NORMAL (2003)
SKY MOVIES 1, 10pm
An amusing but serious-minded drama about a happily married father who suddenly decides that he is a woman trapped in a man’s body. Tom Wilkinson plays Roy Applewood, a strapping factory foreman who, after a funny turn at his 25th wedding anniversary, begins taking female hormones and planning a sex change. Jessica Lange co-stars as Roy’s wife in Jane Anderson’s Emmy-nominated adaptation of her play, Looking into Normal. (110 min)
Advertisement
STARGATE (1994)
BBC One, 10.45pm
Before they scored a huge hit with Independence Day, the director Roland Emmerich and the producer Dean Devlin cut their teeth on this schlocky sci-fi thriller about a rogue Egyptologist (James Spader) who discovers a mysterious portal through to other dimensions. Kurt Russell leads a US military team on a mission through the “stargate”, only to discover an Egyptian-style empire ruled by a tryannical Pharaoh (Jaye Davidson of The Crying Game fame) on the far side. Pure nonsense, of course, but visually impressive and commercially successful enough to spawn a spin-off TV series. (121 min)
I WENT DOWN (1997)
BBC Two, 11.20pm
Advertisement
A snappy Irish comedy thriller bursting with great performances and ripe dialogue, I Went Down stars Peter McDonald as a former prisoner who is press-ganged into a mysterious mission by a quietly menacing Dublin godfather (Tony Doyle). Accompanied by the boorish Bunny (Brendan Gleeson), McDonald’s reluctant underworld enforcer embarks on an eventful road trip to retrieve a renegade gangland lieutenant from Cork. Hailed as Ireland’s answer to Trainspotting and Pulp Fiction on its release, Paddy Breathnach’s character-driven tale is less flashy than either, but an engrossing and entertaining work in its own right. (107 min)