Irish Jam (2006)

Thanks for the memories!

Better than most people think

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Though Eddie Griffin's performance can grate on one's nerves (he tends to overact)but what you have to watch for is the amazing performance of Anna Friel, just before she won the role of Chuck on the television series "Pushing Daisies." She and Ireland are a lovely combination not to mention the familial bond between her and the young girl who plays her daughter which I found endearing. I definitely liked the cultural crossing aspect of the film, a bit of an unusual twist on a 'fish out of water' story. The video and blooper reel during the credit roll is amusing, the village actors seemed like really great sports.My only question is where to purchase the soundtrack? Loved Anna's traditional Irish singing!

This movie caught my attention on Cable TV's HBO.I thought it would be a stereotyped, hyped, overblown character movie and I was absolutely correct - and I was also damned wrong too!How do you write a "realistic" script based upon a young black hustler from Los Angeles running a pub in Ireland? When has there been such an event to occur in the Emerald Isle? So give it a chance!No one really speaks about the Irish as "Ni--ers" in Europe and America. Call them the Fighting Irish, the Lucky Shamrocks, but this movie gave every viewer a new definition of the "Black Irish". So I was intrigued and astonished as the characters discussed this in the village square.Ireland is always romanticized and its traditions are to blame. Every Irish commenter complains about it - and I guess secretly would be mad as hell if Ireland ever lost its glossy image. What's a more "realistic" Ireland these days? I guess it's true that you get whatever you put into any subject.Let me say that Griffin marrying and kissing his costar at the end of the movie made my day! My ex-lover who's Irish married a black man and they have had quite an unusual romance (until he died) so it was entertaining to see ART imitate LIFE and not vice-versa for once...This movie is not a classic. Will never ever be a masterpiece. And I wouldn't want it any other way. Monique being kicked back into a bathtub wearing a wedding dress is not Shakespeare - it's funny!Watching an entire village nearly begging a lovable hustler to stay among them is priceless. My home of America is a true "melting pot" of just about every race & culture, the "land of the free and the home of the brave" - but I'll never see Ethnic Irish visitors being asked by the gangs of South Central Los Angeles to move in nor will I see it occur in Beverly Hills either. Yet I have enough faith in the Irish to see it happen one day to someone visiting like the "Jimmy Jam".This movie is an entertaining, multi-dimensional, comedic, fairytale, about what was never ever supposed to happen and did - against everyone else's say-so and better judgment. Watch it, laugh at it, ridicule it, and then when no one else is looking - love it.It's an original concept.

I cringed a little when I picked up the DVD of Irish Jam, it had all the hallmarks of a 'lets send Eddie Griffin to a wee old Irish village and have the leprechauns steal his lucky charms' type movie. However I was sort of pleasantly surprised after viewing it. Irish Jam is a nice story. Basically, a small Irish village is in trouble of being bought out by an aristocratic Englishman, Lord Hailstock (Kevin McNally), who wants to turn it into a theme park called Leprechaunland. The only place in the village not owned by him, and therefore the final piece in his puzzle, is the local pub. The owners of the pub can't afford to keep it and to avoid having to sell it to him decide to hold a worldwide poetry contest which will raise the necessary funds to keep the pub, and present it as a prize to the winner, keeping it out of Hailstock's hands. Meanwhile in America, Jimmy McDevitt (Griffin), a down and out amateur conman, comes across an ad for the poetry contest in a newspaper. What follows is a nice story of friendship amongst clashing cultures in which Griffin is both funny and sweet.The fact that this movie is filmed in England and not Ireland doesn't really make much difference, as the Cornwall setting could just as easily be mistaken for rural Ireland. My main, and big, gripe with this movie is its casting. More or less ALL of the Irish villagers are played by English people. Not so bad if they could all do good Irish accents, but they can't. Some sound like they have been practicing with re-runs of Ballykissangel, others like they have been forced to watch the Commitments over and over. It ends up like a mismatch of Dublin, Belfast and Kerry accents and wannabe Irish accents. How hard would it have been just to get ACTUAL Irish actors? To put it in perspective, its like having a movie set in a tiny Essex village where the 'locals' have Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Glasgow accents. Or having a movie set on a ranch in Texas where the 'locals' sound like they're from the Bronx, Chicago or even Toronto. Maybe viewers who don't know any better won't notice. But any Irish viewers, or probably anybody who's ever been to Ireland will cop on immediately.All this aside, Irish Jam will more than anything probably leave you with a good feeling in your heart and a song in your head. Albeit song you might want to jig and breakdance to all at once.

Don't know where this little gem came from, or if it ever appeared in any theater, but it tops most of what comes out of Hollywood these days. It's funny, touching, and a sensory feast for the eyes and ears. If you like anything about Ireland, you'll likely enjoy this movie. All of the performances are excellent. Be warned that is does deserve its PG-13 rating, so it may not be family-friendly for all. It's unfortunate that movies like this don't have enough pull to find a profitable audience, but I suppose that's where Blockbuster and the like can have an impact. It's a bit strange that the overall user rating on IMDb is rather low, but most of the reviews are favorable. In this instance, I think the reviews tell the real story. Give this one a try and judge for yourself.