English
5.1 Surround, French 2.0 Surround, Spanish 2.0 Surround
Subtitles:
English, French, Spanish, Closed-Captioned
Extras:
2
Screen-Specific Audio Commentaries, 2 Featurettes, Still
Gallery, Theatrical Trailers
Pierce Brosnan plays the the real life
Desmond Doyle who, in 1953, overturned the Ministry of Education laws
in Ireland regarding parents and the custody of their children.
Doyle's wife abandons him, their young daughter and two younger sons. Apparently,
Irish law at the time stated that if a parent was deemed unable to
financially support their children (the law was even more harsh about
single parents), the children were taken away and placed in
orphanages. "Evelyn" is about Doyle's struggle to get his
children back through the court system. Aidan Quinn and Stephen Rea
play the law team that assist Brosnan's character.
An uplifting film, "Evelyn" is a true David vs. Goliath
story that one cannot help but feel inspired by. And kudos to director
Bruce Beresford for avoiding the Hollywood style of manipulating
audiences into tear-jerking sentiment. The powerful, emotional moments
are low-key, with the actors making the moments, not sweeping camera
shots with string instruments playing a melancholy tune. Beresford
also, thankfully, avoids showing teary-eyed, sobbing kids to tries and
evoke audience emotion (removing it a little from that 'chick-flick'
genre). It's also effective of Beresford to show the flaws that Doyle
has, namely drinking. A flawed hero is always easier to identify with,
rather than a perfect crusader.
I didn't see this movie even advertised to be in theatres, so it is obviously
in danger of being swept under the DVD-rental-carpet. I hope that
doesn't happen because this is a worthwhile film to watch. Hopefully,
it will gain recognition by word of mouth.
One negative aspect about the DVD is the picture quality. The
sharpness of the images is rather dull and colorless, not as crisp and
clear as some other DVDs. This may be due to a haze look everyone has
because, quite often, there is a big sunlit window behind the actors.
The special features are a minor let down, considering there were
historical and social studies lessons that could have been given. If
you're hoping for more of the actual history behind the story, the two
featurettes have little to offer. It may have been interesting to find
out more about the rest of Doyle and his family's life. The audio
commentaries, one by Beresford and the other with Brosnan and producer
Beau St. Clair are okay with the latter being the better of the two.
