Da [1988]

Charlie [Martin Sheen], an Irish-American playwright, returns to the ould sod on the death of his ancient Da [Barnard Hughes], and finds the old man's ghost lurking around the house, or in his memory. They flash back to Charlie's upbringing, remembering the tyrannical but lovable old man's influence on the young lad and the various humorous or horrid things that set him on his path to current eminence. At first, he remembers Da as a blustering embarassment who loudly supported Hitler against the Brits and terrorised his wife and adopted son, but then he digs back further and recalls the old man's sentimental side.

A heavily autobiographical play by Irish dramatist Hugh Leonard is here seamlessly turned into a film, with only the inclusion of Martin Sheen's sometimes dodgy Irish accent as a sop to internationalism. It serves as a marvellous vehicle for Barnard Hughes, who, like director Matt Clark, has until now been best known as a supporting actor. The feel is very like such recent American '40s flashback how-I-became-a-writer-of-genius dramas as Brighton Beach Memoirs and Radio Days, but the Irish flavour makes it less smug than those efforts, and the self-effacing depiction of the first-person character puts the attention properly on the old man.

Tactfully written, marvellously acted by everyone with an especial gold star for Doreen Hepburn as the mercurial mother this has lots of good-quality Oirish blathering. Only Elmer Bernstein's slushy score tips it into the heartstring-tugging, and that doesn't get too intrusive. Perhaps the funniest moments have Sheen arguing with his former self, as when he tells the young man, who is appalled that his older self will have to wear glasses, that he went blind after he was castrated in a car crash. Warmly recommended.
KIM NEWMAN

First Published In: City Limits [issue unknown]

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