Tuesday 15 July 2014

‘Mrs. Brown’s Boys D’Movie (15A)

Now Showing at Athlone IMC

The first movie of Irish mother Agnes Brown portrays her working on her Moore Street stall, which is in jeopardy from demolition, in a fiasco, which is aided by a corrupt politician and the Russian Mafia.  However this is the movies and it’s a Mrs. Brown story, so the odds are bound to move in the direction of Ireland’s favourite Mammy.
For three years now, the tv series, ‘Mrs. Brown’s Boys’ has topped the Irish and British tv ratings, and as was the course with tv comedies in the 70s, the hit series has now become a movie.  Seemingly the fourth season will run next year on television.

Dublin born stand-up comedian, Brendan O’Carroll has played Agnes Brown on stage and screen over the years, and he’s helped out by his wife, Jennifer Gibney, who plays his daughter, Cathy.   The scenario is similar to an act in Britain from sixty or seventy years ago, when there was a real life married couple, Arthur Shields and Kitty McShane who played the comic duo, Old Mother Reilly and daughter, Kitty.  However the O’Carroll and Gibney act is much more successful and they have a troupe of a dozen or so actors who are friends or relations and who appear in each of the Mrs. Brown incarnations on stage, television and now in a movie.
The storyline is similar enough to the plots of the tv series, ie about Mrs. Brown facing obstacles, and resulting in her attempting to triumph over adversity.
The day is saved, and the adventures along the way, are edge of the seat stuff.  The lead character is compelling to watch, as are the troupe of actors.
The cinematography of Dublin city is shown in all its positive glory, and the tourist board will probably gain dividends when the movie is shown out of Ireland.

David Flynn

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