A Beautiful Mind 2001  PG-13, 130 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Ron Howard
Cast: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Paul Bettany, Adam Goldberg, Christopher Plummer, Josh Lucas, Judd Hirsch, Vivien Cardone, Anthony Rapp, Jason Gray-Stanford, Austin Pendelton, Jillie Simon, Victor Steinbach, Tanya Clarke
This biography traces the life of paranoid-schizophrenic, math genius John Forbes Nash Jr. (Russell Crowe) who overcame the odds to win the Nobel Prize in Economic Science. His life changes while he is working in cryptology at MIT where he meets Alicia (Jennifer Connelly). They fall in love and marry, but problems follow when Nash's paranoid schizophrenia sets in leading to years of illness with loyal Alicia standing by him in good times and bad. The film's four Academy Awards included Best Picture, Director, and Supporting Actress (Jennifer Connelly). Four additional nominations were received, including Crowe for Best Actor.
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 The Da Vinci Code 2006 PG-13, 150 min.
Genre: Mystery / Thriller / Drama
Director: Ron Howard
Cast: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina, Jurgen Prochnow, Paul Bettany, Jean Reno, Etienne Chicot, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Seth Gabel, Jean-Yves Berteloot, Clive Carter
Dan Brown's best-selling–and controversial to many Christians– novel is brought to the screen by Ron Howard. Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), a Harvard professor/symbologist, is visiting Paris when he is called to the Louvre after the curator is found murdered in the museum. A cipher found near the body begins Langdon's and cryptologist Sophie Neveu's (Audrey Tautou) thrilling race for the secrets of the cipher, which includes Leonardo Da Vinci's hidden meanings in his paintings and encounters with secret societies. This film version tiptoes around the more controversial parts of the novel.
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Dogville 2003 R, 144 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Lars von Trier
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, Harriet Andersson, Patricia Clarkson, Lauren Bacall, Chloe Sevigny, Jean-Marc Barr, James Caan, Blair Brown, Jeremy Davies, Ben Gazzara, Stellan Skarsgard
When a fugitive (Nicole Kidman) arrives in the village of Dogville in the Rocky Mountains, the mayor (Paul Bettany) convinces the citizens to hide her. It works for awhile–until police and gangsters arrive looking for her–and then the villagers turn on her. The symbolism of Americans accepting newcomers at first but exploiting them later prevails throughout this tale.
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 Firewall 2006  PG-13, 105 min.
Genre: Action / Thriller
Director: Richard Loncraine
Cast: Harrison Ford, Paul Bettany, Virginia Madsen, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Robert Patrick, Robert Forster, Alan Arkin, Carly Schroeder, Jimmy Bennett, Matthew Currie Holmes, Eric Keenleyside, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Vince Vieluf
Jack Stanfield (Harrison Ford) is in charge of a global bank's computer security when robbers kidnap his wife, Beth (Virginia Madsen), and their children Andrew (Jimmy Bennett) and Sarah (Carly Schroeder). The robbers' boss, Bill Cox (Paul Bettany), tells Jack to siphon off $100 million from wealthy depositors, but Jack looks for ways to sabotage the plot and to save his family as well.
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Gangster No. 1 2000  R, 103 min.
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Director: Paul McGuigan
Cast: Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis, Paul Bettany, Saffron Burrows, Kenneth Cranham, Jamie Foreman, Eddie Marsan, Andrew Lincoln, Doug Allen, Razaaq Adoti, Cavan Clerkin, David Kennedy
The career of an unnamed London gangster (Paul Bettany plays the young hood while Malcolm McDowell takes over the role of the seasoned veteran) is told through flashbacks as he remembers his life of crime.
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The Heart of Me 2002 R, 96 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Olivia Williams, Paul Bettany, Eleanor Bron, Luke Newberry, Tom Ward, Gillian Hanna, Andrew Havill, Alison Reid, Kathryn Tennant-Maw
Dinah (Helena Bonham Carter) is in love with her sister Madeleine's (Olivia Williams) husband (Paul Bettany) in this story based on Rosamond Lehmann's novel that is believed to have been inspired by her own adulterous affair with British Poet Laureate Cecil Day Lewis.
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Inkheart 2009 PG, 106 min.
Genre: Family / Adventure / Fantasy
Director: Iain Softley
Cast: Brendan Fraser, Eliza Bennett, Helen Mirren, Paul Bettany, Andy Serkis, Jim Broadbent, Rafi Gavron, Sienna Guillory, Richard Strange, Matt King, Steve Speirs, Jamie Foreman, Stephen Graham, Lesley Sharp, Tereza Srbova
Based on Cornelia Funke's children's novel, this is a fantasy adventure in which 12-year-old Meggie (Eliza Bennett) and her father Mo (Brendan Fraser) share a unique talent of bringing characters in books to life. But, when one character steps out of a book into real life, another living person disappears. Years ago, Mo read out loud the novel "Inkheart," and Meggie's mother Resa (Sienna Guillory) mysteriously disappeared. Now, Mo and Meggie travel around Europe searching for a copy of "Inkheart" so that Mo can read it aloud and, hopefully, bring back Resa. But, Capricorn (Andy Serkis) is also searching for copies of the book so that he can destroy them in order to protect himself from being sent back to the pages of fiction. And then there is Dustfinger (Paul Bettany) who wants Mo to find a copy of "Inkheart" and read him back into the story so that he can rejoin his family. Along the way, Mo and Meg team up with bookworm Elinor Loredan (Helen Mirren), the author of "Inkheart" Fenoglio (Jim Broadbent), and thief Farid (Rafi Gavron). Now the race is on to find the last remaining copy of "Inkheart" before Capricorn can destroy it.
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A Knight's Tale 2001 PG-13, 132 min.
Genre: Adventure / Comedy / Romance
Director: Brian Helgeland
Cast: Heath Ledger, Rufus Sewell, Shannyn Sossamon, Mark Addy, Paul Bettany, Laura Fraser, Alan Tudyk, Berenice Bejo, James Purefoy, Christopher Cazenove, Scott Handy, Leagh Conwell, Steven O'Donnell, Nick Brimble, Jonathan Slinger
Writer, producer, director Brian Helgeland presents this tale, set in the 14th-century. Knowing that the sport of jousting is reserved for royalty, lowly squire William Thatcher (Heath Ledger) takes on the persona of his dead master Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein and enters a jousting competition. William wins and with help from friends, Wat and Roland (Alan Tudyk and Mark Addy) along with aspiring writer Geoffrey Chaucer (Paul Bettany), he continues his deception and wins match after match. He even beats the undefeated Count Adhemar (Rufus Sewell) and gains the affection of Lady Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon). But, how long will it take before William's deception is exposed?
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The Land Girls 1998 R, 112 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: David Leland
Cast: Catherine McCormack, Rachel Weisz, Anna Friel, Steven Mackintosh, Tom Georgeson, Maureen O'Brien, Lucy Akhurst, Paul Bettany, Gerald Down, Nick Mollo
This story of three women–Stella (Catherine McCormack), Ag (Rachel Weisz), and Prue (Anna Friel)–involves their experiences during World War II as members of the "Land Girls," a regiment of women who "manned" England's farms while the men went off to war.
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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 2003  PG-13, 138 min.
Genre: Adventure
Director: Peter Weir
Cast: Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, James D'Arcy, Edward Woodall, Chris Larkin, Max Pirkis, Jack Randall, Max Benitz, Lee Ingleby, Richard Pates, Robert Pugh, Richard McCabe
During the Napoleonic Wars, the HMS Sunrise is attacked by a much larger vessel, the French warship Archeron. But, the Sunrise escapes and Captain Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe), with his ship undergoing repairs, decides to pursue the Archeron. The battle ensues, but the real story revolves around relationships of officers and crew of the Sunrise as well as the friendship of Capt. Aubrey and the ship's doctor, Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany), as they face almost impossible odds. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won for Best Cinematography.
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 The Reckoning 2004 R, 110 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Paul McGuigan
Cast: Paul Bettany, Willem Dafoe, Simon McBurney, Gina McKee, Brian Cox, Vincent Cassel, Ewen Bremner, Tom Hardy, Stuart Wells, Matthew Macfadyen, Elvira Minguez, Luke de Woolfson
Set during the medieval era in England, this tale involves a disgraced monk, Nicholas (Paul Bettany), and a band of actors who act out a morality play in which they recreate a real murder and try to uncover the murderer.
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The Secret Life of Bees 2008 PG-13, 110 min.
Genre: Adventure / Drama
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Cast: Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, Sophie Okonedo, Alicia Keys, Paul Bettany, Tristan Wilds, Hilarie Burton, Nate Parker, Renee Clark, Shondrella Avery, Sharon Morris, Nicky Buggs, Jasmine Burke, Emma Sage Bowman
This story is set in South Carolina during the summer following the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Fourteen-year-old Lily (Dakota Fanning), who is haunted by her late mother's memory and upset with her abusive father (Paul Bettany), goes off with her Black maid Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson) who was beaten after trying to register to vote. They arrive in a small town in South Carolina where Lily is taken in by the Boatwright sisters–August (Queen Latifah), May (Sophie Okonedo), and June (Alicia Keys)–who run a beekeeping farm. Lily finds solace while learning many lessons including how to make honey, racial tolerance, and what love is really about.
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Wimbledon 2004 PG-13, 100 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Loncraine
Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Paul Bettany, Sam Neill, Jon Favreau, Bernard Hill, Eleanor Bron, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Robert Lindsay, Austin Nichols, Kyle Hyde, Celia Imrie, Penny Ryder
Tennis star Peter Colt (Paul Bettany) has fallen on hard times as his ranking has hit an all-time low–until he meets and falls in love with rising tennis star Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst). Despite parental interference, the relationship seems to be helping Peter's tennis game. Will love conquer all?
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| 1. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
2. The Da Vinci Code (2006)
3. Dogville (2003)
4. Firewall (2006)
5. Gangster No. 1 (2000)
6. The Heart of Me (2002)
7. Inkheart (2009)
8. A Knight's Tale (2001)
9. The Land Girls (1998)
10. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
11. The Reckoning (2004)
12. The Secret Life of Bees (2008)
13. Wimbledon (2004)
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