Review of This Is My Father (1999) by Robert C — 15 Aug 2007

Stars: Aidan Quinn, James Caan, Stephen Rea, John Cusack, Colm Meaney, Donal Donnelly, Brendan Gleeson, Gina Moxley, Jacob Tierney, John Kavanaugh, and introducing Moya Farrelly. Director: Paul Quinn. Cinematographer: Declan Quinn.

Far too wonderful a film to have gotten so little in the form of awards and accolades. Hands down "far and away" my favorite Irish-based film of all time. A middle-aged schoolteacher (Caan) learns a bit more of his relatively unknown father to know that his mother (alive but unable to communicate) hasn't told him the truth about his past. So Kieran Johnson goes to Ireland to try and uncover all he can, bringing his nephew Jack (Tierney) with him. Such serendipity that the mother of the owner of the lodging he's booked is the very key to his life's mystery, and a fair bit of her salvation.

Invokes a great range of emotions, and as others have not spoken positively about the past/present transitions, I rather enjoyed this, as I was interested in seeing what developed on both fronts/in both times. Nephew Jack himself befriends two of the local girls while in Ireland, and one of my favorite scenes from the movie (lighthearted and fun) involves these three. It's when Jack emerges from a story-telling session and rides into town to head to a telephone booth to call home to mother & grandmother.

A must-see that I highly recommend, if you can find it! Well worth the search if that's the case.