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The Boys and Girl From County Clare (2003)

tomatometer

36

Average Rating: 5.8/10
Critic Reviews: 11
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 7

No consensus yet.

audience

66

liked it
Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 1,351

My Rating

Movie Info

British filmmaker John Irvin directs the musical comedy drama The Boys From County Clare. Set in the late '60s, the story involves a pair of rival brothers reuniting for the All-Ireland Traditional Music Competition in County Clare, Ireland. As defending champion John Joe (Bernard Hill) gets his local Celtic band ready to compete, his estranged brother, Jimmy (Colm Meaney), blows into town from Liverpool with his own band. John Joe's pianist, Maisie (Charlotte Bradley), isn't happy to see Jimmy,

Jul 12, 2005

First Look

Cast

All Critics (36) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (13) | Rotten (15) | DVD (1)

Makes music almost an afterthought, and as such it never truly sings.

March 25, 2005 Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | Comment
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Irresistible to all those with the slightest speck of Irish blood running in their veins. Or even those non-Irish viewers with a weakness for Irish plays, Irish music, Irish dancing, lilting Irish accents or pints of Guinness.

March 18, 2005 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
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Don't ever think that Hollywood has the market cornered on formula flicks. Those folks from across the pond, in Britain and its environs, can do predictable with the best of them.

March 18, 2005 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | Comment
Globe and Mail
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Really just a long fiddle session in a very familiar pub.

March 16, 2005 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | Comment
Entertainment Weekly
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Give this movie the back of your hand.

March 11, 2005 Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | Comment
Newark Star-Ledger
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Everyone is likable in John Irvin's appealing if obvious little fable about two estranged brothers and their ceili, or traditional Irish, bands.

March 11, 2005 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
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How high is your tolerance for charming ****e?

July 3, 2005 Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | Comment
Flick Filosopher

Never catches its rhythm.

April 28, 2005 Comment
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Holds little of interest, with a generic story line and a cast that's mostly just going through the motions.

April 8, 2005 Full Review Source: Oregonian | Comment
Oregonian

Seems like used goods...the utter predictability of not only the main plot but every subplot attached to it overwhelms any good will you might bring to it.

April 6, 2005 Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | Comment
One Guy's Opinion

This tale of longstanding sibling rivalry set against a Ceili music competition doesn't score any points for originality, but it's a likeable enough 90-minute outing, especially for Eirephiles.

March 24, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Journal International | Comment
Film Journal International

Pushes the least interesting relationships to the front and shoves the most interesting ones too the back.

March 18, 2005 Full Review | Comment
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

While there's lots of great Ceili music on tap, it's wrapped in a story so traditional that it's not especially interesting.

March 11, 2005 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Boys and Girl From County Clare

This won't suit everyone's taste but I LOVED it! I didn't see the setup coming with the brothers but the way they wrapped it in the whole storyline and with a wee twist in the end, it was just delightful! More drama than comedy and with lots of authentic irish music, I really enjoyed watching it with my husband for

March 20, 2008
karyn8sons
Committed 2 Marriage 4ever

A great Irish flick with lots of nice shots of Ireland. Has some funny comic moments, but its memorable.

February 11, 2007

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