The Matchmaker (film)

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The MatchMaker

DVD Cover
Directed by Mark Joffe
Produced by Tim Bevan
Eric Fellner
Luc Roeg
Written by Karen Janszen
Louis Nowra
Graham Linehan
Starring Janeane Garofalo
David O'Hara
Milo O'Shea
Jay O. Sanders
Denis Leary
Music by John Altman
Cinematography Ellery Ryan
Editing by Paul Martin Smith
Distributed by Universal Studios
Release date(s) 3 October 1997
Running time 97 min
Country USA
Language English
IMDb profile

The MatchMaker is a 1997 romantic comedy about a cynical American woman who reluctantly visits the West of Ireland. The film’s tagline was “A comedy for the incurably unromantic”

Contents

[edit] Plot

Marcy Tizzard (Janeane Garofalo) is assistant to fictional Senator John McGlory (Jay O. Sanders) from Boston, Massachusetts. In an attempt to court the Irish-American vote in a tough reelection battle, the bumbling senator's chief of staff (Denis Leary), sends Marcy to Ireland to find McGlory's relatives or ancestors.

Marcy arrives at the village of fictional Ballinagra as it is preparing for the annual matchmaking festival. She attracts the attention of two rival professional matchmakers, Dermot (Milo O'Shea) and Millie (Rosaleen Linehan), as well as roguish bartender Sean (David O'Hara).

The locals tolerate her genealogical search while trying to match her with various bachelors. Sean tries to woo Marcy despite her resistance to his boorish manners.

[edit] Box office

The film earned $1,378,930 in its first weekend and had a total gross of $3,392,080 in 705 theaters.[1]

[edit] Culture clash

Predictably, Marcy's expectations clash with a host of colorful rural Irish characters in the tradition of such other works as The Irish R.M.. Depending upon the personal taste of the viewer, this situation can be viewed as stereotypical and hackneyed, charming and funny, or both.

[edit] Local flavor

The movie was filmed on-location in the town of Roundstone, County Galway. Besides the personalities of the villagers, the film establishes a sense of place through a generous use of village scenes, the local surrounding farms and a trip to the Aran Islands with cavorting near Dún Aengus. Also, Irish music is heard frequently through out the movie, both as background music and in scenes where its performed live as when a handsome Aran Islander (Vincent Walsh) courts Marcy with his sean nós rendition of On Raglan Road.

[edit] Quote

  • Marcy: Yes, hello? I'd like to call the United States from the SMALLEST FUCKING ROOM IN THE WORLD!

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Box Office Mojo.com. The Matchmaker. Retrieved on December 17, 2006.

[edit] Links