THE SNAPPER
A film review by Richard Montanari
Copyright 1993 Richard Montanari
Up the Pole in Barrytown
Sharon Curley is havin' a snapper, wot? A whippersnapper, that is. A baby. Except the twenty-year-old Sharon's not married, see, and still lives at home with her rather large, rather eccentric Dublin family--her youngest sister wears shaving cream around the house, her dad greets neighborhood dogs at the door, by name, and shows them to the parlor. In defiance of all the cajoling and threats, Sharon is simply not about to identify the father of the child.
But Desi Curley, Sharon's father, can't let it go. He is determined to get to the bottom of it. No matter how many pints of Guinness Stout he has to imbibe in the process.
And so goes life in THE SNAPPER, the second installment in the Barrytown trilogy by Irish novelist Roddy Doyle. The first act, THE COMMITMENTS, itself made into a smashing 1991 film by Alan Parker, introduced us to a group of working-class Dublin kids hell bent on forming a soul band.
This time we meet the Curleys, an endearing cast of Dublin characters headed by Desi (Colm Meaney), a man best trusted when the statement in question is sworn to be true, "... on the Boible."
The main suspect in putting Sharon "up the pole" is George Burgess (Pat Laffan), a neighborhood stalwart and mini-pillar in the community. This causes some distress to Desi because George Burgess is about ten years older than he is. Desi confronts the alleged lecher in the pub one night, but the man denies it.
So, why then is old Georgie following Sharon around Barrytown, moon-faced and forlorn? In spite of the repeated efforts of Sharon's girlfriends--a tough-talking cat-pack reminiscent of the sexy backup singers The Commitments--Sharon remains steadfast. She say she wouldn't give it up, even if she'd " ... shagged the Elephant Man."
As the blessed day draws near, the Barrytown intrigue rises, with the possibility of a Spanish sailor being introduced as the potential father, claims and counter-claims, attempted bribes, pub brawls and, certainly not least, Desi's remarkable transformation into a sensitive, working-class feminist, courtesy of a birthing book called Everywoman. The change is so complete that even Mrs. Curley (Ruth McCabe) reaps a few benefits, in the kip, if you know what I mean.
By the time little Georgina is born (7 pounds, 12 ounces, "big for a baby, small for a turkey,") the Curley clan is once again intact and, for better or worse, the first thing the little snapper will see when she gets around to opening her eyes.
Director Stephen Frears (DANGEROUS LIAISONS, THE GRIFTERS, HERO) returns to the working class milieu of MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE with a remarkable comic touch, a sensitivity to the comedy of the mundane that seems, for some unknown reason, exclusive to the Brits. And while some of the nuances of this very parochial Irish film may be lost on American audiences (including this reviewer), and some of the accents may go undeciphered, these moments are scant.
Colm Meaney's performance as the beleaguered Desi Curley is a true delight. The actor first staked out this character as the Elvis-worshipping Mr. Rabbitte, the father in The Commitments. His wide, earnest face is a perfect background for the train wreck of emotions any father would feel at the notion, the very idea, of grandfatherhood at such a young and, he might add, virile age.
Yet THE SNAPPER is as much about modern-day Dubliners and the joys and sorrows of a large family, as it is about the bond between a father and his daughter--a relationship rarely explored on screen.
THE SNAPPER is easily this holiday season's charmer. I swear. On the Boible.
~
The Snapper: B+
c. 1993 Richard Montanari CIS: 73112,3705 InterNet: am074@cleveland.freenet.edu
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