Evelyn does justice to courtroom drama

Forget the rest of this movie, here's the real question on everyone's mind: Can Pierce Brosnan convincingly portray a character that neither blows things up nor shags wannabe starlets six ways from next Tuesday? The answer: Not really. But despite Brosnan's lethargy, Evelyn offers viewers interested in an intelligent plot and realistic setting an enjoyable experience.

Evelyn is based on the true story of Desmond Doyle (Brosnan), an Irishman whose children are taken from him and placed into Catholic boarding schools after his wife abandons the family. Non-Catholic American audiences may be left slightly confused at some of the unexplained cultural and legal differences between Ireland and the United States, like rugby. Characters' motivations, like those of an abusive nun, might make sense to one who has grown up in a country where the Church is deeply involved in all aspects of both daily and legal life, but leave Americans a little bewildered. However, these are small details that can easily be ignored when watching the film.

In 1953, Doyle's daughter and his two sons were taken away from him by the
Irish courts because they deem him incapable of supporting them, given his
current state of unemployment. With the help of a friendly barmaid and a lawyer, Doyle gets a job, sobers up and demands his children back. Unfortunately for Team Doyle, Irish law mandates that the signature of both parents is needed to place the children back in his custody, and since the mother has disappeared in Australia, they can't comply.

To the rescue comes Nick (Aidan Quinn), a "Yank" lawyer, and Tom Connolly (Alan Bates), a former rugby player turned college professor. Rallying the media
behind Doyle's cause, the three of them challenge the constitutionality of the
law itself. If they win, it would be the first time for the Irish Supreme Court
to declare a law unconstitutional. Thus the source of the most of the movie's
tension.

Though Brosnan gives a passable performance, he cannot bring the hopeless anguish to the screen that Doyle feels at the loss of his children. He is bogged down somewhere in "reasonably upset" or "pitifully victimized." His lack of tension hurts the movie, but doesn't bring the entire film down. Vavasseur is at points insipidly sweet and is unable to portray anger realistically, but like Brosnan, the film proceeds fairly well in spite of her. Bates steals the show, being both comic and energetic and perfect at depicting a man who may just have a ulcer at any moment.

Where Evelyn excels is in its down to earth tone. Although characters
occasionally make great epic speeches about right and wrong, they manage to
sound human and at times unconfident, preventing Evelyn from becoming
unbearably uplifting. Screenwriter Paul Pender got the feel of the 1950s just
right, an era when television was just coming into prominence but no one was
really sure how to use this new medium. This makes for some very funny scenes
with Doyle making his case on TV to get media support and when the newscaster
announces the results of the trial in ESPN fashion. ("That's one judge against
him, the next judge must rule in favor of Doyle for him to stand a chance.")

Evelyn is movie for legal buffs, plot buffs and cute child actors buffs, and there's even a bit for gratuitous romance buffs. Just don't go for the acting.