Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1268 in VHS
• Released on: 1993-04-28
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 104 minutes

Amazon.com
Micky O'Neill (Adrian Dunbar) is a born salesman. As the booker of the local theater/dance hall, he is famous for hiring almost-celebrities like Franc Cinatra. When he is unable to tell his girlfriend (the beautiful Tara Fitzgerald) that he loves her, in so many words, she storms out of their bedroom. In order to win her back--and curry favor with her mother, not to mention keep his job--he decides to book famous tenor Joe Locke, who's wanted by the government for tax reasons and hasn't performed in decades. So begins Micky's quest to find the reclusive singer--and himself. The movie is so enthusiastically cheerful, it wins you over early on with its good-natured energy, and then never lets up. Hear My Song is like a rural British version of The Blues Brothers, with a tenor instead of a blues band, minus a whole lotta car wrecks, but a final performance surrounded by police. Really, how can you argue with that? --Andy Spletzer

From The New Yorker
In this small-scale comedy, Peter Chelsom, a first-time director, takes a whimsical conceit and sells it so hard that it loses most of its fragile charm. Micky O'Neill (played by Adrian Dunbar, who co-wrote the screenplay with Chelsom) manages a London music hall that caters to the local Irish community; the movie is about his attempt to find a legendary Irish tenor named Josef Locke, who hasn't been heard from in thirty years. Micky goes to Ireland to persuade Locke to return to England for a concert; on the home soil, the hero finds himself in a realm of ancient eccentricity and unearthly light, and the movie finds itself in Bill Forsyth territory. Chelsom tries, too strenuously, to evoke the enchanted comic tone of "Local Hero," and Dunbar seems to punctuate every gag with a roguish smile (after shooting one of these twinklers, unconscionably, over his shoulder). The relentless quirkiness is annoying, but the story is, on its own terms, well constructed, and the filmmakers take their fey, sentimental humor right to the limit: you can't say that they don't have the courage of their elfinness. And when Ned Beatty, who plays Locke, is on the screen the picture is nearly as transporting as it's intended to be. His performance is large-spirited comic acting: a pure specimen of Celtic soulfulness, the magical substance that everyone else in the movie has been trying to produce synthetically. Also with Shirley Anne Field. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Wow!! Maltin agrees with me!!(and there's not a dry seat in the house!)
UPDATE: The PAL/Region 2 "Hear My Song" has been released in the UK, so look at my comment on this review, and UNFORTUNATELY it is a rehash of the US version, omitting the original opening scene. I was so Brassed Off that I sent it back!! And why does Amazon persist in listing the cast in order of appearance? The first 8 cast members listed AREN'T IN THE US VERSION!! AmazonUK has the cast listed correctly!!

Hear My Song's plot has features loosely based on the true career of the Irish singer, tenor Josef Locke. Jo Locke was Irish, but is not the diddly diddly Irish Rovers/Suffering Gaels type. His career filled music halls and ornate Victorian pubs and seaside resorts, and as one of Mickey O'Neill's staff says "There won't be a dry seat in the house." There are still websites devoted to the man and his music. This is a well-crafted movie, with great photography, and a lush soundtrack filled with Jo Locke ballads(sung by Vernon Midgely) and more traditional tunes by the band "Patrick Street". Ned Beatty gives a nicely subdued performance, his lipsynching of Locke's(Midgely) music is well done, and unlike most American actors, his "Irish" accent comes across well. Adrian Dunbar is a gem as impresario Mickey O'Neill, Tara Fitzgerald is very fetching as Nancy, Mickey's love interest, and one of my favorites, James Nesbitt, is Mickey O'Neill's oldest friend, Fintan. Normally, I'd love to see Tara Fitzgerald naked, but the one scene here is out of place. That is one of two bones I'll pick with Hear My Song. The other is that in the credits, roles are listed for "Young Mickey", "Young Fintan", and "Mickey's Mum". These roles never crossed the Atlantic, because there are no scenes with these characters. HEAR MY SONG was listed in early '06 as due to be released on DVD in November '06....What is up with that, when any crap Fox TV series or P Hilton merde comes out on DVD but a GREAT flick like this is unavailable. And why does Amazon list the leading characters as Brian Flanagan, Constance Cowley, et al? (Since I originally posted this review, I went to Britain & picked up a copy of Hear My Song in PAL format on EbayUK. The omitted part deals with Mickey, Mickey's Mum, & Mickey's problems with love. A tiny piece that probably cost more to delete than to keep in, but the new DVD release from the UK also omits the original opening scene. MERDE!!!) More's the pity, because whenever Hear My Song ends, I wish it were just a wee bit longer, like a pint of Guinness that's a few drams short. I can hardly wait for it to be released on DVD here in the colonies, if for no other reason than both of my VHS copies are rather tired.

'I WAS BORN IN PEACETIME...
...I haven't seen what you've seen...' So begins the oft-given speech by one Micky O'Neill (Adrian Dunbar) - not too bad a bloke, but a little short on sincerity, and having a very difficult time making his way in the world without occasionally scamming nearly everyone with whom he comes into contact. Micky is a theatre manager - and he's hanging on by his fingernails to a seedy-but-polished venue in an Irish neighborhood in a large UK city (Liverpool, I'm guessing). He has had one too many performer bail on him at the last minute, and the Ryans - the family of elderly women who own the building - are losing patience with him. To make matters worse, he has a VERY hard time saying the words 'I love you' to his gorgeous sweetheart, Nancy Doyle (portrayed by the stunning Tara Fitzgerald). Threatened with eviction by the Ryans - who aren't buying anymore of his BS - he books one Josef Locke, an Irish tenor who '...when he sings, women weep'. Locke is, unfortunately, a fugitive from Her Majesty's Tax Inspectors - he fled the UK in a bit of a hurry some 25 years previously, after having a fling with the newly-crowned Miss Dairy Goodness, who, to make matters worse (if that's possible) for Micky, just happens to be Nancy's mum. Deeper into misfortune sinks Micky - the Josef Locke he books turns out to be a fake. Not only does he break Kathleen's heart all over again, he's found out by the general populace. A near riot ensues, with people demanding their money back - and the Ryans evict Micky from the building. So far he's lost all of his money, his business, many of his friends and the girl he loves. If this is starting to sound like the things that a wonderful Irish comedy (albeit partially set in the UK) is made of, you're right.

Micky hies back to Ireland, hooking up with old pal - and theatrical agent in better standing than himself - Fintan O'Donnell, wonderfully portrayed by James Nesbitt (check out another great performance by this fellow as 'Pig' Finn in WAKING NED DIVINE). The two buddies travel off in search of the REAL Josef Locke (played excellently by Ned Beatty [and NO, he doesn't sing his own parts...]) - Micky is sure that if he can find him and tell him his story, he can convince him to come back to the UK and play the gig for him. It's the only way he can think of to right all of the wrongs he has committed, and to win back the heart of the girl he loves.

There are schtick Irish gags a-plenty in this film - but thanks to the fine acting by all concerned, and the gently funny script (by director Chelsom and actor Dunbar), it comes off very nicely indeed. It's not Shakespeare, but it'll make you laugh out loud, and feel good at the end to boot. Yeah - it's a little corny in places, but that's more than OK. I'd recommend this for the whole family, but there's a brief scene of nudity (just a few seconds, but probably not for the kiddies) - I'll say save this one for the adults who enjoy Irish humor. Too bad it's not available on DVD.

Highly Recommended Entertainment!
This is a movie that we rent when we have people staying with us and we want a nice little comedy without the cussing you always find in American-made movies (when my mom's visiting, for example!). There's a scene with a cow which I won't give away, but I will say that I laugh until I'm gasping for breath each time I watch it!