The Ballroom of Romance

A lonely farmer's daughter hopes to find love at the village ballroom.

Cast

Brenda Fricker

as Bridie

John Kavanagh

as Bowser Egan

Cyril Cusack

as Mr. Dwyer

Niall Tóibín

as Eyes Horgan

Brid Brennan

as Patty Byrne

Mick Lally

as Dano Ryan

Ingrid Craigie

as Eenie Mackie

Joe Pilkington

as Tim Daly

Pat Leavy

as Madge Dowding

Robert Carrickford

as Fogarty

Reviews

SPDonlan

Like many of the best Irish films, Ballroom has a notable literary source. A BBC/RTÉ television co-production adapted by William Trevor from his short story, it’s a delicate portrait of loneliness in a landscape of perpetual economic malaise and mass emigration (problems Irish audiences still experi...

Similar Movies

Reefer and the Model

Comerford’s signature sharp realism infuses this drama about Reefer, an ex-IRA man who picks up hitch-hiker Teresa, a pregnant woman trying to overcome a drug addiction. They head to the trawler where he lives with friends Spider and Badger, that operates between Galway and the Aran Islands. The makeshift family are forced to turn to crime to make a living.

⭐ 5.2

The Wind That Shakes the Barley

In 1920s Ireland young doctor Damien O'Donovan prepares to depart for a new job in a London hospital. As he says his goodbyes at a friend's farm, British Black and Tans arrive, and a young man is killed. Damien joins his brother Teddy in the Irish Republican Army, but political events are soon set in motion that tear the brothers apart.

⭐ 7.3

Patriot Games

When CIA Analyst Jack Ryan interferes with an IRA assassination, a renegade faction targets Jack and his family as revenge.

⭐ 6.7

Laws of Attraction

Amidst a sea of litigation, two New York City divorce lawyers find love.

⭐ 5.8

Me First

Feeling trapped in an unhappy marriage, Sarah confides in her daughter’s friend. In a moment of weakness, everything changes and she is suddenly faced with feelings she has never felt before. Sarah must chose between her family and her own happiness. When she makes her choice, it’s up to her daughter to put her mother’s happiness first.

⭐ 0.0

Angela's Ashes

An Irish Catholic family returns to 1930s Limerick after a child's death in America. The unemployed I.R.A. veteran father struggles with poverty, prejudice, and alcoholism as the family endures harsh slum conditions.

⭐ 7.3

Strictly Ballroom

Brave new steps put Scott's career in jeopardy. With a new partner and determination, can he still succeed?

⭐ 6.6

Wilde

Oscar Wilde is a married playwright who has occasionally indulged his weakness for male suitors. After much toil, Wilde debuts 'The Importance of Being Earnest' in London, and a chat at the theatre with Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas leads to a full-fledged romance. However, this affair leads to a legal dispute with Lord Alfred's oppressive father, the Marquess of Queensberry, and, given the local anti-gay laws, Wilde is jailed. Wilde's vast intellect helps him survive until he regains his freedom.

⭐ 6.6

The Winter Lake

When Holly’s dark secret is accidentally uncovered by her new emotionally unstable neighbor Tom, they are pulled into a violent confrontation with her father, who will do anything to keep the secret hidden.

⭐ 5.1

Untamed

When the great potato famine hits Ireland, the diaspora begins as thousands emigrate. Among those leaving the Emerald Isle is Katie O'Neill and her husband, who decide that the promised land is South Africa and make their way there. Once there, they discover the hardships that are the reality of the homesteader experience.

⭐ 5.6

Irene

Irene, a feisty Irish girl in Philadelphia, clashes with her family and walks out, heading to New York City to seek fame and fortune. She gets a job as a dressmaker's model and becomes involved with Donald, the scion of a wealthy family. Donald's mother doesn't approve of Irene and sets out to discredit her in Donald's eyes.

⭐ 3.8

Boy Soldier

A young Welsh soldier on duty in Northern Ireland finds himself used as a political pawn, following a tragic incident during a violent clash with some of the local agitators. The Guardian proposed that "if Spielberg's ET, in the immortal words of Pauline Kael, was a bliss out, Karl Francis' 'Boy Soldier' is a bleed out for sheer fist shaking emotionalism, it would be hard to find another British film of recent years to beat it."

⭐ 0.0

The Secret Scripture

The hidden memoir of an elderly woman confined to a mental hospital reveals the history of her passionate yet tortured life, and of the religious and political upheavals in Ireland during the 1920s and 30s.

⭐ 7.3

The General

The real-life story of Dublin folk hero and criminal Martin Cahill, who pulled off two daring robberies in Ireland with his team, but attracted unwanted attention from the police, the I.R.A., the U.V.F., and members of his own team.

⭐ 6.7

Michael Collins

Michael Collins plays a crucial role in the establishment of the Irish Free State in the 1920s, but becomes vilified by those hoping to create a completely independent Irish republic.

⭐ 6.9

Breakfast on Pluto

In the 1970s, a young transgender woman called “Kitten” leaves her small Irish town for London in search of love, acceptance, and her long-lost mother.

⭐ 7.2

Becoming Jane

Though young Jane Austen's financially strapped parents expect her to marry the nephew of wealthy Lady Gresham, Jane herself knows that such a union will destroy her creativity and sense of self-worth. Instead, she becomes involved with Tom Lefroy, a charming but penniless apprentice lawyer who gives her the knowledge of the heart she needs for her future career as a novelist.

⭐ 7.3

The Quiet Man

An American man returns to the village of his birth in Ireland, where he finds love and conflict.

⭐ 7.3

Barry Lyndon

An Irish rogue uses his cunning and wit to work his way up the social classes of 18th century England, transforming himself from the humble Redmond Barry into the noble Barry Lyndon.

⭐ 8.0