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Eden (2008)
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Reviews Counted:22
Fresh:16
Rotten:6
Average Rating:6.4/10
Theatrical Release:Nov 14, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: As their 10th anniversary approaches, Breda (Eileen Walsh) and Billy (Aidan Kelly) are trying to get over a rocky part of their marriage. Billy, who works for the phone company, spends most of his... As their 10th anniversary approaches, Breda (Eileen Walsh) and Billy (Aidan Kelly) are trying to get over a rocky part of their marriage. Billy, who works for the phone company, spends most of his free time at the local pub and eyeing the much younger Imelda (Sarah Greene), who loves to party. Meanwhile, Breda discusses her marital problems with her best friend, Eilish (Lesley Conroy), who thinks Breda needs to go out more and have fun instead of just staying home and taking care of her two kids, Edel (Carolyn Murray) and James (Brendan Kelleher). Breda has big plans for the anniversary night, even making a new dress for the occasion, hoping it will inject much-needed romance into their stale marriage, but Billy keeps growing more and more distant. Although he promises that their anniversary will be special, he is worried that he will not be able to live up to his word. Directed by Declan Recks, EDEN, set in the Irish Midlands, is a poignant adult drama based on the two-character play by Eugene O'Brien, who also wrote the screenplay. The title is both a reference to the small town of Edenderry, where O'Brien is from, as well as the biblical Garden of Eden, where temptation was just within reach. Recks and O'Brien, along with Walsh and other members of the cast and crew, had previously worked together on the successful Irish television miniseries PURE MULE, and that experience helps give the film a feeling of closeness and warmth. Walsh, who was named Best Actress at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, is extraordinary in a role that her sister Catherine played in the original Abbey Theatre production, while Kelly is excellent as the torn Billy. The film is dedicated to Recks's father, Richie, who plays bartender Quenchers Quinn, and who died shortly after filming was completed. [More]
Starring: Aidan Kelly, Eileen Walsh, Padraic Delaney, Karl Shiels
Starring: Aidan Kelly, Eileen Walsh, Padraic Delaney, Karl Shiels, Lesley Conroy, Sarah Greene, Carolyn Murray, Brendan Kelleher
Director: Declan Recks
Director: Declan Recks
Screenwriter: Eugene O'Brien
Producer: David Collins
Composer: Stephen Rennicks, Hugh Drumm
Studio: Liberation Entertainment
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Release:
Feb 24, 2009
Reviews for Eden
It’s a tired conceit, but Kelly does a fine turn as an emotionally stunted lad, while Walsh dazzles, expertly conveying humiliation and resolve.
Eden is a sad, nicely observed study of a decade-old marriage that, for the most part, is over.
Declan Reck has made a character-driven drama that plays with stereotpyical elements of marriage movies like infidelity and ennui but makes them feel completely genuine.
This portrait of an imploding marriage is remarkable for every reason that counts in a good film.
The kind of small movie that's all too easy to overlook, but even easier to like once you've seen it.
like channeling Mike Leigh or John Cassavetes in bringing this marital drama to the screen.
Eden is a picture so modest and minor-key that the emotional bruise it leaves may take days to develop.
Adapting a play by Eugene O'Brien, director Declan Recks has made a remarkably interior movie anchored by two heartbreakingly real, lived-in performances.
An Irish indie that is well-observed and well-acted -- but ultimately, not much more exciting than the love lives of its lead characters.
Eden lacks the technique to give its stifled domestic-erotic feelings their full power. Yet Kelly and Walsh, who has a shy sensuality that pokes out of her toothy homely beauty, are emotionally eloquent.
To say it is bleak is an understatement. But it will make a lot of people reassess their marriages and decide that, in comparison, they're not so bad after all.
Eden is almost achingly personal, and it's a testament to the small-but-powerful Irish film industry that tiny little personal stories like this one get funding.
Walsh and Kelly are the embodiment of domestic despair, fumbling to find their way back into the light.
Despite the fine performances, it might have been a better idea just to leave this one to the theatre where it was probably better suited.
A story of a psychological phenomenon that might be prevalent in lots of marriages, but an unenlightened approach makes for an unlikely Eden.
Recks has a talent for getting the feel of an entire community...but the story of a marriage in crisis goes off the rails in its final act.
Pic loses its delicate edge when it builds to a prescribed dramatic flashpoint within an overly compressed timeframe -- a structural holdover from the pic's stage play roots that ultimately tips it into meller territory.
Latest News for Eden
October 20, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
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