Browse Movies : 2006 : R : Drama

Set against the backdrop of civil war and chaos in 1990's Sierra Leone, Blood Diamond is the story of Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) - a South African mercenary - and Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) - a Mende fisherman. Both men are African, but their histories as different as any can be, until their fates become joined in a common quest to recover a rare pink diamond that can transform their lives. While in prison for smuggling, Archer learns that Solomon - who was taken from his family and forced to work in the diamond fields - has found and hidden the extraordinary rough stone. With the help of Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), an American journalist whose idealism is tempered by a deepening connection with Archer, the two men embark on a trek through rebel territory, a journey that could save Solomon's family and give Archer the second chance he thought he would never have.

From Academy Award winning filmmaker Mel Gibson, comes "Apocalypto" a heart stopping mythic action-adventure set against the turbulent end times of the once great Mayan civilization. When his idyllic existence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, a man is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing end awaits him. Through a twist of fate and spurred by the power of his love for his woman and his family he will make a desperate break to return home and to ultimately save his way of life.

A suburban town is full of perfect parents who are fully devoted to rearing their children for Harvard futures and keeping them safe from predators. The adults escape the excruciatingly bore-fests their lives have become via Internet porn and extramarital affairs. A stay-at-home mom has an affair with an ex-jock stay-at-home dad who rebels against his wife's wishes that he become a big-bucks lawyer.

"The Departed" is set in South Boston, where the state police force is waging war on organized crime. Young undercover cop Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is assigned to infiltrate the mob syndicate run by gangland chief Costello (Jack Nicholson). While Billy is quickly gaining Costello's confidence, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), a hardened young criminal who has infiltrated the police department as an informer for the syndicate, is rising to a position of power in the Special Investigation Unit. Each man becomes deeply consumed by his double life, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operations he has penetrated. But when it becomes clear to both the gangsters and the police that there's a mole in their midst, Billy and Colin are suddenly in danger of being caught and exposed to the enemy—and each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save himself.

Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) relocates from San Francisco to London and quickly finds herself on the wrong side of the law. David Morrissey plays a criminal psychologist assigned the task of evaluating her by Scotland Yard. She may finally have met her match in the shrink.

Set amidst the backdrop of a 1930s southern speakeasy, the film follows two characters, Percival (Andre Benjamin), the club's piano player, and Rooster (Antwan Patton), the club's lead performer and manager, through intersecting stories of love and ambition.

Set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, V For Vendetta tells the story of a mild-mannered young woman named Evey (Natalie Portman) who is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked man (Hugo Weaving) known only as "V." Incomparably charismatic and ferociously skilled in the art of combat and deception, V ignites a revolution when he urges his fellow citizens to rise up against tyranny and oppression. As Evey uncovers the truth about V's mysterious background, she also discovers the truth about herself—and emerges as his unlikely ally in the culmination of his plan to bring freedom and justice back to a society fraught with cruelty and corruption.

"Bobby" revisits the night Robert F. Kennedy was gunned down at the Ambassador Hotel in 1968. Story is about how the lives of those at the hotel that evening intersected. Movie will take place against the backdrop of the cultural issues gripping the country at the time, including racism, sexual inequality and class differences.

"The History Boys" tells the story of an unruly class of bright, funny history students in pursuit of an undergraduate place at Oxford or Cambridge. Bounced between their maverick English master (Richard Griffiths), a young and shrewd teacher hired to up their test scores (Stephen Campbell Moore), a grossly out-numbered history teacher (Frances de la Tour), and a headmaster obsessed with results (Clive Merrison), the boys attempt to sift through it all to pass the daunting university admissions process. Their journey becomes as much about how education works, as it is about where education leads.

Set in the future, "A Scanner Darkly" follows an undercover agent, Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves), who can change his face and identity. But when he ingests too much of the drug Substance D, his personality splits in two.

Years after their divorce, an ex-couple (Aaron Eckhart, Helena Bonham Carter) reunite at a wedding.

The Battle of Iwo Jima, which took place in the winter of 1945, was a turning point in the Pacific Theater. In one month, 22,000 Japanese and 26,000 Americans died, and the battle produced one of World War II's most enduring images: a photograph of U.S. servicemen raising an American flag on the flank of Mount Suribachi, the island's commanding high point.

Taking a much more macabre tone than did Eli Roth's feature debut "Cabin Fever", "Hostel" is an amalgamation of many of the most terrifying things about human nature and the world at large, culled from lots of pulpy-but-true stories of international organized crime, human trafficking, and sex tourism. Relentlessly graphic and deeply disturbing, the film is rife with explicit sex and brutal violence that is sure to delight hard core genre fans, and prove difficult to stomach for general audiences.

Based on the true story of young Truman Capote and his investigation into the 1959 murders of a wealthy Kansas family of four. What starts out as a journey with his childhood friend Harper Lee to figure out "whodunit," turns into something unexpected: an intense and complex bond with one of the murderers that inspired his greatest work, 'In Cold Blood.'

Barbara Covett (Dame Judi Dench) is a veteran and cynical schoolteacher who is close to retirement. She is barely tolerated by her less brilliant and acerbic colleagues who know nothing about her private life which consists mainly of taking care of Portia, her aging cat, and spending countless hours alone. The only means she has found to take the edge off her desperate loneliness is writing in her journal. When Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett), a younger, attractive woman, joins the faculty as an art teacher, Barbara watches her from afar and has nothing but caustic things to say in her diary about her clothing and her care-free manner. Despite her disdain for this woman, Barbara finds herself reaching out to her. Sheba responds by inviting her to dinner at her house to meet Sheba's lecturer husband (Bill Nighy), who is twenty years her senior, and their two children, a sexy and rebellious 16-year-old daughter and a younger boy with Downs Syndrome. Instead of opening herself to these people, Barbara immediately sees them as competition to be beaten in the battle for Sheba's attention. Later, when Barbara discovers her new friend in a classroom having sex with Steven (Andrew Simpson), a 15-year-old from the school who has artistic talent; she realizes that knowledge of this secret gives her power over Sheba which she can use for her own purposes. Barbara promises to not tell anyone but insists that the affair must end immediately. Sheba says she will but finds herself drawn back to the boy again and again. Sheba seems uneasy with Barbara's friendship and is appalled when she discovers the older woman might have a sexual interest in her. The tenuous relationship between the two women reaches a crisis point when Barbara's cat is dying and she asks Sheba to go with her to the vet. She chooses to go with her family to see their son in a play instead. In revenge, Barbara sets in motion the scandal that will rock both their lives in ways they never imagined.

If love is an adventure, it's one yet to be embarked upon by Kenya Denise McQueen. A beautiful L.A. career woman, Kenya works as senior manager at a prestigious accounting firm, and is on the verge of making partner. But she has yet to find her own partner and a fulfilling personal life. It's not that she's stopped looking; her (mental) checklist is at the ready. After another Valentine's Day spent working late, Kenya agrees to a blind date with Brian Kelly, a sexy and free-spirited landscape architect who turns out to be not exactly what she'd pictured for herself. Then again, she does need the yard of her new house fixed up. Her girlfriends Cheryl, Suzzette, and Nedra are there for her with advice, while Cheryl's new beau Walter shares a male perspective with Brian. Kenya's socially prominent parents Joyce and Edmond and womanizing younger brother Nelsen also voice their own opinions. But it's when her perfect match, Mark, enters the picture that Kenya is truly thrown into confusion. Ultimately, Kenya has to decide for herself and follow her heart--no matter where it takes her.

Australian director John Hillcoat and singer Nick Cave reconvene for 2006's "The Proposition", with Cave penning the screenplay and providing a soundtrack written with Dirty Three member Warren Ellis. Cave's 19th-century tale begins with the proposition of the title, as Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) captures fugitive brothers Charley (Guy Pearce) and Mikey Burns (Richard Wilson) at a scene of bloody rape and murder. Informing Charley that he must kill his older brother, Arthur (Danny Huston), in order to be set free, Stanley drags Mikey to a decrepit jailhouse while he waits for Charley to carry out the deed.

Armed with a Winchester rifle, two Morrocan boys set out to look after their family's herd of goats. In the silent echoes of the desert, they decide to test the rifle… but the bullet goes farther than they thought it would.

In an instant, the lives of four separate groups of strangers on three different continents collide. Caught up in the rising tide of an accident that escalates beyond anyone's control are a vacationing American couple (Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett), a rebellious deaf Japanese teenager and her father, and a Mexican nanny who, without permission, takes two American children across the border. None of these strangers will ever meet; in spite of the sudden, unlikely connection between them, they will all remain isolated due to their own inability to communicate meaningfully with anyone around them.

A story about theft, both criminal and emotional, "Breaking and Entering" follows a disparate group of long-term Londoners and new arrivals whose lives intersect in the inner-city area of King's Cross. "Breaking and Entering" tells the story of a series of thefts - some criminal, some emotional - set against the backdrop of a changing London whose geographical and cultural landscape is in flux. The central character, Will (Jude Law), is a successful landscape architect. His young, vibrant company, which he runs with business partner, Sandy (Martin Freeman), has recently relocated to King's Cross, the centre of the most ambitious urban regeneration site in Europe. Their state-of-the-art office immediately attracts the attention of a local group of thieves. After one of the break-ins, Will follows 15-year-old freerunner Miro (Rafi Gavron) back to the apartment he shares with his mother, Amira (Juliette Binoche) - a refugee from Bosnia. With his relationship to Liv (Robin Wright Penn) - his beautiful Swedish partner - already in crisis, Will embarks on a passionate journey into both the wilder side of himself and the city in which he lives.