DIR: John Irvin • WRI: Nicholas Adams • PROD: Wolfgang Esenwein, Evzen Kolar, Ellen Dinerman Little • DOP: Thomas Burstyn • ED: Ian Crafford • DES: Tom McCullagh • CAST: Colm Meaney, Bernard Hill, Andrea Corr, Patrick Bergin, Shaun Evans, Philip Barantini, Charlotte Bradley, Catherine Byrne
Two brothers compete for the All-Ireland Ceili championship in 1960s Ireland. Colm Meaney plays Jimmy, who went to England twenty-odd years ago and made good – ten men working under him and twenty new suits a year. He's put a Liverpool ceili band together who have defied beatlemania, and stuck the old ways. His brother John Joe, Bernard Hill, stays behind to thatch the cottage, look after the sheep, and describe himself as 'a walking map of Ireland'. Then there's the third brother, Padjo, waiting in the wings. He's been off in the missions in Africa: converting the heathens to ceili music. And don't forget about 'the girl': the film had already screened at the Boston Film Festival under the title The Boys from County Clare before they copped onto the popular appeal of Andrea Corr as the cailin deas who's fiddle playing is 'closer to the heavens'.
The ceili championship becomes the backdrop to a series of relationships to be pursued and resolved. Will the brothers Jimmy and John Joe make peace? Will Anne, Andrea Corr, hook up with Teddy, Shaun Evans, from the rival band? Will Jimmy resolve his relationship with his love child, Anne, or with her mother played by Charlotte Bradley? Will Anne leave or stay? Will Teddy leave or stay? And who will win the ceili competition? There's a bag full of resolutions and still room for a sequel.
There are amusing moments in the film. It is engaging up to a point. Hill and Meaney are always watchable, and give strong performances. The direction, by John Irvin, is solid and keeps the film lively enough. And then for the tourists there's lots of lovely scenery from the Isle of Ma…. I mean Ireland. But for a modern audience it's hard to get beyond the deluge of clichés; drunks throwing up their false teeth, and auties who always have the kettle on. There's even some American hippies who turn up for the festival just to cast the cliché net a little further.
I know there's a certain amount of truth in every cliché. I'm sure many people will see this as a realistic portrayal. But the point is we've seen it all before and it's gotten stale. It just gives an extra layer of predictability to a story that isn't very original in the first place.
The Boys (and Girl) from County Clare is in cinemas on 24th March 2006.
