Despite the occasional abrasiveness of its protagonists, this is a sweet-natured picture about memories, and about the relationship down the years between a talented Irish boy and the father who seemed unruffled by the time (or much else) and rooted in the past. It's also the story of all middle-aged men and their father in our time, a post-war legacy in which the generation gap has yawned wider than before or since. Unfortunately sweetness and nostalgia, like the film, only grip in fits and starts, but it is acted to perfection by Martin Sheen as the son who went to America and by Bernard Hughes as the blustery old man who stayed in Ireland and whose ghost comes to make its peace after his own funeral. This leads to often humorous flashbacks to the past, highlighted by attempts to drown the family dog, and by the old man's ruining his son's big chance with the local floozy.

©ipc tx. Film content from TVTimes