The Snapper

Rating:
Summary: Sometimes all you can do is laugh
Review: I'm from Dublin myself and grew up around people from backgrounds similar to that featured in The Snapper. It should be noted that this film is set pre-Celtic tiger and more of Dublin was like this tahn is now, however with the wealth divide still evident, you'll find many places like this with characters in the same vein scattered around the city. I was compelled to write a review more in response to some of the negative reviews featured on the site, particularly those discussing Irish stereotypes. To allay your ire, this is what life is like for a lot of people in Ireland, it doesn't take away from the fact that you'll find some of the most gregarious and outgoing people and some of the best friends you'll meet in the drabbest and poorest of places, as you will in the best. In the broadest sense, Ireland went through a long period of self-imposed isolation which resulted in great poverty, what you see in the Snapper is the result of that. I'm actually surprised that any Americans would have enjoyed this (my ignorance perhaps) as the humour is specific and the subject matter concerned with honesty rather than political correctness, it's not sanitised in any sense, which contradicts my perception of what seems to be popular comedy in the United States. The fact is, when you're stuck in a rut that you were born into, and things can't seem to get much worse, you hold your head up and get on with it, and maybe have a laugh along the way.

Rating:
Summary: Lame
Review: I'm wondering if people see this film as a mockery (even a self-mockery) of the Irish? Expect all the usual stereotypes and lame jokes. I guess what I found so disheartening is the constant drunkeness of the pregnant girl. I'd hate to think young women might think this is a healthy thing to do for their unborn child. As for the film itself, Colm Meaney was good as the caring father, the rest of the cast were flat and two-dimensional. I rented it for a dollar. It was worth all of that.

Rating:
Summary: A real look at an Irish working class family.
Review: I've seen this video several times and it never fails to entertain me and make me feel good. My maiden name was Curley and my Mother was going to name me Sharon but named me Cheryl instead because all the girls in the ward were being named Sharon. Although my Dad was not born in Ireland, he was very "Irish" and had many of the same mannerisms of the father in this movie. The father reminds me of my Dad (although he would not have been as understanding). Irish Dads typically idolize their daughters and defend their honor at any cost. This Irish dad was no different.
The antics of the family are typical of a large Irish working class family as is the love you see for the girl as she goes through the painful process of growing up and entering motherhood. Having visited Ireland (to scatter my Dad's ashes), I found the dialect true and understandable (even the cuss words). The pub scenes were authentic as well. All in all, a great movie, somewhat dramatic in its content but a very feel good ending. Can't really understand why anyone would compare it to the Committments as it is a totally different type of movie. I enjoyed that as well.

Rating:
Summary: A real look at an Irish working class family.
Review: I've seen this video several times and it never fails to entertain me and make me feel good. My maiden name was Curley and my Mother was going to name me Sharon but named me Cheryl instead because all the girls in the ward were being named Sharon. Although my Dad was not born in Ireland, he was very "Irish" and had many of the same mannerisms of the father in this movie. The father reminds me of my Dad (although he would not have been as understanding). Irish Dads typically idolize their daughters and defend their honor at any cost. This Irish dad was no different.
The antics of the family are typical of a large Irish working class family as is the love you see for the girl as she goes through the painful process of growing up and entering motherhood. Having visited Ireland (to scatter my Dad's ashes), I found the dialect true and understandable (even the cuss words). The pub scenes were authentic as well. All in all, a great movie, somewhat dramatic in its content but a very feel good ending. Can't really understand why anyone would compare it to the Committments as it is a totally different type of movie. I enjoyed that as well.

Rating:
Summary: A realistic view into an Irish home.
Review: No other film has ever captured the zeitgeist of Irish life as well as the snapper. Roddy Doyle was teaching in a North Dublin working class school when he wrote this book. Much of the dialoge that you hear in the film is directly out of the mouths of his students.

What you see in this film is as close as an outsider is ever likely to come to an understanding of working class Irish life. The unmarried daughter giving birth accounts for 1 in four of all children born today in Ireland. This is as real a situation as you can have. The language, the wit, the sarcasm and the lifestyle are all iminently recognised by Irish people as being true to daily life.

The bonus of the Snapper is that you get a bellyaching laugh at the same time. There are few films as funny as this.

Absolutely brilliant!

Rating:
Summary: A realistic view into an Irish home.
Review: No other film has ever captured the zeitgeist of Irish life as well as the snapper. Roddy Doyle was teaching in a North Dublin working class school when he wrote this book. Much of the dialoge that you hear in the film is directly out of the mouths of his students.

What you see in this film is as close as an outsider is ever likely to come to an understanding of working class Irish life. The unmarried daughter giving birth accounts for 1 in four of all children born today in Ireland. This is as real a situation as you can have. The language, the wit, the sarcasm and the lifestyle are all iminently recognised by Irish people as being true to daily life.

The bonus of the Snapper is that you get a bellyaching laugh at the same time. There are few films as funny as this.

Absolutely brilliant!

Rating:
Summary: Very, very funny.
Review: Okay, I have to admit, this one was a bit hard to handle in certain places. Certainly, the expectant mother was having trouble facing the realities of her situation herself. Not the fact of pregnancy - that was perfectly acceptable, and very refreshing, I thought. But the circumstances -- the father of the baby -- well, that was a bit tough for her, and for ME, too, as a viewer...

The joy of welcoming a new life into the world, and the love of the extended family was well portrayed. Coming from middle class America, the lack of concern about the financial situation (all those people in a 3 bedroom house!) was really an unusual thing to see, but I really liked that aspect of it. I liked the focus of the movie.. in trying times, the family pulls together, and the REAL issue is that a baby is coming, and that's GOOD news!

The strength of the individual members of the family comes through, and their love for one another was really fun to watch.

This is a heartwarming movie, and very funny, too. Highly recommend.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely hysterical!
Review: One of my favorite films of all time. Good comedies are hard to come by these days, but the writing, direction, and performances of this little gem combine to create a movie worth watching again and again. Colm Meaney is at his best as the patriarch of this wacky, Irish family. If you like a movie that is original and a bit offbeat, you'll love "The Snapper."

Rating:
Summary: "We all do stupid things when we're drunk, don't we?"
Review: Soon after a wild night at the pub, twenty-year-old Sharon Curley (Tina Kellegher) finds herself expecting a little "snapper" by a man she loathes. Her refusal to name the father sets in motion a family drama involving her three brothers, two sisters, and her parents, along with her employers and all her friends. Kellegher, playing the role as a coarse, earthy, yet remarkably sensible young woman (with the exception of her excessive drinking during her pregnancy) soon discovers who her friends really are, as some people tease and torment her, some make remarks to her siblings, some force her father to take direct action in her defense, and all spread gossip.

Des Curley (Colm Meaney), Sharon's father, shows the whole world in his face, his emotions ranging from outrage toward Sharon for embarrassing the family to tender concern as her time draws near. As the eight-member family trips all over each other emotionally (ironically symbolized in their battles for the one bathroom, often occupied by Sharon), the tensions within the family grow more intense. Widespread speculation about who the father is disrupts the neighborhood, with some hotheads visiting their own brand of justice on the Curleys. The arrival of the baby offers a chance at resolution.

Often very funny and equally often very touching, the film features actors who do not act like actors, appearing to be grounded in the very neighborhood they inhabit in the film. With the pub as social center, we see the characters' lifestyles and mores--their attitudes toward sex and childbirth, their "escapes" from the workday, their daily amusements and sense of humor, and their lack of concern with the dogma of the church.

The second in Roddy Doyle's The Barrytown Trilogy, after The Commitments, this film like The Van, which follows, features author Roddy Doyle writing his own screenplay, Stephen Frears as director, Oliver Stapleton as cinematographer, and actor Colm Meaney (playing the father Des, here) as the emotional bridge among the characters, appearing in all three films and giving a sense of continuity among them. Set in north Dublin in a lower working class neighborhood where many families spend their whole lives, the film shows the reliance on humor when life might otherwise be too tragic to handle. Mary Whipple



Rating:
Summary: a taste of Ireland
Review: Sorry you sour notes, I thought this film was a sharp comedy with a distinctly Irish twang. I don't know how much Hollywood influence this had, but the less the better. Anyone looking for a "meaningful message" about youthful pregnancy, etc, should indeed stick with the spoon-fed Hollywood schlock comedy-dramas. This movie is a view of Ireland, and I think the rough & tumble characters, along with the director, deliver it with a good punch. The comaraderie juxtaposed against the ostracism of the heroine Sharon is one thing that keeps this film moving. The characters, down to the little kids, are all BIG. Foreign film watchers should be able to appreiciate it.