Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Country Girls (1983)
Director: Desmond Davis
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Clever Kate and naughty Baba are ingenuous heroines typical of novelist Edna O'Brien's shamrock imaginings. Growing together in leaps and bounds, the girls progress honourably from village to convent school, propelled from there by the boot of notoriety to Dublin. Maeve Germaine and Jill Doyle are splendid, cutting an irreverent swath through this lyrical romance, transforming guilty pleasures into innocent delights. And Sam Neill deserves a mention for recreating yet again a character of urbane charm and simian morals with no discernible sign of boredom. But it is finally director Davis' verdant vision of southern Ireland that opens out O'Brien's novel of '50s mores and manners to something that, although essentially a TV film, plays gracefully on the cinema screen.Author: FD
Cast & crew
Director: Desmond Davis
Producer: Aida Young
Cast: Sam Neill, Maeve Germaine, Jill Doyle, John Olohan, Britta Smith, Patricia Martin full cast
Duration: 108 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
London Children's Film Festival
Read our exclusive reviews of films playing at the 2009 London Children’s Film Festival
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now