Behind the Waterfall

The movie started off pretty good but i lost interest as the story went along. I know the actress who played Alex, and I dont think she was living up to her full potential. She does much better in school skits. The guy who plays Radar in MASH is in it so thats a plus. Overall i give this movie C-.

We watched Behind the Waterfall in honor of Saint Patrick's Day and were charmed by the hint of Irish magic and folklore. Gary Burghoff plays a strong lead as a kind and older gentleman who may very well be a leprechaun. He spends his summer helping a few children learn how to be children by believing in possibilities and enjoying the world around them. Tommy and his sister Becky are visiting their aunt after the recent death of their father when they meet Mr. Connors. They need his kindness and hope. Their young cousin, Alex needs Mr. Connors to fill the void of a childhood lacking in imagination. I found the film to be a refreshing, old-fashioned, genuinely family-oriented film in the tradition of the Sunday night Wonderful World of Disney films that I grew up with.

My mom used to purchase Feature Films for Families movies for me when I was a child and this one stands out among the finer. You have to approach the story from a child's point of view. As a child, you are experiencing everything for the very first time and it is generally a completely innocent experience.

The film begins with the revelation that Tommy and Becky's father has passed away and they are on their way to visit their Aunt. There is an air of fantasy from the first moments on. Tommy and his ever skeptical cousin, Alex, decide to capture Mr. Connors for their own reasons. Alex wishes to prove to Tommy that leprechauns aren't real and Tommy seeks to obtain the one wish that accompanies capturing a leprechaun - he plans to wish for his father to come back. Mr. Connors denies being a leprechaun but insinuates that there is a way for Tommy's wish to be granted, so long as the children help him find the Fairy King's lost Fayden. The journey they begin is much more meaningful than anyone would have guessed.

This is an incredibly comforting, moving movie. I can see where some adults might find it a little bit slow-paced or uninteresting but, speaking as someone who passionately loved this movie as a child, I think it helps to try and remember what you were like as a child and then watch through those eyes.

I thought it was a sugary, predictable movie, but so what??? Not everything has to be an experience to expand the mind. Thats what guilty pleasures are all about. I loved it because at the time we bought it from FFFF, we were stranded in northern Nevada, Battle Mountain, to be exact, for upwards of 8 years. I was so home sick, and when we put this movie on for our boy, I saw my hometown. Literally. Payson Utah is the location for the downtown shots, and I almost cried. So, in spite of the lack of excitement, and mediocre acting, I will keep it in my collection, to remind myself of home, even tho we have moved to Beautiful Colorado.............................................

It's kind of a nice, gentle old fashioned movie. I thought Gary Burghoff did a reasonable borough, although it probably wouldn't fool anyone from Galway or Cork. However, it isn't any broader than those in The Quiet Man and some of those actors really were Irish. I could have done without the fake, bushy eyebrows though, but they probably did that so he'd look his age or older (I think he was mid 50s or so at the time) and so people wouldn't say Hey, Radar O'Reilly's playing a Leprechaun. And it was faith based but not advancing one religion over another. My other recommendation is if The Irish Rovers ever need a new member, Gary Burghoff, even though his background isn't necessarily Irish, would make a good one.