Closing the Ring

I must hand it to Lord Attenborough who is attempting a chick flick to keep up with the times. Can anyone else attract the level of talent in the film: Christopher Plummer, Shirley Maclaine, Neve Campbell, Mischa Barton? The story has great promise. It opens with the funeral of a young woman's beloved daughter who is delivering her eulogy to a church full of veterans who knew and loved her father. Her mother, on the other hand, is sitting out on the church porch, smoking and nursing a hangover.

What develops from this story shows us a time when this mother was young, lively, and optimistic. She is in love with a young farmer who must go off to war. They always go out with two friends who are the best buds a guy could have.

The movie is also interspersed with a story that takes place in Belfast. You know that at some point, the film will have to knit these two elements together. There are numerous light moments to offset the darker experiences of love and loss during war. Ethel Ann (Maclaine)has loved well and was always loved but she is too self-involved to understand that she has used her own tragedies to punctuate her relationship with her daughter (Campbell).

Some of the younger actors in this are Canadian talent. I hope that this film gives them the exposure that they need to continue making their way up the talent ladder. David Alpay from Slings and Arrows is terrific as is Allan Hawco. I wanted to see more of them and less of Mischa Barton whose acting is wooden at the best of times.

At the Toronto Film Festival screening yesterday, the projector had a hiccup during the sow. Stephen Amell who plays Teddy got onto the stage and had an impromptu Q&A to save the day. It was fascinating to hear how he was cast and what kind of experience an actor has when they work with Richard Attenborough.

a love story. or only a war story. in fact, both. not as two parts of a single story but as mixed sides. because its virtue is to be an old fashion story. comfortable in a specific way. seductive in each aspect. it is one of films who gives the flavor and the colors of a world. in delicate and touching manner. one of many stories about her and him, about the other, about the unexpected event and about the truth as a fragile building, after decades. and this does "Closing the Ring" more than a Hallmark film. but a sort o rediscover of personal memories about similar facts and meets and decisions.

The film opens in 1991, with the funeral of a former World War II veteran. The man's daughter Marie (Neve Campbell) delivers the eulogy to a church full of veterans who knew and loved her father, while her mother Ethel Ann (Shirley MacLaine) is sitting out on the church porch, smoking and nursing a hangover. When Ethel Ann begins acting strangely, only her friend Jack (Christopher Plummer) seems to understand why. It quickly emerges that there is a lot Marie does not know about her mother's past and the true story of her love life.

The movie flips to a time when this mother was young, lively, and optimistic (young Ethel Ann played by Mischa Barton). She is in love with a young farmer, Teddy Gordon (played by Canadian new comer Stephen Amell), who goes off to war with his best friends Jack (Gregory Smith) and Chuck (David Alpay), but not all of them make it back alive. The plot lines intertwine with the story of a young Ulsterman in Belfast who finds a ring in the wreckage of a crashed B-17 and is determined to return it to the woman who once owned it.

Closing the Ring got a lot of mixed reviews when it came out in England in Early 2008. But as a fan of a lot of the actors and director I wanted to see the film (usually not into Romance movies), and tried to keep up with updates on the a films release in Canada. Luckily for me while I was in Toronto, this film was released in theaters with little promotion beforehand, with the expect ion of ET playing a 30 second clip. I decided it was fate for me to see this movie, as it was the only place in Canada where it was playing.

I went with my family and we all enjoyed it. The film did have flaws, a sub plot involving the IRA confused the already busy plot, and Stephaen Arnell who played the gorgeous Mischa Barton's love interest gave a WEAK performance. Usually when an actor gives a bad performance it can ruin a movie, especially with a role as important as his, and surprisingly Barton is able to still act off of him.

Shirley MacClaine, Christopher Plummer, and Neve Campbell all work well of each other in their scenes. While scene stealer's Academy Award Winner Brenda Fricker and unknown actor Martin McCann light up the screen when they were on. Pete Postlethwaite was also very good as the grumpy Irishman Quinlan, but just like the IRA plot, scenes with the young version of him were unesscsesary. Gregory Smith is good and David Alphy does what he can with his nothing role. But the heart of the film is really Mischa Barton. SHe is just adorable, and as a fan of her earlier films (she was also stiff in her TV work), it was nice see her give a great performance, because people have labeled her a bad actress just because of "The OC" and it is too bad the film didn't get a wider release because this is her breakout role, she is wonderful.

All in all, a light film with nice performances and a great score. Great for older and younger audiences. Why did it not get a wide release!?

I saw this movie at the London Film Festival yesterday.It is an incredibly old fashioned piece of film-making that at times seems very contrived and manipulative,but it does contain genuine emotion and a story that keeps you watching from beginning to end.Some of the acting(especially from the 1941 period)is patchy,but in the 1991 period of the film,MacLaine is great,so is Postlewaite but the film is stolen by young Martin McCann as the naive Jimmy Reilly,who is responsible for piecing the lives together of the characters separated by time and oceans.After the showing,Lord Attenborough appeared for a short Q&A and gave us some insight into the making of the film and announced the film will receive it's premiere in Ireland and will be released nationwide on the 28th Dec.My guess is for anyone who has an elderly relative to catch up with over the Christmas period,and wants to take them out,then see this movie.They will love it and you might possibly get hooked.The audience yesterday obviously were.

This film is about an old man digging up fragments of planes from World War II, thereby uncovering some heartbreaking secrets.

"Closing The Ring" is probably about as unconventional as you can get, as it concentrates on the relationship among older people, characters with a thick Irish accent and setting against a backdrop of terrorist attacks. Maybe it is this unusual combination that makes the film interesting.

The film recounts past regrets, unfulfilled promises and entangled relationships. The complicated plot weaving the past and present is well presented. Characters are developed well, drawing me to their experiences, making me feel the way they do. However, this Teddy guy is seriously miscast. He is so wooden and passionless. Even Mischa Barton seems Oscar worthy compared to him.

"Closing The Ring" is an engaging romantic drama. It is worth a watch.