Month: May 2022

I was in high school when I joined a few friends at the theatre one Saturday night. I had no idea what we were seeing and therefore I could not be prepared for the paradigm shifting experience that night held. The movie was In the Name of the Father.

In 1974, four young adults were arrested, charged and found guilty of a terrorist attack on a pub in London, England. At the time, the tensions between Northern Ireland and England were boiling over. There were daily conflicts between civilians and the military on the streets of Belfast and the anti-Irish rhetoric in England was rampant. In the midst of this, one careless 20 year old Irish man arrived in London.

Gerry Conlon (Daniel Day-Lewis) had been getting into scrapes with the IRA in his hometown of Belfast. he was a petty thief that drew too much attention from the British Army. After a close call with the IRA, which he narrowly escaped due to his father, Giuseppe (Pete Postlethwaite), Gerry was sent to London to live with his aunt while he sorted out his life a bit.

Instead of getting on the straight and narrow, Gerry met an old school friend, Paul Hill (John Lynch), moved into a hippie commune and robbed a prostitute. Shortly after this misadventure, Gerry returned to Belfast with a pocket full of cash and a few stories to tell. Little did he know, the night he was thieving, a bomb had been detonated a few miles from him in London, killing five people and injuring many more.

Gerry, Paul, and their friends Carole Richardson and paddy Armstrong are arrested and charged with being the primary attackers. Giuseppe, his sister and nephew are also arrested as accessories to the crime. All are sentence to jail time though none of them were involved with the terrorist attack. In the Name of the Father is the story of how a son and his lawyer move mountains to reveal systematic corruption to save an ailing father.

Based on a true story, In the Name of the Father is a compelling story about justice, love, truth and the belief in redemption. Emma Thompson appears as Conlon’s attorney, Gareth Pierce. She does a brilliant job setting the tone of the film and providing an intimate perspective on the efforts of justice.

Daniel Day-Lewis was brilliant as Conlon, of course. His intensity and chemistry with Postlethwaite is stunning. He brings the depth of the struggle for justice to the screen with realism that draws you into the story without overwhelming you. He cares about the story and makes you care, as well.

For more than 25 years, In the Name of the Father has been a favourite flick. It’s a story that holds and an issue that deserves our careful attention. Be sure to watch it, streaming now on Netflix.

War. Intrigue. Spies. Double agents. Deception. Love. Valor. Victory. Throw in two of the most popular Mr. Darcys and this is a recipe to a first class war thriller. This is Operation Mincemeat.

Colin Firth stars in this war-time spy thriller as Ewen Montagu, a Jewish lawyer turned operative for a counter-espionage committee in the UK. Together with his faithful secretary, Hester (Penelope Wilton), he engages in an outrageous plan to deceive the German forces regarding an attack by the allied forces on Italy.

The mastermind of this plan, Charles Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfadyen), is an RAF pilot turned British Intelligence Officer who is as serious as they come. Despite his straight laced appearance, it is soon revealed that Cholmondeley has a secret soft spot for, Jean Leslie (Kelly Macdonald) a secretary with the team. As the work towards the deception continues the personal lives of the key team members become complicated as the line between the deception and reality becomes blurry.

This cast is stacked with star power and with genuine talent. Firth and Macfadyen have such delicious chemistry that the connection between Firth and Macdonald could almost go unnoticed, despite its intensity. Not to be overshadowed, Wilton’s moxie lights up the screen every time the camera catches her. She is, as always, an utter delight.

An interesting twist to this story is that it is narrated by a fellow intelligence officer and budding novelist, Ian Flemming (Johnny Flynn). While it seems like a stretch, Ian Flemming, of the future James Bond novel success, was an intellegence officer and did write the Trout Memo that held Operation Mincemeat as one of many proposed deceptions against the Axis forces.

This film is based on a book by Ben Mcintyre by the same name and was developed for the screen by Michelle Ashford. Since its release, Operation Mincemeat enjoyed a positive reception from critics and viewers alike.

Be sure to catch this war-time spy thriller, streaming now on Netflix.

A wanted and planned for baby is a blessing, a miracle. And infertile couples would give almost anything to have help achieving their dream of parenthood. But should that dream come at any cost and by any means? And what happens when our laws don’t keep pace with scientific developments? These are some of the questions that surface in the new Netflix documentary Our Father.

Jacoba Ballard knew she came to be through a scientific miracle. Her parents experienced infertility and sought help from a renown fertility specialist, Dr. Donald Cline. Armed with that little bit of information, Ballard started doing research to try to discover who her biological father was. After taking a DNA test, Ballard discovers a thread of truth that threatens to unravel a small community.

Ballard discovered that Cline himself was her biological father, not a medical student as he had told her mother. With a little more digging, Ballard uncovered the unbelievable truth that Cline inseminated dozens of women, over decades, with his own sperm. He did this to his patients without their knowledge or consent.

Some women consented to using unknown donors, others came in with their husbands, who provided sperm, and others had chosen specific donors from a selection Dr. Cline had offered them. yet in each case, he used his sperm, never revealing his terrible obsession with creating offspring.

The story becomes stranger and darker as Cline’s secret becomes revealed through a local news station. More siblings emerge as Cline scrambles to cover his tracks. Calling in favours from government and political friends made over a long career serving the community to avoid prosecution, Cline told lie after lie to lessen the devastation of his actions.

Our Father tells the horrible and detailed story of Jacoba Ballad, and her many, many siblings, and their mothers and their combined efforts to hold Dr. Cline accountable for his deception and depraved practice. Despite the trauma and anger over the lies and fraud of Dr. Cline, Ballard and her siblings have formed a strong support network for each other and their mothers.

Check out this compelling documentary. Our Father, on Netflix.

It begins with a dream for something more, something different. Then the dream becomes a possibility and that possibility becomes real with a leap of courage. This is the path for many, many immigrants. And this is the story of Brooklyn.

Eillis (Saoirse Ronan) is a young Irish woman from a small town where everyone knows everyone and no one is going anywhere, or so Eillis thinks. So, when an opportunity arises to go to America, to experience something new, she jumps at it. Leaving her mother, her sister and her friends behind, Eillis boards a boat to New York City.

Her excitement begins to wane as she experience a rough bout of seasickness followed by a stretch of homesickness. Despite having a good job and a slew of roommates, Eillis is not settling in and America does not feel like home. A local priest rectifies that by signing her up for a night class and encouraging her to attend the weekly young people’s dance at the parish hall.

Just as Eillis is beginning to feel her independence in Brooklyn, a family tragedy calls her home. What is meant to be a short visit ushers in a whole new set of possibilities that leaves young Eillis torn between her new life in America and upexpected opportunities in Ireland.

Relative newcomer, Emory Cohen, plays Tony Fiorello, Eillis’ Brooklyn love interest. Cohen is enchanting and full of charm, so much so that viewers root for him from the start. The chemistry between Ronan and Cohen is magical and will have you smiling and sighing scene by scene.

Based of Colm Toibin’s book of the same name, Brooklyn, is a beautiful, earnest story that pulls on the heartstrings from the first to the last. Its a wonderfully fleshed out story with incredibly likeable and memorable characters. The only thing more beautiful that the cinematography is the costumes.

Odile Dicks-Mireaux wows with a stunning array of 1940s/50s era dresses, hats and bathing costumes for the cast. Every ensemble is perfect and takes this film from a great story to a stunning work of art. Ronan appears in several show-stopping outfits but none take my breath away as much as the printed skirt she wears on both of Eillis’ beach excursions. Perfection!

Do yourself a favour, grab your favourite warm beverage and settle in for some good soup for the soul and watch Brooklyn. It’s beautiful, heart-warming and an absolutely feel good flick. It really is stunning.

Streaming now on Netflix.