Evelyn

Starring Pierce Brosnan
Screenplay by Paul Pender
Directed by Bruce Beresford
website: www.mgm.com

IN SHORT: A chick flick for guys. [Rated PG for thematic material and language.]

...and the moral of our story is "never piss off the mother-in-law" for, a long time ago in a country far, far away, the Courts and the Church had such control over society that the loss of one parent was enough for the government to decide that the progeny of that marriage had been orphaned. They would then take the kids away to a church run institution. This is how it was in Ireland through the 1970s.

Evelyn is the story of Desmond Doyle (Pierce Brosnan) a hard working laborer who believed the judge who told him, when his four children were taken away, that if he could find stable work and build an economically conducive environment -- drinking discouraged -- that he would get his children back.

What Duncan wasn't told is that he'd need the written permission of his wife to be granted sold custody. The wife vanished with her lover somewhere in Australia and not even the nasty mom-in-law knows where her kid is. The mom-in-law, by the way, is the witch who blew the whistle on Duncan's plight to the authorities.

She'll regret that by the end of the story and Ireland will regret tussling with Duncan. Were there not such a strong male cast, it would be too easy to dump Evelyn into the chick flick category, though there were very few dry eyes in our house. It is always en vogue to slag chick flicks so flip the chromosomal balance and flag away. No, we didn't puddle-ize the area around our seat but yes we were deeply affected by this battle, a legislative-ly impossible dream that strips a man of the one thing that gives life meaning and purpose Family.

Duncan finds himself blessed with a good legal team and the growing love of a fine lass, to boot (Julianna Margulies, Alan Bates, John Lynch, Aidan Quinn and Stephen Rea round out the cast) and his story will eventually rock the airwaves of Irish television.

On average, a first run movie ticket will run you Ten Bucks. Were Cranky able to set his own price to Evelyn, he would have paid . . .

$7.50

Find it. Take a date.

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