The Boys & Girl from County Clare (2003)

In 1965, Jimmy McMahon and his group of Liverpudlians plot to win the annual céilí music competition in Ireland.

Director:

John Irvin

Writer:

Nicholas Adams

Stars:

Colm Meaney, Bernard Hill, Shaun Evans

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bernard Hill	...	John Joe
Charlotte Bradley	...	Maisie
Andrea Corr	...	Anne
Stephen Brennan	...	Miko
Eamonn Owens	...	Pat
Malachy Bourke	...	Ben
Brendan O'Hare	...	Brendan
Ian Shaw	...	Johnny
Leslie Bingham	...	Leslie
Colm Meaney	...	Jimmy
Shaun Evans	...	Teddy
Philip Barantini	...	Alex
Frank Twomey	...	Roger
Emmet Kirwan	...	Clive
Noel Bridgeman	...	Drummer

Storyline

It's the mid 1960s. With a long tradition of Irish music in their bloods, middle aged John Joe McMahon and younger Jimmy McMahon, two of three brothers, grew up in County Clare, Ireland. They have long been estranged, their falling out over a woman. John Joe, still living in County Clare, has never married, while Jimmy, who long left County Clare to live in Liverpool, is on wife number five and probably counting. As fiddlers, they each lead their own ceili band, following those strict musical conventions in which they were raised. As such, Jimmy's talented flautist, Teddy, exasperates him if only because of Teddy being musically influenced by among others The Beatles. John Joe's band has won the best ceili band competition at the prestigious annual Irish music festival three years running. This year, Jimmy's band will also be in attendance for the first time. John Joe and Jimmy do not want to see each other and do whatever they can to ensure the other does not make it to the festival....

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Plot Keywords:

band | competition | musician | ceili band | ireland | 

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Taglines:

Listen to your heart.

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Genres:

Comedy | Music | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some sexuality and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

First Look Media [United States]

Country:

Ireland UK Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 March 2006 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

The Boys & Girl from County Clare

Filming Locations:

Isle of Man

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,856, 13 March 2005, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$140,872, 27 May 2005

Company Credits

Production Co:

Isle of Man Film Commission, Isle of Man Film, Studio Hamburg WorldWide Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

An Irish music competition such as the one portrayed in the film is called a "fleadh" (pronounced like "flahhh"). However, nobody uses this word in the movie.

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Goofs

At various times throughout the film (notably in the pub and during the ceilidh band competition) when we see Anne (Andrea Corr) playing fiddle, her bow is moving but her fingers are not.

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Quotes

John Joe: [to the hippies] Ah, you're musicians, is it?
Hippie Girl: Yeah, we all play the bad ron.
John Joe: You mean the bodhran
[pronounced BOUGH-ron]
John Joe: .
Hippie Girl: Yeah, the BAD RON.

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Connections

References The Commitments (1991)

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Soundtracks

The Rolling Wave
Traditional

User Reviews

Magical Music Comedy

The acting was grand, the music was authentic and the story was cute. Made me laugh and my wife cry, as romantic comedies should. If Irish people are your thing then watch this.

Andrea Corr does a fine job as the lead of the one band. I would guess that she grew up in a similar environment and probably played in a band just like the one portrayed.

The Irish music is great. It made me want to go out and get traditional Irish CD's

Might have been better if they cut the movie after the final dance at the competition. The story after this is OK, but not great.

Great Craic.