Alan Devlin Movies
A woman (Amy Adams) heads to Ireland in order to force her boyfriend (Adam Scott) to accept her wedding proposal by scheduling it on leap day, the only time when he couldn't refuse due to the country's tradition in this Spyglass Entertainment romantic comedy. Shopgirl's Anand Tucker directs from a script by Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan. Matthew Goode co-stars as a handsome innkeeper who throws a wrench into the woman's plans. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Amy Adams, Matthew Goode, (more)
First-time Irish writer/director Sean Walsh spent ten years making Bl,.m (Bloom), an adaptation of James Joyce's infamously difficult 1922 epic Ulysses. Set in Dublin on the day of June 16, 1904, the film attempts to make a visual reconstruction of Joyce's stream-of-consciousness style. Following all the major themes of the original novel, it's bookended by the internal monologue given by the sexually driven Molly (Angeline Ball). Stephen Rea plays her husband, the introspective Jewish-Irishman Leopold Bloom. Hugh O'Conor plays the philosophical young writer Stephen Dedalus. Bloom premiered at the 2003 Taormina Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stephen Rea, Angeline Ball, (more)
- 2003
A teacher takes on the corrupt leadership of an Irish reform school in this drama based on a true story. William Franklin (Aidan Quinn) is a teacher who was born in Ireland and moved to the United States only to repatriate in 1939 after his leftist political views cause him to lose his job. Franklin becomes the first non-cleric instructor at St. Jude's, a school for wayward boys run by Brother John Iain Glen, who is a firm believer in strong discipline. But Franklin comes to believe the students are being treated with excessive force, with many of the children severely punished for trivial violations of the rules, and some treated as delinquents for the crime of not having parents. As Franklin campaigns for more humane treatment of his charges, he makes a powerful enemy in Brother John, who responds to Franklin's reform efforts with greater vehemence against the students, in particular Mercier (John Travers), an inquisitive child who has become a favorite of Franklin. Franklin's distrust of Brother John's regime reaches a high point when a new student informs him that he was sexually assaulted by one of the clerics. Song for a Raggy Boy was adapted from the memoir by Patrick Galvin, who also helped adapt his story for the screen. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Aidan Quinn, Iain Glen, (more)
A drug peddler discovers the bigger he tries to get, the further he has to fall in this independent drama from Ireland. Jack Flinter (David Murray) is a small-time drug dealer known to his friends as "Flick"; he wants to move on to bigger things, and with the help of his friend Des (David Wilmot), Jack smuggles ten kilos of hashish from Morocco into Dublin. While Jack and Des are excited about their big score, they also know they don't have the means to move that much hash by themselves, and are looking for an associate to help them unload the dope. Des suggests that they join forces with Gerry (Aaron Harris) and Pop (Alan Devlin), two major-league dealers in Dublin, but Jack is afraid their involvement will attract the attention of the police and cause more problems. Jack also finds he's on the outs with his girlfriend Alice (Catherine Punch), who is tired of dealing with his life on the wrong side of the law; Jack meets and begins courting Isabelle (Isabelle Menke), a girl he meets at a dance club, but as his big drug deal starts to go sour, Jack finds his life in danger and circumstances spiraling out of control. Flick had its North American premiere at the 2000 American Film Institute Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Murray, David Wilmot, (more)
- 1994
A teenager from Belfast finds himself caught between IRA and Loyalist battles in this drama. 17-year old Benny, a delinquent, favors neither side of the Irish conflict. He finds refuge in a rural school near the southern Irish border. The school is headed by a woman who set it up as a neutral outpost for young people. She is assisted by a former priest who is also her sometime lover. She finds herself sexually attracted to Benny. Problems ensue when the janitor, a stoolie for the local cops, is murdered. Benny gets tarred and feathered by the IRA and the British Army and the Loyalists are out to destroy the headmistress and the ex-priest. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Frances Tomelty, Alan Devlin, (more)
- 1994
- PG
Rival groups of boys from two neighboring Irish villages engage in a running battle in this remake of the 1962 French movie of the same name, based on a novel by Louis Pergaud. The boys from Ballydowse, who dress as they please, exchange insults with boys from nearby Carricksdowse -- who wear school uniforms. One day, the Bally gang cuts the buttons off the clothes of a bully in the Carricks gang. The Carricks retaliate by swiping the buttons from the clothes of the leader of the Bally boys, Fergus (Gregg Fitzgerald). The Ballys deface the Carricksdowse church, though both groups are Catholics. They rout the Carricks by charging at them naked. Marie (Eveanna Ryan), who heads the Ballys' girls auxiliary, tries to calm down the boys by raining new buttons on them to replace those lost in warfare. When Fergus' abusive stepfather (Jim Bartley) finds out about the war, he beats Fergus and sends him away. Fergus goes to the cliffs along the valley between the two villages, chased by the Carricks' leader, Geronimo (John Coffey). Geronimo, who has come to help, slips, and Fergus rescues him from a fall. In the end, Fergus, riding a horse, leads his troops, dressed in motley medieval suits, into a final battle. The allegorical anti-war film is primarily aimed at children. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Starring:
- Liam Cunningham, Gregg Fitzgerald, (more)
Gillies MacKinnon directed this charming Irish romance, taking place in a small Irish village in 1957, just before the first television set makes an appearance in this conservative hamlet. There is a scandal in the village concerning the beautiful and independent Tara Maguire (Robin Wright) -- Tara is pregnant and refuses to identify the father. She goes into labor during Sunday Mass, which raises the ire of the parish priest (Alan Devlin), who thinks God will bring bad times down on the village for Tara's effrontery. The priest feels Tara should marry the local town constable, Sgt. Hagerty (Albert Finney), a dyspeptic reformed alcoholic who is in love with Tara. But she doesn't love Hagerty. This becomes particularly clear when a traveling band of actors known as the Playboys come into town. One of the players in the troupe, Tom Casey (Aidan Quinn), is caught by Tara stealing one of her chickens. But it is love at first sight, although it takes a while for their attraction to take root beyond some electric glances. Hagerty sees where the relationship is going and he is determined to undermine the burgeoning affair. Tara is wary and doesn't want to be dependent upon any man, even to the point of smuggling supplies to the Irish Republican Army. When Hagerty hears someone in the village is colluding with the IRA, he suspects Tom and throws him in jail. But Hagerty is a walking time bomb and finally his rage erupts with violent force. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Albert Finney, Aidan Quinn, (more)
- 1987
- R
Judith Hearne (Maggie Smith) is a middle-aged "maiden lady" piano teacher living in 1950s Dublin. Timid and self-deprecating, Judith permits herself to yearn over her new boarding-house neighbor, hotel entrepreneur Bob Hoskins. Hoskins thinks that Judith has enough money to bankroll his latest scheme, so he decides to return her affections. Judith, blind to Hoskin's duplicity, convinces herself that she's finally found true love. The shattering of her illusions drives Judith to drink--and, unexpectedly, to a more fulfilling new life. Based on the novel by Brian Moore, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne is typical of the "muted emotion" ouevre of director Jack Clayton. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Maggie Smith, Bob Hoskins, (more)
- 1985
A well-wrought tale only hampered by a miniscule budget, this story about George Frederick Handel (1685-1759), the German-born British composer, focuses on his life after he moved to England in the 1710s. Handel (played by Simon Callow) was a unique individual, a contemporary of Bach though the two composers never met. Some of his personality, and that of his close friend Quin (Alan Devlin) is brought forward in this docudrama, along with some fun staging of his operas and their enjoyable music. Sadly, director Anna Ambrose died soon after this film was completed.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Simon Callow, Alan Devlin, (more)
- 1982
- R
Writer/director Neil Jordan's debut feature is a tense thriller played out amid the violence in Northern Ireland. Stephen Rea stars as Danny, a saxophone player in a traveling band who witnesses the brutal murders of the manager of the band (who is involved in some extortion payoffs) and a deaf and dumb girl, who has seen the killing of the manager. After observing these cold-blooded executions, Danny becomes obsessed with hunting down the killers. His obsession develops into a murderous rage so intense that he ends up becoming as heartless a killer as the people he is trying to find. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stephen Rea, Alan Devlin, (more)
- 1981
A young woman with a father who fences stolen property and a young man whose father is a lowly farmer get married in a wedding marred by quarrelsome relatives and quick-tempered family friends. After that inauspicious start, their life together spirals somewhat out of control. The father of the bride sends his daughter and son-in-law to Northern Ireland to pick up some electronic equipment, and on the way, they give a ride to someone clearly on the wrong side of the law, perhaps an IRA activist. While returning from their errand, they have an accident that propels them into new relationships and subsequently brings out the information that the woman may have been sexually abused by her father. In the meantime, the husband robs a post office and the two of them have to escape capture. As they are eluding the police, they run into the possible IRA activist again and decide to go to London. But the young man has a score to settle with his father-in-law, and he returns to confront him, and to let him know that his van was trashed in the accident - a scenario that leads to anger and sets the course for the future activities of the young couple and their newly-found activist friend. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alan Devlin
- 1981
This provocative film, based on a short story by Dylan Thomas, is set in Wales during the turmoil of WW I. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
John Mackenzie's masterfully directed British crime drama features a star-making performance by Bob Hoskins as Harold Shand, a successful London gangster whose world falls apart over the course of one weekend. Shand controls the London docks and is planning a big real estate deal, financed by money from the American mob and given the okay by the London organization. His world is sweet -- he lives in a fancy penthouse, he owns a yacht, and has a sensitive and intelligent mistress. But suddenly a bomb explodes inside his Rolls Royce, another bomb destroys a pub he owns, and a third is found inside his casino. Shand can't understand who would suddenly want him dead, particularly over the Easter weekend, when representatives from the American mafia are coming into town to discuss investing in Shands's real estate project. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, (more)
