Eamon Morrissey Movies

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Paul Quinn scripted and made his directorial debut with this period drama about middle-aged schoolteacher Kieran Johnson (James Caan), who finds evidence indicating that his real father was an Irish farmer and not a French seaman as he had been told. Since his mute and paralyzed mother offers no answers, he investigates by traveling to an Irish village with his teenage nephew (Jacob Tierney). After this prologue, the film flashes back to the family roots: Kieran's mother Fiona Flynn (Moya Farrelly) back home from convent school, catches the eye of dirt tenant farmer Kieran O'Day (Aidan Quinn). Their romance gets underway despite disapprovals from family and friends. Shown at 1998 film fests (Montreal, Toronto). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Starring:: Aidan Quinn, James Caan, (more)

How to Cheat in the Leaving Certificate: 1997

During the prologue, a room filled with terrified Irish students listen while a professor solemnly warns them that their performance on the three-hour test laid before them will determine their success or failure in life. Liberally laced with irony, this subversive comedy from Irish director/co-writer and co-producer Graham Jones, centers on the attempts of six young friends to devise a way to cheat on their upcoming Leaving Certificate, a grueling comprehensive exam that will allow them to receive diplomas. The test causes so much anxiety that some students have committed suicide rather than risk failure. The young rebels are willing to fudge because they strongly believe that the test and the whole education system is hopelessly outdated and will not prepare them adequately for the future. As they carry on with their plan, the story takes a turn away from comedy into the realm of genuine suspense. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Starring:: Eamon Morrissey, Aileen O'Connor, (more)

Eat the Peach: 1986; R

Irish youths Vinnie (Stephen Brennan) and Arthur (Eamon Morrissey) fight their ongoing boredom by running a video print of Elvis Presley's Roustabout. If you've seen that film, you'll remember that at one point, Elvis participates in "The Wall of Death," a dangerous cylindrical motorcycle stunt. Suddenly inspired, Vinnie and Arthur set about constructing their own Wall of Death. Supplies are costly, but the boys are benumbed to reality by their dreams of fame and fortune. Entering the picture (and foredooming the project) is con artist Boots (Niall Toibin), who claims to be an American showman bent upon giving Vinnie and Arthur a spectacular TV showcase. Like the later The Commitments, Eat the Peach deftly blends traditional sour-faced Irish pragmatism with pie-in-the-sky idealism. This time, however, there's no blarney: Eat the Peach is based on a true story! Privately financed in England and Ireland, the film earned good American bookings thanks to the sponsorship of filmmaker Jonathan Demme. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Starring:: Eamon Morrissey, Stephen Brennan, (more)

Un Taxi Mauve: 1977

An ambitious musical adaptation of Michel Déon's best-selling novel, Un Taxi Mauve is set in Ireland during a time in which the nation announced it would no longer demand income taxes of artists, bringing a steady stream of creative bohemians to the Emerald Isle. Novelist Philippe (Philippe Noiret) is a French novelist recently relocated to Ireland, where makes friends with Jerry (Edward Albert), an American expatriate who left his home after the death of his girlfriend. Philippe and Jerry become chummy with Taubelman (Peter Ustinov), who is looking after Anne, a beautiful young woman who cannot speak. Jerry becomes infatuated with Anne, while Philippe tries to win the heart of Sharon (Charlotte Rampling), Jerry's sister. Fred Astaire also appears as Dr. Scully, an American physician who has come to Ireland to live out his final years.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide