Closing the Ring

I enjoyed this one quite a bit, set in two time zones and countries with a more than decent cast. There's mystery, a heartbreaking romance, and an exciting (yet convenient) conclusion in Ireland.

The story flips fairly seamlessly between 1991 and 1943, starting with the passing of World War II veteran Chuck Harris. His wife (Shirley MacLaine) refuses to grieve, numbing herself with alcohol and lashing out at her daughter (Neve Campbell) and lifelong friend (Christopher Plummer).

Through a series of flashbacks where Shirley becomes (Mischa Barton), we learn that Chuck wasn't her first love and that her heart belonged to Teddy (Stephen Amell) who never returned from WW2. We also see Belfast in 1991 where (Pete Postlethwaite) - love him and young Jimmy are digging on a mountainside finding bits of pieces from a downed B-17 bomber, eventually they discover a ring inscribed from Teddy to Ethel and after tracking down its history a mystery nearly five decades in the making slowly comes into focus.

The story is very good story but a bit all over the place where the characters emotions are concerned, which are over the top at times and mean without reason. Shirley is especially nasty to her daughter but even Plummer has his moments.

The acting was fantastic though, the flashbacks well done, I was surprised to see Stephen Amell's 'Arrow' in an early role. The story in Ireland was more involved than I thought it would be including gangsters and IRA bombings. I enjoyed Martin McCann as young Jimmy and the inclusion of the hawk to tie it all together. Sad. 11/8/15

First of all, this didn't deserve the straight to DVD treatment it received for the U.S. It's not perfect by any means, but it's an experience that should have been seen on the big screen. No, it's not action packed, but it's beautiful to watch. It's a romance with dimensions that work very well, and oddly enough I wasn't one step ahead of it the whole way through. Some elements are always a bit predictable for a film like this, but I wasn't always entirely sure where it was heading next. This could have gotten a solid score of 10 had it not been for several severe flaws. The biggest of which is the actor playing Teddy. Now imagine The Notebook if Ryan Gosling was an awful actor, it would have destroyed the movie. Luckily, as important as the Teddy character is, he's not in a massive part of the film, and it's easy to imagine what the character should have been, and believe the key romance behind the film. Mischa worked for me for the most part, although she had a majority of her scenes with the lifeless Teddy character. McClain and Plummer were amazing as they usually always are. Campbell did a believable effort as the daughter lost behind all the secrets, and I loved the actors who played the young friends of Teddy. Lastly, in the end we are treated with one of the most beautiful film songs in years. Watch the credits, you'll here the amazing Lost Without Your Love, which will complete your experience with this flawed but wonderful film.

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.

Never make promises you can't fulfill, otherwise you'll find that nagging feeling coming back to haunt you, and it can be quite uncomfortable, unless of course it doesn't bother you as far as integrity and trustworthiness are concerned. Then again there's the living a lie, of not being true to yourself, which sometimes can be tricky when it deals with affairs of the heart, where ignorance may be bliss.

Closing the Ring throws its hat into the WWII era inspired romance stories, where boys turn into men, and have to leave their lady love behind at home while they ship off to the warfront. With events that unfold across two different continents, and unfolding between two different timelines with the necessary flash backs, flash forwards, and nicely edited transitions, the movie isn't that bad although the story might be at times clichéd.

Jack (Gregory Smith), Chuck (David Alpay) and Teddy (Stephen Amell) are three buddies who join the air force, and are training to be pilots, navigators and gunners, whatever it takes to bring them to the skies. Mischa Barton stars as young Ethel Ann who's the flower amongst the group, but only having romantic feelings for Teddy, whom she married in secret before the trio got shipped away to join the war.

That's the arc of the past, where we see how their relationship with one another hold up during mankind's darkest hour. The arc of the present has Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer take up the senior roles of Ethel Ann and Jack respectively, and on the other side of the continent in Northern Ireland, we follow Michael Quinlan (Pete Postlethwaite) and Jimmy Reilly (Martin McCann), where the latter is a simple minded teen helping the former fireman dig around Black Mountain in search of something of value.

I guess by now you can piece together a little bit of what could possibly happen, and added to the fray is the IRA's struggle for independence in 1991. Characters interact by crossing continents, mysteries and confirmation of what happened during those faithful and pivotal moments in WWII get revealed and explained, and feelings slowly get revealed, demolishing some long held denial and unawareness. Although given what would transpire, you wonder if it's remotely possible to pine for someone for so long, or to lock away your heart so cruelly that you shut off affections even for your own child.

It's still an enjoyable movie, though not exactly a great one but it does get to its point quickly. You might find yourself being a step ahead of the characters and piece together all the information provided way in advance, but still, if you'd enjoyed movies like Atonement and Evening, then you wouldn't find this that bad at all. Oh, and the English subtitles did help in deciphering some thick Irish accent.

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.