The Closer You Get (2000)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Aileen Ritchie

Writers:

Herbie Wave (story)
William Ivory (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 June 2000 (New Zealand)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

It's hard to see what's right in front of your eyes when there's so much more to look at.

Plot:

Irish lads send an ad to the Miami Herald inviting fit and enticing women, between the ages of 20 and 21...

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Ian Hart	...	Kieran
Sean McGinley	...	Ian
Niamh Cusack	...	Kate
Ruth McCabe	...	Mary
Ewan Stewart	...	Pat
Pat Shortt	...	Ollie
Cathleen Bradley	...	Siobhan
Sean McDonagh	...	Sean
Risteard Cooper	...	Father Hubert Mallone
Maureen O'Brien	...	Dollie
Pat Laffan	...	Giovanni
Britta Smith	...	Mrs. Duncannon
Joan Sheehy	...	Joan
Patricia Martin	...	Mrs. Lock
Dessie Gallagher	...	Mickey
Deborah Barnett	...	Ella
Frank Laverty	...	Brian
Doreen Keogh	...	Mrs Giovanni
Pauline Hutton	...	Deirdra
Nuala O'Neill	...	Molly
Michael McDougall	...	Liam
Nora Keneghan	...	Mrs Campbell
Antonio Sierra	...	Spanish sailor
Massimo Marraccini	...	Spanish sailor
Tito Heredia	...	Spanish sailor
Thomas Timoney	...	Spanish sailor
Philippe Buret	...	Spanish sailor
Brian Cannon	...	Bus driver
Nikki Fox	...	American girl
Karen Noble	...	American girl
Regina Ford	...	American girl
Jackie Quinn	...	Jackie Fitzpatrick (as Jack Quinn)

Directed by
Aileen Ritchie

Writing credits
Herbie Wave		(story)
William Ivory		(screenplay)

Produced by
Mark Huffam	....	co-producer
Polly Leys	....	co-producer
Uberto Pasolini	....	producer

Original Music by
Rachel Portman

Cinematography by
Robert Alazraki

Film Editing by
Sue Wyatt

Casting by
Maureen Hughes

Production Design by
Tom McCullagh

Art Direction by
Shane Bunting
Jean Kerr

Costume Design by
Kathy Strachan

Makeup Department
John Henry Gordon	....	key hair stylist
Pamela Smyth	....	hair designer
Pamela Smyth	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Brian Cannon	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
J.C. Bonar	....	trainee assistant director
Jenny Faherty	....	trainee assistant director
Konrad Jay	....	assistant director
Karen Richards	....	assistant director
Dermot Whelan	....	assistant director

Art Department
John Paul Boyle	....	props trainee
Lisa Canty	....	assistant art director
Joe Cassar	....	stand-by carpenter
Roland Coyne	....	construction manager
Donal Duddy	....	carpenter
Jim Dunleavy	....	painter (as James Dunleavy)
Derek John Ede	....	supervising carpenter
James Ede	....	stand-by painter
Steve Ede	....	construction manager
Cos Egan	....	chargehand dressing props
Eoin Egan	....	props trainee
Steve Furneaux	....	carpenter
Danny Gallagher	....	painter
Neilie Gallagher	....	carpenter
John Greene	....	carpenter
Malcolm Keen	....	supervising painter (as Malcolm Keane)
Kevin Kelsall	....	carpenter
Emer MacAvin	....	production buyer
Keith Matthews	....	props trainee
Shaun McCole	....	painter
Jerome McDonnell	....	stand-by props
Gary McGinty	....	draughtsman
Patrick McHugh	....	stagehand
Philip Murphy	....	props
Philip Murphy	....	stand-by props
Denis O'Boyle	....	carpenter
Brian Bruno O'Donnell	....	laborer
Gary O'Donnell	....	carpenter
Laurence O'Toole	....	graphic artist (as Lawrence O'Toole)
Jim Parker	....	dressing props
Brendan Power	....	supervising painter
Robbie Richardson	....	supervising painter
D.W. Sowerby	....	carpenter
Adrian Start	....	supervising painter
Jim Taylor	....	supervising plasterer
Tony Vice	....	chargehand plasterer
Steve Wheeler	....	property master

Sound Department
Brendan Breen	....	sound trainee
Steve Carr	....	sound recording engineer
Felicity Cottrell	....	foley artist
Robert Farr	....	sound re-recording mixer
Zane Hayward	....	sound editor
Stewart Henderson	....	adr editor
Stewart Henderson	....	dialogue editor
Peter Lindsay	....	production sound mixer
Malcolm Rose	....	sound maintenance
Jack Stew	....	foley artist
Andy Thompson	....	adr re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Tim Baxter	....	optical effects
Martin Neill	....	special effects supervisor

Stunts
Donal O'Farrell	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Andrew Cole	....	best boy
Andy Cole	....	best boy
Sean Corcoran	....	camera operator: second unit
Shane Deasy	....	second focus puller
P.J. Dillon	....	second focus puller
John Donoghue	....	gaffer
Seamus 'Gary' Donoghue	....	electrician
Sarah Francis	....	clapper loader
Gary Hutchings	....	grip
David Kennedy	....	gaffer
Ginger McCarthy	....	stand-by rigger
Anthony Meade	....	camera trainee
Ivan Meagher	....	focus puller
Patrick Redmond	....	still photographer
William Tracey	....	generator operator

Casting Department
Amelia Rowan	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lian Callaghan	....	costume assistant
Colette Jackson	....	costume supervisor
Emer Ó'Laoghaire	....	costume assistant

Editorial Department
Susan Bodnar	....	third assistant editor
Alec Gibson	....	color timer
Daryl Jordan	....	first assistant editor
Conor Mackey	....	second assistant editor

Music Department
Chris Dibble	....	music recording engineer
Tito Heredia	....	musician: Spanish guitar
John Parricelli	....	musician: lead guitar
Steve Pelleut	....	assistant recording engineer
David Snell	....	conductor

Other crew
Chris Cozens	....	auricle operator
Enda Doherty	....	production trainee
Cathy Doubleday	....	script supervisor
Lil Heyman	....	production coordinator
Stephen Killen	....	location manager
Bernadette Lovett	....	assistant coordinator
Claire McBride	....	assistant location manager
Josephine Olive-O'Neill	....	assistant accountant
Josephine Olive-O'Neill	....	assistant production accountant
Sue Wall	....	production accountant
Sian Williams	....	choreographer

Production Companies

• Redwave Films

Distributors

• 20th Century Fox (Far East)
• FS Film Oy (2001) (Finland) (VHS)
• Fox Searchlight Pictures
• Hispano Foxfilms S.A.E. (Spain)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
• Twentieth Television (USA) (TV) (as 20th Television) (a News Corporation company)
• UGC-Fox Distribution (UFD) (France)

Other Companies

• ARRI Lighting Rental  lighting equipment
• Capital FX, London  titles and opticals
• Goldcrest Post Production London  sound recording
• Lansdowne Studios  music recorded at
• Panavision UK  grip equipment
• RCA Victor  soundtrack
• Sapex Scripts  post-production script
• Sapex Scripts  post-production services
• Tru-Cut  negative cutting

Also Known As:

American Women (USA) (video title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief language and some sexual material.

Runtime:

Japan:93 min | USA:90 min

Country:

UK | Ireland

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:6 | New Zealand:M | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Australia:M

Company:

Redwave Films

Goofs:

Continuity: Ollie sets his tool chest down outside Mary's store. Then he picks it up and opens the door to enter. The next shot - from inside - shows him entering without the chest. The chest is not seen again.

Quotes:

Siobhan: For 90% of a given day, you're adjustin' your bollocks... scratchin' your bollocks... or otherwise playin' with your bollocks!

Movie Connections:

References The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)

Soundtrack:

America

Jon Monsarrat review: slow-paced but amusing

I'm an action movie buff, so mostly I like films that blow up. I like comedies too, but I expect a fast pace and not too much arty melodrama. "The Closer You Get" (called "American Women" in the USA) is an amusing and somewhat slow-paced Irish comedy that I found an acceptable crossover film to rent with my SO, who doesn't like action films. The plot wraps up satisfyingly.

Like many Irish films I've seen, it's charming and has plenty of small town culture. I would, however, recommend "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain" (which is really Welsch), or "The Full Monty" first, which are similar but better.

I'll give "The Closer You Get" a ho-hum but not exactly bad 5 out of 10.