Rosaleen Linehan Movies

Part of the "Beckett on Film" series, this adaptation of Samuel Beckett's 1961 absurd tragi-comedy is essentially a very long monologue punctuated by brief interruptions from a secondary character. Considered by many to be Beckett's most cheerful piece, Happy Days opens with the character of Winnie, a fifty-ish woman, buried up to her waist in a mound of earth. This immobility does not seem to bother the optimistic Winnie, who may miss the use of her legs but opts to concentrate on what she can still do with her arms and hands -- brush her teeth, use her mirror, etc. In the second half, Winnie has become buried up to her neck, but even the fact that she can no longer use her arms does not dissuade Winnie, whose motto is summed up with "Ah, well, what matter, that's what I always say; it will have been a happy day after all, another happy day." Winnie also professes to be comforted by the presence of husband Willie, who is rarely seen or heard. Beneath her cheerful exterior, of course, Winnie may not believe that all is really as well as she makes it out to be, but her refusal to admit the grim nature of her own reality is at the core of Beckett's play. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

An American woman on a business trip in Ireland finds love knocking at her door, no matter how sternly she refuses to answer, in this romantic comedy. Marcy Tizard (Janeane Garofalo) is an assistant to Senator John McGlory (Jay O. Sanders), a congressman from Boston in the midst of a hard-fought reelection campaign. Nick (Denis Leary), one of McGlory's advisors, thinks that it might mean some extra votes in McGlory's heavily Irish-American district if he can arrange a photo opportunity with any relatives McGlory might have in the Olde Sod, so Marcy is sent to Ireland to find any surviving members of McGlory's family. Marcy is not especially enthusiastic about this assignment from the start, and her rancor grows when she arrives in the village of Ballinagra to discover that the annual matchmaking festival is in full swing -- and a number of single men immediately seize upon Marcy as a prize catch. One of them, Sean (David O'Hara), a former journalist who has come to Ballinagra to work on a book, takes an immediate fancy to Marcy, which she most certainly does not return. However, Dermot (Milo O'Shea), the town's leading matchmaker (when he's not busy running his tanning salon), is convinced that Sean and Marcy are perfect for each other, and he makes it his business to bring them together, whether Marcy likes the idea or not. The Matchmaker was filmed on location in Massachusetts and Galway, Ireland. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this action adventure, author Bernard Cornwell's fictional Major Sharpe takes his men on a search for Aztec treasure. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Hostages is a made-for-cable film that chronicles the captivity of several Western hostages who were held in Lebanon for five years during the mid-'80s. Combining newsreel footage with re-enactment's, the film captures the horror of the hostages--Americans Terry Anderson, Thomas Sutherland, Frank Reed; British citizens John McCarthy, Terry Waite; and Irish teacher Brian Keenan--as they are held by the Muslim fundamentalist group, the Hezbollah. It also follows the trials and tribulations of their families, who struggle against government bureaucracy to free their loved ones. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Set in post-WW I Ireland, Fools of Fortune takes place on the huge estate of the aristocratic Quinton family. Sheltered from the economic and political travails all around them, the Quintons are shocked into the Real World when one of their workers is ritualistically murdered. This is but one more bloody chapter in the ongoing struggle between the IRA and the British Army. Previously noncommittal, the Quintons are thrust into the middle of the struggle, After a deadly confrontation in which most of his loved ones are killed, young Willie Quinton (Sean T. McClory as a youth, Ian Glen as an adult) vows revenge. He briefly forgets his new purpose in life during a romantic liaison with his cousin Marianne (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), but a renewed cycle of tragedy galvanizes Willie into disastrous action. It is difficult to sort out the heroes and villains in Fools of Fortune; it is a certainty, however, that the true victims are the Innocent. Michael Hirst based his screenplay on a novel by William Trevor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the classic novel by James Joyce, this drama deals with the life of an impotent married Jewish man, his wife and a student/poet in Dublin. Focusing more upon the characters' thoughts and fantasies than upon their actions, it features some of Joyce's previously banned prose. This drama was filmed in Ireland with a largely Irish cast and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide