treeline1 Overlooking a tiny Irish village is "Widows' Peak," an area inhabited by a tight-knit group of well-off widows. The doyen of the group is the venerable Mrs. Doyle-Counihan (Joan Plowright), who keeps the ladies in her circle on a short leash. An odd member of their society is Miss O'Hare (Mia Farrow), the only unmarried lady to be accepted as an intimate. When a flamboyant, young American woman (Natasha Richardson) moves in, she shakes up the town by quickly stealing the heart of Mrs. Doyle-Counihan's son and for no apparent reason, making a enemy of Miss O'Hare.Billed as a comedy/mystery/thriller, this very odd movie falls short on all counts. While it does paint a charming picture of Irish village life in the 1920s, both the plot and the local dialect are nearly incomprehensible and the ending is too much of a twist. Plowright (widow of Laurence Olivier) is wonderful as the foolish grande dame who thinks she knows everything. Farrow, however, is woefully miscast. Her Irish accent comes and goes and she looks like a spaced-out twenty-something, which hurts the ending. Richardson is simply annoying as the pushy and mysterious American. None of the characters, in fact, are likable in the least and I didn't care about any of them - with the exception of the local dentist, played to comic perfection by Jim Broadbent.This is a confusing, tedious, and disappointing movie that should have been so much better, considering the cast.

SluggoGal Yes, this movie has the elements of a chick flick: it's about relationships, most of the main characters are women, it's set in the 1920s and has lovely costuming and beautiful English countryside settings, and there is a love story-- but it's also more than that. It's a complex story about a single woman (Mia Farrow) in an English village, and how she interacts with her widowed and single neighbors. It combines comedy and drama in a good mix. There is action, and good pacing, with a surprise twist at the end. There are excellent actors in this film and great chemistry between them. You care about the characters; even the annoying ones. One can tell that the actors enjoyed making this movie. I would recommend this film to just about anyone. If you are of the persuasion that normally avoids chick flicks or period pieces, give this one a try. You might be surprised at what you've been missing.

Anya-fan I'm feeling a bit silly here, but I thought Natasha Richardson was British. In this film, she has an American accent that sounds very cultivated, although I couldn't tell whether it was fake or simply voice training.I do like this movie, though, in fact I like it very much! Natasha was wonderful despite my confusion about her accent, and Mia Farrow was quite good, although it was hard to really see her as plain as she was in this film. It was fun to watch, though, and has you thinking at the end. Joan Plowright was superb, as usual.9/10.

DeeDee-10 A truly lovely look at Irish humor and it's not so subtle jabs at the Brits. But there's more. How these characters weave a tale is fascinating and the plot thickens, as they say, with a marvelous twist that caught me totally off guard. Wonderful performances by all especially Joan Plowright who kept me laughing whenever she was on screen. It was nice to see Mia Farrow successfully widening her range, and Natasha Richardson wafted through the film with an aire of mystery about her -as did Farrow- commanding out attention throughout.