Michael Collins

Liam Neeson as Michael Collins

Neil Jordan's Michael Collins, from 1996, is a good biopic of the Irish revolutionary leader. Jordan's script wisely condenses his film by limiting the time frame, beginning in 1916 with the Easter Rising and concluding with Collins' assassination in 1922. The machinations of the IRA in waging a guerrilla and, some would say, terroristic war against the British are presented in a crisp, but detailed fashion. The recreation of historical events, such as Bloody Sunday and the Croke Park Massacre, is impressive. Collins was the de facto Irish military commander of the war, its Trotsky if you will, while Eamon de Valera was its political chief. The film does a good job of detailing the rivalry between the two men and its subsequent effect upon Irish history. Of course, given its title, it is not a surprise that the film tilts its favor towards Collins and away from de Valera. Alan Rickman's anal retentive performance as de Valera perhaps makes him more diabolical than he actually was. With a couple of exceptions, though, the film is largely accurate in its presentation of history.

Liam Neeson was a good pick to perform the larger than life persona of Collins. A large slab of a man, he physically dominates the movie, even the crowd scenes. The film is at its shakiest in its portrayal of the love triangle of Collins, Harry Boland and Kitty Kiernan, Collins' eventual fiancé. Aidan Quinn is quite good as Boland giving the character the quiet yearning that is his trademark. It seems that Quinn fell from grace with the Hollywood Gods at some point, he has not had any plum roles in A pictures in the 21st Century, and it is hard to say why. He has a nice rapport with Neeson here. Unfortunately, Quinn and Neeson's chemistry is much better than Neeson's with Julia Roberts who plays Kitty. Roberts is by no means dreadful, simply miscast. When we first see Roberts, trying to sing the wonderful Irish ballad "She Moved Through the Fair", one can't help but think that any capable Irish or UK actress, say Kelly Macdonald, would have been a better fit.

Jordan goes back to "She Moved Through the Fair" at the conclusion of Michael Collins. The song plays as shots of Kitty trying on dresses for a wedding that will never occur are contrasted with that of Collins meeting his demise. The gist of the song, tragic lovers reuniting in the afterlife, mirrors the plot well and works visually: the dress turning into a funeral shroud. However, the emotional juice has never been evident between Roberts and Neeson and this robs the moment of any chance of greatness. It does place the film firmly within Jordan's corpus where star-crossed outsiders romantically love in vain. The theme of his best films: Byzantium, Breakfast on Pluto, The End of the Affair, The Crying Game and Mona Lisa.