Longford

Key details may be lost on non-British viewers (DVD extras and commentary help), though superb acting and themes of forgiveness, betrayal, and strength of character translate well. Longford is portrayed as an intelligent, if naïve, champion of society's outcasts, even when the cause is unpopular. It's too bad the movie sidesteps the many non-famous prisoners whom Longford comforted. They include AIDS sufferers who were cut off from any human contact otherwise. Instead there's an odd subplot where he embarks on an anti-porn crusade, sampling sex shops and reading dirty magazines in bed to his wife. Maybe it's meant to show his open-mindedness -- he studies porn-peddlers with the polite diligence he would a government report -- or his impracticality.

We're tipped off forebodingly at the start that something terrible happened to upset Longford's public support for Hindley and undermined the old gent's reputation. Thanks mainly to The Silence of the Lambs, when Longford has repeated cellblock consults with the most "evil" people imaginable it's impossible not to think of arch-villain Hannibal Lecter, and some viewers may feel misled when what ultimately transpires between Hindley, Brady, and Longford is more quiet and subtle than a spectacular prison break or renewed murder rampage.