Review of Michael Collins (1996) by Paul J — 06 Aug 2012

Not in the same league as The Wind that Shakes the Barley but a worthy effort with a mostly fine cast let down by a patch script.

Neeson was clearly born to play Collins and Aidan Quinn, Stephen Rhea were great. Rickman was a bit like a panto villain and the Brits were only ever shown as one dimensional thugs or stiff upper lip types. Julia Roberts did an average job as the love interest. In an attempt to show Collin as "human" the story did stray into too much jokiness when it could not decide if it was a buddy movie or an epic. Worth seeing but it could have been so much more and this is a story that deserves to be told.