L'entremetteur

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...

Sorry to whomever thought this was "a lame waste of a fine actress" (the wonderful Janeane Garofalo) but for the record, Irishmen (and women, one presumes) actually *do* say "bollocks" with the frequency with which Americans say the "S" word, and there's merely ONE "pee" joke in the entire film.

Sheesh.

That said, this is an utterly charming film, involving a US Senator (Jay O. Sanders) from Boston with Kennedian aspirations ~ although he's trailing badly in the polls for re-election. So he and acerbic campaign manager Denis Leary send their jaded top aide (JG) to Ireland to find the Senator's geneology ~ his "roots" as it were ~ for campaign purposes.

Unfortunately for her, the tiny town in which she's to do her research is just beginning its annual "Matchmaking Festival," wherein this really takes hold of Erin-firma.

City~gal JG, who's used to [and yearns for] faxes, cell-phones and email is suddenly the top candidate for the gentry. And her quest for the Senator's geneology proves slowly to fall below her expectations.

But Milo O'Shea, as the town's premiere matchmaker, wagers with a matchmaking rival that he can get JG together with one of the town's seeming ne'er-do-wells (David O'Hara) and the latter is just as eager to ... ummm.. "fax" her as well.

To say more would spoil the fun. And it *is* fun. And poignant. And sweet. And occasionally acid-witted. Only one solid "rewind and watch it again" belly laugh, but a lot of great plotting and a fun love story.

Sure it's candy, but it's infinitely edible.

You want lame? See a Jim Carrey movie. Any of them. Want to see talent wasted? Cameron Diaz screams to mind.

Janeane Garofalo in *anything* is better than just about anyone in most films today.

4 Stars, say I.

I really don't understand why Janeanne Garofalo doesn't get more roles. She is a truly wonderful actress who owns the screen when she's on it. There is never anything forced about her performances. They always seem natural. Here, she plays Marcy Tizard, a spin doctor for a U.S. senator trying to get re-elected. Her job has become to track down his relatives from the small town in Ireland where his family emigrated from. This will help the senator secure the Irish vote in Chicago and win him the election. So off to Ireland she goes in an attempt to find his missing relatives. Of course, nothing is ever easy and Marcy finds herself smack dab in the middle of a match making festival. While fending off possible suitors, she becomes entwined in the lives of several colourful locals. Among them is of course, the local matchmaker (Milo O'Shea) who has taken to setting her up with Sean (David O'Hara), the local bartender and former journalist. The humour is warm and the characters are all well drawn out. Denis Leary has a small role as a colleague and resident ***hole. The film truly belongs to Garofalo as she is perfectly cast in the role of weary and cynical Marcy. Give it a shot. It's a near perfect match.

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!

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!