O Brilho da Vida

I give this movie a "10" on the cinematography alone, but it's so much more than that. The story is heartwarming, directing is perfect, acting is superb (even young John Bell in what is likely his first role), and the musical score is worth purchasing on its own. Loved every piece of it.

The story centers around an orphan (Bell) who is adopted by a beautiful and 'colorful' Irish woman (Connie Nielson, an actress new to me but I will definitely look for her again) and her reluctant husband (Quinn, an A-list actor who never ever disappoints) and whisked off to picturesque Corrie Island in County Donegal. The film tugs at your heart without being maudlin or without even a hint at 'over-acting,' so common in movies about orphans. (Kudos to the director.)

I cannot recommend this film highly enough and am shocked that I had never heard of it before renting it on a lark.

Tomas is a young orphan who is rescued from a drab church orphanage in Ireland by a 'rainbow' in the form of Maire (Connie Neilsen) who takes him to live with her and her husband on a small island of the coast of Ireland with a view to the couple adopting him permanently.

We are spared the most of cruelties that Tomas must have suffered in the orphanage (this film steers completely clear of the clerical abuses suffered by many children in Ireland's church-run institutions of the period).

If Maire is a rainbow to Tomas, her husband Alec (Aidan Quinn), a decent but surly man, is a storm cloud. He doesn't warm to the boy, as Tomas falls short of his expectations. Throughout the film, chinks of light shine through the cloud as it seems Alec is warming to Tomas, but the cloud soon moves over again...

There are many emotional moments in the film, from the outset. Overall, it works very well, and ends on a high note, though there is much heart- wrenching in between. Slightly off-putting for me was Tomas' accent, which sounds Scottish rather than Irish, as well as my perception that the emerging acting talents of the young John Bell (Tomas) didn't seem quite capable of delivering with as much naturalness as I would have expected.

A moving and compelling film.

Very sweet film that reunites Aiden Quinn and Connie Nielsen after their smoking "Return to Sender". Quinn is perfect as Alec O'Donnell, Irish countryman, who can't hide his disappointment in the timid boy whom his angelic wife brings home from the orphanage. He and Nielsen are very tight, but the main interaction of the story is between the beautiful and self-giving Maire and the very needy boy, Tomas, exquisitely played by John Bell. Under her loving grace he blossoms and learns to accept himself and to live a joyful life, but will he and Alec be able to stick together if Maire goes away?

Connie Nielsen is one of the most beautiful and gifted actresses working, and effortlessly fills this sugary roll with no false notes. For contrast see her sullen Charlotte in Return to Sender.

I saw this one last night. This is a gut-wrenchingly, poignant movie. Really glad I stumbled across this one in my DVD collection. Word of caution though, watch it with a hanky at hand!I was sobbing half way through it and am glad there was nobody around to catch me in the middle of my sob-fest. And the little boy- such a fine performance I was astounded. I don't want to spoil it for you, but it's a story about a little orphaned boy and his adoptive family. Very fine exploration of the nuances of human nature. But more than that, it is a story about love.

I thoroughly recommend watching this one, but it's not a date movie though.

Yes , Vic Sarin's "A Shine of rainbows" is a rather predictable film.A brief synopsis of the film would be..A shy young boy (John Bell) get adopted by a beautiful and kind hearted woman (The beautiful Connie Nielsen) ,she loves him ,her husband (Aidan Quinn) is disappointed that the boy seems too fragile , they have a hard time connecting until a turn of event makes them realize they need each other. ..But predictable in this case is not such a bad thing when it is so well directed,acted and overall put together. The threesome of main actors are just perfectly cast. John Bell as Tomás is particularly touching , you seriously root for the kid and from the first scene you automatically care for the character , he gives an outstanding performance for his young age. Connie Nielsen as Maire is mesmerizing , she embodies the sort of woman men dreams of having as a wife and children dreams of having as a mother and Aidan Quinn deliver a strong and subtle performance as Alec. The stories pulls all you heartstrings without ever feeling like it's trying too hard to moves the audience.All the emotions on display in that films comes naturally,there is nothing calculated about it and thank the lord that stops the film from ending up like a lifetime TV movie of the week with a bigger budget. The only negative point I would give the film is the baby Seal Tomas befriend, it is quite obvious its a robot and those scenes are distracting and feel out of place but thankfully those scenes are shorts and do not in any way ruin the rest of the film. What I am shocked is how little fanfare this film has received , by the time I write this review only six other reviews were posted...six!! I am sad that a beautiful family film like this one who came out a couple of years ago don't get noticed as it should when films like "The smurfs" who were just out in the cinemas seems to be the talk of all IMDb, as moviegoers gone insane? I could not recommend this films more , it deserves to be seen by as many people as possible.It's a little gem!