Python Hyena Angela's Ashes (1999): Dir: Alan Parker / Cast: Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle, Joe Breen, Ciaran Owens, Michael Legge: Fashioned together by many effective subplots that could stand alone. Title refers to trials and heartaches of a woman who raises her children practically by herself yet losing some in the process. Her husband constantly wastes their income at the bars. This subplot is unfortunately left hanging in conclusion. Director Alan Parker does a skilled job. His range of genres stretches from Midnight Express to Pink Floyd: The Wall. Strong acting by Emily Watson who pushes forward despite overbearing odds and every problem that presented itself. Robert Carlyle as her drunken husband knows how low he has sunk and the disappointment he presents to his family. One could say that he just lived on with emotional consequences but that area of the story seems loosely handled. Joe Breen, Michael Legge and Ciaran Owens are the young actors who portray Angela's son whose point of view we observe throughout. They are featured to represent each of the three acts that doesn't quite payoff the screenplay. He sympathizes with his father but feels closure with his mother whom risked much so that he may obtain a future. It is a well crafted film that doesn't always work but its message is mending life where others saw fit to break it. Score: 7 / 10

jlthornb51 While the film reflects many of the faults and weaknesses of the source material, Emily Watson's performance as Angela is one to be remembered for all time. She is absolutely electric and the screen smolders in every scene in which she works her magic. Mesmerizing and hypnotic in her painful portrait, Watson demonstrates once again why she is considered one of the greatest motion picture actors of our time. In film after film, from Hilary and Jackie to The Book Thief, this is an actor that astonishes audiences with each performance. She certainly succeeds beyond all belief in Angela's Ashes in proving the Academy Awards have lost any credibility they ever had when she did not win the Oscar for her work here, or in Breaking the Waves, Punch Drunk Love, or a dozen other incredibly beautiful film performances.

neopol313 Clocking in at two hours and twenty minutes, Angela's Ashes charts the early life of the real life lead character, Frank McCourt, based on his autobiography. Set in the not so distant past of mid 1930′s Ireland, it looks like a Dickensian tome, with muddy streets, abject poverty and sewage being thrown down the street.It's hard to believe that this was life in the mid 20th Century in a western country, where religion and anti-British propaganda ruled the masses of a country that was more than a little down on its luck. Dingy, realistic and difficult to enjoy, this was a very real take on this dismal period in history.The cast was admirable, with big hitters such as Robert Carlisle and Emily Watson as the titular Angela, but there were no weak links in this department at all. Overall, it was a very well made film but the drama was too loosely constructed and episodic as it simply followed the eldest son and writer of the source novel, Frank, as he grows up and attempts to realise his dream of leaving Ireland and building a new life in America.If you like real life drama set in the dismal surroundings where escapism is nowhere to be seen, then this is a masterpiece, but for everyone else, it's an interesting look into a way of life that should have died out with Queen Victoria. Ultimately, this film failed to make its money back and some would argue, failed to live up to the book and it certainly lacked enough humour to carry the story through what in many cases were traumatic events in such a dire environment.And I must have the missed the point of the title, as what the hell were Angela's Ashes?

manigran I first saw this film in high school. My English teacher asked us to watch this movie and write a personal response to it. When I first saw this movie, I did not know what to expect, but when my viewing was complete, I found only a composition that took my breath away. The story about a young boy, Frank McCourt, growing up in the poor and bleak city of Limerick, Ireland, during the Great Depression, under an autocratic church and a father that could not get a job because he was addicted to alcohol moved me deeply and emotionally. Frank McCourt struggles not only with troubles on the home front, but with a church that teaches the people about Jesus without mentioning the concept of forgiveness of sins. They constantly put people in fear to live because they taught that you are doomed forever if you sin. I not only saw how ugly the church authority was, but I was also moved by Frank's life. For example, when Frank saw his father for the last time, he comments, through a narration, that he does not even have the freedom to say, "I love you Dad", because "in Limerick, you are only supposed to love God and horses that win... Anything else is softness in the head". When I saw this part, I almost wept, because it showed the limited freedom of a life in Limerick. As well, the theme that there is always hope in a troubled life is beautifully portrayed by the visuals. In the midst of the dark streets of Limerick, green grass grows in the cracks. Eventually, Frank triumphs when he gets enough money to go to America and start a new life. Also, near the end of the film, he meets a priest who understands that God forgives us when we sin. At last, there was a priest that truly understood the message of Jesus.The plot is beautiful, and the score not only captures the time period of the 1930's, but it is gently moving. It beautifully fits the atmosphere of the film.I would strongly recommend this film to anyone. It is a really underrated gem that deserves more credit.