Not a fairy tale. Not like "The Quiet Man" anyway. It's the straightforward tale of two Irish folks -- Joseph Donnelly (Tom Cruise) and Shannon Christie (Nicole Kidman). There are three dramatic episodes: the miseries in the Ireland of 1898 where everyone is subject to the English landlord's whim, a spell in the poor Irish ghetto of Boston where Tom and Nicole share a sex-free room and Tom makes some money fist fighting for the ward boss, and finally the excitement of the Oklahoma land rush when Tom and Nicole, having earlier gone their separate ways, are united and in possession of "the land".
The Irish, they are a funny race. No, really. They have a quaint, almost fey, way with words and language in general. It's not elegant, but sometimes it amounts almost to folk poetry. A couple of examples that come to mind: (1) If a stranger enters a saloon and asks if Michael Murphy comes here, the barkeep is liable to respond, "That name has a lot of usage in Ireland." ("Shake Hands With the Devil.") (2) Of a departed friend, "He was a grand man entirely." ("The Last Hurrah.") (3) Of a poor little boy, "He hasn't a shoe to his foot." ("Angela's Ashes.") (4) If an angry crowd waits outside for a man, he's liable to say, "I'll leave later by the back, pendin' the coolin' of their ardor." ("Up the Rebels".) (5) Of a drunken failure, "He has a great future behind him." (Joyce's "Ulysses".) No wonder that underpopulated little island has produced so many poets and novelists of note.
Let me get back on track, though, this comment not being a doctoral dissertation. Where was I? Yes, Cruise and Kidman on the prowl. They're okay. And the dramatic episodes aren't too disturbing because we know that the lovers will wind up together and still living. This is a Ron Howard movie after all, and he's as dependable in this regard as Rob Reiner.
Even the fist fights that Cruise is so well paid for in Boston are almost reassuring in their own quiet way. Cruise gets to show off his definition. Many of the punches land in slow motion so we can see the blood dripping like heavy oil from Cruise's lips, just as in "Raging Bull." And Cruise walks away from all these bare-knuckled fights with his nose intact and nary a scratch, whereas in real life he'd be toothless and his features would resemble a relief map of Waziristan.
Nobody gets seriously hurt for that matter. The three Donnelly brothers have a hell of a good time punching each other full force in the kisser and engaging in unbuttoned laughter at the same time. I don't think Ron Howard or his writer could ever have been in a fist fight in the schoolyard or they'd know one blow can start a cascade of gore.
The movie begins with a score led by a pennywhistle that is sentimental and nostalgic for the Auld Sod. During the climactic land rush, it switches to generic "epic adventure." Under the end credits we hear an up-beat tune by somebody like Enya, full of echoing chorus and percussion. That last bit is emblematic of the entire movie, both hauntingly pretty and mood stirring -- easy listening.
The Irish, they are a funny race. No, really. They have a quaint, almost fey, way with words and language in general. It's not elegant, but sometimes it amounts almost to folk poetry. A couple of examples that come to mind: (1) If a stranger enters a saloon and asks if Michael Murphy comes here, the barkeep is liable to respond, "That name has a lot of usage in Ireland." ("Shake Hands With the Devil.") (2) Of a departed friend, "He was a grand man entirely." ("The Last Hurrah.") (3) Of a poor little boy, "He hasn't a shoe to his foot." ("Angela's Ashes.") (4) If an angry crowd waits outside for a man, he's liable to say, "I'll leave later by the back, pendin' the coolin' of their ardor." ("Up the Rebels".) (5) Of a drunken failure, "He has a great future behind him." (Joyce's "Ulysses".) No wonder that underpopulated little island has produced so many poets and novelists of note.
Let me get back on track, though, this comment not being a doctoral dissertation. Where was I? Yes, Cruise and Kidman on the prowl. They're okay. And the dramatic episodes aren't too disturbing because we know that the lovers will wind up together and still living. This is a Ron Howard movie after all, and he's as dependable in this regard as Rob Reiner.
Even the fist fights that Cruise is so well paid for in Boston are almost reassuring in their own quiet way. Cruise gets to show off his definition. Many of the punches land in slow motion so we can see the blood dripping like heavy oil from Cruise's lips, just as in "Raging Bull." And Cruise walks away from all these bare-knuckled fights with his nose intact and nary a scratch, whereas in real life he'd be toothless and his features would resemble a relief map of Waziristan.
Nobody gets seriously hurt for that matter. The three Donnelly brothers have a hell of a good time punching each other full force in the kisser and engaging in unbuttoned laughter at the same time. I don't think Ron Howard or his writer could ever have been in a fist fight in the schoolyard or they'd know one blow can start a cascade of gore.
The movie begins with a score led by a pennywhistle that is sentimental and nostalgic for the Auld Sod. During the climactic land rush, it switches to generic "epic adventure." Under the end credits we hear an up-beat tune by somebody like Enya, full of echoing chorus and percussion. That last bit is emblematic of the entire movie, both hauntingly pretty and mood stirring -- easy listening.