Con la testa tra le stelle

Gentle Celtic productions are very much in vogue at the moment. What with Waking Ned, Ballykissangel and the late Hamish Macbeth. The Closer You Get is a gentle tragi-comedy with a heart-warming if unsurprising ending. All the performances are very strong, particularly from the ever-magnificent Ian Hart and Niamh Cusack, but you can't help feeling that you've seen it all before. If you're feeling in need of a pick-me-up on a Saturday afternoon, then go see, but otherwise wait for the next series of Ballykissangel!

This movie represents the reality of the villages in Ireland. A reality that is very similar to my country, Galicia, the northwest part of Spain and a land that, surprisingly, is very similar in nature to Ireland.

The movie talks about the ambitions and hopes of ordinary people in a village and the idea to go abroad and know the world. But the hopes are most of the times unrealistic and your dreams don´t let you see that what you have closer is what you need.

May be the worst part is the very typical representation of the Spanish sailors (singing "flamenco" with guitars). Most of the sailors of Spain are from the north, a part in which the popular music is not based in the famous "flamenco".

I liked it...kind of Waking Ned Devine part two..not heavy but worth while if you're into Irish films. The accents are sometimes hard for Americans to understand but not a big problem. Maybe a little predictable but good character developement, and there are some characters!!

I saw "The Closer You Get" at a school screening recently and I must say that it didn't surprise or challenge me. I wasn't expecting "Citizen Cane" in Ireland but I was hoping for some genuine moments of humanity and of course some silly banter. But the comic moments seemed perfunctory and forced and the dramatic moments didn't quite have the gravity that they needed. The story takes place in a small sea side town in Ireland where the male inhabitants decide to invite beautiful women from America over to their town so they can get some foreign variety in their lives. The women get a hold of this news and cleverly play off the men's futile effort.

Sadly "The Closer You Get" only a few minutes to introduce the plot then we have to sit through over an hour and a half for the bland execution. I really wanted to get to know these colorful characters better in the first act so that I could follow them through this silly plot.

It's official now. We have this Irish small town comedy genre on our hands and there's no end in sight. It was fresh at first but come on people we need some variety in plot structure by now. I guess these Irish films are more sincere and have their hearts in all the right places, which is more than I can say for those pesky teen flicks. But when you've watched "The Commitments," "The Matchmaker," "The Full Monty," and "Waking Ned Divine," there innocuous charm quickly becomes annoying. I give "The Closer You Get" a six out of ten.

This is a wonderfully sensitive and human film, well scripted, well acted, superbly directed. And so what if the women come out as the winners. It's a delightful story of sexual awakening, done in a charming, cheeky Irish style. Provocative yet tasteful. Funny yet serious. One of those rare films in which everything works!