Irish experience pairs movies, pub
Tom McCarthy -Friday, January 23, 1998 issue
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this column lying before me, I trudged through a number of ideas to no avail, none worthy of the space on this page. Then I had the good fortune to view Good Will Hunting, recent winner of the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, who also star in the film.
Boasting producer Lawerence Bender (Pulp Fiction) and director Gus Van Sant (Drugstore Cowboy, To Die For), as well as Hollywood favorite, Robin Williams, fresh off his Disney masterpiece, Flubber, and rising star, Minnie Driver (Sleepers, Grosse Pointe Blank), the film proves worthy of its "Best Picture" nomination at the Golden Globe Awards.
Also receiving a nomination, The Boxer, a brilliant film by Jim Sheridan, which stars Daniel Day-Lewis and Emily Watson, and shares the Irish theme of its fellow nominee. The Boxer marks the third collaboration between the Dublin-born director and Day-Lewis, following the critically-acclaimed ,In The Name Of The Father and My Left Foot, for which Day-Lewis won an Academy Award.
The subject matter of the two films is quite similar. Both describe the Irish living experience, The Boxer in Belfast, and Good Will Hunting in the substantially less-volatile, American-Celtic capitol, Boston. Given my affinity for my own heritage, it was hard to resist the urge of featuring the two films in this article.
My next task was to sort through the no-doubt, countless number of traditional, Irish establishments in town, to capture the pub most worthy of praise. To my dismay, there is but a single Irish pub in Knoxville, and to my knowledge, one of two in East Tennessee.
Luckily, McGhee's Irish Pub, located off the Strip behind The Varsity, is an effective reproduction of Ireland's favorites, possessing an intimacy lost in the vast number of similar establishments in the northeast.
Now that my assignment is clear, I had only one place to begin, the frothy head of a draught Guinness, and some unexplainably engulfing conversation with proprietor, Charlie Jones Sr., at McGhee's.
Upon opening in September 1996, McGhee's quickly garnered a reputation as the best pour of Ireland's beloved stout in town. In fact, it is the only local pub that powers their Guinness tap with 75 percent carbon dioxide and 25 percent nitrogen, a practice strictly adhered to in the homeland, according to Caitriona McCarthy, a senior from Dublin, who admittingly frequents McGhee's.
Initially famous for their 20-ounce fish-bowls, which McCarthy refers to as "Irish pints" (that's right, 20 ounces or not, they're pints over there), McGhee's has expanded to include an upstairs music hall that provides song and dance, free-of-charge, seven-nights-a-week, and a rear deck, which Jones anticipates will be packed this spring.
In addition to the fun-facts, such as Guinness being labeled "the mother of all pints" because of its ability to perch above the rim of a glass, I learned while conversing with McCarthy, I also received valuable insight regarding the hostile situation in Northern Ireland as depicted in The Boxer.
In the film, boxer "Danny Boy" Flynn (Day-Lewis), who is released from prison 14 years after British authorities incarcerated him for Irish Republican Army activities. While in prison, Flynn distances himself from the IRA, while remaining honorable through his refusal to "name names."
Upon his release, he sets out to regain his stature as a fighter and retains the services of his old trainer, Mickey, uhh, wrong movie, Ike, who has gone the way of the bottle for some time. Together, the two rebuild a "non-secular" gym in the desolate district's community center, where by no small coincidence, Maggie Hamill (Emily Watson), Flynn's old flame, works as a teacher.
As "Danny Boy" trains, his old partner, and current IRA district leader, Harry, becomes increasingly upset with Flynn's decision to overlook religion, cooperate with British officials and promote peace through his fights. Additionally, he discourages Flynn's reunification with Maggie, whose husband, the father of her son, as well as Danny's one-time best friend, is in prison.
Bound by "the code of the prisoner's wife," Maggie, who is also the daughter of the IRA's chief, Joe Hamill, is torn between her love for Danny and the solidarity of her family and the neighborhood.
As the story unfolds, the IRA is on the verge of splitting as it did years-ago, as depicted in Neil Jordan's film, Michael Collins, as Joe wants to adhere to a cease-fire to achieve peace, and Harry sees violence as the only means to this necessary end.
Using the love story and the mental and physical rigors of boxing as catalysts, Sheridan created a poignant tale that exposes the depths of the turmoil in Northern Ireland, as well as the absurdity of the religious differences responsible for it. However, as McCarthy explained, it is important to realize the sensationalism of the film.
"It's not really that bad," she said, "but sometimes exaggeration is necessary to draw attention to these troubles."
Of significantly less world-importance are the troubles of Will Hunting (Damon), a 20-year-old orphan from South Boston, who in addition to his stereotypically-Irish temper, possesses a photographic memory and a knack for solving math problems that perpetually elude Nobel Prize winners. As a condition for his release from prison, after assaulting a police officer, he must meet with Professor Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard) of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he works nights as a janitor, and down-on-his-luck therapist, Sean Maguire (Williams).
In their weekly meetings, Sean and Will blur the lines between teacher and student, as they learn from each other about hope, love and most importantly, perseverance. The beauty of loyalty is displayed through the trusting friendship between Will and his best friend Chuckie (Affleck). Will finds love in the form of a beautiful, British Harvard coed, Skylar (Driver), who further complicates his life by asking him to join her in California, where she is to attend medical school.
Although the story fails to present any surprises, it is well told, and has stunning moments of dialogue, laced with humor, exemplified with Will's verbal tirade against a certain government agency. Without digging too deep into the ethnic backgrounds of its characters, Good Will Hunting proves to be an emotional story promoting the healing powers of love, loyalty and achievement. Although these two films have only a few common traits, they proved to be interesting topics of conversation, over a pint at my new-favorite, Irish Pub.
Interestingly, my "meal" at McGhee's consisted of a single (actually, multiple) beverage. However, utilizing The Varsity's kitchen, Jones plans to serve traditional Irish cuisine such as "shepherd's pie, Guinness stew served in a bread bowl, corned beef& cabbage and bangers & mash," in the near future.
Also, McGhee's will add a liquor list, complete with "fine, Irish whiskey, single malt scotch and none of those fruity things," and a selection of premium cigars, to their draft, Guinness, Harp, Bass and Woodpecker Cider, and extensive bottled beer selection, said Jones. They also plan to add the newly-released, Guinness Cold-Flo, which McCarthy sampled in Dublin over Christmas break.
"Americans will love it," she said, "surprisingly, the old guys, traditional Guinness drinkers, do too."
McGhee's Irish Pub offers weeknight beer specials and the atmosphere of "The Emerald Island," I recommend stopping by, you won't turn back.
As McCarthy says, "It's the closest thing to reality I've found down here." As a foreigner (Yankee) myself, I must concur.
Editor's note: This will be a regular segment of the entertainment section in which the Beacon's Tom McCarthy will review movies while tying in a theme to a local eating establishment.
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