Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Julianna Margulies, Aidan Quinn, Stephen Rea, Alan Bates

Director: Bruce Beresford

Summary: Set in Dublin in 1953, Desmond Doyle is struggling to find steady work and is faced with raising his three children alone after his wife walks out on him. The Irish Church steps in and places the children in separate Catholic orphanages. Desmond works hard to pay off his debts in order for his children to come home. He finds out that the children will not released without the permission of the absent mother...

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Reviewed by: mcdermot7@aol.com
Posted on January 1, 2006 5:20 PM

This is set in 1953 Dublin, Desmond Doyle is fighting to win custody of his three children after his wife left him for another man and then left the country. His fight overturns one of Ireland's longest-standing family-court laws. This is a true story. It has Pierce Brosnan playing the role of Desmond Doyle & he even sings (quite well). Sophie Vavasseur is absolutely amazing. The supporting cast is made up of such renowned actors as Julianna Margulies (ER fame), Alan Bates, Stephen Rea, Aidan Quinn & Frank Kelly (father Ted). Not angela's ashes but brilliant anyway.

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Gone with the Windis a sprawling mosaic of a picture, one of the best-loved and most successful in movie history, but also one of the most frustrating. Wonderfully epic in scope, the decline and fall of the antebellum South as seen through the eyes of feisty, independent and wilful heroine Scarlett O'Hara makes the first half of the picture an absolutely riveting spectacle. From the aristocratic old world of Tara to the horrors of Atlanta under siege, Gone with the Windfeatures any number of indelible scenes and images: the genteel girls taking an enforced siesta during the Twelve Oaks barbecue, a horrified Scarlett walking through the wounded, the flight from burning Atlanta, and Scarlett's moving pledge against a burnished sunset set to Max Steiner's glorious music score. But the second half shifts gear, the melodramatic quotient is upped yet further as tragedy piles upon tragedy, and despite its unwieldy length everything feels rushed. Add to that the central problem that the audience never really understands, why Scarlett could ever fall for weak-chinned Ashley in the first place, and the picture begins to unravel unsatisfactorily. Behind the scenes problems doubtless contributed, with directors coming and going, Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable apparently barely able to stand the sight of each other, and producer David O Selznick's endless rewrites and interference. Nonetheless, this 1939 box-office smash remains one of Hollywood's finest achievements, an irresistible spectacle chock-full of the finest stars in the filmic firmament striking sparks off one another. They really don't make 'em like this anymore.

On the DVD:No extra features on this DVD, which is a pity given the amount of material that must be available, but it has to be admitted this disc is worth the asking price simply to drink in the astonishing quality of the picture, sumptuously presented in its original 1.33:1 "Academy" ratio. The mono sound is vivid, too, showcasing Max Steiner's headily romantic score. --Mark Walker

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Year:	2002
Release Date:	September 22, 2003
Runtime:	92 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	P 9068 D V D
Keywords:	General, Evelyn, Drama
Genre:	Drama