Dancing at Lughnasa

In movie gambling terms, a Meryl Streep flick is usually a good bet: even if the story falters, Streep's what-will-her-accent-be? performance nearly always makes the time well spent. There are, of course, exceptions, and Pat O'Connor's compressed adaptation of Brian Friel's successful stage play is definitely one of them. Set in rural Ireland in 1936, this slow dance revolves around the rather mundane lives of the five unwed Mundy sisters, headed by the breadwinner, Kate (Streep), a stern, devoutly Catholic school teacher. At the other end of the psychological scale, we have Rose (Sophie Thompson), who appears to be simple (and therefore free--in her mind--to entertain the advances of a married man). Of the last three, Agnes (Brid Brennan) is serious like Kate (without being stern), Maggie (Kathy Burke) is free-spirited like Rose (without being simple), and Christine (Catherine McCormack) is the most well-adjusted of the bunch, only she has a fatherless child. Into this volatile emotional mix, brother Jack (Michael Gambon), a Catholic priest, returns from Africa minus a few marbles and utterly enamored with African (therefore pagan) customs, followed days later by Christine's former roll in the hay. The stage, as they say, is set, and we sit back and wait for the real drama to begin; unfortunately, when the credits roll, we are, in the words of ex-Talking Head David Byrne, still waiting. Not a necessary purchase. (R. Pitman)