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Angela's Ashes

Angela's Ashes

List Price: $19.99
Your Price: $17.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A weep, a smile and a laughter all in one story...
Review: Misery has never been told in such a refined and glorious way.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A wonderful adaption
Review: This did a fantastic job of adapting Frank McCourt's book by the same name. The acting and screenplay is superb and, thank goodness, the director (Alan Parker) did not take too many liberties with the original story.

As with any book adaption, you will get much more out of this movie if you read the book first. If you ever intend to read the book, don't watch this movie yet. Read the book first, then watch the movie. Otherwise, you've got a great movie to watch.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Angela's Ashes Makes You Realize What You Have
Review: I viewed Angela's Ashes. I felt it was a very well made film. The story is simple, but makes for a good movie. One gets the feeling from watching the film that you have been thrown back to Ireland in the 1930's. The acting is very good, especially the child actors. The movie is a little downbeat and depressing at the beginning, but once you get to know the characters in the film, the feeling of depression lifts and one gets involved in the people and their plight. I recommend this film as one to view once in your lifetime. People with connections with Ireland and the timeframe may want to view the film several times in their lifetime. For the casual viewer, one viewing is sufficient. The film provides a good history in terms of seeing how these people lived in Ireland during the depression. I recommend this movie. Language can get kind of salty at times. Good movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Enjoy what you are having
Review: McCourt's story began with an unimaginable mixture of tragedy and shame; feckless and drunk, the family's father, Malachy, a man from the north, failed to provide for his wife and children for their new life in America. Their baby sister Margaret died in their squalor and they had to return to Ireland.
It just liked a fate to their family, poverty and hunger. As Frank said in the film, his dad is made up with three sorts of people. In the morning, he's a good father who loves his children and tells some stories to them. In the afternoon, he went to find jobs but usually with no results. At night, he used the money from rage or even family to the pub. Then he came home drunk at night and sang some Catholic songs.
Frankie's childhood was harsh. He lived to take care his brothers and sisters and also faced the death of his sister, Margaret and twins brother. When he returned to Ireland with parents, the problems become more and serious. At that time, he was only five, going on six. Under the poor condition, he got typhoid and conjunctivitis which almost killed his life. Within these months, he read many books of Shakespeare. Although he was in the hospital, it's so lamentable to see that the condition was even better than at home - at least he got enough food and the living place not so damp and dirty.
For getting more money, Frank's dad went to England and find jobs. But he has never sent them back money. At that time, Frank knew that all he could do was - finding jobs. Then he followed his uncle and distributed the coal. But the worst was - it nearly blinded him. After that, his mother moved to live with the relative who is fat, ugly and hateful. He always asked Frank's mother did all the things for him. Finally when Frank knew that he even made love with his mother, he felt angry and left alone. He found a job from post office and as a postman. It's stable and helped him to save money. Afterward, he even wrote letter for debtor in Limerick. But she was died and he took her away some money and finally he could get enough money to leave for America.
When I watched the movie, I thought that I am so lucky and fortunate already. Frank's story reminds us that there're still many children who survives in hunger and poverty.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good adaptation
Review: I bought this & didn't watch it for a a long time untill one very hot afternoon, I thought to forget the heat by visiting damp cold Limerick.

The movie is very consistant with the story & the cast is wonderful but I found myself wondering if it would've made sense to me without having read the book. I doubt it. Franck & his family lead a horribly poor & unlucky life, at every turn when you think they're finally going to get a break they sink deeper into misery. Reading the book however, with the story narrated through the eyes of Franck with his odd humour & childish logic, makes more sense. The way he survived & prospered is a miracle, reading the book you somehow expect it, while the movie with its missing narrator & utterly grim theme makes you wonder how he could rise above all the misery....

A great movie if you've read the book, but if you haven't, you won't get it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Life's Lessons In Angela's Ashes
Review: Great movie, great cast. See Emily Watson's outstanding preformance as "Angela". Robert Carlyle also stars as the dad. Don't miss Michael Legge's break out preformance as "Frank" (oldest). And his friend "Paddy" (oldest) played by Laurence Kinlan. The times were hard but this movie was great.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not Much Drama
Review: Crudely realistic. More like a documentary save and except the portrayal of his romance which is quite nice. But then that episode was too brief. The drama was lacking and it was more like an autobiography.

Life is purgatorial in Ireland by that time. It reminds me of Mahler and of Rachmaninoff who had so many of their brothers and sisters and beloved passing away either so young or in their infantile. In short, it's like Dickens without his drama.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellant Movie
Review: The movie is great, although I recommend reading the book prior to watching the movie, you get much more of the story...afterwards, you'll find the movie choppy, but that's like that once reading the book before almost every time....The movie is great. I love it...watch it time and time again. It's a true Memoir, which makes the feel it better.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not Much About Angela
Review: Angeles Ashes is a good movie and book. I appreciate any depiction of Ireland. However,if you are going to title a book and movie "Angela's Ashes," is it not reasonable to expect Angela to be more than a prop for all of the male roles in the story? According to Frank McCort, there is no sadder story than one about growing up Irish Catholic at that time in history. My bias from an immigrant Irish Catholic family is to believe this. But what about growing up Irish, Catholic and female? I would expect at least a fair gender balance in a book winning the Pulitzer Prize. My real issue with a big budget movie production of Angela's Ashes telling about hard times in 1930's Ireland is that it came out at the same time that a small budget, independent, gutsey Scottish film called "Rat Catcher" came out. Few people outside of Scotland know of this film, a real gem of story telling about 1970's Scotland during the trash collection strike and the Army being brought in as scab labor. What is it like to grow up in the tenements with a nearby canal where kids drown on a regular basis? Frank McCort made it out of hard times, and it is to his good credit. Rat Catcher is more devasting on this point, as the slums of Scotland do not always allow escape. I have to admit that I had to turn on the English captions to understand the Scottish way of speaking English. However, it was a delight in hear this unique accent. I honor the hardship of both Celtic cultures. My other disappointment in Angela's Ashes is the exclusion of traditional Irish folk music. Is it not fair to expect a few musicians in all the pubs Frank's father drank at in the movie? Pub music is as common as playing darts or drinking Guinness. There is also a wealth of talent to draw from.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Brooding hogwash
Review: What an ugly film. Haven't read the book, and frankly, I'm glad I haven't if this is the story it tells. I don't see the redemption--just a hideous survivor's story. In fact, this movie is so nasty, it reminds me of exploitation cinema. I would give it 0 stars if I could.


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