Ruth McCabe Movies

An Irish boy becomes an emotional and sexual outcast as the 1960s fade into the 1970s in this period drama from director Neil Jordan. When he was just a baby in the early '60s, Patrick Braden (Conor McEvoy) was abandoned by his mother and left on the doorstep of a church overseen by Father Bernard (Liam Neeson). Placed in a foster home, sensitive Patrick doesn't much care for the emotionally chilly attitude of his new "family," and psychologically buffers himself against the world by writing stories that make fun of Father Bernard and the other authority figures in his life. As he grows into adulthood, Patrick (played as an adult by Cillian Murphy) also discovers that he enjoys dressing in women's clothes and prefers the company of men, and as a teenager he falls into an affair with Billy Hatchet (Gavin Friday), a nightclub performer who also runs guns for the Irish Republican Army. In the early '70s, Patrick -- who has since taken on the drag name "Kitten" -- makes his way to London, where he becomes involved with Bertie (Stephen Rea), a small-time nightclub magician who gives the young man a place to say, a sense of security, and a job as his on-stage assistant. However, Patrick's idyllic life with Bertie proves short-lived when his old friends come to town on IRA "business." Breakfast on Pluto also features a supporting performance from former Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In a small Irish village where herding sheep is still one of the major industries, the largely male, unmarried population has grown dissatisfied with their lot in life; when a shipping error sends the wrong film to the local movie house, the citizens are treated to a racy item from the United States. The movie is cut short by the village priest, but it plants an idea in a few of the men: America is overflowing with beautiful women, so why not get a few of them to come to Ireland? Pooling their resources, a group of men places personal ads in an American newspaper in hopes of luring a few ladies away from life in the States for the more rustic pleasures of the Irish countryside. The debut film from director Aileen Ritchie, The Closer You Get stars Niamh Cusack, Ian Hart, Sean McGinley, and Ruth McCabe. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Set in 1957, this romantic coming-of-age story follows three childhood friends from a small town in Ireland as they head to Dublin to attend Trinity College. Nan (Saffron Burrows), a year older than her friends and already in her second year at Trinity, is ambitious, romantic, and just a bit reckless. She hopes to win the hand of Simon (Colin Firth), an older Protestant land-owner who would help her rise up the social and economic ladder. Eve (Geraldine O'Rawe), a bit more pragmatic and cautious, finds herself falling for a boy named Aidan (Aidan Gillen). Bernadette (Minnie Driver), called "Benny" by her friends and family, comes from strict parents who won't allow her to live on campus, forcing her to commute back and forth from classes every day. Bennie's father, a haberdasher, has always expected that his daughter, a bit plainer and plumper than her friends, will marry his shop's manager, an odd duck named Sean (Alan Cumming). But at Trinity, Bennie discovers that she fancies a tall, good-looking rugby player named Jack (Chris O'Donnell), and to the surprise of Bennie and everyone else, it turns out that Jack fancies her as well. Circle of Friends gave Minnie Driver her breakthrough film role after her initial success as a television actress in Britain. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The Snapper is Stephen Frears' adaptation of the second book in Roddy Doyle's Barrytown Trilogy. The Curley family is a poor but eccentric and loving Irish family. Oldest daughter Sharon (Tina Kellegher) announces she is pregnant, but refuses to reveal the identity of the father to anyone. Her father, Dessie (Colm Meaney), is supportive, but begins to chafe at the derisive gossip aimed at his family and his daughter. This leads to a confrontation between the two that is, like the rest of the movie, simultaneously funny and sad. The family waits in the hospital as Sharon gives birth to the snapper (Irish slang for an infant). The other books in the Barrytown Trilogy were also adapted into films featuring Colm Meaney as the father: The Commitments, directed by Alan Parker, and The Van, directed by Stephen Frears. Doyle had a hand in the screenplay for all three. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Neil Jordan's lyrical Irish romance takes place in the small seaside town of Bray (near Dublin) and concerns two teenage friends, Jimmy (Niall Byrne) and Rose (Lorraine Pilkington). They spend their days roaming the cobblestone streets and waterlogged piers. To while away the time, Rose and Jimmy make up stories about strangers on the street. One day, while watching people at the train station, a sophisticated and glamorous older woman, Renee Baker (Beverly D'Angelo), stands out so imposingly from the drab townsfolk that Jimmy and Rose decide to follow her, obsessed with knowing everything about her. They follow her to the beach and at last Renee speaks to them. When she looks at Jimmy, he's immediately smitten by this mysterious woman. Rose, who has feelings for Jimmy herself, decides to make him jealous by trying to attract a young lion tamer from a traveling circus. But Jimmy is completely attached to Renee and his desire leads him to fateful consequences. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

An alternative to the general run of "triumph over the odds" biopics, My Left Foot is the true story of Irish cerebral palsy victim Christy Brown. Paralyzed from birth, Brown (played by Hugh O'Conor as child and Daniel Day-Lewis as an adult) is written off as retarded and helpless. But Christy's indomitable mother (Brenda Fricker) never gives up on the boy. Using his left foot, the only part of his body not afflicted, Brown learns to write. He grows up to become a well-known author, painter, and fundraiser, and along the way falls in love with nurse Mary Carr (Ruth McCabe). There's no sugarcoating in My Left Foot: Brown, a heavy drinker, was by no means lovable. Day-Lewis and Fricker both won Academy Awards for their performances, and the film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Also notable are the late Ray McAnally in his next-to-last film role as Christy's father, and venerable Cyril Cusack as Lord Castlewelland. Director Jim Sheridan co-scripted with Shane Connaughton from Christy Brown's autobiography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Definitely not to be confused with the 1949 Paramount release starring William Holden or the Larry McMurtry 1995 television mini-series, this 20 minute unfinished "western" marked the first helpless Hollywood effort of legendary bad filmmaker Edward J. Wood, Jr. Together with a friend, 18-year-old John Crawford Thomas, the 23-year-old Wood produced his little epic in 16 mm on a one-day shooting schedule at the Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth, California, apparently blowing Thomas' inheritance in the process. A few other scenes were filmed several weeks later in Griffith Park, but then Wood ran out of funds or acquaintances with ready cash (a recurring problem for the young auteur). The footage was shelved and basically forgotten until its reemergence in the 1998 documentary The Haunted World of Edward D. Wood, Jr. Based on the Western ballad, Streets of Laredo (or Crossroads of Laredo, as it is also known) starred Duke Moore, an amateur actor who would later be immortalized portraying the hapless Lieutenant Harper in Wood's masterpiece, the unforgettable Plan 9 from Outer Space (1956). Wood himself appears as a villain, proving beyond any doubt that he never before rode a horse, and there is a girl (Ruth McCabe), a parson, and a bartender. The footage flies by in a speed comparable to the old Keystone comedies and is eminently worthy of the notorious Wood. Both the Iverson Ranch and the nearby Spahn spread had become used to pedestrian filmmaking by 1948, having played host to such pedestrian outfits as PRC and Monogram for years. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide