Angela's Ashes

Overview

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir by Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes is an alternately funny and heartbreaking look at growing up in Ireland. Born in Brooklyn, NY, young Frank (Joe Breen) moves at an early age to Limerick, Ireland, with his parents Angela (Emily Watson) and Malachy (Robert Carlyle), who have been unable to support their family in America and are hoping for better prospects in their home country. But things hardly improve once they settle in Limerick; as McCourt puts it, "Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood. Worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." Illness and death are commonplace in Limerick, and Malachy's drinking and inability to hold a job make matters worse. Angela's Ashes was directed by Alan Parker, who previously looked at Irish life in The Commitments (1991); Laura Jones wrote the screenplay.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/04/2016
UPC:	0883316948200
Original Release:	0000
Source:	Warner Brothers
Language:	English

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Emily Watson	Angela
Robert Carlyle	Dad
Joe Breen	Young Frank
Ciaran Owens	Middle Frank,Quasimodo
Michael Legge	Older Frank
Ronnie Masterson	Grandma Sheehan
Pauline McLynn	Aunt Aggie
Liam Carney	Uncle Pa Keating
Eanna MacLiam	Uncle Pat
Shane Murray-Corcoran	Young Malachy
Devon Murray	Middle Malachy
Peter Halpin	Older Malachy
Andrew Bennett	Narrator,Narrator
Aaron Geraghty	New Born Michael
Sean Carney Daly	Baby Michael,Baby Michael
Shane Smith	Middle Michael
Tim O'Brien	Older Michael
Blaithnaid Howe	Newborn Alphie
Klara O'Leary	Baby Alphie,Parent No. 3
Caroline O'Sullivan	Baby Alphie
Ryan Fielding	Older Alphie
Daire Lynam	Margaret Mary
Ben O'Gorman	Eugene,Oliver,Sleeping Sailor
Frank Lavery	Young Paddy Clohessy
James Mahon	Middle Paddy Clohessy
Laurence Kinlan	Older Paddy Clohessy
Lucas Neville	Willie Harold
Walter Mansfield	Fintan Slattery
Des McAleer	Mr. Benson
Sean Kearns	Dotty O'Neill
Les Doherty	Mr. O'Dea
Brendan Cauldwell	Mr. O'Halloran
Shay Gorman	Mr. Hannon
Johnny Murphy	Seamus,Redemptionist Priest,Young Mikey Molloy,St. Vincent Man No. 2
Jon Kenny	Lavatory Man
Susan Fitzgerald	Sister Rita
Brendan McNamara	Toby Mackey
Maria McDermottroe	Bridey Hannon
Oliver Maguire	Confession Priest
Daithi O'Suilleabhain	Young Priest
Eileen Pollock	Mrs. Finucane,Roden Lane Neighbour
Alvaro Luccehesi	Laman Griffin
Mark O'Regan	Dr. Troy
Moira Deady	Mrs. Purcell
Kerry Condon	Theresa
Gerard McSorley	Father Gregory
Garrett Keogh	Mr. Hegarty
Phelim Drew	Rent Man
Brendan O'Carroll	Funeral Carriage Driver,Clarke
Maggie McCarthy	Miss Barry
Bairbre Ni Chaoimh	Mrs. O'Connell
Nuala Kelly	Dance Teacher,Father Gory
Brian Clifford	Telegram Boy
Kieran Maher	Older Mikey Molloy
James McClatchie	Bishop
Patrick Bracken	Younger Question Quigley
Terry O'Donovan	Older Question Quigley
David Ahern	Cyril Benson
Marcia DeBonis	Mrs. Leibowitz
Helen Norton	Delia
Eileen Colgan	Philomena
Alan Parker	Dr. Campbell
Stephen Marcus	English Agent
Pauline Shanahan	Eye Nurse
Gerry Walsh	Farmer
Brendan Morrissey	Brother Murray
Darragh Neill	Heffernan
Sarah Pilkington	Minnie MacAdorey
Donncha Crowley	Sacristan
Veronica O'Reilly	Mrs. Carmody
Ann O'Neill	Mrs. Dooley
Paddy Scully	St. Vincent Man No. 1
Frankie McCafferty	St. Vincent Man No. 3
Jack Lynch	St. Vincent Man No. 4
Patrick David Nolan	Travel Agent
Gerard Lee	Carmody Priest
Martin Benson	Christian Brother
Birdy Sweeney	Old Priest
Pat McGrath	Butcher
Ray McBride	Mill Foreman
John Sheedy	Coal Yard Foreman
Sam Ryan	Shaved Head Boy No. 1
Donnacha Gleeson	Shaved Head No. 2
Jim McIntyre	Gravedigger No. 1
Richard Walker	Gravedigger No. 2
Mary Ann Spencer	Parent No. 1
Kathleen Lambe	Parent No. 2
John Williams	Composer

Technical Credits

Alan Parker

Laura Jones

Jim Brady	Special Effects
David Brown	Producer
Gary Connery	Stunts
Kent Houston	Special Effects
Ros Hubbard	Casting,Casting
Alan Parker	Producer,Screenwriter
Scott Rudin	Producer
Adam Schroeder	Executive Producer
Derek Stamp	Stunts
Eric Steel	Executive Producer
Juliet Taylor	Casting
Andrew Wilson	Special Effects
Laura Jones	Screenwriter
Ken Weston	Sound/Sound Designer
Eddy Joseph	Sound Editor

Editorial Reviews

Adapted from Frank McCourt's Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, Angela's Ashes vividly captures the author's miserable childhood in Ireland during the 1930s, thanks to the sure-handed direction of Alan Parker (The Commitments). The film is as unsparing in its vision of poverty and despair as the book. After failing to secure work in the Depression-era United States, Malachy McCourt (Robert Carlyle) returns to his homeland with wife Angela (Emily Watson) and their five surviving children. Settling in the town of Limerick and living in squalor, Malachy and his brood endure hardships that eventually drive away the hard-drinking father and force eldest son Frank to shoulder intolerable burdens. Frank, depicted at various ages, is well played by three gifted young actors (Joe Breen, Ciaran Owens, and especially Michael Legge), but the film's most skillful performance is Watson's. She is unforgettable as the physically frail but spiritually indomitable matriarch at the center of the story. Welcome flashes of humor and tenderness save Angela's Ashes from sinking into a morass of despondency, but even at its most melancholy, this is a film to be cherished.