It's 1949 Knockglen, Ireland. Best friends Eve, Benny and Nan have their Confirmation Day. Then it's 1957. Nan Mahon (Saffron Burrows) is long gone to Dublin. Bernadette Hogan (Minnie Driver) and Eve Malone (Geraldine O'Rawe) have graduated. Orphan Eve's father was the wealthy Westward family's gardener. Simon (Colin Firth) is the dashing Westward son. The girls go to Dublin University College but Benny has to go home every night while Eve is living in a convent. They are reunited with social butterfly Nan at college. Benny falls for fellow student Jack Foley (Chris O'Donnell). Creepy Sean Walsh (Alan Cumming) from home has an eye for her. Aidan Lynch (Aidan Gillen) likes Eve. Nan wants the older Simon.Minnie Driver may be a tall gal but the way she's described, she needs an extra 50 pounds. She probably needs to be uglier. On the other hand, Chris O'Donnell is way too pretty, not just handsome but swoopy-haired pretty. He's essentially the pretty girl in this romance and rather bland. They have good chemistry but not very heated one. It tries to do something with sexual rebellion in the repressive religious atmosphere. Even when the movie takes some twists, it never really surprises.

I was surprised to see that this has only 6.5 average grading from IMDb users! This is a great film in any way possible. Acting, portrayal of characters, music and of course the story are all well beyond average. You will also appreciate that none of the characters is 2-dimentional, not even the "bad ones", like Sean and Nan. You can see behind the reasons of their actions, even if you don't agree with them.I remember renting this back in 1996, not expecting much from it. Then, I was was taken by the whole film, especially by "that chubby unknown but brilliant young actress". In that manner I was more than pleased when some years later I saw Minnie Driver becoming very well-known and being Oscar nominated for her role in "Good Will Hunting". Knowing now that she gained all those pounds just for the role of Benny, males me thing that deserved an Oscar nod and for this film! i particularly liked and Chris o Donnel for this and also for the message it gives about one being him or herself, instead of trying to be something else in order to gain someone's-anyone's approval or love! It was years after that that I also noticed that this was an adaptation of a book of Maeve Binchy one of my favorite authors. When I had the chance to watch this again, then I noticed and Colin Firth playing also. Another reason for anyone to watch it!!!

This review contains SPOILERS, I'm trying to save you from seeing this movie.I started watching this movie thinking I was going to like it. It looked like a coming of age tale, the 1950's Irish setting seemed appealing, the characters seemed interesting. The main character is a large, unattractive girl, Bennie, from a small town, and the story centers around her and her two friends, Eve and Nan. Eve was a simple girl with a moralistic bent, raised in a convent, while Nan grew up a sophisticated, big city girl in Dublin. The story really gets going while the three are at university. For a while it seemed like a sweet coming of age tale of some sort, but I should have been suspicious when all the excerpts of college lectures dealt with the sexual practices of savages, and with all the talk about sex, between the girls and between Bennie and her new boyfriend, a jock on campus and a pre-med major.The movie goes along pretty innocently for quite a while. The girls were in school, and it looked like the girls were striving to expand their horizons, improve their situation. They go to a dance and are caught up with boyfriends. Then a lot of the action is compressed in the last half hour of the movie, turning the whole thing into a big, sappy soap opera. Nan services some guy, get rejected by the buffoon when they discover she's pregnant, then seduces Bennie's boyfriend in an attempt to trick HIM into marrying her. Eve finds out, approaches Nan with a bread knife, causing Nan to fall, get cut, and lose the baby. The boyfriend then returns to Bennie and she takes him back, and the movie ends as these two are finally about to go all the way. As it ends, you don't feel uplifted, Bennie hasn't learned anything or grown, she remains a big, unattractive girl, now with a boyfriend that knows he graze in greener pastures once in a while and she'll take him back.

Spoilers herein.Pretty tepid and predictable, just like the society the story disparages.And pretty ordinary in the way it exploits the themepark charm of Ireland. That's a recurring problem with Pat O'Connor who seems doomed to his Darby O'Gill world. But it has three strong performers, and in this case those alone are worth watching. Incidentally those three are to be reunited for the big budget "Phantom of the Opera."Of these three, Minni Driver impresses. She has that young abandon and commitment to the role that is almost virginal in its approach. Like Emily Watson in "Waves" or Kate Winslet in "Creatures" or Cate Blanchett in "Lucinda." It has something to do with fearlessness and is most effective when the character is supposed to have that same sense of tentative inhabitation of strange person.Often, that ability to risk wears off, and it appears to have with Minnie. But still...Another of these three has made a career of sleazy characters. I find Cumming's energy pretty fascinating, especially the areas of the character where he places that energy. These characters are always sprung, dramatic. How sweet to know that Cumming really did walk away with Saffron when this was over.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 4: Worth watching.