Falling for a Dancer

Loved this movie! This adaptation of the Deirdre Purcell novel runs approximately 190 minutes and is worth every second. In the beginning of the film, Elizabeth Sullivan has her first romance with an actor in a traveling show and finds herself pregnant and the actor long gone. Her parents, wanting to avoid embarrassment, consult their priest for advise and he comes up with a recently widowed older man with young children who needs a wife. Left with few options, Elizabeth, played beautifully by newcomer Elisabeth Dermot-Walsh, marries this stranger and endures a life much harder than the privileged one she left. Her husband, Neeley, treats her like property he's paranoid of losing, but not especially cherished property.

Watching from the hill above is Neeley's cousin, Mossie Sheenan (Liam Cunningham). Neeley inherited his farm from Mossie's father, who died when Mossie was very young and probably before he could change his will to leave the place to his son - a situation that has caused bad blood between them. This has Elizabeth misinterpreting just about everything Mossie does as being motivated by a desire to either cause Neeley trouble or to regain his land.

There isn't much more we can tell without giving away too much, but this movie has everything you can hope for . . .a great story, beautiful scenery, haunting music, and WONDERFUL ACTING. Liam Cunningham gives a powerful performance as the brooding Mossie Sheehan. As a man of few words in most of the movie, he had to tell the viewer most of what his character is feeling through his eyes, facial expressions, and body language, and actors who can handle such a task this well are rare and deserving of praise.

I saw about forty minutes of this film whilst channel-flicking and kept watching because it was so unutterably dreadful. All things Irish got a good flogging; everyone seemed to be called Danny or Seamus and people carried sheep around. I ask you.

Good to rent for a laugh if you want to bore someone on a date.

I have to agree with other reviewers that this Irish movie is above average. Although it's not a recent production, it's certainly worth tracking down. I got my copy via my public library. The actors, the dialogue and the storyline are top-notch. Add to that the bleak landscape and realistic handling of this isolated location, and you can really 'feel' how difficult it was for our young female lead character. Each character was fully realized and even the children were very well portrayed. A very mature and intelligent approach to a timeless story of young, naive infatuation and how the 'land' and community can shape your life. I was truly impressed by the solid acting, especially by the main protagonists. The pace was perfect and the emotions this story hit upon were subtly yet authentically presented. Kudos for this little-known movie/mini-series.

This film is beautiful, interesting and very moving.

The story of a young girl that gets pregnant by an actor in a traveling theatrical company and is married off to a 40 year old widower to avoid scandal.

The 3 hours grant enough time for the story to unfold itself without hurry. Characters have time to be developed properly. The landscape has time to grow on you.

All the actors really deserve praise for this. Especially Liam Cunningham and Elisabeth Dermot-Walsh. Eleanor Methven should be mentioned too.

Although this film is now sold as a Colin Farrell vehicle, his role is really very small - although certainly one of his best.

I give this movie 10/10 and really cannot understand why it is that underrated here.

I surfed my way to this movie one day by accident, and the breathtaking scenery of Ireland caught my attention. After a very short time I was lost in the story and the characters. I enjoy movies that take me to other places and other times, and this one does both. This was a grand story, full of the passions that cause both tragedy and happiness for it's people. The location was so well represented that it left a feeling in me that I had actually been to Ireland. We seldom see stories of with such a sweeping scope in a made-for-television movie. I saw this movie over 4 years ago and have been waiting ever since then to see it again, as I did miss the first half hour or so of it. The many people in this film are so real, so well fleshed out, that the author is to be congratulated as well as the marvelous cast, of which none were known to me, and being new faces were all that much more real to me. I recommend it without hesitation that anyone who enjoys a real romance, full of difficulties, trials and misunderstandings that get in the way of all who seek happiness in life.