Review of The Secret of Roan Inish (1994) by Jim R — 11 Aug 2017

The Secret of Roan Inish is verifiably appropriate to the fantasies of Irish folklore, yet I don't believe John Sayles was the right director for this: he's a political canvasser of multiple characters on a realist level.

I was thinking a director like Mike Newell, who directed Into the West, would've made this movie soar. You have to be in a really good mood for this film because it is simply boring, and you have to meet this film more than halfway to register interest or else it will feel like a long grind.

There is no other way to put it. That being said, it still is a good movie because it indulges the heroic pasts and legends of the Irish by respecting their traditions. I think that if the film's child protagonist had a strong point of view related with her familial history then that would've landed this film on a smoother plan, rather than a quick narrative exposition on the child's mom and brother, and her drunk dad, which wasn't made very clear.