IMDb RATING
6.5/10
4.6K
YOUR RATING
A young man searches for the proper owner of a ring that belonged to a U.S. World War II bomber gunner who crashed in Belfast, Northern Ireland on June 1, 1944.A young man searches for the proper owner of a ring that belonged to a U.S. World War II bomber gunner who crashed in Belfast, Northern Ireland on June 1, 1944.A young man searches for the proper owner of a ring that belonged to a U.S. World War II bomber gunner who crashed in Belfast, Northern Ireland on June 1, 1944.
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
4.6K
YOUR RATING
- Director
- Writer
- Stars
- Awards
- 2 nominations
Karen Lewis-Attenborough
- Mrs. Deanas Mrs. Dean
- (as Karen Lewis)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
Storyline
Three intertwined stories of lost and unspoken love and the resulting secrets are presented. In one, which begins in 1941 Branagan, Michigan, twenty-one year old Ethel Ann socializes primarily with three male friends, who are all in love with her. She only loves one, Teddy Gordon, their mutual love known within the group. Her parents would never approve of Teddy, the poor country boy, who is building a house for her eventually to be able to show her parents that he is worth something in his love for her. Their relationship is interrupted by the U.S. entry into the war, into which all three men are going into battle. Before their departure, the three men enter into a pact unbeknownst to Ethel Ann. In two, which also takes place in Branagan, but in 1991, World War II U.S. Army Air Forces veteran, septuagenarian Chuck Harris, after an illness, has just passed away. Those that knew him always considered him the reliable one. His death leaves a void in his family, as there has always been a distance between his wife and their daughter, Ethel Ann and Marie, respectively. Marie is perturbed that her mother doesn't seem to be mourning Chuck's death. Another of the mourners is Chuck and Ethel Ann's longtime friend, Jack Etty, also a World War II U.S. Army Air Forces veteran. Although Jack has never said so to them, Jack's son, Peter, and Marie believe that Jack has also had a thing for Ethel Ann. The longer the time passes, the closer Marie comes to abandoning her mother, their relationship which may change if only Ethel Ann and Jack would open up about their feelings holistically. And in three, which also takes place in 1991, an innocent young man named Jimmy Riley, a military buff who lives with his grandmother in Belfast, has joined eccentric old Mr. Quinlan to dig on Black Mountain on the outskirts of the city, the side of the hill known as a World War II fighter plane crash site. Although Jimmy and Mr. Quinlan have dug up bits and pieces of the plane, Jimmy ultimately discovers an engraved ring. Partly on Mr. Quinlan's urging, Jimmy is determined to return the ring to who he believes is its rightful owner. Their digging, however, gets them inadvertently involved in the on-going Northern Ireland conflict, the hill which both sides use for some of their clandestine activities. —Huggo
- Taglines
- Discover the love of a lifetime
- Genres
- Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated R for brief sexuality, nudity and violent images
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaThis was Richard Attenborough's final film as a director before his death on August 24, 2014 at the age of 90.
- GoofsThe B-17 being shown off in Michigan in 1941 is actually a B-17G, the final model, which did not have its first flight 'til 1943. the "chin gun" is the give-away.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Richard Attenborough: A Life in Film (2014)
- SoundtracksMoonlight Serenade
Music by Glenn Miller
Lyrics by Mitchell Parish
Performed by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra
Top review
A Nice Film, that deserved more
The film opens in 1991, with the funeral of a former World War II veteran. The man's daughter Marie (Neve Campbell) delivers the eulogy to a church full of veterans who knew and loved her father, while her mother Ethel Ann (Shirley MacLaine) is sitting out on the church porch, smoking and nursing a hangover. When Ethel Ann begins acting strangely, only her friend Jack (Christopher Plummer) seems to understand why. It quickly emerges that there is a lot Marie does not know about her mother's past and the true story of her love life.
The movie flips to a time when this mother was young, lively, and optimistic (young Ethel Ann played by Mischa Barton). She is in love with a young farmer, Teddy Gordon (played by Canadian new comer Stephen Amell), who goes off to war with his best friends Jack (Gregory Smith) and Chuck (David Alpay), but not all of them make it back alive. The plot lines intertwine with the story of a young Ulsterman in Belfast who finds a ring in the wreckage of a crashed B-17 and is determined to return it to the woman who once owned it.
Closing the Ring got a lot of mixed reviews when it came out in England in Early 2008. But as a fan of a lot of the actors and director I wanted to see the film (usually not into Romance movies), and tried to keep up with updates on the a films release in Canada. Luckily for me while I was in Toronto, this film was released in theaters with little promotion beforehand, with the expect ion of ET playing a 30 second clip. I decided it was fate for me to see this movie, as it was the only place in Canada where it was playing.
I went with my family and we all enjoyed it. The film did have flaws, a sub plot involving the IRA confused the already busy plot, and Stephaen Arnell who played the gorgeous Mischa Barton's love interest gave a WEAK performance. Usually when an actor gives a bad performance it can ruin a movie, especially with a role as important as his, and surprisingly Barton is able to still act off of him.
Shirley MacClaine, Christopher Plummer, and Neve Campbell all work well of each other in their scenes. While scene stealer's Academy Award Winner Brenda Fricker and unknown actor Martin McCann light up the screen when they were on. Pete Postlethwaite was also very good as the grumpy Irishman Quinlan, but just like the IRA plot, scenes with the young version of him were unesscsesary. Gregory Smith is good and David Alphy does what he can with his nothing role. But the heart of the film is really Mischa Barton. SHe is just adorable, and as a fan of her earlier films (she was also stiff in her TV work), it was nice see her give a great performance, because people have labeled her a bad actress just because of "The OC" and it is too bad the film didn't get a wider release because this is her breakout role, she is wonderful.
All in all, a light film with nice performances and a great score. Great for older and younger audiences. Why did it not get a wide release!?
The movie flips to a time when this mother was young, lively, and optimistic (young Ethel Ann played by Mischa Barton). She is in love with a young farmer, Teddy Gordon (played by Canadian new comer Stephen Amell), who goes off to war with his best friends Jack (Gregory Smith) and Chuck (David Alpay), but not all of them make it back alive. The plot lines intertwine with the story of a young Ulsterman in Belfast who finds a ring in the wreckage of a crashed B-17 and is determined to return it to the woman who once owned it.
Closing the Ring got a lot of mixed reviews when it came out in England in Early 2008. But as a fan of a lot of the actors and director I wanted to see the film (usually not into Romance movies), and tried to keep up with updates on the a films release in Canada. Luckily for me while I was in Toronto, this film was released in theaters with little promotion beforehand, with the expect ion of ET playing a 30 second clip. I decided it was fate for me to see this movie, as it was the only place in Canada where it was playing.
I went with my family and we all enjoyed it. The film did have flaws, a sub plot involving the IRA confused the already busy plot, and Stephaen Arnell who played the gorgeous Mischa Barton's love interest gave a WEAK performance. Usually when an actor gives a bad performance it can ruin a movie, especially with a role as important as his, and surprisingly Barton is able to still act off of him.
Shirley MacClaine, Christopher Plummer, and Neve Campbell all work well of each other in their scenes. While scene stealer's Academy Award Winner Brenda Fricker and unknown actor Martin McCann light up the screen when they were on. Pete Postlethwaite was also very good as the grumpy Irishman Quinlan, but just like the IRA plot, scenes with the young version of him were unesscsesary. Gregory Smith is good and David Alphy does what he can with his nothing role. But the heart of the film is really Mischa Barton. SHe is just adorable, and as a fan of her earlier films (she was also stiff in her TV work), it was nice see her give a great performance, because people have labeled her a bad actress just because of "The OC" and it is too bad the film didn't get a wider release because this is her breakout role, she is wonderful.
All in all, a light film with nice performances and a great score. Great for older and younger audiences. Why did it not get a wide release!?
helpful•112
- wolfee37
- Feb 14, 2009
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Richard Attenborough's Closing the Ring
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $23,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $1,449,091
- Runtime
- 1h 58min
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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