Review of Angela's Ashes (1999) by Grant S — 07 Jun 2015
Engaging bitter-sweet movie.
Based on Frank McCourt's Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name, the movie details the childhood years of Frank McCourt in Ireland. Hardly the childhood anyone would wish for: abject poverty, three siblings die, father is unemployed and an alcoholic.
Shows the conditions some people were, and are, forced to live in. Is pretty much a roller-coaster of misery. Every positive event is followed by a negative one. Very sad.
Yet, between these harrowing episodes there's levity and some quite funny moments. If there wasn't, it would probably be too depressing to handle.
Most importantly, you empathise with the characters and share in their ups and downs, as all good dramas should cause you to do.
On the negative side, the ending feels a bit rushed and incomplete. But then again, the ultimate ending would show the rest of McCourt's life and how it turned out. That would be whole new movie... It certainly was a whole new book, as McCourt wrote a sequel to Angela's Ashes, "'Tis: A Memoir". This has, as yet, not been made into a movie.
This review of Angela's Ashes (1999) was written by Grant S on 07 Jun 2015.
Angela's Ashes has generally received positive reviews.
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