Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

DKosty123 This film is truly the autobiographic story of author Frank McCourt and the family of Limerick, Ireland. It does not pull any punches about growing up poor in a family that wants for everything and gets a lot of misery. The portraits of the family and the environment are stark and real.Told through the eyes of Frankie McCourt, there are many events that come through in vivid reality. The backbone of a fine novel shows up here. Everything from innocence of child hood to coming of age are told with a labor of misery, love and coming of age all taken into account. There is so much that it can overwhelm the viewer, yet it does seem to all come together in a very human way.You do not have to read the book to know this all has a gong of human beings and the fragile human condition all written into a long tale. The observations of young Frankie growing up throughout and of the adults in his life are something special.Frankie loves his father, though dad does only very basic human things to earn that love. He loves his mother, though he resents what she has to do to keep the family whole because of dad. He loses 2 brothers at young ages, and the movie gives a loving portrait of both. This story goes through a magnificent circle of life with much more reality than any Disney cartoon could ever portray. Magnificent music punctuates a cold wet miserable family life which only love and determination could get one to live through.

Python Hyena Angela's Ashes (1999): Dir: Alan Parker / Cast: Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle, Joe Breen, Ciaran Owens, Michael Legge: Fashioned together by many effective subplots that could stand alone. Title refers to trials and heartaches of a woman who raises her children practically by herself yet losing some in the process. Her husband constantly wastes their income at the bars. This subplot is unfortunately left hanging in conclusion. Director Alan Parker does a skilled job. His range of genres stretches from Midnight Express to Pink Floyd: The Wall. Strong acting by Emily Watson who pushes forward despite overbearing odds and every problem that presented itself. Robert Carlyle as her drunken husband knows how low he has sunk and the disappointment he presents to his family. One could say that he just lived on with emotional consequences but that area of the story seems loosely handled. Joe Breen, Michael Legge and Ciaran Owens are the young actors who portray Angela's son whose point of view we observe throughout. They are featured to represent each of the three acts that doesn't quite payoff the screenplay. He sympathizes with his father but feels closure with his mother whom risked much so that he may obtain a future. It is a well crafted film that doesn't always work but its message is mending life where others saw fit to break it. Score: 7 / 10

grantss Engaging bitter-sweet movie.Based on Frank McCourt's Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name, the movie details the childhood years of Frank McCourt in Ireland. Hardly the childhood anyone would wish for: abject poverty, three siblings die, father is unemployed and an alcoholic.Shows the conditions some people were, and are, forced to live in. Is pretty much a roller-coaster of misery. Every positive event is followed by a negative one. Very sad.Yet, between these harrowing episodes there's levity and some quite funny moments. If there wasn't, it would probably be too depressing to handle.Most importantly, you empathise with the characters and share in their ups and downs, as all good dramas should cause you to do.On the negative side, the ending feels a bit rushed and incomplete. But then again, the ultimate ending would show the rest of McCourt's life and how it turned out. That would be whole new movie... It certainly was a whole new book, as McCourt wrote a sequel to Angela's Ashes, "'Tis: A Memoir". This has, as yet, not been made into a movie.

JohnLeeT Ms. Emily Watson gives what is nothing less than the acting performance of the decade in this wonderful film which is made even more powerful by the magic she brings to the screen. No one else on stage or screen has astonished audiences and brought them to their feet tearfully cheering the way Ms. Watson has over the course of her career. No, Ms. Watson is not a superstar, just a Super Actor. That she was not awarded the Academy Award for this incredible characterization renders the Oscars meaningless for all time! She alone puts her soul into a role and becomes at one with whoever she portrays in such stunning ways that it is beyond description. What she does in the part of Angela will rip your heart out and leave you gasping, overwhelmed by what you have experienced. While the reviews of this film have not been universally positive, no critic with any spiritual connection with art has done anything but praise Emily Watson for her magisterial work in bringing Angela to life, including Frank McCourt, the son of the woman she so elegantly portrays! In so doing, Ms. Watson has added one more performance for the ages to the history of fine cinema and one that will touch the hearts of viewers for generations to come, never to be forgotten and forever a gift to those who treasure truly great Acting with a capital A. There may never be another actor like her in our time for she is a unique gem that can never be replicated.