Johnny (Paddy Considine) moves to New York with his wife Sarah (Samantha Morton) and daughters Christy and Ariel to start a new life and get over the death of their youngest son. "Flawed but still wonderful" was our opinion of it and director Jim Sheridan's film is an emotional and personal endeavour, part-based on events in his own family's history and including the casting of his daughters as the couple's children.
A Family Affair
The 'making of' featurette offers an insight into the dynamics of the Sheridan family and how Jim's daughters view him as a director and as a father. All contributed individual memories to create the script, which makes for an unusually honest discussion of artistic intentions. It is debatable whether the finished movie doesn't sometimes stray into emotional blackmail but the thoughts behind it are personal to the Sheridan family and they're happy to share them with us.
Humour And Pain
Sheridan's daughters, Sarah and Emma Bolger, bring some light relief and enthusiasm when they describe how they acted their scenes. Jim Sheridan also contributes some levity in his otherwise carefully thought-out commentary, which details just how much of the film is based upon real events. Along with some interesting deleted scenes, this is not your typical drama DVD.
EXTRA FEATURES
This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-N5 DVD player.