IMDb RATING
6.5/10
6.1K
YOUR RATING
A senator's aide visits Ireland seeking his family roots during a matchmaking festival. As an attractive single woman, she catches the eye of two matchmakers and a bartender.A senator's aide visits Ireland seeking his family roots during a matchmaking festival. As an attractive single woman, she catches the eye of two matchmakers and a bartender.A senator's aide visits Ireland seeking his family roots during a matchmaking festival. As an attractive single woman, she catches the eye of two matchmakers and a bartender.
Featured reviews
It was a little trite, but aren't they all? That is the only complaint I have about this film, and that really isn't a complaint because that is just how all romantic comedies are especially the good ones. And this is a good one. Janeane Garofalo goes ahead and proves that you don't need Julia Roberts as the romantic lead to have a good romantic comedy that people will enjoy and want to see again and again (I've watched it at least three times). This is overlooking the fact that Garofalo herself is gorgeous, and the fact that she doesn't have any clue as to how attractive she is makes her all the more charming. David O'Hara, Garofalo's love interest, is handsome and heart-warming as well. You can't help falling in love with these two, and rooting for them throughout the movie. The story is typical, boy meets girl, they hate each other, they love each other, they fight, they make up, they live happily ever after. But that's just as it should be. It is the banter between Garofalo and O'Hara that make this film along with the amazing supporting cast in this little Irish town. And Dennis Leary is hilarious as usual. Rent this instead of Pretty Woman one night, you won't be sorry.
10Ralpho
If this movie isn't the best thing Janeane Garofalo has ever done it must be close. The acerbic wit she was known for on "The Larry Sanders Show" is there, but so is everything else. She's a three-dimensional character.
It's refreshing to see a love story without a sex scene, or even a gratuitous nude or near nude scene. Most filmmakers nowadays would throw something like that in just to tease audiences with it in the trailer. But "Matchmaker" is an honest movie, and Garofalo's Marcy is tough yet vulnerable and loveable.
Some would say that "Matchmaker" exploits the Irish by way of stereotyping them. I had the opposite impression. It seemed that the people who made this movie loved the Irish.
Usually I find myself agreeing with the aggregate score of each movie in the IMDb. But in this case I'm out of the mainstream. The aggregate score is 6.2, which normally indicates a barely watchable movie. But I gave Matchmaker a 10.
It's refreshing to see a love story without a sex scene, or even a gratuitous nude or near nude scene. Most filmmakers nowadays would throw something like that in just to tease audiences with it in the trailer. But "Matchmaker" is an honest movie, and Garofalo's Marcy is tough yet vulnerable and loveable.
Some would say that "Matchmaker" exploits the Irish by way of stereotyping them. I had the opposite impression. It seemed that the people who made this movie loved the Irish.
Usually I find myself agreeing with the aggregate score of each movie in the IMDb. But in this case I'm out of the mainstream. The aggregate score is 6.2, which normally indicates a barely watchable movie. But I gave Matchmaker a 10.
A romantic comedy set in Ireland that weaves a spell with the unlikely themes of a cynical search into a Boston Senator's ancestral roots to boost poor ratings back home, and a rural matchmaking festival with its simple recipe for success. This delightful movie pokes gentle ironic fun at just about every cliche in the book, Irish, big-city American and political, and is refreshingly amusing on the way..... It never takes itself too seriously, Milo O'Shea is wonderful, David O'Hara has a fine touch, and Janeane Garofola apart from being a fine actress, has the most wonderful eyes and smile. A pity we don't see more actresses with this quality rather than the strange elongated creatures that inhabit Hollywood. I loved this movie. I loved the characters, the playfulness and humour, the people were real even though the setting was a fantasy..... and I still think the ending is one of the best..... often screen romances manage to interest, stimulate, inspire etc.... but this is the only one I've seen where both actors have captured the wonder and magic that happens when two human beings delight in each other...
The Matchmaker is a consistently funny, touching, romantic movie with lovely scenery (shot on location!) and great Irish music. All I knew at the outset of seeing it was that it involved two of my favorite things...Ireland and Janeane Garofalo. I saw it, and added a third...David O'Hara!
It's been awhile since I saw a couple as realistically portrayed as Marcy and Sean, although in the midst of it was a lot of magic. They fight, they bonk heads, they kiss, they fall head over heels...then they nearly miss the boat! You'll find yourself cheering them on at every turn.
The rest of the cast is a scream, from Denis Leary as a snide jerk of a campaign manager to Jay Sanders as the slightly dim Senator McGlory to the matchmaker himself, Milo O'Shea. They all play off each other to create a wonderfully woven story.
Sure'n I've almost worn my copy through, and will watch it again tomorrow! GO RENT IT!
It's been awhile since I saw a couple as realistically portrayed as Marcy and Sean, although in the midst of it was a lot of magic. They fight, they bonk heads, they kiss, they fall head over heels...then they nearly miss the boat! You'll find yourself cheering them on at every turn.
The rest of the cast is a scream, from Denis Leary as a snide jerk of a campaign manager to Jay Sanders as the slightly dim Senator McGlory to the matchmaker himself, Milo O'Shea. They all play off each other to create a wonderfully woven story.
Sure'n I've almost worn my copy through, and will watch it again tomorrow! GO RENT IT!
This movie quickly became a family favourite, so much so that my sons and daughters each have a copy of their own. The movie is watched four or five times a year and none of us ever tire of it.Having watched it so often my children (now adults) know most of the dialogue and from time to time one or the other will launch into a reenactment of one of the scenes, accents and all. While, Garofalo and O'Hara are excellent, it is the remainder of the cast who provide most of the humour - some of the cast are well known here in Ireland, while others are less so. Regardless, their one line deliveries and interactions with one another will crack you up. You just have to see the 'cottage scene with the senator' it is priceless! I still end up laughing uncontrollably every time I see it. They say laughter is good for the 'soul' - watch the Matchmaker and you'll never have to worry about the state of its health!
Did you know
- TriviaBallinagra, the name of the town in the movie is a reworking on the Irish 'Baile Na Gra' which means 'Town of Love'.
- GoofsIn a scene where the senator (still in the US) is in a limousine, there are Ivory Coast flags flying from the car (orange, white and green, rather than the green, white and orange of the expected Irish flags). As this is exactly the kind of mistake a clueless wannabe-Irish politician might make, it might have been deliberate on the part of the film-makers.
- Quotes
Sean Kelly: You were never backward about being forward.
- Crazy creditsNeat end credits pan diagonally from the lower right to upper left through pictures of the movie.
- How long is The MatchMaker?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The MatchMaker
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $7,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $3,392,080
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,378,930
- Oct 5, 1997
- Gross worldwide
- $3,392,080
- Runtime
- 1h 37m(97 min)
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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