| EVELYN Rating:  Director: Bruce Beresford Producers: Pierce Brosnan, Beau St. Clair, Michael Ohoven Writer: Paul Pender Director of Photography: Andre Fleuren Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Aidan Quinn, Julianna Margulies, Stephen Rea and Alan Bates Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew |
 Click the photo to buy merchandise from Evelyn |
Review by: Ryan
Kugler
12/10/02
Just in time for Christmas comes Evelyn, a real sugarplum ("sugar" being the operative word) of a film that uplifts, inspires and warms the heart. Ba-hum-bug. It's also overly simple and sentimental in a Hallmark card or TV movie kind of way with an abundance of manipulative filmmaking techniques present throughout. If all goes according to plan, when the theater lights go up, there won't be a dry eye in the house.
Brosnan, Pierce Brosnan stars in this family film which is based on a famous and important court case that took place in Ireland in 1953. Desmond Doyle (Brosnan), his wife Charlotte (Mairead Devlin), their adorable and spunky daughter Evelyn (Sophie Vavasseur) and their young sons Dermot (Niall Beagan) and Maurice (Hugh Macdonagh) have all led tough lives, but things get even tougher for four of them when Charlotte leaves them one day and never returns. Desmond eventually works through the abandonment and does his best to raise his kids on his own. When the authorities find out that there's no mother around, they take the three kids and have them placed in orphanages. (Apparently, back in the day, there was some wacky Irish law that said a single man couldn't raise his children without the presence of a woman, or, if one wasn't around, he had to at least get permission from her. Since Charlotte bailed and Desmond hadn't a clue as to how to get a hold of her, the law prevailed and the children were taken.)
We don't really follow the plight of the two boys, but Evelyn is placed in a strict home for girls that's presided over by a nice nun, an evil nun (both extreme caricatures) and some middle-of-the-road nuns. Meanwhile, Desmond takes to the drink (he is Irish afterall) and spends all of his time hanging out at the local pub, singing with his da (Frank Kelly), pissing and moaning about his children and hitting on the cute bartender (Julianna Margulies in the typical "girlfriend" role).
Desmond can no longer do without his kids and he decides to fight the system. He ditches the booze, works his arse off to make some money, hooks-up with Michael (Stephen Rea), who introduces him to American lawyer Nick (Aidan Quinn), who recommends that they ask his mentor Tom (Alan Bates providing some nice comic relief) to guide them along on their difficult path. The film ends (as these things usually do) with the recreation of a giant and highly publicized court case that shook the church and the state to their very foundations. And no, I'm not going to spoil the "shocking" outcome.
Since the holidays are upon us, I don't want to be a total Scrooge, so I'll point out some of the positives. Brosnan is real good playing against type (actually, anything other than a suave British guy is against type), the kids are cute and there's a nice underdog sprit to the whole thing. I also think that most audiences (I don't like to group myself in this category) will enjoy Evelyn, especially people who thought that sentimental fluff like I Am Sam was the Second Coming.
In the end, I respect Pierce Brosnan for putting aside the martini and making this labor of love. I just wish that I was allowed to feel on my own without the filmmakers pounding me over the head with their sentimental rubbish.
(An MGM/UA release. Opens in New York
and Los Angeles on December 13. Expands to more cities at later
dates.)
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