Conference bookie::movies

    Yes, I saw it Saturday night at a sneak preview and I *heartily*
    recommend it!
    
    Where to start... well, it deals with the queasy tension between
    awakening sexual feeling and the Irish Catholic church of the '50s...
    also questions of loyalty, to family and otherwise.  There are some
    *very* funny scenes; I was also on the verge of tears in places, and
    there's at least one good scare.
    
    Casting was excellent throughout.  I love Minnie Driver (yes it's funny
    and poignant that she went unrecognized at the premiere!  Don't know
    whether to laugh or cry!) and her friends.  All the parents were very
    funny because they were such clear characters--I guess they could be
    seen as stereotypes, but I think there were very narrow parameters of
    class and behavior within the classes in Ireland in the fifties, so I
    don't call it a fault.  I think that either one or both of Chris
    O'Donnell's parents must have a brogue, because although his "accent"
    went a little thin in places, it was an admirable attempt (better than
    what you'd expect him to have gleaned from a dialect coach).  There's a
    guy you love to hate: the lizardly would-be suitor of our heroine; I
    hope he gets a supporting-actor nod for the '95 Oscars.  He drew the
    audience together--we groaned and winced as one every time he appeared!
    
    There was actually a smattering of applause at the end of the film. 
    This is very rare in New England; I remember while visiting Chicago in
    the late '60s being disconcerted at the midwestern audiences' response
    in movies--er, excuse me, they called 'em "shows"--sighs, groans and
    lots of applause.  Here, it's a very big deal if anyone applauds at
    all.
    
    Anyone else see it?
    
    Leslie

  I sort of saw it.

  I saw a preview of this movie that was so long and so clearly in sequence
that I feel I've already seen the movie. I hate when they do that. I'm not
saying I'm one of those types that can't stand a brief summary of what the up
coming film or show is about and who's in it, but I really dislike previews or
reviews that lay out what appears to be the entire storyline. 

  I'll summarize the story told in the "preview" after the spoiler warning.
Let me know if I've got it wrong or if they left out enough to make it worth
seeing the entire movie. 






  SPOILER (sort of), Story as it appeared from long preview



  The story takes place in some sort of private school. The main characters are
a girl that you are suppose to believe is a tad homily but level headed and a
boy who is the much sought after school sports hero. Both are played by actors
that are 20 something trying to pass as teenagers

  The homily girl (who is actually played by an attractive if not somewhat full
figured actress) feels she has no chance winning the young hero but somehow she
gets her chance and they go on some sort of date. 

  The girl is somewhat surprised at her success and a bit insecure but she's
a strong character and can handle this with dignity. Their relationship is
something of a "coming of age" with experiments in sexuality and struggling to
understand the difference between a fling and a relationship. There is also
some conflict between their sexual feelings and their religious training.

  At one point they hit a bump in the road as the much sought after young man
has, or is thought to have, a fling with someone else but in the end he decides
"Molly (or what ever her name is) you're the one for me".

  Is that about it? If so, that's a whole lot more than I want to know about
a plot before seeing a movie. If that's not the gist of the story then they
did an interesting job of taking clips and making it appear to be something
other than what it was.

  George

    George,
    
    I hate when they do that too!
    
    Yes, the stuff in your spoiler *was* in the movie.  But... (not-really-
    a-spoiler):
    
    It wasn't *just* a coming-of-age-at-school movie.  Loyalty was a major
    theme (to parents, to church, to friends, to one's word) and the
    storyboard they throw us in the trailers (ick) is fleshed out
    interestingly.  There were some marvelous throw-away lines among the
    three girl friends, and the movie managed to tweak the Catholic church
    without (IMO) being disrespectful or offensive.
    
    The audience (at White City in Shewsbury, MA) loved it; go now if you
    think you ever will, because I think they're showing more and more in
    the trailers--they showed recently a split-second of a pivotal scene,
    so *don't watch the trailers*, just go see it!
    
    Leslie

    Saw the movie Saturday and loved it - the two main actors (especially
    Minnie Driver), the scenery (a lot of Ireland still looks like that
    from when I visited it), the story, everything.  I would definitely
    see it again, and recommend it to anyone.
    
    I think the only thing that spoiled it for me was the woman directly
    behind me that couldn't not laugh without snorting.  It would be 
    a cute scene and then Trigger would start.  Seeing a movie in
    a theater is wonderful because of the screen and the sound but
    some of the people you have to put up with makes me grateful
    that I can rent movies and bring them home.
    
    Mo
         

    
    >>> Seeing a movie in
    >>> a theater is wonderful because of the screen and the sound but
    >>> some of the people you have to put up with makes me grateful
    >>> that I can rent movies and bring them home.
    
    I AGREE! People are so incredibly rude it is not to be believed!!
    
    By the way...I loved the movie.  Go see it with a friend.

    I loved the movie. I am a big fan of Maeve Binchy's books (the author
    who wrote "Circle of Friends").  I am glad they kept the movie close
    to the book.  Parts of the movie were just as I had pictured them when
    I read the book. The cottage for Eve was exactly what I had imagined.
    
    
    

         My favorate type of movie is romantic comedy. A romantic comedy
    has to have two ingredients for me to like it: The heroine must be
    someone I could fall in love with; the guy who "wins" the heroine in
    the end can't be a total creep.
    
         I have read many glowing reviews of this movie and had high
    expectations for it. From the descriptions I fully expected to be able
    to fall in love with Benny. When Minnie Driver first appeared, I
    thought, "There goes the movie! No way I can fall in love with her."
    
         It is a testament to her acting ability and that remarkable face
    that she did in fact win me over. It is amazing to me how someone could
    look like some overweight frump one minute and project a radiant
    beauty the next. 
    
         I totally enjoyed this movie. It rates right up there with MYSTIC
    PIZZA and THE SURE THING on my list of favorite romantic comedies and
    Minnie Driver rates right up there with Annabeth Gish as one of my 
    favorite heroines.
    
         As to the guy who finnaly "won" our heroine, I will leave it up to
    you to decide whether or not he "deserved" her. I do highly recommend
    this movie.
    
         Mike

  Well I saw this in spite of the long preview and I thought the movie was
pretty good. 

  There is nothing real intense here, it was a light coming of age story, kind
of soapy but the characters were delightful, the plot while predictable was
enjoyable, the direction seemed pretty solid and the country side was very
beautiful. 

  The characters were very simplistic but that fit the time and location. One
day this will make a really fine TV movie.

  *** out of 5,
  George

    My wife and I saw it and really enjoyed it! One point wasn't really
    clear about the ending:
    <spoiler after FF>
    
    
    Did Nan lose the baby after cutting her arm? And where was she going
    when she was at the train station in her last scene? Kathy says she saw
    a sign for Liverpool, but you can't take a train there from Ireland!
    If so, though, perhaps she was going for the abortion after all.
    
    We weren't too surprised that Nan betrayed her friends. Since they
    hooked up again in college, you could tell that she did not share the
    same intimacy that Eve and Benny had with each other. She probably felt
    that she was a cut above them, and destined for better things. Was also
    obvious that her first lover did not love her (how's THAT for a play
    on words :-), or feel that she was level with him; he was just using
    her for sex.
    
    Very nicely done!
    			Jim B.

    can't take a train, but you can take a ferry.
    
    don't think abortion was legal in Great Britain at the time.

    >can't take a train, but you can take a ferry.
    
    That's right, it wasn't a train station, but a ferry port.
    
    >don't think abortion was legal in Great Britain at the time.
    
    
    It wasn't legal.  Remember the creep that got her pregnant offered to
    send her to England, and that a friend "knew someone?"  
    
    From the way I read the scene, I believe that she didn't have a
    miscarriage, but was going to England for one of two reasons, either to
    have an abortion, or to have the baby.  The film was ambiguous in this
    area.
    
    Good film, though.  A friend of mine has read the book and said that
    the ending was different and that the friendships among the girls were
    even more intense in the book than they were in the film.
    
    

    Yeah, it was ambiguous, but I had the feeling that she would either
    have the abortion or put the kid up for adoption.  She didn't strike me
    as the kind of person who would raise it herself.  Too ambitious.
    
    I'm not surprised that the women's friendship was more intense in the
    book.  Close female friendships are so scary to some people.  
    
    I liked the movie, except for Christopher O'Donnell.  He really bugs
    me.  Minnie Driver was good.  She said she had to eat for a year to get
    her cheeks that fat.

   
    > Good film, though.  A friend of mine has read the book and said that
    > the ending was different and that the friendships among the girls were
    
    <spoiler>
    
    Could you ask your friend if Nan left the country to get the abortion?
    Inquiring minds would like to know!

    In the book, 
    
    
    She loses the baby as a result of the accident.  When I saw the movie,
    I assumed the same. I didn't think she was pregnant when she left the
    country.  
    
    Kath

    BTW, abortion is still illegal in Ireland.

    >>> BTW, abortion is still illegal in Ireland.
    
    Are contraceptives as well?  There is a scene in the movie where 
    Bernadette's boyfriend mentions that you can buy contraceptives in
    London...
    
    Just wondering.
    
    PChaplinsky

    Yes, they're still illegal.  But, if you're a man and your wife's
    having a baby may kill you, you can use condoms.  At least that's the
    way it was in 1982.

My wife brought this home from the video store this weekend because she heard
that this was an old-fashioned, romantic love story.  We were both more than
disappointed with it.

This film had little to do with love, and much more to do with sex.  As 
practicing Catholics who actually believe and try to live what the Church
teaches, we found this film to be as blatantly anti-Catholic from beginning
to end as any we had seen in quite a while.  Granted, we try to avoid films
that bash the Church, since they end up being more frustrating than enjoyable,
so I'm sure there are plenty of movies that are worse in this respect.  We
weren't expecting it in this, and as a result got plenty of slaps in the face
over the course of this piece of trash.

If you're Catholic and believe and live your faith, don't bother with this
garbage...it's not worth the frustration.

--Chris

    re .17
    
    This is no longer correct - contraception is no longer illegal in
    Ireland. Abortion, sadly (IMHO, etc.) is still illegal.
    
    Grainne Ni Choiligh (Irish resident.)                  
    

    Ah, progress.

I thought this film was terrific, I'd read good reviews of it and they all
seem to be on the money this time. Minnie Driver was a discovery, I've not
seen her in anything else. 

re .18

Was there something incorrect in the film about the Catholic Church's attitude
towards sex in 1950's Ireland? It seemed a reasonably accurate portrayal but
I really don't know.



Randy

    I saw this on video Friday night.  What a nice, little film ..
    
    Sue

    
    Saw this on video this weekend and was pretty disappointed with it.
    The film did have it's moments, but for the most part was rather 
    boring.  Because of this, it seemed like it was extremely long. 
    
     **1/2 out of ***** mainly due to it's excellent quality of production
     and scenery.
    
      Lv