Very Cool!!!

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Best movie ever!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

I was glad to see Chris O'Donnell in this movie. He did this to show the Irish side of him. As an Irishwoman, I loved that. O'Donnell shines as Jack Foley, the good-looking Rugby star who falls in love with Benny (Driver). O'Donnell plays Foley with suavity, sympathy & class. You like him; even when you find out about Nan. He just has a way of making you swoon. And I loved the accent. My favorite scene in this movie is Jack in a tuxedo. Talk about hot! Chris O'Donnell has always been good-looking, but wearing that tuxedo & speaking with an Irish accent made me swoon.Driver gives a star-is-born performance as Benny, the 'ordinary' girl who dreams of more than Knockglen. You feel her pain as she deals her whole life with not being the beauty Nan is; & cheer when Jack tells her he loves her.I discovered what a talent Alan Cumming is. His portrayal of Sean Walsh gave me the creeps; yet I kept hoping for more screen time. Geraldine O'Rawe is another breakthrough performance as Eve. She is a loyal friend to Benny & a joy to watch on screen. Her beauty & grace are unmatched in this film.A very sweet movie & a good addition to anyone's collection. If you are Irish, rent & enjoy this gem. If you are not, rent anyways. It just proves that sometimes the person you want may not be out of reach. Sometimes dreams do come true.

As a "stand alone" this film is quite passable. If, however, you are a fan of Maeve Binchy and have read the book, you will probably spend a good deal of the film comparing the two, and the film comes off unfavourably. Some of the differences are minor, but the ending is completely different. I have no intention of comparing the two endings here as I don't want to be a spoiler, suffice it to say that if you have read the book, the film ending is a major disappointment. I also think that Benny was totally miscast. That the Benny of the book is a big woman is relevant to the storyline, whereas Minnie Driver, although quite tall, can't be called big under any stretch of the imagination. The film characters seemed wooden to me in comparison with the book characters. However, if you're not into reading books, the film is worth watching.

SPOILERS HEREINI just caught this film last night on TV, purely by chance, and I guess with my low expectations it didn't disappoint but there were parts that did.It tells a sweet enough tale of three Irish college girlfriends and falling in love, and the central romance between Minnie Driver and Chris O'Donnell is well handled. There's enough chemistry there to illuminate the relationship.However, during the more dramatic parts of the story, I had quite a few complaints. While Driver's performance through the majority of the film was very convincing, she seemed very trite and almost cute during her break-up scenes and following the death of her father. The musical soundtrack as well wasn't very well handled to produce the most emotion. My female friends had given me the impression that this was the saddest movie they'd ever seen but I just found it nowhere near powerful enough. It is surely meant to be an emotionally charged film but the direction and the performances didn't do nearly enough to extract the feeling from it, and I felt like I was watching some street theatre or something because it was obvious what they were representing with their faces and body language, but there wasn't much acting involved at all.The second complaint is Alan Cumming's character. He's fine in the role, don't get me wrong, but it's such a stupid character. The story itself is realistic and the characters are empathetic and true-to-life, except this one. He's such a blatant caricature and left all conviction in the film for dead. I presume it's all from the book which I haven't read, but I really think an over-the-top character like that will always ruin a simple, sentimental romance such as this. They're far more suited to Roald Dahl books.But apart from those complaints it didn't really disappoint. It's simplistic and gentle-hearted and as such is ideal evening viewing as far as I can tell. ***/*****

Spoilers herein.Pretty tepid and predictable, just like the society the story disparages.And pretty ordinary in the way it exploits the themepark charm of Ireland. That's a recurring problem with Pat O'Connor who seems doomed to his Darby O'Gill world. But it has three strong performers, and in this case those alone are worth watching. Incidentally those three are to be reunited for the big budget "Phantom of the Opera."Of these three, Minni Driver impresses. She has that young abandon and commitment to the role that is almost virginal in its approach. Like Emily Watson in "Waves" or Kate Winslet in "Creatures" or Cate Blanchett in "Lucinda." It has something to do with fearlessness and is most effective when the character is supposed to have that same sense of tentative inhabitation of strange person.Often, that ability to risk wears off, and it appears to have with Minnie. But still...Another of these three has made a career of sleazy characters. I find Cumming's energy pretty fascinating, especially the areas of the character where he places that energy. These characters are always sprung, dramatic. How sweet to know that Cumming really did walk away with Saffron when this was over.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 4: Worth watching.