Conor McPherson Movies

Michael Farr (Ciarán Hinds of Munich) is a depressed widower who teaches shop in the small seaside town of Cobh, in County Cork, Ireland, where he lives with his two children. While he continues to adjust to life without his beloved wife, who died two years earlier, he begins to experience strange, possibly supernatural occurrences connected to his elderly father-in-law, who is close to death in a local nursing home. When Michael volunteers at the town's annual literary festival, he's assigned to look after Lena Morelle (Iben Hjejle of High Fidelity). Lena is known for her ghost stories, and Michael, impressed with the realistic nature of her writing, shares his recent experiences with her. While Michael and Lena grow closer, another famous author, Nicholas Holden (Aidan Quinn), a married man with a scandalous reputation, arrives in town for the festival, hoping to rekindle a brief affair he had with Lena a year before. As Michael and Nicholas clash over Lena's affections, Michael's supernatural visions grow more vivid and disturbing. The Eclipse was directed by Irish playwright Conor McPherson (The Actors), from a script by McPherson and author/playwright Billy Roche, loosely based on the story "Table Manners" from Roche's collection Tales from Rainwater Pond. The film had its world premiere at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, where Hinds won the award for Best Actor in a Narrative Feature. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Trendy young playwright and screenwriter Conor McPherson (I Went Down, 1997) makes his directing debut with this understated comedy. Widowed fish-and-chips shop owner George Beneventi (Brian Cox) lives in a sleepy coastal town along with his three children. Eldest son Frank (Peter McDonald) helps with the shop, college student Carmel (Valerie Spelman) is involved with a lecherous philosophy professor, and younger brother Joe (Laurence Kinlan) causes trouble at school. Being the off-season, George is having a hard time gathering the funds to pay his smooth but deadly bookie, "Simple" Simon McCurdie (Brendan Gleeson). Frank, who seethes with the knowledge that his dad is indebted to the thug, stages an inept though miraculously successful robbery of the criminal's lair. Meanwhile, Joe befriends Damien, the new kid in town, only to discover that his pal is a psychopath. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

This Irish-British road movie follows the misadventures of some Irish ex-cons. When Dublin hood Tom French (Tony Doyle) comes down hard on slow-witted Anto (David Wilmot), Git (Peter McDonald) intervenes and then is assigned a mission. He is ordered to travel to Cork to bring back French's friend Frank Grogan (Peter Caffrey) and the money Frank in holding. Along for the ride is French's associate Bunny (Brendan Gleeson). The two rescue Grogan from gunmen, but Grogan claims to know nothing about any money, only about his 18-month affair with French's wife. Thus, uncertainty looms on the horizon as the three drive back to Dublin. Shown at the 1997 Edinburgh Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi