Tubegazing: Longford

Longford (HBO, Saturday Feb. 17, 8 p.m.):

British character actor Jim Broadbent gains new fans with every project he graces, from "Bridget Jones's Diary" to "Moulin Rouge." He now stars in one of this year's Sundance Festival hits, "Longford," a film about the British lord who staked – and lost – his reputation on trying to help one of Britain's most notorious serial killers. Broadbent creates yet another slyly simple, yet deftly complex, portrait of the Catholic convert who translated his conviction that no person is beyond spiritual redemption into his work with the British penal system, visiting even the most despicable prisoners. He championed Myra Hindley, a woman who killed five children. She betrays his trust, severely testing his faith and public position. Grade: A