North American DVD release 15 April 03

Two audio commentaries by director Bruce Beresford and star Pierce Brosnan and producer Beau St. Claire, "The Story Behind The Story" and an additional making-of featurette, a still gallery and the trailer.

"Evelyn" has long been a pet project for Pierce Brosnan. It is based on the true story of Desmond Doyle (played by Brosnan). Doyle fought the Irish government and the Catholic Church to overturn an outdated custody law and recover his three children after his wife ran off and he was unable to find employment.
As a child Brosnan spent some time in the care of the Christian Brothers order when his single mother went to England to find work. She reclaimed him once she was settled.
Brosnan, who will also produce the film, which will have to be finished in time for the next Bond saga, which will be the 20th 007 adventures and the 40th anniversary of the series.
Alan Bates plays Thomas Connolly, the barrister. Irish American Aidan Quinn, star of "Legends of the Fall," and Julianna Margulies, who made her name as George Clooney's nurse girlfriend in "ER" also flew in to Ireland recently for their roles in the new movie.
The film is being made by Brosnan's own production company Irish Dreamtime.

- The film's story -

Ireland, 1953. When Desmond Doyle's wife, Charlotte, leaves her family on the day after Christmas, her mother reports the abandonment to the authorities. The Catholic Church and the Irish courts decide that a 1941 law mandates that the three Doyle children, nine year old Evelyn and her two younger brothers, Maurice and Dermot, be put into Church-run orphanages. During that time Evelyn and her brothers suffer the abuse of living in such orphanages.
Desmond attempts to retrieve the children with the help of the feisty bar maid he has befriended, Bernadette Beattie, and her solicitor brother Michael. When the Church and courts refuse to give the children back, a visiting Irish born lawyer from America, Nick Barron, agrees to help with the case. Nick drafts his old mentor, Thomas Connolly, a famously colorful retired barrister who relishes the idea of taking on his old foes on the Irish High Court, headed by Senior Counsel Wolfe. Nick also recruits Hugh Cannon, a popular radio broadcaster, to take up the cause.
Against all odds, but with the support and encouragement of his fellow countrymen as well as people around the world, Desmond and his legal team do what has never been done before - challenge the constitutionality of a law before the Irish Supreme Court. No one is spared, including little Evelyn, in a final attempt to reverse Ireland's Family Law and reunite a father with his children.

Pierce Brosnan and Stephen Rea (photos © ShobizIreland)

Cast list:

Pierce Brosnan - Desmond Doyle
Aidan Quinn - Nick Barron
Julianna Margulies - Bernadette Beattie
Stephen Rea - Michael Beattie
Alan Bates - Thomas Connolly
Sophie Vavasseur - Evelyn Doyle
John Lynch - Senior Counsel Wolfe
Hugh McDonagh - Maurice (Evelyn's younger brother)
Niall Beagen - Dermot (Evelyn's younger brother)
Frank Kelly - Henry (Evelyn's grandfather)
Mairhead Devlin - Charlotte (Evelyn's mother)
Eileen Colgan - Mrs. Daisley (Charlotte's mother)

Brian McGrath - Hugh Canning (popular radio reporter)
Don Foley - Justice Lynch (of the Supreme Court)
Bill Golding - Justice Daley (of the Supreme Court)
Conor Evans - Justice Ferris (lead judge in High Court)
Alan Barry - Justice McLaoghlin (High Court judge)
Eamon Rohan - Justice Hall (High Court judge)
Alvaro Lucchesi - Logan (from Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children)
Garrett Keogh - District Judge (of Metropolitan Children's Court)
Stuart Clark - Children's Court usher
Marian Quinn - Sister Theresa (manager of St. Joseph's Orphanage and Industrial School)
Andrea Irvine - Sister Brigid (St. Joseph's nun who dislikes Evelyn)
Karen Ardiff - Sister Felicity (St. Joseph's nun who befriends Evelyn)
Daithi O'Suilleabhain - Brother Eustace (Christian brother at the Kilkenny Industrial School)
Bosco Hogan - Father O'Malley (local priest)
Des Braiden - Fergal (owner of Fergal's Pub, Bernadette's employer)
Sorcha Herlihy - Mary (friend of Evelyn's at the orphanage)
Lauren Carpenter - Annette (friend of Evelyn's at the orphanage)
Gail Fitzpatrick - Cathy Gilhooly (Michael Beattie's secretary)
Pat McGrath - gamekeeper of Lord Kilbrandon's estate
Mark Lambert - Minister of Education
David Monks - Sean (classmate of Evelyn's brothers at Kilkenny Industrial School)
Mick Nolan - Owen O'Leary (local bookie who donates winnings to Doyle's cause)

The film was directed by Bruce Beresford and produced by Pierce Brosnan and Beau St. Clair of Irish DreamTime and Michael Ohoven of Infinity Entertainment. The film will be distributed by United Artists/Overseas Film Group. The script is by Paul Pender. |||

Variety Review
24 September 2002
by Eddie Cockrell

"Evelyn"

An unexpectedly raffish air and an atmospheric production are the hallmarks of "Evelyn," the true-life saga of an Irish father who bucked the system in 1953 to regain legal custody of his children in a groundbreaking court case. Co-produced by star Pierce Brosnan for his Irish DreamTime banner (the shingle's third outing, after "The Nephew" and "The Thomas Crown Affair"), pic's feel-good approach to the schematic David-and-Goliath story renders it a decent mainstream title for UA, with good if unspectacular ancillary to follow.

Brosnan plays Desmond Doyle, a hard-working but perpetually poor painter and decorator who moonlights singing in pubs with his dad and lives with his family in Dublin's Fatima Mansions housing estate. When his wife walks out on him and his three kids for another man, church and state gang up to remove his kids, split them up and send them to different orphanages.
As little Evelyn Doyle (Sophie Vavasseur) learns to adjust to life surrounded by nuns both good and bad, Desmond first tries desperately to steal his kids back, then vows to assemble a legal dream team to take on the Irish courts. He meets skeptical lawyer Michael Beattie (Stephen Rea) through the jurist's barmaid sister Bernadette (Julianna Margulies).
Beattie is shocked to see American colleague Nick Barron (Aidan Quinn) take an interest in the case (a divorce separated him from his own children) -- and a fancy to Bernadette, who's also pitching woo with Des. But it isn't until the attorneys successfully lure footballer-turned-superstar-barrister Thomas Connolly (Alan Bates) out of retirement to shake up the system that they appear to have any kind of chance to revise the existing law.
A sprightly pace and a fatalistic sense of humor propel the proceedings over a generous amount of drinking jokes and other cliches of Irish life and culture. Though a legal win looks extremely unlikely up until the final reel, emotional pitch of pic leaves little doubt that Doyle and his cause will triumph, and he even gets an "I'm a better person" speech to the packed courtroom that defiantly drips of Capra-corn.
Reuniting after African-set, 1991 "Mr. Johnson," vet director Bruce Beresford and Brosnan are completely in synch with the material. The star plays Doyle as just rough enough around the edges to warrant the character's setbacks, but not so unpleasant that the twinkle in his eye is extinguished or his ability to love and care for his kids would come into question.
All other perfs are in the underdog spirit of the proceedings, with Quinn particularly relaxed and appealing as the Yank ambulance chaser and Bates having a grand old time as the eccentric elder jurist. Only John Lynch as opposing counsel in the climactic courtroom battle seems underserved by the otherwise obvious script.

Lead by Andre Fleuren's warm, widescreen lensing, tech package is fine, with most principle craftspeople returning from previous Beresford productions. The Irish brogues are a bit much at first, but flatten out as pic proceeds.

Camera (color, widescreen), Andre Fleuren; editor, Humphrey Dixon; music, Stephen Endelman; production designer, John Stoddart; art director, Ian Bailie; costume designer, Joan Bergin; sound (Dolby Digital/DTS Digital), Brendan Deasy. Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (Special Presentations), Sept. 11, 2002. Running time: 93 MIN.