''Agnes Browne'' is a 1999 Irish romantic

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

directed, produced by, and starring Anjelica Huston, based on the book ''The Mammy'' by

Brendan O'Carroll Brendan O'Carroll (born 17 September 1955) is an Irish actor, comedian, director, producer and writer. He is best known for portraying foul-mouthed matriarch Agnes Brown on stage and in the BBC and RTÉ television sitcom '' Mrs. Brown's Boys''. ...

Plot

In 1967 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, the unexpected death of Agnes Browne's husband sends her family, consisting of seven children aged between two and fourteen, into emotional turmoil and financial crisis. She is forced to borrow money from a ruthless

loan shark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...

named Mr. Billy to make ends meet. Agnes faces her dismal existence by selling fruits and vegetables at an open-air market based in Dublin's Moore Street where she spends time with her best friend Marion, who proves to be a great source of encouragement in her difficulties. Wishing to escape her troubles, if only for a short time, Agnes dreams of finding enough money to attend an upcoming Tom Jones concert. Agnes' dream is realized when Marion secretly buys two tickets and gives them to her. Agnes also accepts the offer of a date with a French baker named Pierre, and her children pool their money together and buy her a new dress to wear on the date. Meanwhile, Marion soon discovers an ominous lump in her breast, which proves to be malignant. Eventually the family has to face the loan shark. Mr. Billy warns Agnes that she has until

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

to pay him back or he will strip her house of her furniture. On Christmas Day, Agnes receives a letter stating she can collect the money from the hotel where her husband worked. She holds off Mr. Billy and sends her children to the hotel, where they meet Tom Jones and tell him their story. Tom then visits Agnes in her home, helps her pay off Mr. Billy, and takes her, her children and their dog to his concert, where Jones dedicates his song "She's a Lady" to Agnes.

Cast

* Anjelica Huston as Agnes Browne * Marion O'Dwyer as Marion Monks *

Ray Winstone Raymond Andrew Winstone (; born 19 February 1957) is an English television, stage and film actor with a career spanning five decades. Having worked with many prominent directors, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, Winstone is perha ...

as Mr. Billy * Arno Chevrier as Pierre * Niall O'Shea as Mark Browne * Ciaran Owens as Frankie Browne * Roxanna Williams as Cathy Browne * Carl Power as Simon Browne * Mark Power as Dermot Browne * Gareth O'Connor as Rory Browne * James Lappin as Trevor Browne * Tom Jones as Himself (stunt double: Will Anderson) *

Gerard McSorley Gerard McSorley (Irish: Gearóid Mac Somhairle; born 1 January 1950) is an Irish theatre, television and film actor. Early life He was born in the County Tyrone town of Omagh and, after attending a Christian Brothers school in his hometown, ...

as Mr. Aherne * Kate O'Toole as Senior Sister Magdalen * June Rodgers as Fat Annie * Jennifer Gibney as Winnie the Mackerel * Steve Mount as Tommo Monks *

as Seamus the Drunk *

Doreen Keogh Doreen Sheila Elsie Keogh (10 April 1924 – 31 December 2017) was an Irish actress of radio, stage, television and film, who was best known for roles in numerous television serials and telefilms, but most especially Concepta Riley the first ba ...

as Mortuary Nun

Reception

''Agnes Browne'' was not well-received in the United States. Franz Lidz, writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', called it a "flimsy whimsy" and chided Roger Ebert for liking it. William Arnold felt that the ending trivialized the story, leaving the audience "with the uncomfortable feeling that we've just viewed some episode of a TV sitcom of the era." ''The New York Times'' reviewer Stephen Holden found it "nothing more than a series of homey skits loosely woven into a portrait of a working-class saint." The film had a better reception in Europe, winning the Youth Jury Award at the 1999

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; es, Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, eu, Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in ...

. It also received a Grand Prix nomination at the Ghent International Film Festival the same year.

Legacy

''The Mammy'' was followed by two additional books: ''The Chiselers'' and ''The Granny''. A book about Agnes Brown's early life, ''The Young Wan'', was published later. However, these were not made into films. Brendan O'Carroll has had his own success with the Brown family in ''

Mrs. Brown's Boys ''Mrs. Brown's Boys'' is an Irish television sitcom created by and starring Brendan O'Carroll and produced in the United Kingdom by BBC Scotland in partnership with BOC-PIX and Irish broadcaster RTÉ. The series stars O'Carroll as Agnes ...

'', both on the theatre stage and on television.

References

External links

* * * {{Mrs. Brown's Boys 1999 films 1999 romantic comedy-drama films 1999 independent films American romantic comedy-drama films Irish romantic comedy-drama films 1990s English-language films 1990s French-language films Films based on Irish novels Films set in Ireland Films set in Dublin (city) Films set in the 1960s American independent films Films directed by Anjelica Huston 1999 multilingual films American multilingual films Irish multilingual films Films about parenting Films about widowhood 1990s American films