Karl Self This is an enjoyable romantic comedy which even I, being a man, could watch without my toenails crinkling or my gonads shriveling up. The movie works perfectly as long as brassy big-city-girl Janeane Garofalo is confronted with an every-cliché-in-the-book village in the Irish boondocks. This concept stops working as soon as Janeane becomes all gooey gooey about that Irish heartthrob, which happens at about two thirds of the movie. At this point the script tries to tie up too many loose ends and performs a 180° turn towards a happy ending in which big city girl and Oirish oik find true love, the senatorial candiadate wins his election, and the hard-nosed spin doctor commits societal suicide. A bit too much cheese for my palate. Before that the movie was fresh and entertaining -- although it did pander to every cliché about the emerald isle in the book (the women all have luscious arse-length curly red hair, etc.).Stuff I didn't like:*Marcy (Janeane Garofalo) harping on about how she's addicted to fax machines and the New York Times at inappropriate moments. It just makes her seem self-important and boorish.*The fact that autochtonic love interest Sean isn't just a simple Oirish country yokel but actually a cutting-edge investigative journalist who left the business because he was disgusted by the lack of ethics in the industry.*When Marcy arrives at the hotel, she is told that there aren't any rooms available. No more rooms, huh, she asks back. Nope, none whatsoever, she is told. Then they ask around every hotel in the county. Finally the landlady concedes that they do, after all, have a room with en-suite bathroom and fecking bathtub available. Funny that she didn't think of that in the first place.*That this -- for some dark reason -- was director Mark Joffe's last movie to date.Stuff I did like:*How Marcy, when she is being chatted up by Sean, lowers her voice and asks him intimately: "Is being an idiot like being high all the time?"*The acting, especially of the secondary characters, is amazing. Check out matchmaker Milo O'Shea or the local "it's a filthy, FILTHY business" genealogist. Jay O'Sanders and Dennis Leary also make an amazing couple as the nit-witted senator and his ruthless adviser.

Tim Hayes I really don't understand why Janeanne Garofalo doesn't get more roles. She is a truly wonderful actress who owns the screen when she's on it. There is never anything forced about her performances. They always seem natural. Here, she plays Marcy Tizard, a spin doctor for a U.S. senator trying to get re-elected. Her job has become to track down his relatives from the small town in Ireland where his family emigrated from. This will help the senator secure the Irish vote in Chicago and win him the election. So off to Ireland she goes in an attempt to find his missing relatives. Of course, nothing is ever easy and Marcy finds herself smack dab in the middle of a match making festival. While fending off possible suitors, she becomes entwined in the lives of several colourful locals. Among them is of course, the local matchmaker (Milo O'Shea) who has taken to setting her up with Sean (David O'Hara), the local bartender and former journalist. The humour is warm and the characters are all well drawn out. Denis Leary has a small role as a colleague and resident ***hole. The film truly belongs to Garofalo as she is perfectly cast in the role of weary and cynical Marcy. Give it a shot. It's a near perfect match.

eamonnflanagan This movie quickly became a family favourite, so much so that my sons and daughters each have a copy of their own. The movie is watched four or five times a year and none of us ever tire of it.Having watched it so often my children (now adults) know most of the dialogue and from time to time one or the other will launch into a reenactment of one of the scenes, accents and all. While, Garofalo and O'Hara are excellent, it is the remainder of the cast who provide most of the humour - some of the cast are well known here in Ireland, while others are less so. Regardless, their one line deliveries and interactions with one another will crack you up. You just have to see the 'cottage scene with the senator' it is priceless! I still end up laughing uncontrollably every time I see it. They say laughter is good for the 'soul' - watch the Matchmaker and you'll never have to worry about the state of its health!

chalice1999 I absolutely loved this movie. It's a very quaint Irish romantic comedy. I think the characters play off each other very well and the sarcasm is well matched.The overall sarcastic themes are interspersed within the movie, you have everything from politics to love with a few rivalries thrown in between.I also really loved the chemistry between Marcy Tizzard(Jeanne Garafalo) and Sean Kelly (David O'Hara). T he movie starts with Marcy after another hangover - at work trying to just hide for the day when the politician she's working for Senator John McGlory (Jay O'Sanders)from Boston is getting his butt kicked in the polls. His head campaign manager Nick (Dennis Leary) comes up with this plan to help him find his Irish roots and they force Marcy to go to Ireland to find any McGlory that exists. Reluctantly, Marcy agrees and is on her way to a small Irish town, Ballinagra (pronounced exactly as is). Hilarity ensues when she realizes she is thrown right in the middle of a matchmaking festival. Her adventures take her to different locales - in search of any McGlorys who might have immigrated to Boston. In the meantime, Dermit O'Brian (Milo O'Shea) the local matchmaker decides he wants to record how to match-make because he is thinking of big business. So during the movie, we see him at relevant parts tell the camera the art of matchmaking. Dermit is a very integral part of the whole movie and is such a quintessential Irish figure that his charm just glides you through the whole movie. In the movie we see many relationships along the way. Sean with his brother Declan and his wife Sarah who own a local hotel. Dermit with a rival matchmaker Millie O'Dowd, Sean with Marcy and other characters who are looking for love in all the wrong places. There are many sight gags thrown in and behind the scene conversations that are hilarious. The only bad thing I can say about this movie is that there is a lot of profanity thrown in, but it is for funny purposes. I am not usually fond of cursing, but a lot of it is placed to make the scene funny. I don't think it was intended to just insult the characters. Again, that is why it is rated R also for language only.All in all, it is one of my favorites and I must have watched it 20 times. I really liked the whole village feel of the movie and thought the characters were quite endearing. If you are looking for a romantic comedy through the eyes of a different culture, this is the movie to see, just be prepared for some profanity.A+