St. Patrick's Day

I saw this film for the first time a few years ago, and since I still feel warm in my heart when I think about it, I rented it and watched it again. What a delight. This is a film about an Irish Family uniting for St. Patrick's day. The matriarch of the family (Piper Laurie) has made it a rule that there will be no drinking. No drinking in an Irish, relatively dysfunctional, family for St. Patrick's Day! Not possible. But as each of the family members try to cope with their own personal problems,their familial issues, and to find a way to have a nip or two, the story unfolds. I was especially fond of Piper Laurie's portrayal of the matriarch. And there is a scene near the end, that I will not reveal,that I found to be one of the sweetest semi-erotic scenes that I have ever seen in a film. This film reminds us that almost all families have their dysfunctional parts and somehow in the midst of it all love holds them together.

I really liked this film. It had a very real feel to it and had some great scenes and funny characters. Piper Laurie was wonderful as the matriarch of the family. And there were some very funny and very touching moments between the couple who is getting divorced. It did seem as if it was made on a pretty low budget, but I thought the acting was well done and the story had a lot of surprises in it. I hadn't seen Piper Laurie in anything in quite awhile and she shows a quite unexpected side to her in this film. I think the sort of people who would like this film are those who like realistic but funny slice-of-life films and also anyone who likes Irish music.

When I first starting watching this movie, I couldn't help but be reminded of Home for the Holidays. Sure enough, it played out much the same with the same kind of scenarios. Whereas the actors in the other movie were able to keep us entertained, the likes of Piper Laurie and Vitamin C couldn't quite draw me in. It's not bad and if you want to see an Irish-American family reunion and all that ensues. Right from the start, the mother states that she's taken the pledge and there will be no drinking. Almost everyone is having relationship problems or some kind that would definitely drive some to drink. If you want to see how it plays out, sneaking liquor, who's sleeping with whom, then it will probably squeak by marginally holding your attention. Sometimes it's good to watch these kind of movies to make you feel better about your own family. I will warn you there is a scene that rivals the hot tub scene with Kathy Bates and Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt, though not quite so graphic.

**1/2 (Out of 4)