The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Maura, a single mother, must get prepared for her wedding, something she reluctantly does. One can see her heart is not in it, but she is facing a financial crisis; she owes money to everybody. When some of her furniture is repossessed before she even leaves the house, Maura decides to go ahead with her arranged marriage with Wilson, the African man who is illegally in Ireland. Maura stands to gain about nine thousand Euros for going through the charade, which will allow her new husband in he country. Unknown to her and the future husband, their union is closely monitored by two immigration officers.Parallel to Maura's wedding, Freddy is remarrying Sophie. The first marriage did not go as well, ending in divorce. They have put aside their differences and will try again. Freddy, although doubtful this new wedding will work, has given his word to his former wife and now he cannot go back on his promise. We watch the hesitation as the priest asks Freddy for his vows. Sophie is a somewhat hysterical young woman, who might not be marrying again on her own accord but because she wants to please her parents.As fate would have it, the two wedding celebrations have been booked at the same seaside hotel. Freddy and Sophie's reception is basically all white, whereas Maura's is a mixed affair with a lot of black guests among the invited. Things do not go according to plan. Both celebrations turn out to be a disaster. Sophie, fed up with what her reception has become, flee the party and hook up with a group of lesbians in a pub. Maura and Freddy keep meeting each other in funny situations. They develop a rapport with each other they do not enjoy with their intended partners. It is not too difficult to realize they are really meant for each other.Written and directed by Stephen Burke, this appears to be his first full length feature, and it shows. The material had potential for more laughs. It is a romantic comedy with shades of screwball thrown into it. The excellent Sally Hawkins is at the center of the action as Maura. She makes a wonderful Maura. Same could be said about Tom Riley's Freddy, a handsome actor who matches his co-star well. Best of all is young Sinead Maguire who is seen as Molly, the girl who has an uncanny sense of timing, delivering a good performance that feels real, an accomplishment for the director. The action is not all even, something to do with Mr. Burke's screenplay. One gets the impression this is a film that was dumped to DVD and had a limited release.The film is worth a look because the presence of Ms. Hawkins, Ms. Maguire and Mr. Riley.

I really wanted to like and enjoy this movie, but it's just not terribly good, all in all. I liked pretty much all the actors, and would like to see them in other, better movies. (I'd particularly like to see the actress playing *I think* Karen, Maura's sister or close friend; her character gets somewhat dropped in the course of the movie.) This movie was just so disjointed and ridiculous; disjointed and ridiculous is not a deal-breaker for me, but it has to work, and this just didn't. One indication of how negative an impression this made on me is reflected in what I just wrote in the message section: The element that most stood out for me in this middling little movie was the ridiculous inconsistency of the hair on Sally Hawkins' head. I'm not one of those people who generally notice goofs and screw-ups in continuity, but this was so 'in your face,' even I couldn't miss it.Even within many little scenes, from shot to shot, her hairstyle changes. Sometimes it's fairly natural looking, with a part on her left side, the bangs falling in a few segments, and the entire shape not terribly big; sometimes it's kind of like that, but with a slightly larger shape, probably from teasing yielding a bit more 'lift'; sometimes it's kind of like that, but the hair darker and more smoothed, sometimes with the bangs all sticking together in one piece; sometimes there's no part at all; and there's one point (while Maura and Freddy are outside looking for Molly, who ends up being up in a tree) where the hair appears to be a helmet-y, yucky looking wig (no part there, either).It got to be really annoying; couldn't help wondering why no one could be bothered trying to keep any kind of continuity in that element. In that scene where she particularly seems to be wearing a wig, I was taken out of the story again, wondering if these shots were filmed much later than the rest, and maybe Sally H. had cut all her hair off, so they had to use a wig and didn't have time to get a good one, and get it styled right. Just so sloppy (kind of like the run-on sentence I just typed). Too bad, but at least it's not a great movie otherwise either, in which case it would have been a real shame.

In the years after September 11 2001 the world, its peoples its institutions its joys its arts, went into meltdown. unable to to see a clear future,people governments artist & film makers alike fumbled in the ash cloud of broken dreams and shattered ideologies, in the attempt of re-councling the shards of faith and hope and humanity, still left on this lonely planet. Few films clam as much responsibility for assembling so many parts of our broken society as this.happily ever afters is story of many parts.some are sharp and painful to touch (or even to look at) some more, colourful and hilarious. what this film (or piece of art) is, is a gathering of these seemingly ill-fitting and disparate pieces and a transformation of them into a cathedral window. A beautiful whole, made from broken shards,fitted together with the honesty of the artist lead.It is no coincidence that this film debuted in the same year that Barack Hussein Obama became the 44th President of the United States of American having run his campaign under the banner of 'hope'.the world was ready for change and the time for change is felt by true leaders and artist. like Barack Obama this film may not heal our tired and battered souls and shelter us from the hard rain but it sure as heaven can gives us hope!PS:it should have got an Oscar, and i don't think it was even nominated.peace and love

I enjoyed Happy Ever Afters very much. We went to a mother's day preview screening and my mum loved it and wants to bring her friends now. I hadn't seen any trailer beforehand and had no idea what to expect but it really was a pleasant surprise. There was a good atmosphere in the cinema, plenty of laughing out loud. It's funny and touching at times too. Great acting overall, particularly from Sally Hawkins and Tom Riley. The smaller characters were good too and the little girl who plays Sally's daughter is hilarious, steals every scene she's in. We overheard other audience members after saying they enjoyed it too. I'd definitely recommend it to friends. A great feel good movie.