Evelyn (2002)

Anonymous says:

Great (original) story, sold very short by this movie. The core story deserved a more mature treatment, by better actors, of the issues of parenthood in the 50s - at that time, Ireland, like many countries, considered the mother the 'natural' parent, with the father having few rights; similar issues seem to be still extant (in the UK) today. This version falls too short to be worth movie-theatre tickets; it looks like a US made-for-TV movie and is best viewed as such. A bit schmaltzy, not very accurate, but adequate late night 'feel good' consumption. On a more detailed level, the movie fails on a number of points: (1) Brosnan (originally Irish) manages to sound like an American playing an Irish/Dublin accent VERY badly, an accent which changes considerably over the course of the movie; (2) The 'Dublin' location scenes are clearly fake (with the sole exception of the solicitor's office in Mount Street). The shots of Dublin and of the Liffey river area in general are completely wrong, not only for the time but for ever - Dublin never had a river bank like that displayed several times as a 'place marker'. Moreover, the Supreme Court buildings do not have a courtyard as portrayed. (I should add that I grew up less than a mile from 'Fatima Mansions', the home of Brosnan and family, in the later 50s, so I know Dublin and that area well.) The movie location shots were clearly taken in another town which matched the way the director wanted 1950s Dublin to look (cost allowing!); (3) I was taught by Christian Brothers, my sister by Nuns, and no pupil would ever have 'hugged' a Brother or Nun, as Evelyn does several times during the movie. All of us who survived this type of education (which had its positives), were always far too much in fear of our educators to risk demonstrating emotion physically.