7. The Snapper (1993)
An utterly charming television movie based on the eponymous book by Roddy Doyle, The Snapper is a funny, absorbing and affectionate look at a working class Dublin family - the Curleys - who are thrown into disarray when young Sharon becomes pregnant after a moment of drunken madness. There is a lot of gossip and speculation in the community whenever Sharon becomes pregnant as to who the baby's daddy is. Sharon is too ashamed to admit it and she learns who her real friends are. I won't spoil the movie by revealing the baby's daddy but it is cringe inducingly embarrassing for Sharon. Through the film, we get to know the Curley family quite well - they live in a cramped house and are always tripping over one another. Des Curley is the indomitable patriarch of the family and we are treated to his initial rage through to his acceptance and tender concern for Sharon as the birth draws near. Colm Meany does a wonderful job as always. Refreshingly free from Hollywood gloss, The Snapper is a very real and down to earth film. It is highly amusing when it comes to showing what it was like to be a single mother in early 1990s Dublin - portraying all of the gossip and wild speculation as to the baby's paternity. Everyone is obsessed with that aspect of the story and I think that writer Roddy Doyle was satirising Irish gossiping and nosiness, especially in tight knit communities like Barrytown. The film is impeccably acted and the characters are well developed so we grow to care about them. Colm Meany as Des Curley is a complex character but eminently loveable. There is a lot of compassion from Roddy Doyle for his characters. The film is not sanitised. Characters speak in authentic broad Dublin accents and the performances are naturalistic. I think the film is a little bit "too Irish" for widespread appeal but it is a cracking little film indeed for anyone who can decipher the dialogue and join in with the film's playful nature.