The pluck of the Irish

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This article was published 17/03/2020 (2060 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There are funny Irish films (The Guard), there are bleak Irish films (Angela’s Ashes), and there are Irish movies that are both funny and bleak (Calvary). But in honour of St. Patrick’s Day 2020, let’s put the emphasis on five of the really fun ones, all of which, for some reason, were made in the 1990s.

● The Commitments (1991) The cycle of feel-good Irish ’90s films was kicked off in style with this adaptation of the novel of the same name by Roddy Doyle. Set in Dublin, it tells the story of Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins), a young music fanatic who assembles a group of his musical friends to form a soul band. The fact that this film’s soundtrack was a hit should give you an idea of the band’s success, short-lived though it may be. Directed by Alan Parker (and featuring a pre-stardom Glen Hansard, who would go on to win an Oscar win for Best Original Song for the film Once).

● The Snapper (1993) Based on another novel by Roddy Doyle from the same Barrytown Trilogy that also brought us The Commitments, this Stephen Frears film revolves around Sharon Curley (Tina Kellegher), a smart young woman who discovers she is pregnant and refuses to identify the father, to the consternation of her own ‘da (Colm Meaney) and the rest of her family.

● Widow’s Peak (1994) In the Irish village of Kilshannon, mystery woman Edwina Broome (Natasha Richardson) moves into town and causes all sorts of scandal to the widow-heavy populace. (It’s set after the First World War.) The movie stars Mia Farrow, who stepped in when her mom, Maureen O’Hara, demurred owing to her age. But easily the film’s funniest performance is from Joan Plowright as the indomitable Mrs. Doyle-Counihan, whose son (Adrian Dunbar) goes a-courting the sexy, enigmatic Edwina.

● The Matchmaker (1997) Janeane Garofalo stars as Marcy, who, as the assistant to an Irish-American senator, was sent to Ireland to find some members of his long-lost family. She arrives in the town of Ballinagra just in time for a matchmaker festival, and two professional love-spotters (including the great Milo O’Shea) have a bet about hooking up Marcy with a roguish bartender (David O’Hara). To get a sense of the film’s humour, note one of the screenwriters was the legendary TV writer Graham Linehan (Black Books, Father Ted). It’s a very funny movie about perceptions vs. reality when it comes to Ireland, and Garofalo fans largely agree this one of her best.

● Waking Ned Devine (1998) Many Irish films are set in tiny, scenic villages, and that proved especially important setting for this comedy about a tiny community called Tullymore (pop. 52), where, we learn, one of its residents has won the grand prize in the Irish National Lottery.

Alas, the lucky fella is the titular Ned Devine, who is so shocked by learning he has the winning number, he promptly dies. This prompts two of Ned’s elderly friends (Ian Bannen and David Kelly) to come up with a scheme that will allow them to claim the winnings for themselves.

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @FreepKing