USA: PREMIERE OF AILEEN RITCHIES' FIRST FEATURE FILM "THE CLOSER YOU GET " ABOUT IRISH VILLAGE LIFE STARS IAN HART

Record ID: 389583

  • Title: USA: PREMIERE OF AILEEN RITCHIES' FIRST FEATURE FILM "THE CLOSER YOU GET " ABOUT IRISH VILLAGE LIFE STARS IAN HART
  • Date: 15th March 2000
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) (SOUNDBITE) (English) IAN HART SAYING "It's that separation of cultures, what they think Americans are like, you know what I mean. It's completely one dimensional, naive view -- it's Playboy. All women from America look like they do in Playboy, and they don't. It's good enough, if you're going to fool
  • Embargoed: 30th March 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, US AND VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVACH7C0WZ3I8B9JY0BD844UUXBX
  • Story Text: Director Aileen Ritche's first full-length feature film, "The Closer You Get", an old-fashioned and quaint ethnic comedy starring Ian Hart about Irish village folk who can't stop acting like bumpkins when it comes to anything to do with sex, has been released in the United States.
    Set in the present day, the film shows a community where the 20-year-old Bo Derek feature "10" is considered a shocking film, and where the local postmaster snoops into people's mail to see if they're getting anything too racy.
    The film has drawn comparisons to the "The Full Monty," a film with which it shares producer Uberto Pasolini.
    The gag in British writer William Ivory's screenplay is that the supposedly eligible boys in a small town in rugged County Donegal are so hard up for available women that they place an advertisement in the Miami Herald for "sporty, sexy, attractive" young ladies to come over and see what happens.
    These guys are far from the world's greatest catches: Kieran (Hart) is an impulsive, vile-tempered butcher; his older brother, Ian (Sean McGinley), is a balding sheep farmer; the stocky Ollie (Pat Shortt) is as sexually aware as Peter Pan, while the teenage Sean (Sean McDonagh) seems like the likeliest candidate to flee the town at the earliest opportunity.
    Once the boys send off the ad, their sense of expectation heightens life for them in a way previously unknown in the little town, where the local priest sadly notes that he has performed many funerals but no weddings.In order to stand out from the crowd, Kieran has his hair dyed bleach-blond, the shy Ollie orders porn magazines and urgently searches for a way to lose his virginity before the Yanks arrive, and the men in general start preening and grooming themselves to an extent never before witnessed.
    The boys hope that some women will arrive from America in time for the year's grand event, the St.Martha's Day dance.
    But when the date draws near and not a stranger has stepped off the bus, the fellows grow agitated and despondent.For their part, the local women have taken matters into their own hands and tracked down some men closer by, a bunch of spirited Spanish fishermen who agree to play music at the dance.Their presence provokes a vicious racist outburst from Kieran, who then slides into pathetic emotionalism by fighting with outgoing pub owner Pat (Ewan Stewart) and admitting his deep feelings for his long-suffering employee, Siobhan (Cathleen Bradley).
    Directing her first full-length feature is Aileen Ritchie, who attracted some attention with her short "Double Nougat." The film was shot entirely on location in County Donegal.
    "The Closer You Get" is presently in wide release in North American theatres.
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