I find it a bit hard to quantify what makes this film so spectacular; it just is.It flows seamlessly from drama to mystery to comedy to horror to romance.Ciarin Hinds and Iben Hjejle have excellent on screen chemistry. These are two people who have been out in the world and experienced life. Hannah Lynch is not in the film a lot, but she brings much to the role as the caring daughter. Mac the dog does a great job as Ringo (gotta love a dog named after a Beatle). What makes Ciarin Hinds so special is that he is honest, mysterious, complicated, and vulnerable without even trying. He is a seasoned actor, and I cannot imagine anyone else in the lead role. He's simply a lovely man.The mark of a great film is that it is over before you want it to be over, and you feel satisfied.

I'm always up for a ghost film, especially if it involves a gloomy, Gothic atmosphere and a remote, isolated location. The Eclipse doesn't disappoint. It's a hybrid film, a bit of romance, a good dose of loss-of- loved one melancholy, and a handful of jumpy ghost scenes. The characters are brought together through a literary festival, which also gives a generous dose of snark, mostly through Aidan Quinn's performance as a strangle- worthy author (a good role for this fine actor). The performances are all solid, but I especially enjoyed Ciarán Hinds as the lonely widower. The performance is so convincing--Hinds brings such genuine expression to this role, and it's a must-see for his fans. The film isn't going to satisfy hardcore ghost film or horror fans, but if you're into this type of contemporary Gothic film, it's certainly worth the time.

A man is trying to hold his family together. He has suffered great loss. He is truly trying to get a handle on life but is plagued by ghosts. Whether they are real or not is not the issue. It ultimately doesn't matter. What we have here is a budding relationship with a fragile writer who begins to see him for the gentle soul that he is. While the writer's workshop he is assisting with goes on, he tries to keep his feet on the ground, despite his pain. He is accosted by a pretentious ass of a writer, greatly admired by the public, but incapable of an original idea. His audience are young, romance oriented women. The man turns to the young woman for aide in his struggles, but has no confidence in himself and sees himself as an intruder, taking advantage of her vulnerability. This is a quiet movie with bittersweet results. The children, especially, are multi-dimensional in their own struggles with mortality.

Like many films with a little spookiness in them, the DVD cover and other promotional material tends to try to sell it as SCARY, when in fact there was only one moment I found actually unsettling to the point of scariness.This was a very gentle film in many ways, humane, intelligent and thoughtful, with flawed characters who inspire sympathy as they muddle through various difficulties. The actors are wonderful. The contrast between the ordinariness of the lives portrayed and the otherworldiness of the scary bits made for an uneven overall tone, but one that worked well. Everything was thematically connected - the mystery of life and death, coping, romance, the promise of hope and the creeping shadow of despair... I enjoyed it very much.