Evelyn

Rating:
Summary: A heartwarming tale, told with elegant restraint
Review: Evelyn, daughter of working-class Desmond Doyle, wrote the story of her father and pushed hard to have it filmed. Brosnan took on the project as a small, independent film, and I think he did justice to the story of Desmond, Evelyn and her two brothers.

Desmond Doyle is an out-of-work house painter whose wife abandons him and their family of three children. Due to the peculiarities of Irish law back in 1953, a single parent would lose the right to raise the kids, and Desmond fights an uphill battle against Church and State to regain his family. The children are packed off to orphanages, and Desmond desperately tries to find a barrister willing and able to challenge the law.

Aidan Quinn, Julianna Margulies, Alan Bates and child actress Sophia Vavasseur as Evelyn are a marvelous cast, well-directed by Bruce Beresford. Paul Pender's screenplay holds down the pathos yet tells the story with much emotion. Highly recommended--a nicely made film. The extras on the DVD are not much (the story behind the story is not about the family but about how the film was made and that's about all there really is extra on this DVD.)

Rating:
Summary: Angel Rays, St. Judes and the Miracle of Justice.
Review: Ever since the constitutional reform of 1936, the Catholic Church and the Irish state have been inexorably linked; more so than in almost any other western society. A substantial part of Irish legislation - particularly, Irish family law - was (and partly, still is) directly based on Catholic doctrine: prohibiting divorce and abortion; and until 1953, prohibiting a single father from bringing up his children without the mother's consent, thus in essence committing every motherless child to church orphanages until age 16. This changed only when the Irish Supreme Court declared the respective sections of the Children's Act unconstitutional - a landmark decision because for the first time the ties between church and state were broken, and for the first time an Irish statute had been declared unconstitutional at all. "Evelyn" tells the story of the man whose civil action made this decision come about.

Desmond Doyle was a blue-collar Dublin painter and decorator, left to take care of his daughter Evelyn and her brothers alone after his wife had run away with another man. Jobless, penniless and more given to drowning his sorrows in Guinness than addressing them head-on, he was ill-suited for the task, and it didn't take long for church and state to step in and decree that, under prevalent law, Evelyn and her brothers were to be committed to Catholic orphanage schools. Certain that he wouldn't be able to afford a lawyer - and having been told that his case was hopeless anyway - Doyle unsuccessfully tried to regain his children by other means, his methods of choice being bullying and abduction. Eventually he met Irish American attorney Nick Barron, who was willing to take on Doyle's case pro bono, together with his Dublin colleagues Michael Beattie and Tom Connolly, Irish rugby-idol-turned-family-law-expert, whose counsel would prove instrumental both in securing public support for Doyle's case and in drafting Barron's victorious argument.

Written by Paul Pender, who had met the real Evelyn Doyle at a conference, the movie's screenplay made its way onto the desk of Pierce Brosnan, who almost immediately decided to take it on, on a low budget basis - fortunately so, as the project is patently unfit for a large, Hollywood-style production - and soon also decided to play the role of Desmond Doyle. And what at first sight may look like a surprising choice for the actor so much better known for roles like James Bond and Remington Steele was in fact a close match for Brosnan, who grew up in the 1950s' Ireland and intimately knows the ins and outs of Catholic schools, which, judging by his observations on the commentary track, obviously left a profound mark; bitter aftertaste rather than cozy memories of happy days gone by.

Brosnan and co-producer Beau St. Clair were able to secure a perfect and, particularly considering the project's overall size, rather high-profile cast, with Aidan Quinn starring as Nick Barron, Stephen Rea as Michael Beattie, the great Alan Bates in one of his last-ever roles as the flawed but truly grand Tom Connolly (who declares whiskey a more reliable companion than God, but brings rosary beads to the court hearing "to count the scores," and who sees hope even in the most desperate "St. Judes," named for the patron saint of hopeless cases); Julianna Margulies, with as flawless an Irish accent as the rest of the cast, as Beattie's sister Bernadette, who is courted by both Doyle and Barron (guess who gets the girl ... and nothing against Pierce Brosnan, but I'd so wish for Quinn to luck out once only, too!), the eminently likeable Frank Kelly as Desmond Doyle's father, John Lynch as senior government counsel Wolfe - and young Sophie Vavasseur in the title role: a true find, with an instant charm and screen presence making it almost unbelievable that she had never acted before.

Thanks to the subtle performances given by all of its actors, as well as Bruce Beresford's admirable and restrained direction, "Evelyn" is a gentle and despite its serious subject tremendously uplifting film, with a perfect blend of passion, poetry and tender humor, staying with you long after the end credits have run. Although it occasionally scrapes by cliche just so (e.g., was it really necessary to expressly bring up "David vs. Goliath" in a movie whose entire premise is clearly based on this very concept?), its imagery is the most powerful when expressed from Evelyn's point of view: her shock at seeing her mother drive off with a stranger, her anger at witnessing a nun lashing out at a girl for not knowing her catechism ... and her unshakeable faith in her grandfather, who has explained to her, when taking her to her convent school, that the sun rays breaking through the clouds are "angel rays," sent by her guardian angel as a token of protection; and whose presence she feels, even after he has died of a heart attack, whenever she sees the sun coming through the gray Irish winter sky. - At one point during the production, it looked like the movie was going to have to live without a music score - that is, apart from the Irish songs performed live by Frank Kelly (who is also a trained violinist) and Pierce Brosnan (another "first" for him, and certainly one that will delight many of his fans), as part of the Doyles' pub music venture. But fortunately a full soundtrack was ensured eventually, and Stephen Endelman's score - perfectly complimented by Gemma Hayes's "Angel Rays" and Van Morrison's "Sitting on Top of the World" - greatly adds to the movie's lyrical quality. This is one of the year 2002's true cinematic "finds"; a small, quietly shining gem. Bravo, Messrs. Brosnan, Beresford & Co.! I hope Irish Dreamtime Productions will give us more films like this in the future ... and when sun rays break through a cloudy sky, I will never again look at them the way I used to.

Rating:
Summary: Angel Rays, St. Judes and the Miracle of Justice.
Review: Ever since the constitutional reform of 1936, the Catholic Church and the Irish state have been inexorably linked; more so than in almost any other western society. A substantial part of Irish legislation - particularly, Irish family law - was (and partly, still is) directly based on Catholic doctrine: prohibiting divorce and abortion; and until 1953, prohibiting a single father from bringing up his children without the mother's consent, thus in essence committing every motherless child to church orphanages until age 16. This changed only when the Irish Supreme Court declared the respective sections of the Children's Act unconstitutional - a landmark decision because for the first time the ties between church and state were broken, and for the first time an Irish statute had been declared unconstitutional at all. "Evelyn" tells the story of the man whose civil action made this decision come about.

Desmond Doyle was a blue-collar Dublin painter and decorator, left to take care of his daughter Evelyn and her brothers alone after his wife had run away with another man. Jobless, penniless and more given to drowning his sorrows in Guinness than addressing them head-on, he was ill-suited for the task, and it didn't take long for church and state to step in and decree that, under prevalent law, Evelyn and her brothers were to be committed to Catholic orphanage schools. Certain that he wouldn't be able to afford a lawyer - and having been told that his case was hopeless anyway - Doyle unsuccessfully tried to regain his children by other means, his methods of choice being bullying and abduction. Eventually he met Irish American attorney Nick Barron, who was willing to take on Doyle's case pro bono, together with his Dublin colleagues Michael Beattie and Tom Connolly, Irish rugby-idol-turned-family-law-expert, whose counsel would prove instrumental both in securing public support for Doyle's case and in drafting Barron's victorious argument.

Written by Paul Pender, who had met the real Evelyn Doyle at a conference, the movie's screenplay made its way onto the desk of Pierce Brosnan, who almost immediately decided to take it on, on a low budget basis - fortunately so, as the project is patently unfit for a large, Hollywood-style production - and soon also decided to play the role of Desmond Doyle. And what at first sight may look like a surprising choice for the actor so much better known for roles like James Bond and Remington Steele was in fact a close match for Brosnan, who grew up in the 1950s' Ireland and intimately knows the ins and outs of Catholic schools, which, judging by his observations on the commentary track, obviously left a profound mark; bitter aftertaste rather than cozy memories of happy days gone by.

Brosnan and co-producer Beau St. Clair were able to secure a perfect and, particularly considering the project's overall size, rather high-profile cast, with Aidan Quinn starring as Nick Barron, Stephen Rea as Michael Beattie, the great Alan Bates in one of his last-ever roles as the flawed but truly grand Tom Connolly (who declares whiskey a more reliable companion than God, but brings rosary beads to the court hearing "to count the scores," and who sees hope even in the most desperate "St. Judes," named for the patron saint of hopeless cases); Julianna Margulies, with as flawless an Irish accent as the rest of the cast, as Beattie's sister Bernadette, who is courted by both Doyle and Barron (guess who gets the girl ... and nothing against Pierce Brosnan, but I'd so wish for Quinn to luck out once only, too!), the eminently likeable Frank Kelly as Desmond Doyle's father, John Lynch as senior government counsel Wolfe - and young Sophie Vavasseur in the title role: a true find, with an instant charm and screen presence making it almost unbelievable that she had never acted before.

Thanks to the subtle performances given by all of its actors, as well as Bruce Beresford's admirable and restrained direction, "Evelyn" is a gentle and despite its serious subject tremendously uplifting film, with a perfect blend of passion, poetry and tender humor, staying with you long after the end credits have run. Although it occasionally scrapes by cliche just so (e.g., was it really necessary to expressly bring up "David vs. Goliath" in a movie whose entire premise is clearly based on this very concept?), its imagery is the most powerful when expressed from Evelyn's point of view: her shock at seeing her mother drive off with a stranger, her anger at witnessing a nun lashing out at a girl for not knowing her catechism ... and her unshakeable faith in her grandfather, who has explained to her, when taking her to her convent school, that the sun rays breaking through the clouds are "angel rays," sent by her guardian angel as a token of protection; and whose presence she feels, even after he has died of a heart attack, whenever she sees the sun coming through the gray Irish winter sky. - At one point during the production, it looked like the movie was going to have to live without a music score - that is, apart from the Irish songs performed live by Frank Kelly (who is also a trained violinist) and Pierce Brosnan (another "first" for him, and certainly one that will delight many of his fans), as part of the Doyles' pub music venture. But fortunately a full soundtrack was ensured eventually, and Stephen Endelman's score - perfectly complimented by Gemma Hayes's "Angel Rays" and Van Morrison's "Sitting on Top of the World" - greatly adds to the movie's lyrical quality. This is one of the year 2002's true cinematic "finds"; a small, quietly shining gem. Bravo, Messrs. Brosnan, Beresford & Co.! I hope Irish Dreamtime Productions will give us more films like this in the future ... and when sun rays break through a cloudy sky, I will never again look at them the way I used to.

Rating:
Summary: Evelyn: A Golden Angel Watches Over Us All
Review: Every so often a film comes along that not only pulls us along by our heartstrings but makes no bones about doing it. In EVELYN, director Bruce Beresford manages to take what might have been an overly saccharine tale of the Triumph of the Underdog and manages to tell it in such a way that we don't care that we are being shamelessly manipulated so seamlessly does he involve the viewer in how a father regains custody of his children taken from him by a heartless state.

Pierce Brosnan is Desmond Doyle, a man who likes his strong Irish drink and struggles to keep a marriage afloat despite his ongoing inability to keep a job and a wife who shows that she is one step away from walking out with a boyfriend. When she leaves, she barely glimpses at her daughter Evelyn (Sophie Vavasseur) before taking off. Things go from bad to worse for Desmond. He drinks more than ever and a harridan of a mother-in-law informs the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children that Desmond's three children are being neglected. A local magistrate places them in a church orphanage. The two sons are, in the film, seen only in passing, and it is only Evelyn's plight that we see. For those who remember how nuns enforced discipline with rulers whacked on knuckles, the scenes where a sadistic sister beats Evelyn resonate strongly. Desmond seeks help, first with the advice of a local barmaid, Julianne Marguilies, then with Stephen Rea and Aidan Quinn, who agree to help in a case that seems like a sure loser.

EVELYN is a feel-good film that does not try to gloss over that in this case at least, a happy ending is predictably foreshadowed every time Desmond's lawyers remind him that he has no chance to win. To make this kind of David and Goliath film work, the audience has to know and care about the characters. Brosnan, Vavasseur, Rea, Quinn, and Marguilies all bounce off each other in ways that make us laugh and cry on cue. The best films do this too and in ways that continually remind us that laughing and crying are part of the basic human condition. EVELYN makes us do both, while uplifting us at the same time.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Fatherly Movie
Review: Hat's off to Pierce Brosnan on his performance in this film! I'm proud to own this great film on dvd. With all the fatherless children in the world, I was glad to see a movie like this one come along. This film just proves that there are some real men left in this old world. If you only ever own one Pierce Brosnan film on dvd, I highly recommend this one!

Rating:
Summary: Touching movie
Review: I just finished watching Evelyn and was extrememly touched by the movie. I expected it to be a three hankie movie, and while it was teary in parts it is an uplifting movie about a father fighting to get his kids back.

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Review: I loved this movie. It was touching. Based on a true story it was very moving. It showed some great acting.

Rating:
Summary: Great film
Review: I think that this film showed how goverment does not always thing through the impact of their laws. This touching story of a father's love and persistance and Evelyn's faith and integrity left a deep impression on me. I really cared for these characters and found many of the scenes very moving, being a father myself.

Rating:
Summary: family!
Review: if you value your family and value great, wholesome family entertainment--this is your movie. heartfelt, true and moving--this is a super movie for the average movie-goer and the critic. if only more movies were like this one. pierce brosnan gives his best performance ever.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful film!!
Review: One of the best movies I've ever seen, yet widely unheard of. I had seen a couple trailers for the film before I saw it, but that was about it. I don't even remember it being in theatres. The film definatly has the true makings of a classic, and I would rate it along the same lines as I would "A Little Princess." A true family film, it's filled with drama, comedy and is truly heartwarming. What surprised me most about the film was how religious it was, not that that's a bad thing. Frankly, there are not enough movies out nowadays that can refer to religion so frequently without sounding overly "preachy." All actors, especially the little girl playing Evelyn were amazing, and I'm astonished that none of them recieved any nominations for Oscars. This film is definatly great for everyone in search of a classic family (or anyone who likes a great movie) film.