This film relates the story of a recently widowed Irish woman's attempt to keep some semblance of normalcy in her life and those of her seven children. Sadly however, it's nearly impossible to feel any empathy for Agnes, as Agnes doesn't really seem to mind being widowed, which threads a line of disbelief into the entire plot. That said, the movie plods along through Agnes's life, as she quickly jumps into flirtations with the town baker, leading me to wonder if the corpse was even cold yet. Agnes also simultaneously battles an evil loan shark and his bully buddy who torment her young son, gives comfort to an ill friend and schemes to win concert tickets. This movie tries very hard to make the anguish of Agnes's life interesting, but it switches gears on the viewers too fast and too often. It's as if the writers couldn't figure out whether to create this into a comedy, a drama, or a love story, so they tried to pull all the punches in ninety-two minutes. What we are left with however, is a film that, while witty and sentimental at times, is void of emotional impact; and that's a shame really, for it could have been a contender.
Review of Agnes Browne
