Rory O'Shea Was Here
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Movie Reviews of Rory O'Shea Was Here
Movie Review: A Unique film.
Summary: 5 Stars
Two disabled men find that working together will bring them both closer to the life they wanted and at the same time did not know they could accomplish.Movie Review: Rory O`Shea was here
Summary: 5 Stars
Exellent movie, very touching though a bit depressing at times. The leads(Mcavoy, Robertson and Garai) are all excellent.Movie Review: Rory O'Shea
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the best movie. I have watched it many times and I still cry everytime. Love it.Movie Review: An Emotional Roller Coaster in Excellent Film...
Summary: 4 Stars
Living without anyone being able to understand what one is saying might be very difficult, but if one never has had anyone understand them it's all one expects out of life. This is the case for Michael Connolly (Steven Robertson) who suffers from cerebral palsy, which gives him the inability to control the movement of his muscles. However, through decades of training he has developed some movements, even though it is extremely difficult for him to control the movement. At Carrigmore - A Home for Special People Michael has learned to communicate through slowly pointing on an alphabet board, but it is a very tedious accomplishment even when it comes to expressing a few words. But it is all he knows, the life within Carrigmore.
Damien O'Donnell, a name some might recognize from films such as Heartlands (2002) and East is East (1999), has created a poignant film about two young men that both are wheelchair bound. In addition to Michael, the rebellious Rory O'Shea (James McAvoy) has just arrived to the Carrigmore where he quickly makes himself known as a troublemaker. However, he has one unique gift, he can understand what Michael is saying. Michael for the first time experiences what chatting is about and feels ecstatic about this, to most trivial, but to him a precious and extraordinary event. They quickly become friends, as Michael has no one else to talk to and Rory has no one that listens to him.
Rory takes it on himself to teach Michael about life outside Carrigmore of which he is completely unaware. For the first time he got to drink alcohol and feel the rouse of drunkenness along with the warm touch of a woman's kiss. There are many firsts for Michael, who for the first time gets to experience life and the freedom that life can bring while outside an institutional setting with the constant attention and rules. Blissful Michael embraces what he learns from Rory, as he also learns that they can apply for independent living.
Rory O'Shea Was Here delivers different views of life than what the brilliant The Sea Inside (2004) does which deals with a quadriplegic that desires to end his life. Here the main character strives to experience life, as all he has known is the restricted life within an institution. The major difference is with the protagonist in The Sea Inside, as he had lived life to the fullest before his life was suddenly snatched away through a tragic accident after which he lived in a bed for decades. The difference can be experienced through Michael who vividly experiences the smallest changes as great adventures. Well, I cannot judge one or the other; it is their life and their life to live. However, it is a very positive feeling that arouses when one can observe Michael learn new simple things in life.
One thing that O'Donnell considers in his film is that life is not always pleasant, which he also addresses through a couple of riveting scenes. It is through the pain of these experiences that Michael and Rory feel where the audience will connect in a more humane manner, as he finds a way to persist. In addition, the performances by Steven Robertson and James McAvoy are remarkable, as they help make the film feel even more genuine. Ultimately, the audience will have gone through an emotional roller coaster that will have pulled and yanked the viewer in all different directions, which leaves with a few notions to ponder in regards to quality of life.
Movie Review: "Rory O'Shea" was well worth the wait!
Summary: 4 Stars
I had been waiting to see this movie for six months, and thanks to the kindness of strangers, a showing was arranged on campus. After months of reading reviews and contenting myself with watching the trailer and assorted clips, I finally had the chance to become acquainted with Rory O'Shea.
"Rory O'Shea Was Here" centers on the lives of two young men trapped in Carrigmore, a Dublin care home "for special people." Lifelong resident Michael Connelly has cerebral palsy, which leaves him with tremors, limited manual dexterity (he is a wheelchair user), and a severe speech impairment. Abandoned by his famous barrister father, quiet, shy Michael is intelligent, but is frustrated by his lack of ability to communicate. He is reduced to pointing at letters on a chart, since his speech comes out as a series of grunts and moans. He has resigned himself to a dull existence at Carrigmore, forced to watch children's cartoons with the other patients.
All of this changes with the arrival of Rory O'Shea, a twenty-year-old punk in a motorized wheelchair, completely paralyzed except for two fingers by advanced Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Rory bursts into placid Carrigmore like an angry whirlwind, all leather, spiked hair, and a nose ring, offering a scathing nonstop commentary. He quickly angers supervisor Eileen (Brenda Fricker, My Left Foot) by blasting Slipknot in the middle of the night, and seeks an accomplice to gel his hair once the nurses are banned to do so.
Quiet, rule-abiding Michael resents the loud, obnoxious Rory, until he discovers that Rory can understand his laboured speech and act as his interpreter. Michael becomes Rory's partner in crime as the two sneak off on a pub crawl during a collection, cementing an unlikely friendship and giving Michael a taste of the world outside. Michael is inspired to apply for an independent living grant so that the two can have their own flat and carer (Rory has been turned down three times for his irresponsibility), on the condition that Rory comes with him to serve as interpreter.
The rest of the film centers on their adjustments to living on their own, and the daily trials and tribulations the two face. They hire Siobhan, a beautiful young woman that they met at a club, as their live-in carer. At first, the threesome share in good times, feasting on delicacies and going for walks in the park, but the two men soon fall for Siobhan, Michael openly and Rory secretly. We are witness to Michael's painful humiliation and Rory's broken heart, hidden by venomous comments and a tough exterior. The growing tension threatens to rip the fabric of their new life apart, but it takes a crisis to show them the meaning of friendship.
Rory and Michael teach us important lessons through the tears and smiles: to accept without pitying, to live every day to its fullest, to not be afraid to take chances. The film walks a delicate line between humor and drama, with plenty of searing one-liners from Rory and more serious reflections on abandonment, fear, and loneliness. By the end of the film, there is no doubt that "Rory O'Shea Was Here."
("Rory O'Shea Was Here" will be released on DVD on June 14, containing trailers, outtakes, and an alternate ending. The film is rated R and contains several sexually suggestive scenes and a good deal of profanity.)