Death to Smoochy

Daft, fast-paced feature about a kids' TV entertainer. Like a Pee Wee Herman movie for adults it's confusing but impressive. More tedious than funny though. The Irish part is with a local mob who feature throughout the movie. They pester and threaten the leads. Not a flattering portrait of the Irish, stereotypical but too silly to be offensive. Director De Vito has Irish connections anyway.

Title: Death to Smoochy
Genre: TV spoof
New/old: Old
Cinema/DVD: DVD

Only the lonely

Forgotten rom-com from the 1990s with strong Irish references. O'Hara is the racist, grumpy mother of cop Candy. He falls for a local girl and nothing unexpected happens. Set in Chicago there are lots of references to Ireland: the pub, music, church, and even a few lines of Gaelic get spoken. Like a cross between the movies Marty and Moonstruck. The best part was the script - some funny dialogue. Famous faces include Anthony Quinn, James Belushi, and a very young Macaulay Culkin. If this movie had a better director it wouldn't be forgotten today.

Title: Only the lonely
Genre: Romantic comedy
New/old: Old
Cinema/DVD: DVD