THE MIRACLE
A film review by Rod Williams
Copyright 1991 Rod Williams
I don't believe I've ever posted a movie review here before, but just this once I feel I must. Because I want people to know about a wonderful, low-budget, limited-distribution (by Miramax, bless 'em!), new film from Ireland, THE MIRACLE, directed by Neil Jordan (THE COMPANY OF WOLVES, MONA LISA).
Jimmy and Rose are best friends. They're in their late teens, and live in Bray, a tired old seaside resort town not far from Dublin. It's summer, they're bored and they hate "this dump," so they entertain themselves by strolling around town inventing lives and histories for the people they encounter on the way. The little old lady staring out to sea doesn't move when an old gentleman with a cane walks by, but Jimmy and Rose know that "her heart leaps when he passes her." A group of nuns laughing and splashing in the waves seem so young and childlike "because they're married to a man they've never seen." The bland- looking businessman in a cafe -- "the drabness of his life was so complete as to have its own fascination." Rose writes this down for future reference. You'd think that Bray and the people in it existed only for Jimmy's and Rose's amusement and scrutiny.
Jimmy lives with his father, Sam (Donal McCann) a heavy drinker who repairs musical instruments by day, and leads a dance-band by night, at a local hotel ballroom. Sam plays the saxophone, as does Jimmy, but it's clear that the son has much more talent than the father. Jimmy's mother apparently died when he was still a baby. Sam wonders why Jimmy seems to hate him after all he's done for him. It hasn't been easy raising a child alone.
Rose wishes that she and Jimmy could be more than best friends.
Then two things happen to change everything: a mysterious and beautiful woman "from abroad" (Beverly D'Angelo) steps off the train from Dublin. And the circus comes to town....
That's as much as I'm going to tell. The plot is paper-thin, and it's given away to the audience almost immediately. The joy of this gem of a movie is in the acting, and the telling of the story, and its delicious mixture of the commonplace and the magical. Yes, it does at times teeter dangerously on the brink of "mellerdrama" or cliche, but it's always saved in the nick of time by the wonderful actors, or a breathtaking directorial turn.
This is one of those movies that sends you floating out of the theatre on a cloud, and makes you smile uncontrollably for days. Go see it!
-- ROD WILLIAMS, PACIFIC BELL SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
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