Drama Movies 2005 List

With Geoffrey Rush • Judy Davis • David Hoflin • Tim Draxl • Russell Mulcahy • Howard Baldwin • Karen Baldwin • Paul Pompian • Anthony Fingleton • Diane Fingleton

This is the true story of Tony Fingleton, a young man from a troubled family who found the inner strength to become a champion. Set in 1950s Brisbane, Australia, the family drama centers on Tony, a young man who beats the odds to become a champion swimmer in spite of his overbearing, alcoholic father and long-suffering, but quietly heroic mother. Overshadowed in his father's eyes by his brothers, it's only when Tony displays an extraordinary swimming talent that he feels he has a shot at wining his father's heart—and maybe even Olympic gold.

With James McAvoy • James Flynn • Brenda Fricker • Romola Garai • Steven Robertson • Gerald McSorley • Tom Hickey • Damien O'Donnell • Jaunita Wilson • Catherine Tiernan • Jeffrey Caine • Christian O'Reilly

Michael is a 24-year-old who has cerebral palsy and long-term resident of the Carrigmore Residential Home for the Disabled, run by the formidable Eileen. His life is transformed when the maverick Rory O'Shea moves in. Michael is stunned to discover that fast talking Rory, who can move only his right hand, can understand his almost unintelligible speech. Rory's dynamic and rebellious nature soon sparks a flame in Michael, introducing him to a whole new world outside of Carrigmore.

With Bryce Johnson • Michelle Phillips • Christopher Münch • Rain Phoenix • Cole Williams • Tom Gilroy • Justin Zachary

Harry (Bryce Johnson), aged 23, is a former boy band idol who is watching his younger brother Max (Cole Williams), aged 16, follow in his footsteps. Harry escorts Max on a long-promised camping adventure to the San Gabriel mountains above Los Angeles but things quickly turn serious as the boys discuss Harry's contradictory relationship with their family. Max's longing to connect with Harry both physically and emotionally grows even more, wanting to bring stability to Harry's life. In an effort to create a type of alternative family for his brother, Max goads Harry to rekindle his affections for his former girlfriend, Nikki (Rain Phoenix). Back from the weekend, Max realizes that he must redefine his relationship with his brother, and that only by setting boundaries can the boys grow into adulthood together.

With Sergio Castellitto • Toni Bertorelli • Marco Bellocchio • Sergio Pelone • Maurizio Donadoni • Piera Degli Esposti • Alberto Mondini

Ernesto is a successful artist who has his life turned upside down by his family's wishes for the canonization of his murdered mother. His extreme dislike for her ignorant ways brings about a greater connection to his inane brother who killed her, while his other brothers favor her beautification.

With Ryo Kase • Ayu Kitaura • Yûya Yagira • Hiei Kimura • Momoko Shimizu • Hanae Kan • You • Kazumi Kushida • Yukiko Okamoto • Sei Hiraizumi • Yuichi Kimura • Kenichi Endo • Susumu Terajima • Hirokazu Kore-eda • Hirokazu Koreeda

Four siblings live happily with their mother in a small apartment in Tokyo. The children all have different fathers. They have never been to school. The very existence of three of them has been hidden from the landlord. One day, the mother leaves behind a little money and a note asking her 12-year-old boy to look after his younger siblings. And so begins the children's odyssey, a journey nobody knows. Despite their mother's abandonment, the four children do their best to survive in their own little world, devising and following their own set of rules. But when they have no choice but to engage with the world outside the apartment, the fragile balance that has sustained them collapses. Kore-eda incorporated documentary techniques to makes this film extraordinarily intimate and unaffected. Filmed chronologically over a year, "Nobody Knows" captures the young amateur actors growing as their characters do, highlighting the details of the children's lives, whether the nuances of a manicure, a toy piano, squeaking sandals, a cup of instant noodles, or a box of chocolates, to evoke not only the distinctive world of these particular abandoned children, but the gentleness and beauty of every childhood.

With Loni Frank • Hannelore Schubert • Elke Rümmler • Rosemarie Deibel • Horst Krause • Harald Warmbrunn • Karl Fred Müller • Ursula Schucht • Wolfgang Boos • Leo Fischer • Michael Schorr

Schultze is an accordion player and newly unemployed. When the local music club celebrates its 50th anniversary, his taste of music changes unexpectedly.

With Evan Spiliotopoulos • Brenda Blethyn • Jim Cummings • David Ogden Stiers • Ken Sansom • Frank Nissen • Jessica Koplos-Miller • Brian Hohlfeld

Awakened by a rumbling that could only be made by the much-feared Heffalump, the Hundred Acre Wood crew sets forth to catch the dreaded creature. Disregarded as too young to partake in such a dangerous expedition, Roo opts to search on his own – with far greater success than his friends. But in meeting a young, playful Heffalump named Lumpy, Roo quickly discovers that Heffalumps are nothing like what he's been told, and that the creature is equally afraid of Roo's silly pals. Roo and Lumpy strike up a sweet friendship and work together to dispel the unfounded fears of their respective friends and families.

With Shia LaBeouf • Keanu Reeves • Peter Stormare • Djimon Hounsou • Rachel Weisz • Francis Lawrence • Erwin Stoff • Mark Bomback • Lorenzo di Bonaventura • Akiva Goldsman • Benjamin Melniker • Tilda Swinton • Gavin Rossdale • Michael Uslan • Lauren Shuler-Donner • Kevin Brodbin • Frank Cappello

John Constantine has been to hell and back. Born with a gift he didn't want, the ability to recognize the half-breed angels and demons that walk the earth in human camouflage, Constantine (Keanu Reeves) was driven to take his own life to escape the tormenting clarity of his vision. But he failed. Resuscitated against his will, he found himself cast back into the land of the living. Now, marked as an attempted suicide with a temporary lease on life, he patrols the earthly border between heaven and hell, hoping in vain to earn his way to salvation by waging war on the earthbound minions of evil. But Constantine is no saint. Increasingly disillusioned by the world around him and at odds with the one beyond, he's a hard-drinking, hard-living bitter hero who scorns the very idea of heroism. Constantine will fight to save your soul but he doesn't want your admiration or your thanks—and certainly not your sympathy. All he wants is a way out. When a desperate but skeptical police detective (Rachel Weisz as Angela Dodson) enlists his help in solving the mysterious death of her beloved twin sister, their investigation takes them through the world of demons and angels that exists just beneath the landscape of contemporary Los Angeles. Caught in a catastrophic series of otherworldy events, the two become inextricably involved and seek to find their own peace at whatever cost.

With Elle Fanning • AnnaSophia Robb • Jeff Daniels • Dave Matthews • Cicely Tyson • Eva Marie Saint • Wayne Wang • Trevor Albert • Joan V. Singleton • Kate DiCamillo

Opal, a 10-year-old girl and the only daughter of a an emotionally distant preacher, is a lonely outsider looking for friends. Opal comes upon a mutt-like dog at the Winn-Dixie supermarket, and it's love at first sight. Together, the two open hearts and make friends wherever they travel. Now, Opal must open the heart of her father to learn about the mother who left her when she was only three-years-old. Opal learns that life is made up of love and loss—and that one can sometimes compensate for the other.

With Jeff Daniels • Illana Diamant • Sigourney Weaver • Art Linson • Deborah Lee • Emile Hirsch • Kip Pardue • Dan Harris • Moshe Diamant • Frank Hübner • Tommy Johnson • Gina Resnick • Denise Shaw • Jan Fantl

Starring Sigourney Weaver, Jeff Daniels, Emile Hirsch, and Michelle Williams, "Imaginary Heroes" is a funny and poignant coming of age story in which the façade of an ordinary American family is peeled back to reveal that nothing is as it seems. Tim Travis (Hirsch) is walking through his life like it's a bad dream. His mother Sandy (Weaver) is the master of the Travis house - with a healthy drug habit, a decade long grudge, and a secret that is literally tearing her apart. His father Ben (Daniels) is a shell of the man he once was, crippled by circumstance and blind to the mistakes of his past. But in typical American style, the Travises aren't depressed - they're living their lives in a forlorn haze. As painful revelations are made that threaten to divide the family, moments of laughter and truth provide the salve that ultimately bring them closer together.

With Daniel Brühl • André Hennicke • Ulrich Matthes • Thomas Kretschmann • Ulrich Noethen • Bernd Eichinger • Christian Berkel • Ulrike Krumbiegel • Bruno Ganz • Birgit Minichmayr • Fabian Busch • Heino Ferch • Corinna Harfouch • Juliane Köhler • Michael Mendl • Götz Otto • Justus von Dohnanyi

Traudl Junge (Lara), the final stenographer for Adolf Hitler (Ganz), tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.

With Jack Christie • Gary Sweet • Helen Buday • Bogdan Koca • Samantha Knigge • Rolf De Heer • Domenico Procacci • Julie Ryan

Steven's birthday promises to be a particularly happy day, because he has finally gotten his much-sought-after promotion. Steven sets off on his homeward journey bearing the good news. He drives out to the suburb where he lives, looking forward to the party Alexandra, his wife, is sure to have organized for him. However, when he gets home, the house is strangely quiet. After searching the darkened rooms in vain for party guests, Steven finally comes across a video tape with the words play me written on it. It's a tape of Alexandra with a gun pointed at her head. Steve grabs the phone in panic, but the line is dead. He tries to leave for help, but now his keys no longer fit the lock and the security system has locked him indoors. Now alone, and a prisoner in his own house, he has no choice other than to watch the tape to the end.

With Soran Ebrahim • Olivier Gourmet • Morgan Marinne • Hirsh Feyssal • Avaz Latif • Bahman Ghobadi

Set in Ghobadi's native Kurdistan, close to the Turkey-Iran border, 13-year-old Soran orders other children around as he installs an antennae for villagers keen to hear of Saddam's fall. Eventually, he falls for Agrin but is disturbed by her brother Henkov, who was left armless after he stepped on a landmine and who can now seemingly predict the future.

With Sean Astin • John Corbett • Amy Smart • Marcus Thomas • Allan Corduner • Al Corley • Clare Higgins • Patty Duke • J.W. Crawford • Victor Morris • Brian Urspringer • Kenneth Jones • Orianna Herrman • Pam Mahon • Ernie Garrett • Matt Salinger • Rodney Patrick Vaccaro

A successful community theatre company is turned upside down when the director of an upcoming production of "Cyrano" casts an inexperienced young man with no apparent talent in the lead. The young man, Peter Rooker (Marcus Thomas), soon becomes caught up in the various intrigues of the "theater people," including the charming but mercurial Michael (John Corbett), the beautiful leading lady Grace (Amy Smart), and a colorful cast of eccentric players (including Sean Astin, Patty Duke and Alan Corduner). Peter soon discovers that in the world of theater the normal rules do not apply–but in the end there is a role for everyone.

With Tyler Perry • Kimberly Elise • Steve Harris • Cicely Tyson • Shemar Moore • Tamara Taylor • Darren Grant

The story focuses on Helen McCarter (Kimberly Elise), who has seemingly had the perfect life with husband Charles McCarter (Steve Harris). Over the years, Helen has been a faithful and loving wife, while Charles built a successful and lucrative career as a prominent Atlanta attorney. They wear the latest fashions, drive the nicest cars, have all the possessions they need, and they live on an expansive estate complete with an extravagant mansion, swimming pool, tennis court and all the trappings of wealth—a little piece of paradise away from the city. However, on the eve of their 18th wedding anniversary, Helen's paradise begins to crumble as Charles announces that he wants a divorce. He abruptly and literally tosses Helen out of the mansion to make room for the other woman. With all of her possessions packed in a moving van, Helen starts on her journey to put the pieces of her life back together. Through the assistance of her friends, family, faith, and a twist of fate, Helen finds the strength and empowerment she needs to get control of her circumstances. She also finds that the tragic events of her life soon become comic, especially with the guidance and help—mostly unsolicited, by the way—of her pot-smoking, gun-toting, and much beloved, grandmother figure Madea (Tyler Perry).