Whatever one's cinema tastes are, I think it is impossible not to appreciate this movie, marked by that sound Irish feeling for sound fun, but never disregarding some serious reflections. Two odd, newly married couples find at the same restaurant for their wedding receptions, where things will get confused, giving rise to misunderstandings, crises and final catharses. One couple is made up by Sally, in desperate need for money for her and her daughter, who has married Wilfred, a black man, in need of a citizenship, the other is the marriage between Freddie who has married who had already been his former wife, Sophie, and after a divorce and some psychoanalysis went to the altar for the second time, as a sort of last chance, with good intentions but no convictions. It s an intelligent movie, in the way it poses some questions on the real nature of marriage: despite the two major stories, also the minor characters will gradually question their relations and the meaning of their lives, and the hours spent in that restaurant will be revealing. It is interesting in the way, in the end women make the definite and resolute decisions, knowing they have to come to terms with their destiny with courage and strength, even if without a man, even against family pressure, whereas men never show any single sign of courage and determination, and just act according to women's choices. There are also some moving, but never pathetic moments, to be enjoyed as truly genuine. And the girl playing the little daughter, acting as a trait d'union between all these interrupted souls, is great. This movie proves how a well cast (both main characters and secondary ones) together with an intelligent script can make out an intelligent product, although not original in content, but certainly worth seeing as feel-good, genuinely entertaining and honest.
11 Reviews
Hotel Napoleon
jotix10014 July 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Maura, a single mother, must get prepared for her wedding, something she reluctantly does. One can see her heart is not in it, but she is facing a financial crisis; she owes money to everybody. When some of her furniture is repossessed before she even leaves the house, Maura decides to go ahead with her arranged marriage with Wilson, the African man who is illegally in Ireland. Maura stands to gain about nine thousand Euros for going through the charade, which will allow her new husband in he country. Unknown to her and the future husband, their union is closely monitored by two immigration officers.
Parallel to Maura's wedding, Freddy is remarrying Sophie. The first marriage did not go as well, ending in divorce. They have put aside their differences and will try again. Freddy, although doubtful this new wedding will work, has given his word to his former wife and now he cannot go back on his promise. We watch the hesitation as the priest asks Freddy for his vows. Sophie is a somewhat hysterical young woman, who might not be marrying again on her own accord but because she wants to please her parents.
As fate would have it, the two wedding celebrations have been booked at the same seaside hotel. Freddy and Sophie's reception is basically all white, whereas Maura's is a mixed affair with a lot of black guests among the invited. Things do not go according to plan. Both celebrations turn out to be a disaster. Sophie, fed up with what her reception has become, flee the party and hook up with a group of lesbians in a pub. Maura and Freddy keep meeting each other in funny situations. They develop a rapport with each other they do not enjoy with their intended partners. It is not too difficult to realize they are really meant for each other.
Written and directed by Stephen Burke, this appears to be his first full length feature, and it shows. The material had potential for more laughs. It is a romantic comedy with shades of screwball thrown into it. The excellent Sally Hawkins is at the center of the action as Maura. She makes a wonderful Maura. Same could be said about Tom Riley's Freddy, a handsome actor who matches his co-star well. Best of all is young Sinead Maguire who is seen as Molly, the girl who has an uncanny sense of timing, delivering a good performance that feels real, an accomplishment for the director. The action is not all even, something to do with Mr. Burke's screenplay. One gets the impression this is a film that was dumped to DVD and had a limited release.
The film is worth a look because the presence of Ms. Hawkins, Ms. Maguire and Mr. Riley.
Parallel to Maura's wedding, Freddy is remarrying Sophie. The first marriage did not go as well, ending in divorce. They have put aside their differences and will try again. Freddy, although doubtful this new wedding will work, has given his word to his former wife and now he cannot go back on his promise. We watch the hesitation as the priest asks Freddy for his vows. Sophie is a somewhat hysterical young woman, who might not be marrying again on her own accord but because she wants to please her parents.
As fate would have it, the two wedding celebrations have been booked at the same seaside hotel. Freddy and Sophie's reception is basically all white, whereas Maura's is a mixed affair with a lot of black guests among the invited. Things do not go according to plan. Both celebrations turn out to be a disaster. Sophie, fed up with what her reception has become, flee the party and hook up with a group of lesbians in a pub. Maura and Freddy keep meeting each other in funny situations. They develop a rapport with each other they do not enjoy with their intended partners. It is not too difficult to realize they are really meant for each other.
Written and directed by Stephen Burke, this appears to be his first full length feature, and it shows. The material had potential for more laughs. It is a romantic comedy with shades of screwball thrown into it. The excellent Sally Hawkins is at the center of the action as Maura. She makes a wonderful Maura. Same could be said about Tom Riley's Freddy, a handsome actor who matches his co-star well. Best of all is young Sinead Maguire who is seen as Molly, the girl who has an uncanny sense of timing, delivering a good performance that feels real, an accomplishment for the director. The action is not all even, something to do with Mr. Burke's screenplay. One gets the impression this is a film that was dumped to DVD and had a limited release.
The film is worth a look because the presence of Ms. Hawkins, Ms. Maguire and Mr. Riley.
If laughs were oxygen, I'd have suffocated...
yardmanson-540-30679425 September 2010
Warning: Spoilers
I rented 'Happy ever afters' as a wild card DVD to watch with my wife. I was expecting a "Genuine, Laugh out Loud comedy", that's what the DVD jacket promised anyway. To say I was disappointed would be a massive understatement.
In short this is the story of two separate and simultaneous weddings, sharing the same reception venue. The venue being the Hotel Napoleon (and not a restaurant as one reviewer reported).
On one hand we have Freddie (Tom Riley) and Sophie (Jade Yourell) who are inexplicably getting remarried in a Catholic church following their (unexplained) divorce, on the other we have Maura (Sally Hawkins) marrying Wilson (Ariyon Bakare).. The latter being a marriage of paid convenience to keep Wilson from being deported. (Not Wilfred as the same myopic reviewer above stated)
What unfolds is a tortuous non-plot acted out (and I use the term loosely) by disengaged, chemically incompatible actors.
The premise of any good story is that you love, hate or empathise with the characters. With the exception of Molly (Sinead Maguire) playing Maura's daughter and Dessie (Simon Delaney) playing I'm not sure who, but doing it well anyway. I couldn't have cared less about anybody in this film. Even a free Bar wouldn't have kept me at this wedding!
In short this is the story of two separate and simultaneous weddings, sharing the same reception venue. The venue being the Hotel Napoleon (and not a restaurant as one reviewer reported).
On one hand we have Freddie (Tom Riley) and Sophie (Jade Yourell) who are inexplicably getting remarried in a Catholic church following their (unexplained) divorce, on the other we have Maura (Sally Hawkins) marrying Wilson (Ariyon Bakare).. The latter being a marriage of paid convenience to keep Wilson from being deported. (Not Wilfred as the same myopic reviewer above stated)
What unfolds is a tortuous non-plot acted out (and I use the term loosely) by disengaged, chemically incompatible actors.
The premise of any good story is that you love, hate or empathise with the characters. With the exception of Molly (Sinead Maguire) playing Maura's daughter and Dessie (Simon Delaney) playing I'm not sure who, but doing it well anyway. I couldn't have cared less about anybody in this film. Even a free Bar wouldn't have kept me at this wedding!
Oh God
adv20118 November 2010
I rented this last night to watch with my partner and mother-in-law.
It is utter rubbish. From the corny music, to the very poorly executed 'comedy of errors' acting/editing, to the completely disengaging male lead (he spends a good deal of the film sighing and fumbling for words, but not in a well timed way) this film is completely egregious from beginning until about 20 minutes in when we turned it off and watched 'Everybody's Fine' instead (which by the way, is amazing).
We rented this from our Apple TV, and at one point I did consider penning an email to Steve Jobs to outline my disgust at it being added to the line-up on there.
It is utter rubbish. From the corny music, to the very poorly executed 'comedy of errors' acting/editing, to the completely disengaging male lead (he spends a good deal of the film sighing and fumbling for words, but not in a well timed way) this film is completely egregious from beginning until about 20 minutes in when we turned it off and watched 'Everybody's Fine' instead (which by the way, is amazing).
We rented this from our Apple TV, and at one point I did consider penning an email to Steve Jobs to outline my disgust at it being added to the line-up on there.
Four stars is generous--and that HAIR!
ciocio-25 July 2011
I really wanted to like and enjoy this movie, but it's just not terribly good, all in all. I liked pretty much all the actors, and would like to see them in other, better movies. (I'd particularly like to see the actress playing *I think* Karen, Maura's sister or close friend; her character gets somewhat dropped in the course of the movie.) This movie was just so disjointed and ridiculous; disjointed and ridiculous is not a deal-breaker for me, but it has to work, and this just didn't. One indication of how negative an impression this made on me is reflected in what I just wrote in the message section: The element that most stood out for me in this middling little movie was the ridiculous inconsistency of the hair on Sally Hawkins' head. I'm not one of those people who generally notice goofs and screw-ups in continuity, but this was so 'in your face,' even I couldn't miss it.
Even within many little scenes, from shot to shot, her hairstyle changes. Sometimes it's fairly natural looking, with a part on her left side, the bangs falling in a few segments, and the entire shape not terribly big; sometimes it's kind of like that, but with a slightly larger shape, probably from teasing yielding a bit more 'lift'; sometimes it's kind of like that, but the hair darker and more smoothed, sometimes with the bangs all sticking together in one piece; sometimes there's no part at all; and there's one point (while Maura and Freddy are outside looking for Molly, who ends up being up in a tree) where the hair appears to be a helmet-y, yucky looking wig (no part there, either).
It got to be really annoying; couldn't help wondering why no one could be bothered trying to keep any kind of continuity in that element. In that scene where she particularly seems to be wearing a wig, I was taken out of the story again, wondering if these shots were filmed much later than the rest, and maybe Sally H. had cut all her hair off, so they had to use a wig and didn't have time to get a good one, and get it styled right. Just so sloppy (kind of like the run-on sentence I just typed). Too bad, but at least it's not a great movie otherwise either, in which case it would have been a real shame.
Even within many little scenes, from shot to shot, her hairstyle changes. Sometimes it's fairly natural looking, with a part on her left side, the bangs falling in a few segments, and the entire shape not terribly big; sometimes it's kind of like that, but with a slightly larger shape, probably from teasing yielding a bit more 'lift'; sometimes it's kind of like that, but the hair darker and more smoothed, sometimes with the bangs all sticking together in one piece; sometimes there's no part at all; and there's one point (while Maura and Freddy are outside looking for Molly, who ends up being up in a tree) where the hair appears to be a helmet-y, yucky looking wig (no part there, either).
It got to be really annoying; couldn't help wondering why no one could be bothered trying to keep any kind of continuity in that element. In that scene where she particularly seems to be wearing a wig, I was taken out of the story again, wondering if these shots were filmed much later than the rest, and maybe Sally H. had cut all her hair off, so they had to use a wig and didn't have time to get a good one, and get it styled right. Just so sloppy (kind of like the run-on sentence I just typed). Too bad, but at least it's not a great movie otherwise either, in which case it would have been a real shame.
Pleasant Surprise
nohea41412 March 2011
Aloha! So I was sitting at home on a Saturday night looking through the "New Arrivals" section of my Netflix account when I stumbled across this movie.
It's funny, and a bit quirky at times. I loved it! Would be a great one to watch with my wife and the lack of noticeable profanity was very very appreciated.
Unlike other reviews, I enjoyed the plot thoroughly. Found the acting to be very good, especially Sally Hawkins, Tom Riley and Sinead Maguire. With Sinead totally stealing every scene she was in. Was a blast to watch and I am very happy I gave it a shot. Can't wait for my wife to see it!
Great job by all involved. I highly recommend this one for it's quirky chuckle factor. Fire up some microwave popcorn and enjoy!
It's funny, and a bit quirky at times. I loved it! Would be a great one to watch with my wife and the lack of noticeable profanity was very very appreciated.
Unlike other reviews, I enjoyed the plot thoroughly. Found the acting to be very good, especially Sally Hawkins, Tom Riley and Sinead Maguire. With Sinead totally stealing every scene she was in. Was a blast to watch and I am very happy I gave it a shot. Can't wait for my wife to see it!
Great job by all involved. I highly recommend this one for it's quirky chuckle factor. Fire up some microwave popcorn and enjoy!
enjoyed it
gerardlondon29 March 2010
I enjoyed Happy Ever Afters very much. We went to a mother's day preview screening and my mum loved it and wants to bring her friends now. I hadn't seen any trailer beforehand and had no idea what to expect but it really was a pleasant surprise. There was a good atmosphere in the cinema, plenty of laughing out loud. It's funny and touching at times too. Great acting overall, particularly from Sally Hawkins and Tom Riley. The smaller characters were good too and the little girl who plays Sally's daughter is hilarious, steals every scene she's in. We overheard other audience members after saying they enjoyed it too. I'd definitely recommend it to friends. A great feel good movie.
Wonderful
alice_imk20052 November 2010
Wonderful, relaxing, a bit crazy. This movie is great. I can't believe how underrated it is. Normally, I'd have given it a 9, but I chose 10 to rise up it's mark a little.
The plot - twisted, crazy, chaotic. And this is exactly what makes this movie so great. The characters - I just fell in love with them. They're so witty and spiritual. At the end, I was thinking 'Oh common....no one acts like that; no one, after all that, keeps having fun; ...but actually, it would be SO nice if people were like that...'
I think beneath all the chaotic stuff that happens throughout the movie, there is a very simple idea: you just have to take life as it is and enjoy every second of it.
The plot - twisted, crazy, chaotic. And this is exactly what makes this movie so great. The characters - I just fell in love with them. They're so witty and spiritual. At the end, I was thinking 'Oh common....no one acts like that; no one, after all that, keeps having fun; ...but actually, it would be SO nice if people were like that...'
I think beneath all the chaotic stuff that happens throughout the movie, there is a very simple idea: you just have to take life as it is and enjoy every second of it.
Lovely Irish farce, with some good messages and great performances
inkblot116 June 2017
Maura (Sally Hawkins) is an Irish single mother to Molly (Sinead Maguire), a bright and energetic twelve year old. But, alas, times are not good and Maura is losing her furniture and, perhaps, her lease as money has dried up. Therefore, Maura enters into a fake marriage agreement with African immigrant Wilson (Ariyon Bakare). He will get to stay in the country; he will pay Maura 9,000. Also getting married for the second time is Freddie (Tom Riley) and Sophie (Jade Yurell), resulting in much apprehension; are they really doing the right thing? As luck would have it, these two couples take part in a dual marriage ceremony and hold receptions in the same building. Also on hand are a bevy of mixed up guests, parents, and, ho ho, two immigration officers who doubt Maura's wedding is real. As Maura crosses paths with Freddie, a lot, and Wilson tries to pass his girlfriend off as his sister, poor Molly gets more and more fed up as she realizes she's not getting a new dad, not really. How will this all shake down? This great Irish comedy-farce has charms for most fans of laughter and romance. Hawkins, Riley, Bakare, Yurell, and especially Maguire give fine performances while the supporting cast will keep everyone in stitches. How lilting, too, is the Irish way of speaking English while sets, costumes, script and direction fulfill every expectation of quality. Hallelujah, wanna get happy? Happily Ever Afters is bound to please.
RENT, BUY or STEAL. you must see it (pat)
cdaly1013 March 2011
In the years after September 11 2001 the world, its peoples its institutions its joys its arts, went into meltdown. unable to to see a clear future,people governments artist & film makers alike fumbled in the ash cloud of broken dreams and shattered ideologies, in the attempt of re-councling the shards of faith and hope and humanity, still left on this lonely planet. Few films clam as much responsibility for assembling so many parts of our broken society as this.
happily ever afters is story of many parts.some are sharp and painful to touch (or even to look at) some more, colourful and hilarious. what this film (or piece of art) is, is a gathering of these seemingly ill-fitting and disparate pieces and a transformation of them into a cathedral window. A beautiful whole, made from broken shards,fitted together with the honesty of the artist lead.
It is no coincidence that this film debuted in the same year that Barack Hussein Obama became the 44th President of the United States of American having run his campaign under the banner of 'hope'.the world was ready for change and the time for change is felt by true leaders and artist. like Barack Obama this film may not heal our tired and battered souls and shelter us from the hard rain but it sure as heaven can gives us hope!
PS:it should have got an Oscar, and i don't think it was even nominated.
peace and love
happily ever afters is story of many parts.some are sharp and painful to touch (or even to look at) some more, colourful and hilarious. what this film (or piece of art) is, is a gathering of these seemingly ill-fitting and disparate pieces and a transformation of them into a cathedral window. A beautiful whole, made from broken shards,fitted together with the honesty of the artist lead.
It is no coincidence that this film debuted in the same year that Barack Hussein Obama became the 44th President of the United States of American having run his campaign under the banner of 'hope'.the world was ready for change and the time for change is felt by true leaders and artist. like Barack Obama this film may not heal our tired and battered souls and shelter us from the hard rain but it sure as heaven can gives us hope!
PS:it should have got an Oscar, and i don't think it was even nominated.
peace and love
Very very funny!
Rozinda30 July 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Why not 10 out of 10. Well, I reserve 10 for the most exceptional movies, ones that I *must* buy and rewatch frequently and simply adore. This one is just below that level. It's great and funny and full of typical wonderful Irish farce and humour, and I shall definitely buy it eventually as it's very rewatchable.
Everyone acts perfectly. The many moments of farce are to treasure but it's consistently funny and often moving. Sally Hawkins and the youngster who plays her determinedly wilful under-teen daughter stand out in a cast that stands out anyway. There are some surprises along the way - I was certainly caught out by the main one and I'll bet many others will be.
It's two weddings on the same day, with the reception at the same hotel. Unfortunately, the hotel had double-booked which causes quite a bit of chaos and some truly crazy events that ensue just have to be seen to be believed. Yet what's so clever is it's all eminently believable and all results from one unfortunate moment.
This is a major spoiler as it gives away the ending .........
I love the moment at the end when Sally Hawkins' character says to her delightfully interfering daughter, "He's a bit of a loony, but......" Oh yes! Aren't they just going to be perfect together, and the daughter knew it all along of course.
Everyone acts perfectly. The many moments of farce are to treasure but it's consistently funny and often moving. Sally Hawkins and the youngster who plays her determinedly wilful under-teen daughter stand out in a cast that stands out anyway. There are some surprises along the way - I was certainly caught out by the main one and I'll bet many others will be.
It's two weddings on the same day, with the reception at the same hotel. Unfortunately, the hotel had double-booked which causes quite a bit of chaos and some truly crazy events that ensue just have to be seen to be believed. Yet what's so clever is it's all eminently believable and all results from one unfortunate moment.
This is a major spoiler as it gives away the ending .........
I love the moment at the end when Sally Hawkins' character says to her delightfully interfering daughter, "He's a bit of a loony, but......" Oh yes! Aren't they just going to be perfect together, and the daughter knew it all along of course.
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