The Abduction Club (2002)

Director:

Stefan Schwartz

Writers:

Bill Britten (writer)
Richard Crawford (writer)

Release Date:

19 July 2002 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

It'll steal your heart.

Plot:

A group of Irish noblemen kidnap girls in order to marry into their fortune and avoid becoming priests or soldiers. |

Plot Keywords:

Kidnapping

Cast

Alice Evans	...	Catherine Kennedy
Daniel Lapaine	...	Garrett Byrne
Sophia Myles	...	Anne Kennedy
Matthew Rhys	...	James Strang
Liam Cunningham	...	John Power
Edward Woodward	...	Lord Fermoy
Patrick Malahide	...	Sir Myles
John Arthur	...	Robert Kennedy
Tom Murphy	...	Knox
Terry Byrne	...	Mary Nugent's Father
Guy Carleton	...	Butler
Fedelma Cullen	...	Mary's Mother
Alexander Downes	...	Lieutenant
Halina Froudist	...	Serving Woman
Peter Gaynor	...	Teeling

Also Known As:

Entführer & Gentlemen - The Abduction Club (Germany) (DVD title)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

UK | France | Ireland | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:12 (cut) | Netherlands:6 | Germany:12 | Australia:M

Company:

Canal+

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Strang is fighting Power on the beach he is using a wooden boat hook (with only a metal hook on the end). When the shaft of the boat hook and the sword clash they make the sound of metal on metal.

Quotes:

Strang: [in italian] I pity those who have not looked upon your face. How barren their dreams must be.
Anne Kennedy: That's beautiful. What does it mean?
Strang: What?
Anne Kennedy: ...What does it mean?
Strang: oh... well... it's an old Italian proverb
Anne Kennedy: Yes, but what does it mean?
Strang: well, well... it means... well it actually means "Landlord, bring me another bowl of your finest pickled eggs"

A Great Romantic Comedy

I first stumbled upon this movie when watching a video made with scenes from it and set to music. Though I knew little about it, the video intrigued me and I set out to find this movie.(To watch the video I saw go to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2W6kPd-NJM) However, it isn't so easily found. For us in the United States, we have no way of seeing this movie as it as yet to be released, but after searching for quite a long time, I located it on youtube.

The Abduction Club tells the story of a group of young men. All are younger sons and will not inherit. Their only choice is to get a job (basically, to become a priest) or marry into a wealthy family. Marrying is obviously more appealing, so one at a time one young man and a young heiress are introduced, in hopes that she will fall in love and marry a poor boy than a rich man twice her age.

When such feelings are developed, the young lady is "abducted" willingly and proposed to. No harm is done and everyone gets what they want, but you cannot have a movie simply about an abduction that runs smoothly, can you? Of course not.

The Abduction Club centers around an abduction that goes terribly wrong. Garrett Byrne is a cocky younger son that after only one meeting with young heiress, Catherine Kennedy, he is sure that she will accept his proposal. He, however, is wrong and matters are complicated when Catherine's younger sister Anne and Garrett's best friend Strang come along for the ride and are tracked down by Anne's determined suitor and the soldiers that he has command over.

Anne is desperate to escape her suitor, Mr. Power, and longs for freedom, but Catherine is stubborn and wishes that they return home. However, the more time that the four spend together, the more feelings begin to grow and the truth about certain situations is brought forth.

Though a little predictable, this movie is charming, romantic, funny, and may even jerk a few tears. The cast is wonderful and all fit their characters well. There are many endearing scenes and you can be assured a happy ending.

**If you have not seen this movie, but want to, I strongly suggest that you follow the directions below and watch it. It is a great movie with beautiful landscapes, and acting and really lifts your spirits.

Go to www.youtube.com and type in The Abduction Club 1/9. Click on the first video. There are nine videos in total, each labeled with The Abduction club and a number (2/9, 3/9) By typing in each of the numbers, you should be able to find all of the videos. There are German subtitles, but they are ignorable. If you watch the movie and enjoy it, I suggest that you download realplayer at www.real.com and use it to download the videos to your computer. You never know when it will be taken off of youtube for copyright violations.

Update: Another set of videos has been added on youtube. Type in The Abduction Club (El Club del Rapto)1/10 and that should bring up the videos. There are ten in total. The quality is better than the other set and there is no weird pausing. There are Spanish subtitles, but hopefully they can be ignored.** Anyway, I hope that was helpful. I know that if I was looking for this movie, I'd want someone who knew where to find it to tell me, so there you have it. Just go watch it, relax, and enjoy.

And I apologize for the essay size comment. I guess I got a little word happy.