The Boys & Girl from County Clare

Coming to Carlton theatres tomorrow and just in time for St. Patrick's Day is a review of the lovely Irish comedy The Boys and Girl from County Clare.

Formerly called just Boys of County Clare, the film follows the sibling rivalry of two brothers competing against each other in Ireland's largest Ceili (pronouned KAY-LEE) competition. Things go awry when the fiddlist, played by Andrea Corr of the Corrs, from one band falls for the flutist, played by real-life current boyfriend of said Corr, Shaun Evans from the other band.

Have you got that? Good ...

I saw it when it made its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival two years ago and being a HUGE fan of the Corrs was super excited to catch a glimpse of the lead singer in the flesh.

The film itself is two parts family feud, one part romantic comedy, and a helluva a fun time to sit through. The feuding brothers, played by Colm Meaney and Bernard Hill, have not spoken to each other in 20 years. Finding out that other will be entering the Ceili Band competition, they each sabotage the other's efforts for the top prize.

Apart from trying to keep up with the accents, it was a fairly easy plot to follow and was very light-hearted entertainment. Since the only other Irish musical comedy I've seen is the Commitments (which a very young Andrea Corr also appeared in) I laughed but was at a loss on several subtleties of the humour.

Ah well, it was still a fun movie.