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MOVIES / ON DVD / THE BOYS AND GIRL FROM COUNTY CLARE
The Boys and Girl from County Clare

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The Boys and Girl from County Clare (2005)

44%
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71%
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44 %
Reviews Counted: 27 Fresh: 12  Rotten:15 Average Rating: 5.9/10

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 90 mins

Theatrical Release: 24-03-2006

Synopsis: John Joe MacMahon (BERNARD HILL) may be an aging bachelor and solitary farmer, but he plays a rousing fiddle with his own little band. John Joe is quite the local hero in County Clare because his band won the All Irish Band Competition for the last two years. Naturally, John Joe is determined to... John Joe MacMahon (BERNARD HILL) may be an aging bachelor and solitary farmer, but he plays a rousing fiddle with his own little band. John Joe is quite the local hero in County Clare because his band won the All Irish Band Competition for the last two years. Naturally, John Joe is determined to win the trophy again this year, but rumor has it that for the first time a hot Irish band out of Liverpool will be crossing the Sea to give them a run for their money. Well, John Joe has a pretty good idea that the band might be none other than that of his long lost brother, Jimmy (COLM MEANY), whom he has not heard a bloody word from for twenty odd years. Over in Liverpool, the now prosperous Jimmy has heard just how good John Joe's band is, and he's not leaving anything to chance. Paying some hooligans to steal the wheels from John Joe's van, Jimmy hopes to prevent his older brother from registering in time to enter the competition. But, Jimmy and John Joe are cut from the same cloth, and John Joe has himself arranged for the customs inspector to delay Jimmy as he drives off the ferry. In spite of all their shenanigans, both brothers manage by hook or by crook to register in the nick of time and after all these years they finally meet again, face to face. And, well, to put it mildly, it's not a pretty sight. Meanwhile, Anne (ANDREA CORR), the beautiful young fiddle player in John Joe's band meets and falls in love with the handsome young flute player, Teddy (SHAUN EVANS), from Jimmy's Liverpool band. And Anne's mother, Maisie (CHARLOTTE BRADLEY) who plays piano in John Joe's band becomes highly distraught upon learning that Jimmy is back in Ireland. Then, when she overhears Jimmy talking about her in a pub, a furious Maisie hauls off and slaps him hard across the face. And when Maisie, an overly protective mother, learns that Anne is in love with Teddy, all hell break loose. To discourage Anne from seeing Teddy, Maisie reluctantly reveals to her daughter her deepest, darkest secret - the mystery of her father's identity. Anne's father is Jimmy, John Joe's rotten brother, who promised Maisie the world and then abandoned her when she became pregnant with Anne. And now we realize why John Joe is so angry with him, for he was once in love with Maisie himself. Family ties trump family feuds, but when the time comes to play who is going home with the trophy? And who is going home with Anne? -- © First Look [More]

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Starring: Colm Meaney, Bernard Hill, Andrea Corr, Charlotte Bradley, Shaun Evans

Director: John Irvin
Producer: Evzen Kolar
Screenwriter: Nicholas Adams
Composer: Fiachra Trench

DVD Info

Release:

Dec 7, 2005

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region (unknown)
  • Keep Case
  • Full Frame

Additional Release Material:

  • Previews

Interactive Features:

  • Scene Access

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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06/24/06
Time Out
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N/R

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08/16/07
Nigel Floyd
Time Out New York
N/R

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09/26/05
Onion AV Club
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N/R

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Full Review | comment Comment
07/06/05
Hollywood Reporter
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Ratings Image
N/A

How high is your tolerance for charming ****e?

Full Review | comment Comment
07/03/05
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
05/21/05
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
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2/4

Never catches its rhythm.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/28/05
Laura Kelly
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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C+

Holds little of interest, with a generic story line and a cast that's mostly just going through the motions.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/08/05
Marc Mohan
Oregonian
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C

Seems like used goods...the utter predictability of not only the main plot but every subplot attached to it overwhelms any good will you might bring to it.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/06/05
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion
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2/4

Makes music almost an afterthought, and as such it never truly sings.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/25/05
Bruce Westbrook
Houston Chronicle
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N/A

This tale of longstanding sibling rivalry set against a Ceili music competition doesn't score any points for originality, but it's a likeable enough 90-minute outing, especially for Eirephiles.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/24/05
Kevin Lally
Film Journal International
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3/4

Irresistible to all those with the slightest speck of Irish blood running in their veins. Or even those non-Irish viewers with a weakness for Irish plays, Irish music, Irish dancing, lilting Irish accents or pints of Guinness.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/18/05
Susan Walker
Toronto Star
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2/4

Don't ever think that Hollywood has the market cornered on formula flicks. Those folks from across the pond, in Britain and its environs, can do predictable with the best of them.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/18/05
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
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2/4

Pushes the least interesting relationships to the front and shoves the most interesting ones too the back.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/18/05
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)
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C+

Really just a long fiddle session in a very familiar pub.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/16/05
Scott Brown
Entertainment Weekly
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2.5/5

While there's lots of great Ceili music on tap, it's wrapped in a story so traditional that it's not especially interesting.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/11/05
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide
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N/A

Give this movie the back of your hand.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/11/05
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger
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3/5

Everyone is likable in John Irvin's appealing if obvious little fable about two estranged brothers and their ceili, or traditional Irish, bands.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/11/05
Anita Gates
New York Times
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2/4

Isn't a total loss, but neither does it have the charm of The Full Monty or other feel-good indie Brit flicks it emulates.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/11/05
Russell Scott Smith
New York Post
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2/4

As thin and frothy as the head on a pint of Guinness.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/11/05
Janice Page
Boston Globe
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Related Forums

REEL_REVIEWER
THE BOYS (& GIRL) FROM COUNTY CLARE cross the pond to the USA on March 11, 2005!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 7/2/05


REEL_REVIEWER
THE BOYS (& GIRL) FROM COUNTY CLARE cross the pond to the USA on March 11, 2005!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 7/2/05


REEL_REVIEWER
THE BOYS (& GIRL) FROM COUNTY CLARE cross the pond to the USA on March 11, 2005!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 7/2/05


REEL_REVIEWER
THE BOYS (& GIRL) FROM COUNTY CLARE cross the pond to the USA on March 11, 2005!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 7/2/05

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• The Boys and Girl from County Clare at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Boys and Girl from County Clare at AskMen
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