Keeping It Reel

CINEMA PARADISO IN A SMALL IRISH-TOWN, STELLA DAYS PROVES CHARMING BUT FORGETTABLE
Take a fluffy base of 1950s Irish town resisting modernity, gently fold in a conflicted but charming priest, smother with a generous layer of Cinema Paradiso and sprinkle on some charming kids. And you there you have it: an old-fashioned community spirit yarn like Grandma used to watch.
Unabashedly quaint and crowd-pleasing, Stella Days was adapted from Michael Doorley’s account of how his small Tipperary community was shaken from its recession and repression-caused stupor by the opening of the Stella cinema in the 1950s.
Martin Sheen plays parish priest Fr. David, who though loyal and outwardly committed to caring for his flock, harbours resentment that he was passed over for a prestigious academic post in Rome. So when the bishop decides to start fundraising for a new church , Fr. Daniel is initially disinterested – until he comes up with the idea of opening a cinema. As is required by law for these types of films, there is a powerful and sanctimonious townsperson determined to keep the corrupting force of modernity at bay, and here Stephen Rea plays the combative conservative with delicious spite.
However the cinema isn’t the only new development in the Tipperary town, which is already more modern and liberal than their religious fervour would suggest. Amy Huberman is wonderful as an enthusiastic saleswoman pushing the latest electric lights and cookers on the local housewives, while Marcella Plucket’s love affair with Fr. David’s sensitive confidante Tim (Trysten Gravelle) is forgiven by all but her alcoholic, violent husband. The era is beautifully realised in both attitude and set, as the new gadgets become a more and more prominent part of these transitioning town’s lives – only after they’ve been blessed by Fr. David, of course.
Sheen is as charmingly conflicted as ever, as is the film. However, what you have here is 1950s Ireland by numbers, offering absolutely nothing new. A nice Sunday matinee movie - if you like your Sundays forgettable.