Albert Finney, Matt Keeslar
Welcome to the Irish version of Hellzapoppin'. This coming-of-age story about an 18-year-old lad (Keesler) in County Cavan trying to sort out his emotions and ambitions after the death of his mother seems simple enough. But Country, directed by Peter Yates (Breaking Away), gets lost in a blur of incidents and catastrophes: a heart attack, a decapitation, an unwanted pregnancy, an IRA bombing, a tar-and-feathering and a drowning in a peat bog, not to mention a bungee jump, a cockfight and a bar brawl. With all this going on, no one (not even Finney, as the boy's short-tempered dad) gets a chance to really act. The only interesting detail about Country is that the boy keeps his dead mother's compact case concealed in his pocket. We never learn why this souvenir has any special meaning for Keeslar. But that's precisely what gives it a small, but much appreciated, resonance the movie otherwise lacks. (R)
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