billcr12 I recently watched The Guard for a second time and was in the mood for another Irish comedy. The Snapper was a poor choice. A twenty year old girl living with her mother, father and four fellow siblings becomes pregnant and will not name the dad. Most of the film takes place in pubs with the expectant mother drinking heavily with three other girls. This is not funny, and I do not understand the 7+ rating on IMDB. Stay away from this noisy mess and instead check out The Guard for Brendan Gleeson's brilliant performance.

HeidiELove The Snapper is Stephen Frears's adaptation of the second book in Roddy Doyle's Barrytown Trilogy. Yep i'm Irish and yep I found this absolutely hilarious. But on a series critical note the crucial scenes between Colm Meaney and Tina Kellegher that is beautifully written, acted, and directed. It is fresh, exhilarating and deals with the ole Catholic issue - Sex before Marriage in Ireland but turns it quite farcical. This film has a big heart like the country itself and deserved the Awards and achievements it thrived for. Colm Meaney is fantastic, he drives the characters and sheds his loyalty and passion for his daughter under quite 'unique' circumstances. This would probably be on the shelf in every Irish Household, though possibly not the extreme Catholic ones.

George Parker "The Snapper", apparently Irish slang for "baby", is all about a young Irish woman (Kellegher) who gets pregnant while living with her working class family of eight. Refusing to name the father, the town buzzes with gossip while the family takes the matter in stride with the exception of Sharon's father (Meaney) who wrestles with the matter all the way to the end. Too Irish and too wry to have broad commercial appeal, "The Snapper" is doubtless another excellent helping in the Doyle/Frears trilogy including "The Van" and "The Commitments". If you like one of the three, check out the other two. If you haven't seen any of them, be prepared for a whole lot of "bollocks", "eejit", and "s***e". (B)Note - The film ends with the newborn nursing at his mother's breast while the grandfather downs a pint in a pub, smiling and belching with satisfaction. If you can see the earthy charm of that juxtaposition, then, perhaps, this film is for you.

Dennis Littrell Fine acting by Colm Meaney (Dessie Curley) and Tina Kellegher (Sharon Curley) carry this offbeat tragi-comedy about the perils of out of wedlock pregnancy in a working class Irish family. I think the Pope would approve of how this subject was handled, if he approved of the subject being handled in the first place.What do I mean? Well, here's an unwanted pregnancy that in the apprehension of some people could arguably be seen as a result of something about as close to a rape as it gets without technically being rape, depending upon how you define your "technically." (She was drunk and an older man took advantage of her in the parking lot of the pub.) I won't say more for fear of spoiling the plot for you, but be forewarned that some viewers will find the whole thing uncomfortable.Roddy Doyle, the gifted fictionalist (Paddy Clarke, Ha, Ha, Ha, The Woman Who Walked into Doors, etc) wrote the novel and the screenplay. Stephen Frears (My Beautiful Laundrette 1985, Dangerous Liaisons 1988, etc.) directed. Doyle is a master of dialogue and has a warm sense of people that he imposes on his readers. Known as a realistic writer, he is actually a sentimentalist with a keen feel for the foibles of his characters.There is a kind of TV sit-com feeling to Frears's direction in that nothing really depressing occurs. There's a neighborhood feel to the taunting, some windows are broken, and there's a fistfight, but none of the kids are on heroin or planting bombs. There's little violence and the sex depicted is minimalist. There's a sense that nothing is really wrong in the world, just some slips of behavior and some misunderstandings. You realize, for example, that despite Sharon's continued drinking the baby is not going to be born suffering from any kind of alcoholic syndrome. Furthermore, although Dessie has six kids to support, we never see him working overtime or worrying about money. Doyle is also a political writer and has a message. His message here is that the gift of life is precious over and above how it is conceived and that narrow-minded men (grandfather-to-be Dessie Curley) can, through love, understanding and a little effort, rise above their prejudices and do the right thing and feel the right way. Politically speaking, the film walks softly and carries no banner between the two sides of the abortion question, clearly identifying with the pro-lifers without overtly offending the pro-choice side.Perhaps it is best to leave the politics behind and, like many viewers, simply enjoy the laughs, the realistic dialogue and the warm, chaotic family atmosphere presented and save the moralizing for another day. By the way, you might have to watch this twice to catch some of the humor. Either that or have a good ear for the Irish brogue. For myself, I could have used subtitles.(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)