The MatchMaker (1997 film)
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| The Matchmaker | |
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 DVD Cover |
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| 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 | UK |
| 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.”
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[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. However as with much of Graham Linehan's work it captures the emotional sense of being Irish in the way we make fun of ourselves while poking fun at the world's perceptions of the Irish as whacked out crazed leprechauns. See also Father Ted
[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 Raglan Road. Van Morrison's popular song Irish Heartbeat is one of the songs that is in the movie.
[edit] Quote
- Marcy (on phone): Yes, hello? I'd like to call the United States from the SMALLEST FUCKING ROOM IN THE WORLD!
[edit] Trivia
The Matchmaker also has Tommy Tiernan in an early film role before his stand up career took off.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Box Office Mojo.com. The Matchmaker. Retrieved on December 17, 2006.
