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Most Fertile Man

2002-03-16 20:58:27+01 by Dan Lyke 0 comments

Charlene and I went to see The Most Fertile Man In Ireland[Wiki] last night. Any film which has lots of content about women having babies is already a few strikes down in my book, but this one managed to redeem itself. Premise: Falling birth rates in Ireland, lots of couples wanting kids but unable to. Virgin loser sort of guy pines for girl in the shop across the street, one night a woman in a bar throws herself at him, and despite all her precautions gets pregnant. This gets out, and all of a sudden women from all over are using this guy to get pregnant. But because this is Northern Ireland, having children (and adjusting the Catholic-Protestant ratio) is a political act, so he becomes a pawn in the game between the Catholics and the Unionists. And, of course, he still pines for girl in the shop across the street. Hijinx ensue.

It couldn't decide if it wanted to be farce or satire, and worked the best when it was a bunch of disconnected comical scenes. Unfortunately it never managed to quite either embarass its lead characters or come down hard on its political motivations enough to tie the story together in a way that made the whole thing satisfying, but still managed to be completely watchable. Despite my anti-baby bias.

[ related topics: Religion Children and growing up Politics Sexual Culture Movies ]

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