Closing the Ring
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| Closing the Ring | |
|---|---|
 Promotional film poster |
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| Directed by | Richard Attenborough |
| Produced by | Richard Attenborough Jo Gilbert |
| Written by | Peter Woodward |
| Starring | Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer, Mischa Barton, Stephen Amell, Neve Campbell, Pete Postlethwaite, Brenda Fricker |
| Music by | Jeff Danna |
| Cinematography | Roger Pratt |
| Editing by | Lesley Walker |
| Distributed by | The Works Distribution |
| Release date(s) |  United Kingdom December 28 2007 |
| Country | UK/Canada/USA[1] |
| Language | English |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
Closing the Ring is a film directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer, Mischa Barton, Stephen Amell, Neve Campbell, Pete Postlethwaite, and Brenda Fricker.
The film was released in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland on December 28, 2007[2].
Contents |
[edit] Main cast
- Shirley MacLaine - Ethel Ann
- Christopher Plummer - Jack
- Mischa Barton - Young Ethel Ann
- Gregory Smith - Young Jack
- Stephen Amell - Teddy Gordon
- Neve Campbell - Marie
- Brenda Fricker - Grandma Reilly
- Martin McCann - Jimmy Reilly
- Pete Postlethwaite - Michael Quinlan
- John Travers - Young Michel Quinlan
- David Alpay - Chuck
- Layke Anderson - Army Corporal
[edit] Story
The film opens in 1991, with the funeral of a former World War II veteran. The man's daughter Marie (Neve Campbell) delivers the eulogy to a church full of veterans who knew and loved her father, while her mother Ethel Ann (Shirley MacLaine) is sitting out on the church porch, smoking and nursing a hangover. When Ethel Ann begins acting strangely, only her friend Jack (Christopher Plummer) seems to understand why. It quickly emerges that there is a lot Marie does not know about her mother's past and the true story of her love life.
The movie flips to a time when this mother was young, lively, and optimistic (young Ethel Ann played by Mischa Barton). She is in love with a young farmer, Teddy Gordon (played by Canadian new comer Stephen Amell), who goes off to war with his best friends Jack (Gregory Smith) and Chuck (David Alpay), but not all of them make it back alive. The plot lines intertwine with the story of a young Ulsterman in Belfast who finds a ring in the wreckage of a crashed B-17 and is determined to return it to the woman who once owned it.
[edit] Production
Closing the Ring was filmed in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
The B-17 used in this movie was the Yankee Lady from the Yankee Air Museum, wich was also used in the movie Tora! Tora! Tora!.[citation needed]
[edit] Festival appearances
The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 2007. The film received its UK premiere at the London Film Festival on October 21, 2007.
[edit] Reception
Variety called the film "decades-skipping schmaltz" and an "aggressively bittersweet yet oddly uninvolving drama."[3]
Philip French of The Observer wrote "Woodward's script is more than a little contrived as well as over-emphatic. But Attenborough has infused it with warmth and mature insight, and older members of the audience are likely to find it extremely moving."[4]
Laura Bushell of BBCi Films called the film a "looping tale of love and loss in WWII which is so old fashioned in its aspirations, it's hard to see why new audiences would flock to see it."
[edit] References
- ^ Review of Closing the Ring from the BBC website
- ^ Works nabs U.K. rights to Closing The Ring from The Hollywood Reporter
- ^ Review of Closing the Ring from Variety magazine's website
- ^ Review of Closing the Ring from The Observer website
[edit] External Links
- Closing the Ring at the Internet Movie Database
- Closing the Ring at Rotten Tomatoes
- Closing the Ring at Allmovie
- Closing the Ring at Yahoo! Movies
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