A Love Divided (1999)

53% of critics liked it
(19 reviews)
54% of users liked it
(854 ratings)

Based on a true story, A Love Divided chronicles the aftermath of Sheila's (Orla Brady) pledge to send her children to Catholic school. Raised Protestant, Sheila was forced to sign a contract obligating her to bring up her own children as Catholics when she was married into the religion, but years… More Based on a true story, A Love Divided chronicles the aftermath of Sheila's (Orla Brady) pledge to send her children to Catholic school. Raised Protestant, Sheila was forced to sign a contract obligating her to bring up her own children as Catholics when she was married into the religion, but years later she decides that no church will dictate the religion chosen for her kids. The dogmatic Father Stafford (Tony Doyle), however, is so relentless in his insistence that her children do, indeed, become Catholics, that Sheila is forced into kidnapping her own family. With both the highest levels of the Irish government and the Vatican after her, the potential consequences of not following the Catholic faith become increasingly surreal. Directed by Sydney Macartney, the film also features Liam Cunningham, Jim Norton, Peter Caffrey, and Brian McGrath. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 38 min.
Directed By: Sydney Macartney
Written By: Stuart Hepburn, Dierdre Dowling, Gerry Gregg
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1999 Wide
On DVD: Jul 30, 2002
Studio: Parallel Films

Critic Reviews

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
An Irish drama that's a lot more sly and a lot less straightforward than it appears on the surface.
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press
Powerful indictment of the lengths human beings will go to to be right.
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
It's like a PBS version of a movie of the week about child abduction, complete with histrionic, spit-flecked speechifying in quaint Irish brogues.
Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
A cautionary tale of the mischief that can happen when men no longer see their neighbors as human.
Jay Carr, Boston Globe
A solid, balanced period piece that focuses on a specific place and time yet resonates with universal themes.
Stanley Kauffmann, New Republic
Sydney Macartney, whose previous directing experience had been mostly in television, deals freshly with situations that also could have been cliches.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, San Francisco Examiner
A tug-at-your-heartstrings weepie from the sledgehammer school of filmmaking.
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
The drama feels artificially pumped-up.
Marta Barber, Miami Herald
The gripping A Love Divided will leave you taking sides, whether or not that was the film's intent.
Luke Y. Thompson, New Times
Overplays its hand, with far too much melodramatic shouting from leads Liam Cunningham and Orla Brady.
Shirley Sealy, Film Journal International
Personal views aside, this small, well-crafted Irish production achieves importance by saying what it intends to say with both strength and conviction.
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Fine performances ... help keep it from seeming excessively schematic.
Bridget Byrne, Boxoffice Magazine
It fails to arouse much more than deep annoyance.