User reviews

This story about a doomed romance begins when the professor Kieran(a serious James Caan) discovers photos from his mother's youth .He decides investigate his Irish roots but he wishes to know the authentic identity about his father . He travels along with his niece(a sympathetic Jacob Tierney)toward Irland where he believes his father resides. Meanwhile, the events are told in flashback with the romantic story of Kieran(a sensible acting by Aidan Quinn), a poor waif adopted by a good couple farmer and beautiful teenaged Fiona(Farrelly with similar countenance to Patricia Arquette).

This dramatic film displays love and passion, but also hatred and tragedy. It portrays Irish customs, despotic priests, the class differences in rural Ireland in the 30s and the tragedies it originates . Casting is frankly excellent. Aidan Quinn is magnificent as affecting farmer tenant, Farrelly as wealthy young girl is gorgeous and James Caan as middle age teacher is nice . The secondary cast, Stephen Rea as authoritative priest, John Cusack as a ¨Life¨ review photographer-pilot and Bernard Gleeson as agreeable guard-man are very fine. This is a familiar film where all Quinn family have intervened . Evocative cinematography by Declan Quinn and Irish music score with folk sounds . Writing based on a story Theresa Quinn told her children. The motion picture is well directed by Paul Quinn. Rating : Good and better than average. The film will like to romantic drama buffs.

This Is My Father is a very honest film that touches the heart. The acting is flawless and the side-kick of a modern day love story compares different times in a nice way. James Caan plays this middle aged teacher that never had sought his origin in Ireland, but in doing so he discovers a new understanding to his mother's apparent depression after a stroke. Beneath there I sense a message to the ways of the Catholic Church and authority figures which unfortunately still applies today, in a way. This movie is a gem that deserves attention. - 8/10.

Paul Quinn, the director of "This is my father", shows a tremendous talent for bringing this fine layered story to the screen. Working on his own screen play, he was obviously the right person to be at the helm of this fine film. It appears that he got a lot of help, not only of his own brothers, but from a lot of well meaning people in this production.

If you haven't watched the film, maybe you should stop reading.

The film focuses on Kieran Johnson, the Chicago schoolteacher, ones encounters at the beginning of the movie with his students. His sick mother, Fiona, is being taken care at home by a daughter, and Kieran helps in his own, limited way. Watching his mother in her sick bed motivates him to go to Ireland in a voyage to discover a part of his life which he never knew.

Upon arrival, accompanied by his nephew, they go to the rural area where his mother rears from. They get to stay at a modest bed and breakfast run by a greedy man. Seamus' old mother holds the key to the mystery surrounding how he came to be born and to know the truth about what happened to his mother. In the process we are taken in flashbacks to another era.

Kieran O'Day, is a young man working in a small farm with the Meaneys. Beautiful Fiona is a local girl living with a widowed mother. It's obvious from the start these two like one another in more ways than meet the eye. The local town is dominated by the ruthless priests that see smut and lewdness in every one in the small town. In fact, most of what derails the lives of all of the people in the story seems to have been caused by the narrow mindedness of the clergy that held such a grip in the Irish society of the time.

Kieran and Fiona eventually realize the love they feel for one another, but fate will come between them in unexpected ways. The film ends in tragedy, as Kieran Johnson gets to know that O'Day was his father and what became of him.

In a lovely sequence, we watch as young Kieran and Fiona make a detour to a nearby beach because the car they've been traveling breaks down. While walking in the beach, they witness as a single engine plane come for a landing near them. They meet the American pilot, Eddie Sharp, a National Geographic photographer, who is taking pictures of Ireland. It's a lovely moment where the would-be-lovers interplay with the stranger and all seem to be at peace. Eddie is responsible for taking the only picture where Kieran and Fiona are seen together. That is the only clue left for their son to go on his search for their past.

The amazing, largely Irish, cast do an outstanding job in recreating the people in the story. Moya Farrelly, the lovely young Fiona, is one of the best things in the film. Aidan Quinn, as Kieran, delivers a good performance in his portrayal of this lonely man of the country who finds love that proves to be fatal. James Caan, as Kieran Johnson, has some good moments, but of course, he is only seen in a few key scenes. John Cusack's contribution as the friendly aviator is one of the highlights of the movie.

The supporting cast makes the film what it is. Colm Meany, Donald Donnelly, Gina Moxley, Brendan Gleeson, Stephen Rea, Moira Deady, among others, are the main reason for watching the movie. Most of them have had better opportunities in other movies, but as an ensemble they respond to Mr. Quinn's direction.

Congratulations to Paul Quinn. We wish him well in whatever project he decides to direct!

There aren't many films these days that bring a tear to the eye for legitimate emotional reasons. "This is my Father",happily, is one of them that should! Beautifully acted, imaginatively directed, this movie will undoubtedly have a short run. It doesn't meet today's standards of gore, brutality or computer generated non-realities. But if you want to see a movie that will tug at your heart and sensitivities,hurry down and see this heartbreaking ,yet heartwarming, story of requited ,yet unfulfilled, love.My test for a movie is very simple and timeworn. If I am sorry to see the credits roll, I know I've seen a fine movie.Man,was I sad to see those credits roll on bye.

A teacher (James Caan) finds some photos that let him know his mother hadn't been truthful about who his father was. He takes his troubled grandson and heads to a small village in Ireland to seek out the truth, what he find is a very romantic and rich story of the past. I wouldn't have thought James Caan would have been the best actor for this role, but he definitely pulled it off well...as did the supporting cast. As with most films shot in Ireland, you can't help but be taken by the scenery. A lesser known film that's worth a look.

*** (out of 4)

Oh my God, I'm on a roll with these obscure movies I never heard of. Somebody please tell me how these movies had little if any press yet are so good.

This gem takes place in both the modern day and back in Ireland in the late 1930's. It is a story of where one man came from. Who his father was and how he was connected to his mother.

Gorgeous cinematography and solid acting make this a must see! Once again, it caters to my love of movies about people with flavor, zest, zeal and the bittersweet truths of life.

Give it a watch, you'll be glad you did.

Widowed Kieran Johnson (James Caan) is a high school history teacher in Chicago. His sister struggles to take care of their mother Fiona Flynn with dementia and her teenage son Jack. Kieran takes Jack back to Ireland to search for their roots. In Kilronan, he discovers that his teenage mother Fiona fell in love with poor farm worker Kieran O'Dea (Aidan Quinn) who may be his biological father.

The performances are lovely. James Caan starts it off with really nice character work. The flashbacks have Aidan Quinn doing solid work. He delivers a gruff charm. Moya Farrelly is a sweet newcomer. This is a fine Irish love tragedy with good performances anchoring it.

Very well acted and well written. Beautifully filmed, with great music. But a sad tale. I am of Irish lineage, and I can see why my ancestors left Ireland. I wonder how many lives the Roman Catholic Church ruined with their meddling. Aidan Quinn and Moya Farrelly are terrific.

I didn't think that "This Is My Father" was a masterpiece, but still worth seeing. James Caan plays Kieran, a history teacher who decides to go to his mother's native Ireland to find out why she left, and specifically, who his father was.

A particularly effective scene is when Kieran's nephew Jack meets some Irish girls. They get to talking about Northern Ireland and the girls have to explain to the boy the reason for what's going on there. In other words, Jack is learning as much about modern Ireland as Kieran is about what the island was like in the '30s*. I found that to be the best scene in the movie.

Anyway, worth seeing.

*Due to Éire's economic collapse amid the worldwide financial crisis, it's back to where it was in the '30s economically.

Although this tragic valentine is mostly the labour of love of the Brothers Quinn (Aidan, Declan, and Paul), James Caan excels even more with what should have been a thankless role. As the teacher and uncle spurred on a search for his roots after discovering an old picture of his mother with an unknown man, Caan lends subtle dimensionality and nuances that ring true on every chord. The Irish countryside is lovingly filmed. But Paul Quinn never really decided whether this was a slice-of-life or an epic. He had many stories he wanted to tell, and ran out of time to conclude most of them while wasting far too much screen time reinforcing what we already knew about Fiona's stereotypical propertied widow mother and the kindly farmer with the somewhat shrewish wife who adopted Aidan Quinn's character, Kieron. The actor playing Father Morton also failed to supply new insights after his initial appearance. Stephen Rea is brilliant in a cameo as a fire-and-brimstone visiting priest. John Cusack adds a brief touch of magic, but adds nothing to the narrative. Moya Farrelly scores big in her cinematic debut as Quinn's love interest. Their chemistry is electric. All the townspeople are believably played and the music is marvelous. But it is annoying that the curses are colorfully bestowed and given interesting beginnings, but we never are let in on the final fate of the widow. More annoying still is being introduced to the nephew's turbulent yet loving familial relationships, watch a parallel develop, and then dropped. What effect does all this have on Kieren's sister, the boy's mother, who is equally entrenched emotionally in the search, but disappears without payoff?

Overall, this is well worth seeing. It might have been better with more experienced editing and directing, and perhaps, a crisper script. Yet, flaws and all, it remains enjoyable on its own terms.

James Caan is always good to watch. Plus there were many faces you don't see in Hollywood, which is a big plus for me.

I particularly find foreign films refreshing, and while this may have had Canadian production, the Irish backdrop provides a glimpse into a less complicated time with far more interesting people.

There is a revealing and delightful conversation between the young nephew and two local Irish girls.

The modern story did not detract from the movie, in fact I found it interesting also.

Aidan Quinn has put on some weight and does a fabulous job here...I was not a big fan before. Apparently his family produced this film.

It is definitely worth a watch for the locale and a believable love story.

The only down side was the fate of one of the characters.

"This Is My Father" is not particularly original about Irish families, from "Circle of Love" etc. and Alice McDermott's book "Charming Billy" among many others, but it is lovely.

I like Aidan Quinn in just about anything, and I appreciate that this is a familial labor of love as one brother wrote and directed and another brother turns out to be a terrific cinematographer.

The music is OK Celtic, not that special, though I think I recall that Sharon Shannon was the fiddler.

The film is mostly good for an unsentimental look at how vicious small towns can be to live in. This is not a sentimental look at the olde sod.

James Caan is quite good.

(originally written 5/20/99)

I just wanted to do a fancy Irish jig after watching this film. Coming in with little to no expectations, I was elated to sit back and actually watch a good old fashion romantic tragedy unfold. The Quinn brothers (Aidan, Paul, Declan) should be immensely proud of this hard won film achievement. It was a treat to watch. James Caan stars as a emotionally distant man who has little information on his past, more specifically, on who his father was. He travels to Ireland with his nephew to find his roots.

The film is really a triumph of writing and acting. Aidan Quinn, who stars as the farmboy, gives his most powerful performance ever. After nearly sleepwalking through his entire career, it is this film that the actor truly digs deep and takes the audience through the wringer of emotions. It's an astonishing performance and will be remembered at the end of the year. Caan also brings something new to his table, restraint. Newcomer Moya Farrelly shines brightly as the young mother to be. I liked her spunk and her ability to make the role seem more believable than I suspect the page held. Director Paul Quinn has a steady eye for Ireland. While we've all seen the small village life in that country many times before, Quinn has the ability to make it all seem new and fresh. The screenplay isn't a joyous one. It's rather dark but the emotional impact is shattering. This is one solid movie in almost every way you can conceive. I hope more Irish tales are on the way from the brothers Quinn. --------------- 9

While the movie was OK, I was terribly upset by the accurate portrayal of how the church affects people, not only in Ireland where the film takes place, but all over the world. People seem to give credit to God when good things happen, but after a tragedy they say "The Lord works in mysterious ways." It sickens me to see the hold that the church (ALL churches) has over the peoples of the world .. and films like this bring it to the fore. I read that someone in the Quinn family tells this as a true story. It made me wonder who this "Quinn" was, and how she was related to Aiden and his brothers. I do recommend the movie .. it was very moving and sad.

For anyone who thinks that life wasn't ever like this in Ireland, think again.

Class boundaries meant that such romances involving the two leads were seriously frowned upon by most, if not all, people back then.

The film, I think, captures perfectly the period. I didn't notice a single item/scene that wasn't right for the time involved. Down to things like the cutlery etc. were very much in keeping with the era.

The story doesn't have the conventional _Happy Ever After_ ending too, which, for a relatively mainstream film, must be a bonus. It's quite tiring seeing everyone walk happily into the sunset hand-in-hand when real life is anything but. The sex scene was very well done and probably realistic, not that I'd know about that :-).

For an Irish person, it was great seeing Mrs. Riordan in the role as the story teller :-). What an incredibly over-the-top performance! As for Meaney, Gleeson and Shortt (the other cop), excellent too!

James.

A somewhat interesting tale of an adult child who lives with his adopted family and falls for young woman whose widowed mother objects. The reasons they shouldn't be a couple is never really made clear or addressed, but the whole town seems to believe it, so therefore we must.

The acting is fine, and the story not completely uninteresting. What bogs it down it the loathsome present day story from which this story results. An aging man and his rebellious nephew travel to their Irish homeland and bribe an old witchy woman to tell them the tale of their relatives.

It's downright corny as we watch the childish parallels of the nephew falling for a local street trollop and the uncle worry about the curse (to which there is zero payoff).

This movie left me grasping for words to describe my feelings. Words seem so inadequate when we are moved and touched by a drama. This movie has it all: humor, awakening love, pathos, loss. This will definitely be added to my video library.

How unfortunate that what could have been an interesting story (a man trying to find out about the father he never knew) has to take a turn toward an anti-Catholic Irish film. Like so many motion pictures today, this one includes all the myths: that the Church cares only about money, that it is obsessed with sex, that priests are twisted men, that the Church is repressive, that confession is punitive, and that the Church kills people and then doesn't care about them.

The film passes itself off as a pseudo-true story when, in fact, it is not. When orphan Kieran (Aidan Quinn) falls for the young and rebellious Fiona Flynn, it is a doomed relationship from the start. Improper advice from a twisted priest leads the couple further down a road from which there will be no return.

The story is a tragic love story, in the style of Romeo and Juliet. Again, it's a shame that the writer and producer felt it necessary to paint the Catholic Church as the bad guy. Any unsuspecting, or uneducated film goer will walk away blaming the Church for every tragedy in the film.

Not many people will admit they saw, "This Is My Father", a touching, Romeo and Juliet looking film that has such warm sentimentality and such quiet dignity, that you have to defend yourself for seeing it. But defend you must. This is filmmaking at its gut level best, made by the Quinn family (Aidan, Paul, and Declan) no doubt to honor their Irish heritage as well as their father. The film does a nice job of splitting the scenes of present day, when Kieran is trying to find out about his father and the past, through the words of Mrs. Kearney retelling the ill-fated romance between Kiernan's mother Fiona and his father with the same name. The film details the harsh existence of country life and the stoicism of the Irish people suffering from both their poverty and an oppressive religion that does not recognize the meaning of love. The acting is commendable but my heart goes out to Moya Farrelly as the young Fiona - her screen presence is just as electrifying as the Greta Garbo she so much admires. One gripe with the Quinn brothers - why throw in the little nothing romance between Jack and Maria if you don't do anything with it. It could have served as a vehicle to show that the roots of the Fiona and Kieran tragedy run deep, even today, by showing lovers rejected because of where they come from. That aside, go see "This Is My Father" and don't be ashamed to say you saw it and enjoyed it.

Great movie making, the acting and directing was first class, great kudos to Aidan Quinn, who I loved in another great "Crusoe". James Caan was fantastic and highly believable, though the beginning of the movie seemed a bit slow. There were many sentimental moments and many happy moments. Its not a new story concept, but it was masterfully accomplished. The ending is thrown about with a bit of surprise. If there would be a weakness to the storytelling, it would be that the continuity in Caan's character should not have ended. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone that wants to see a story equaling the moving power of "Legends of the Fall" and maybe even "Gone with the Wind". Okay, maybe I'm stretching it a bit, but see it, you'll enjoy it.

Excellent movie. Shows unequivocally, the reality of a small rural village in Ireland. There were misconceptions about the origin of the people and the Catholic Church was the one who ran the steps. I could not but recall the social customs of my country a few years ago. Permanently influenced by the priests of the Catholic Church, who in my opinion, do not interpret the message of Jesus. In those days, I mean the 50's, with their preaching, strongly separated classes, causing people to "fear God, " not to allow marriages between poor and other less poor. Fortunately, some disobeyed and so many of us can be in this world. Remarkable performance by Aidan Quinn.