Evelyn (Special Edition)

Brosnan plays Desmond Doyle, an unemployed tradesman in the early 1950s who is on the dole and taken to drink. When his wife (Mairead Devlin) runs off to Australia with another man, Desmond is left with their three children, Evelyn (the glowing Sophie Vavassuer), Dermot (Niall Beagan), and Maurice (Hugh McDonagh). His mother-in-law rats him out to the authorities, who first send in the nuns to clean up the Doyle household, and then use the courts to send the children to Catholic orphanages. It seems the law of Ireland said that it was illegal for a father to try and raise his children by himself. Desmond is advised by a judge to get his life together to get his children back, but it turns out this cannot happen without the permission of both parents and since his wife has gone away with no intention of ever coming back, Desmond is caught in a catch-22.

Supported by his wise father, Henry (Frank Kelly), Desmond is referred by a kindly bar maid, Bernadette Beattie (Marguiles) to her brother Michael (Rae), a solicitor. When they need a barrister they find one in Nick Barron (Quinn), an Irish-American, who in turn gets them to get the counsel of Thomas Connolly (Bates), a legendary rugby player and legal gadfly. Together they have to do something that has never been done before, namely get the Irish court system to change the law of the land. Of course we know how this is going to come out, otherwise the real Evelyn would have been selling a story of tragedy rather than of triumph, but how ordinary people go around winning the unwinnable court case (what Connolly calls a "St. Jude" case) is usually interesting.

What is interesting about "Evelyn," especially for anyone who has seen "The Magdalene Sisters" and has the horror of the Catholic laundry-houses in their mind as they worry about young Evelyn Doyle, is that the villain here is the Irish court system and not the Catholic Church. True, you will find yourself cheering Desmond when he actually lays hands on a nun, but Sister Brigid (Andrea Irvine) is clearly the exception and not the rule at the convent where Evelyn has been sent. Sister Felicity (Karen Ardiff) is a saint it is more the situation than the site that makes the convent a sad place. The Minister of Education (Mark Lambert) is at least willing to allow that the law might have some imperfections, and even if Justice Ferris (Connor Evans) is an insult to a particular type of rodent, the Irish Supreme Court has three judges on it.

Brosnan provides a solid performance and his finest moment comes in court when he is on the stand. The barrister for the Ministry of Education points out to Desmond that the religion he supposedly believes in is based on the family ideal of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The barrister demands to know where in the Bible or the Catholic religion is there anything to support the idea of a man raising his children alone without a mother. Desmond struggles to find a reply, but it is a really good reply. Likewise, young Evelyn is put on the witness stand and makes mincemeat of the barrister as well. "Evelyn" is not a great film, but it is solid and clearly everyone who participated in making it is has a reason to be proud of their efforts.