The Snapper (1993)
Grade: 78
"The Snapper" is a BBC made-for-television production. The depiction of a contemporary Irish family has an excellent (and surprisingly graphic) script by obscure novelist Roddy Doyle, and there are enough plot complications to keep things interesting.
"The Snapper" is Irish slang for a baby. The film stars Colm Meaney (best known for his work on two "Star Trek" series) as the blustering head of an Irish household that includes his wife and several children. Tina Kellegher plays his daughter, an unmarried young woman who has become pregnant.
The small town delights in gossiping about who the father is, until it is revealed that he is an aging, overweight milquetoast. The resulting derision causes stress between father and daughter, that may compel Kellegher to leave home against her family's wishes.
Judging from the script, Ireland is much more relaxed than America about the subject of sex. A group of young women harass a younger male waiter, and frankly discuss their sexual adventures. The word "bitch" is so frequently used that it can be taken as a compliment. When the unwed Kellegher becomes pregnant, her popularity actually increases. She is only ostracized when the father turns out not to be a sleek local stud, but a married man nearly old enough to be her grandfather. When Meaney finds out, his first reaction is "Jesus, that bastard's older than I am!"
Another cultural difference is that the Irish seem to drink heavily. Meaney visits the pub nearly every night, and Kellegher gets plastered at a bar even though she is nine months pregnant. When her brother pukes in the kitchen sink (filled with dishes) after a binge, all father has to say is that he expects him to do the dishes afterwards.
I enjoyed all the petty squabbling and selfishness among the family members. Unlike "The Waltons", this is likely how most larger families behave. "The Snapper" is a drama that succeeds even more as a comedy.
kollers@mpsi.net http://members.tripod.com/~Brian_Koller/movies.html
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews