Closing the Ring (2007)

Director:

Richard Attenborough

Writer:

Peter Woodward (writer)

Release Date:

28 December 2007 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Discover the love of a lifetime

Plot:

A young man searches for the proper owner of a ring that belonged to a United States World War II bomber pilot who had crashed onto the Cave Hill just outside Belfast in Northern Ireland on 1st June 1944.

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Shirley MacLaine	...	Ethel Ann
Christopher Plummer	...	Jack
Mischa Barton	...	Young Ethel Ann
Gregory Smith	...	Young Jack
Stephen Amell	...	Teddy Gordon
Brenda Fricker	...	Grandma Reilly
Martin McCann	...	Jimmy Reilly
Pete Postlethwaite	...	Michael Quinlan
John Travers	...	Young Quinlan
David Alpay	...	Chuck
Neve Campbell	...	Marie
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Layke Anderson	...	Army Corporal
Rosina Brown	...	Woman in Phonebox
Paul Charlton	...	Private Thompson
Tom Collins	...	Fergus
Harry Dickson	...	Belfast Taxi Driver
Stephen Don	...	RUC Officer
Maureen Dow	...	Woman in Air-raid Shelter
Anthony Finigan	...	Chubb
Allan Gildea	...	RUC Officer
Stephen Harland	...	Resident
Allan Hawco	...	Peter Etty
B.J. Hogg	...	Maguigan
John Kavanagh
Ian McElhinney	...	Cathal Thomas
Mathew McElhinney	...	Cathal Thomas
Dylan Roberts	...	Wilber
Kirsty Stuart	...	Eleanor Reilly

Also Known As:

Richard Attenborough's Closing the Ring (International: English title) (poster title)

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA | UK | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | Ireland:15A | UK:12A | Canada:14A | Brazil:12 | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK

Company:

CTR

Trivia:

The B-17 used in the filming of this movie is the "Yankee Lady", owned and operated by the Yankee Air Museum of Ypsilanti, MI. This aircraft also appeared in the movie "Tora! Tora! Tora!" The B-17 named Sally B also made an appearance in this film.

Quotes:

Ethel Ann: What's happening, Jimmy?
Jack: You're grieving, girl...

Lord Attenborough does a chick flick

I must hand it to Lord Attenborough who is attempting a chick flick to keep up with the times. Can anyone else attract the level of talent in the film: Christopher Plummer, Shirley Maclaine, Neve Campbell, Mischa Barton? The story has great promise. It opens with the funeral of a young woman's beloved daughter who is delivering her eulogy to a church full of veterans who knew and loved her father. Her mother, on the other hand, is sitting out on the church porch, smoking and nursing a hangover.

What develops from this story shows us a time when this mother was young, lively, and optimistic. She is in love with a young farmer who must go off to war. They always go out with two friends who are the best buds a guy could have.

The movie is also interspersed with a story that takes place in Belfast. You know that at some point, the film will have to knit these two elements together. There are numerous light moments to offset the darker experiences of love and loss during war. Ethel Ann (Maclaine)has loved well and was always loved but she is too self-involved to understand that she has used her own tragedies to punctuate her relationship with her daughter (Campbell).

Some of the younger actors in this are Canadian talent. I hope that this film gives them the exposure that they need to continue making their way up the talent ladder. David Alpay from Slings and Arrows is terrific as is Allan Hawco. I wanted to see more of them and less of Mischa Barton whose acting is wooden at the best of times.

At the Toronto Film Festival screening yesterday, the projector had a hiccup during the sow. Stephen Amell who plays Teddy got onto the stage and had an impromptu Q&A to save the day. It was fascinating to hear how he was cast and what kind of experience an actor has when they work with Richard Attenborough.