Des Cave Movies

Two brothers learn vital lessons about growing up in this emotional drama from Ireland. Jack (Dean Pritchard) is a 12-year-old boy growing up in a troubled family in the 1970s. Jack's mother died years ago, and his father Frank (Des Cave), angry and confused about his lonely life as a single father, vents his rage at Jack and his older brother Con (Gary Lyndon). When an uncle who was close to Jack also passes on, the boy feels even more vulnerable, until Aunt Miriam (Lisa Harrow) -- sister of Jack's mother -- comes to spend time with the family. Miriam is able to reach Frank's more compassionate side, and she provides a much needed maternal influence for Jack and Con. Miriam urges Con to stand up to his father and assert his independence, a subject already on his mind after falling in love with Sarah (Marcella Plunkett), whose family has been locked in a bitter feud with Frank for years. Meanwhile Jack makes a new friend, Michael (Laurence Kinlan), who has a family even less stable than Jack's own -- his parents are members of a band of traveling Gypsies. Country was the first feature from director and screenwriter Kevin Liddy. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This American Film Theatre production is based on the stage play by Brian Friel. Gar, a young Irish man, prepares to leave his dull Gaelic community--and his seemingly insensitive father--to live with his aunt in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The hero has an alter ego, seen only by himself and the audience: the public Gar (Des Cave) holds back his true emotions, while the private Gar (Donal McCann) tells the brutal (and sometimes hilarious) truth. As Gar packs his bags, he and his inner self examine his relationships with his boorish dad, his former sweetheart, his frustrated schoolmaster, his shallow buddies, and his loving housekeeper. Philadelphia Here I Come works beautifully as theatre, though the cinematic possibilities of a dual hero are barely explored. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi