The Snapper Reviews

The amiable SNAPPER is a domestic comedy that never degenerates into sitcom platitudes, even though it was made for TV. Though the film has its share of brisk one-liners and contrived situations played for their obvious comic potential, its appealing mix of sweetness and grit, and ultimate reliance on character to carry the material, make it a pleasant surprise. Young Sharon Curley (Tina Kellegher) is pregnant, unmarried, and determined to have her baby, the (whipper)snapper of the title. Her parents, Dessie (Colm Meaney) and Kay (Ruth McCabe), are less than thrilled but make the best of things. This becomes increasingly difficult when the rumor begins going about that the baby's father, whom Sharon steadfastly refuses to name, is middle-aged neighbor George Burgess (Pat Laffan). Sharon's situation becomes a local scandal and, as her pregnancy progresses, Sharon learns who her real friends are, forging a new relationship with her parents, particularly her father. The transformation of gruff "man's man" Dessie into a working model of a sharing, caring new man provides THE SNAPPER with its narrative spine, and what could be an entirely contrived exercise becomes instead an engaging character study. Roddy Doyle, who adapted the screenplay from his own novel, also wrote Alan Parker's THE COMMITMENTS; THE SNAPPER is the second of three books dealing with the same neighborhood and overlapping characters. Well written and directed, THE SNAPPER celebrates common sense and human decency, qualities which triumph over prudishness and restrictive social mores.