Critic Reviews

• Derek Elley, Variety

  Casting and playing are uniformly tops, with special praise for Fionnuala Murphy as Kellegher's best pal, Ruth McCabe as the quiet, long-suffering mom, and the five kids as her loopy brothers and sisters.

• Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

  Better-than-average sitcom stuff, enhanced by the lively performances, Doyle's own adaptation, and the able direction of Stephen Frears.

• Geoff Andrew, Time Out

  Deeply affecting.

• Charles Hagen, New York Times

  A small, joyful lark of a film.

• Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

  This rip-roaring Irish comedy is the freshest surprise of the season.

• James Berardinelli, ReelViews

  The marriage of humor and drama is admittedly imperfect, but it works well enough to occasionally spawn laughter and touch the heart, and there's a crucial scene between Colm Meaney and Tina Kellegher that is beautifully written, acted, and directed.

• Kim Newman, Empire Magazine

  At once realistic and idealised, this is a rare attempt to make drama of ordinary people doing the right thing.

• , Film4

  Gritty, charming and with a heart as big as the Emerald Isle itself.

• , TV Guide's Movie Guide

  Well written and directed, The Snapper celebrates common sense and human decency, qualities which triumph over prudishness and restrictive social mores.

• Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

  Intimate and effective little drama from Stephen Frears.

• Rob Vaux, Flipside Movie Emporium

  A charming Irish comedy in the same spirit as Waking Ned Devine. Colm Meaney is far funnier than his Star Trek credentials would suggest.

• Luke Y. Thompson, New Times

  I can't get enough of those wacky Irish, and this film's got plenty.

• Bob Bloom, Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

  A fun look at Irish life; warm, loud and comical.

• Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

  An unforgettable portrait of an Irish family drama whose loving dad is also his daughter's knight in shining armor.

• Scott Renshaw, rec.arts.movies.reviews

  Thanks largely to Colm Meaney's charming lead performance, it's just one of the most purely enjoyable comedies of 1993.

• Chris Hicks, Deseret News, Salt Lake City

  A rowdy and rousing Irish comedy that will amuse its intended art-house audience but may also prompt some reflection about the family unit as it exists in the '90s.

• Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle

  As always, Colm Meaney is brilliant, rough-hewn and bewildered by the changes going on around him, but determined to figure it all out and help his daughter as much a possible.

Read all 17 critic reviews