, we see the tempers bristling on both sides, as each can point to atrocities or shortcomings of the "other side." We see the British commander who feels he has to make a point and show strength of 10 Downing; we also see the lurking, murderous IRA -- the grubby men on the fringes who want the march to escalate into violence for their own agenda. In short, we see a lose-lose catastrophe in the making.
Again, post-Sept. 11 audiences will focus on the fact that this upheaval occurs during a time when young males reached a population peak. The list at the end of the film of those killed shows a preponderance of 17-year-olds -- in more sophisticated Rolling Stones terms, hormonal lads who "went down to the demonstration to get their fair share of abuse." The filmmakers try to personalize these guys though a tall, shaggy-haired lad with a wee bit of problem with the law, but he's got a good heart and ends up throwing rocks out front; hereinafter referred to as the "Daniel Day Lewis-type character."
"Bloody Sunday" is intelligently crafted and often insightful. In particular, we note the hubris of the march leader, a well-meaning but egotistical man who loves being the center of attention, calling out to folk. Many viewers could conclude that it was his ego, knowing full well what was going to happen, that was a major factor in causing the bloodletting -- a vainglorious idealist who led "many sheep to slaughter." Others could conclude that it was the British who were forced to make a statement. One could argue on and on ... and the bloodletting goes on.
"Bloody Sunday" winds up with the list of names of those killed and a sharp invective against the British for covering it all up. The high swill of a U2 anthem rages bathetically, making one wish immediately for a Bloody Mary.
BLOODY SUNDAY
Portman Film presents
In association with Granada, the Film Council and
Bord Scannan na hEirann/The Irish Film Board
A Granada Film/Hell's Kitchen production
Producer: Mark Redhead
Screenwriter-director: Paul Greengrass
Executive producers: Pippa Cross, Arthur Lappin, Jim Sheridan, Paul Trijbits, Tristan Whalley, Rod Stoneman
Co-producers: Don Mullan, Paul Myler
Director of photography: Ivan Strasburg
Editor: Clare Douglas
Production designer: John Paul Kelly
Costume designer: Dinah Collin
Music: Dominic Muldoon
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ivan Cooper: James Nesbitt
Major General Ford: Tim Pigott-Smith
Brigadier Maclellan: Nicholas Farrell
Chief Supt. Lagan: Gerard McSorley
Frances: Kathy Kiera Clarke
Kevin McCorry: Allan Gildea
Eamonn McCann: Gerard Crossan
Bernadette Devlin: Mary Moulds
Bridget Bond: Carmel McCallion
Gerry Donaghy: Declan Duddy
Running time -- 107 minutes
No MPAA rating...
A British-Irish co-production involving Granada and James Sheridan's Hell's Kitchen company, it's an attempt to make an even-handed depiction of the events and personal stories that led to that terrible day in January 1972 when British soldiers met Irish protesters. Certain viewers, who have the stomach to endure yet another film about the mindless onslaught that goes on in Northern Ireland, may consider it "Blarney Sunday", in reference to its last-point editorial emphasis on the British whitewash of the carnage.
Still, for those who can sit through in-your-face, ground-level camera work, a war zone-sounding soundtrack and the sense that here we go again, "Bloody Sunday" might have appeal beyond the north of Ireland. Commercially, it's likely to be a festival staple or, at best, an independent offering that will fare best in Europe.
Aesthetically, "Bloody Sunday" bangs along like a cab ride where the driver speaks in a foreign tongue and you're jarred all the way with swirls and quick stops and the constraint crackle of the receiver, where only every seventh or eight word can be distinguished. And, in this case, there's the dialogue: "Kroist", "Immmerershceean, roight", and other thick Irish utterings that are virtually incomprehensible. Admittedly, such a stylistic is appropriate to the buildup of the murderous confrontation that results.
The filmmaker's viewpoint will undoubtedly be skewered in these post-Sept. 11 times. With the onslaught of TV -- where we've sided with our Special Forces against he rabble of a zealot, makeshift opponent -- the filmmakers may find that Americans are now siding with the guys in the uniforms with the walkie-talkies. In short, it's hard not to view "Bloody Sunday" post-Sept. 11 as anything more than a generic TV war, and in these times, U.S. audiences are not going to want to sympathize with unorganized, slogan-shouting types, with a few fringers packing guns.
Intelligently made and well-crafted, "Bloody Sunday"'s assaultive aesthetic documents the buildup to the bloody confrontation between British soldiers and Irish protesters that resulted in 13 civilian deaths. Centering on a well-meaning yet preening parliamentarian, Ivan Cooper (James Nesbitt), a Protestant who represents a Catholic district and wants to lead a peaceful march in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr., the film delineates through a representative throng of touchstone characters how things go so quickly bloody.
In addition to the Irish side, the filmmakers sagely show the British side -- young soldiers who fear the "hooligans" and are burned out with being taunted and having rocks thrown at them. In short, we see the tempers bristling on both sides, as each can point to atrocities or shortcomings of the "other side." We see the British commander who feels he has to make a point and show strength of 10 Downing; we also see the lurking, murderous IRA -- the grubby men on the fringes who want the march to escalate into violence for their own agenda. In short, we see a lose-lose catastrophe in the making.
Again, post-Sept. 11 audiences will focus on the fact that this upheaval occurs during a time when young males reached a population peak. The list at the end of the film of those killed shows a preponderance of 17-year-olds -- in more sophisticated Rolling Stones terms, hormonal lads who "went down to the demonstration to get their fair share of abuse." The filmmakers try to personalize these guys though a tall, shaggy-haired lad with a wee bit of problem with the law, but he's got a good heart and ends up throwing rocks out front; hereinafter referred to as the "Daniel Day Lewis-type character."
"Bloody Sunday" is intelligently crafted and often insightful. In particular, we note the hubris of the march leader, a well-meaning but egotistical man who loves being the center of attention, calling out to folk. Many viewers could conclude that it was his ego, knowing full well what was going to happen, that was a major factor in causing the bloodletting -- a vainglorious idealist who led "many sheep to slaughter." Others could conclude that it was the British who were forced to make a statement. One could argue on and on ... and the bloodletting goes on.
"Bloody Sunday" winds up with the list of names of those killed and a sharp invective against the British for covering it all up. The high swill of a U2 anthem rages bathetically, making one wish immediately for a Bloody Mary.
BLOODY SUNDAY
Portman Film presents
In association with Granada, the Film Council and
Bord Scannan na hEirann/The Irish Film Board
A Granada Film/Hell's Kitchen production
Producer: Mark Redhead
Screenwriter-director: Paul Greengrass
Executive producers: Pippa Cross, Arthur Lappin, Jim Sheridan, Paul Trijbits, Tristan Whalley, Rod Stoneman
Co-producers: Don Mullan, Paul Myler
Director of photography: Ivan Strasburg
Editor: Clare Douglas
Production designer: John Paul Kelly
Costume designer: Dinah Collin
Music: Dominic Muldoon
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ivan Cooper: James Nesbitt
Major General Ford: Tim Pigott-Smith
Brigadier Maclellan: Nicholas Farrell
Chief Supt. Lagan: Gerard McSorley
Frances: Kathy Kiera Clarke
Kevin McCorry: Allan Gildea
Eamonn McCann: Gerard Crossan
Bernadette Devlin: Mary Moulds
Bridget Bond: Carmel McCallion
Gerry Donaghy: Declan Duddy
Running time -- 107 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 10/15/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In her second feature as director, Anjelica Huston delivers an evocative, easygoing Irish comedy that would have made her father proud. The beautifully matured actress also plays the lead role, something John Huston never pulled off -- unless you count his bearish portrayal of Noah, as well as providing the narration and voice of God, in his 1966 film "The Bible".
Premiering as the closing film in the Director's Fortnight sidebar to the Cannes International Film Festival, "Agnes Browne" in many ways is a throwback to "women's films" of decades past and will likely find its audience over time. Not at all edgy and tragically sad in only a few places, Huston's straightforward rendering of demoralizing urban lives has a crowd-pleasing sense of humor. Still, the October Films release has limited appeal.
Adapting his novel "The Mammy", Brendan O'Carroll co-wrote the screenplay with John Goldsmith. Set in central Dublin in 1967, the literate but far-from-Joycean scenario centers on how newly widowed Agnes Browne (Huston) and her many children stick together during difficult times.
A purveyor of fruit and vegetables in a modest stall on Market Street, Agnes is a big-hearted survivor with a foul mouth and a long life ahead of her. Her best friend Marion Marion O'Dwyer) is not so lucky, and their girlish good times as Agnes starts over in romance soon enough become a sad refrain of loss and wrenching grief.
With Agnes' deceased husband not talked about much by her or the children, the story's two significant male characters are polar opposites. Pierre (Arno Chevrier) is a dreamboat French baker who is not easily discouraged and delicately puts all the right moves on the heroine. Mr. Billy (Ray Winstone) is an odious loan shark who likes to beat up kids and terrorize poor widows.
Episodic, finally building to a big, upbeat finish with Agnes' hero, the singer Tom Jones, literally saving the day -- surrealistically, the young singer is played by the real Jones -- "Agnes Browne" deals with serious material in fairly superficial ways, but the filmmaking is accomplished and the characters are pleasingly fleshed out.
Newcomer O'Dwyer and Huston have magical chemistry in many of their scenes, and the supporting cast is grand. The humor involves some crude language, but overall the film is well-crafted and sincere.
AGNES BROWNE
October Films
A Hell's Kitchen production
Director: Anjelica Huston
Producers: Jim Sheridan, Arthur Lappin, Anjelica Huston, Greg Smith
Screenwriters: John Goldsmith, Brendan O'Carroll
Executive producers: Morgan O'Sullivan, Tom Palmieri, Laurie Mansfield, Gerry
Browne
Director of photography: Anthony B. Richmond
Production designer: David Brockhurst
Editor: Eva Gardos
Costume designer: Joan Bergin
Music: Paddy Moloney
Casting: Maureen Hughes
Color/stereo
Cast:
Agnes Browne: Anjelica Huston
Marion Monks: Marion O'Dwyer
Mr. Billy: Ray Winstone
Pierre: Arno Chevrier
Mark Browne: Niall O'Shea
Frankie Browne: Ciaran Owens
Cathy Browne: Roxanna Williams
Running time -- 92 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Premiering as the closing film in the Director's Fortnight sidebar to the Cannes International Film Festival, "Agnes Browne" in many ways is a throwback to "women's films" of decades past and will likely find its audience over time. Not at all edgy and tragically sad in only a few places, Huston's straightforward rendering of demoralizing urban lives has a crowd-pleasing sense of humor. Still, the October Films release has limited appeal.
Adapting his novel "The Mammy", Brendan O'Carroll co-wrote the screenplay with John Goldsmith. Set in central Dublin in 1967, the literate but far-from-Joycean scenario centers on how newly widowed Agnes Browne (Huston) and her many children stick together during difficult times.
A purveyor of fruit and vegetables in a modest stall on Market Street, Agnes is a big-hearted survivor with a foul mouth and a long life ahead of her. Her best friend Marion Marion O'Dwyer) is not so lucky, and their girlish good times as Agnes starts over in romance soon enough become a sad refrain of loss and wrenching grief.
With Agnes' deceased husband not talked about much by her or the children, the story's two significant male characters are polar opposites. Pierre (Arno Chevrier) is a dreamboat French baker who is not easily discouraged and delicately puts all the right moves on the heroine. Mr. Billy (Ray Winstone) is an odious loan shark who likes to beat up kids and terrorize poor widows.
Episodic, finally building to a big, upbeat finish with Agnes' hero, the singer Tom Jones, literally saving the day -- surrealistically, the young singer is played by the real Jones -- "Agnes Browne" deals with serious material in fairly superficial ways, but the filmmaking is accomplished and the characters are pleasingly fleshed out.
Newcomer O'Dwyer and Huston have magical chemistry in many of their scenes, and the supporting cast is grand. The humor involves some crude language, but overall the film is well-crafted and sincere.
AGNES BROWNE
October Films
A Hell's Kitchen production
Director: Anjelica Huston
Producers: Jim Sheridan, Arthur Lappin, Anjelica Huston, Greg Smith
Screenwriters: John Goldsmith, Brendan O'Carroll
Executive producers: Morgan O'Sullivan, Tom Palmieri, Laurie Mansfield, Gerry
Browne
Director of photography: Anthony B. Richmond
Production designer: David Brockhurst
Editor: Eva Gardos
Costume designer: Joan Bergin
Music: Paddy Moloney
Casting: Maureen Hughes
Color/stereo
Cast:
Agnes Browne: Anjelica Huston
Marion Monks: Marion O'Dwyer
Mr. Billy: Ray Winstone
Pierre: Arno Chevrier
Mark Browne: Niall O'Shea
Frankie Browne: Ciaran Owens
Cathy Browne: Roxanna Williams
Running time -- 92 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
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