I saw this film last night, and had never even heard of it till a few days ago.
Pierce Brosnan (using his native Irish accent, in a bizarre twist!) plays real life historical figure Desmond Doyle, a man whose wife ran out on him leading the government to repossess his children, forcing them to live with nuns. Doyle took his case to the supreme court, and SPOILERS (if you've never seen a movie before) he won END SPOILERS
There's not one bad player in the cast, but all the same even though all the individual elements are strong (and the story that it's based on is compelling) I'd be hard pressed to call this essential viewing.
It's just a little too cute for it's own good (there are numerous incidents of CGI bloom lighting being referred to as "angel rays" sent by departed relatives) and a little too safe. Despite the fact that the church in this film is essentially stealing children from poor people and then abusing them once they are in their clutches, the film never dares to suggest that perhaps religion itself is anything less than wholesome. Desmond's mother in law is at first gleeful that her oaf of a SIL is getting his kids handed over to nuns, but when she learns that her kids are getting beaten up by the Church she flips out at the nun who did the beating. However, what lead her to embrace her kids being removed from their parent in the first place -- her religious faith-- is never once questioned
The film is trying to tell a story of one man versus the "cozy conspiracy between church and state" (the film's wording, not mine) but never has the guts to critizize the church's role in all this.
Anyway,
EVELYN is worthwhile if you're a fan of Brosnan or want to catch up on your Irish history ( My genetics bestowed in me a special predilection for any film about the Emerald Isle) but it's hard to recommend the film on any level beyond that
PS The movie gets it's title from Brosnan's daughter, but Brosnan had three kids, two of whom the film seems barely concerned with at all. At one point in the movie someone says that Brosnan's battle will be like 'David vs Goliath', to which Brosnan pithily quips 'In the book I read, David won'. Evelyn is a totally anonymous title for a film. It could literally be a movie about anything. In my opinion, a better title would be "Desmond Vs Goliath" or perhaps "Doyle Vs Goliath"
PPS At one point in the film Aiden Quinn remarks that Brosnan needs to clean up his disheveled appearance before his court date. The camera cuts to Brosnan with a five o'clock shadow, looking as dapper and Bond like as ever. It's kind of hilarious
