This is the perfect film
for the Christmas season, a stirring tribute to the bonds of
family and friendship, and an important aspect of 1950's Irish
political history. It gave me the same feeling I received
while watching such holiday favorites as "It's A Wonderful
Life", "Miracle on 34th Street", and "A
Christmas Story". Not only does it show how miraculous
of a director Bruce Beresford is (not that we didn't know already
from "Driving Miss Daisy"), but also how incredible
Pierce Brosnan can be when he is not racing a sportscar or
deflowering the latest Bond girl. "Evelyn" is
smart, emotional, and truly entertaining in the best sense of the
word.
Pierce Brosnan (in his best performance to date) stars as Desmond
Doyle, a carpenter with a penchant for the bottle, who finds his
world shattered when his wife abandons he and his three children.
To make matters worse, the government steps in and removes his
children from his custody, due to an outstanding Irish law that
forbids single fathers to raise children. Desmond turns to
the bottle to cope with his misfortune, until he befriends
Bernadette Beattie (Julianna Margulies), a barmaid who listens to
his dilemma. She introduces Desmond to her brother,
Michael (Stephen Rea), an attorney who agrees to take the case to
trial, attempting to overturn Irish law in order to return the
children.
Eventually, two more men join the quest for justice,
Aidan Quinn as Nick Barron, an Irish-American lawyer, and Alan
Bates as Thomas Connolly, a retired Irish lawyer with a valued
reputation. The remainder of the film is told in tense and
heartfelt courtroom scenes that bring back memories of
"Miracle on 34th Street" and even "Mr. Smith Goes
to Washington", scenes beautifully directed by the great
Bruce Beresford.
Two underrated, yet equally
important and stellar performances come from Andrea Irvine and
Karen Ardiff as two nuns who work in the orphanage where Desmond's
children are sent. They give a harsh realism to the
film and show how the Irish orphanage system operated in the
1950's. I also enjoyed a scene in which Pierce Brosnan lends
his singing voice, in a very upbeat and entertaining moment, a
brief distraction from the immense tension and power of the
courtroom scenes.
I
had no idea I was going to be so entertained by "Evelyn".
I had seen trailers for the film, but it just seemed like another
holiday flick with big stars and little drama. However, it
turned out to be a truly remarkable triumph for everyone involved,
especially Bruce Beresford, who is back and better than ever.
And, I cannot stop thinking about how amazing Pierce Brosnan was. It
is mind-boggling for me to see him as James Bond and then watch
his transformation in this picture. He has impressed me
wholly as an actor. "Evelyn" is true Hollywood
magic at it's best and the best family film to surface in a long
while. This should be a must see on everyone's holiday film
schedule and I hope the Academy gives this one a long, hard
look come February.
