Hear My Song

Peter Chelsom (whose comedy thriller Funny Bones was the closing gala film at this year's Edinburgh Film festival) made his name with this blarney-laden romantic comedy, co-written by him and actor Adrian Dunbar.

Liverpool club-manager Micky O'Neill (Dunbar) requires an attraction in order to bring in the punters and their cash, and thinks he's found the answer with celebrated Irish tenor "Mr X", assumed to be Josef Locke. But Mr X (William Hootkins) is an impostor; feeling cheated, the owners of the club fire Micky and his girlfriend Nancy (Tara Fitzgerald) dumps him. Micky stows away to Ireland to find the real Josef Locke, who left the country for tax reasons, in order to get his job back and win the heart of his woman.

Although set in the 80s, this film evokes the 40s and 50s and the spirit of the Ealing Comedies, no more so than David McCallum's chief of police in his trilby and raincoat. The whimsical depiction of Ireland as a timeless romantic land of the fairies and bottomless wells is risible, as is the showbiz style dialogue ("close your eyes and you'll see whoever you want'). There's nothing meaningful in this film, it's nowhere near as good as the Ealing comedies or the work of Bill Forsyth. The only reason I would recommend you watch it is for the performance by Ned Beatty as the real Josef Locke, which won him a Golden Globe nomination.

Review by Stephen Cox
Taken from EUFS Programme 1995-96