Bobbie's Girl (2002 TV Movie) User Reviews

Excellent performance by Thomas Sangster

[cetta · 7/10 · 22 June 2002]

While Bernadette Peters and Rachel Ward did a good job of playing a couple that is suddenly presented with a 10 your old child, while dealing with other crisis. The boy who plays Allan stole this movie, he was so adorable and convincing, he is going to be a great actor someday. Watch this movie if only to see his performance, you will not be disappointed.

Wholesome story: why PG-13 in Canada?

[bill-bell · 7/10 · 25 November 2005]

My wife and I both enjoyed the movie. Nothing earth shaking, just a pleasant enough way to spend an hour and a half. Since all we know of Ireland is what we can remember from having motored around the southern end of it roughly 300 years ago we aren't troubled by a knowledge of the reality of that country either.

I really wish that movies that come to Canada could bear ratings that reflect the accepted standards of this country. After all, marriages between women are now legal here and there was nothing in this movie in the least lascivious, so why such a misleading label?

I suppose that my only concern about suggesting such a thing is that it might bring back the silly days of the government censors.

Good show, Showtime!

[=G= · 7/10 · 10 June 2002]

The charm of "Bobbie's Girl" isn't so much in the story as in the telling. A sweetly sentimental slice-of-life feel good flick from Showtime, the film tells of a middle-aged lesbian couple operating a tavern on the coast of Ireland who unexpectedly find themselves with the yin-yang of a wee lad and the "Big C" in their midst. The film offers fine performances from a core cast of four who fully flesh-out their characters making for an easy emotional buy-in. Those who have become used to the usual exaggerated dramatic film fare may enjoy the soft-peddled delivery of this lilting, life-affirming drama while others may regard it as uneventful fluff.

Note - Those who might be turned-off by the same-sex relationship at the center of this film should know that the lesbianism is very understated and tastefully presented.

Human Relationships Artfully Portrayed

[magica8080 · 1 October 2004]

The quality that makes this movie such a joy to watch are the relationships between the primary characters. The relationship between Bailey and Bobbie "feels" real. Both Ward and Peters convey the familiarity of long established relationships. A tacit acceptance of the good qualities and foibles that all couples deal with in each other.

I had never seen Sangster in any films before this. I was deeply impressed with the abilities of an actor so young to convey complex feelings without words. Dread and hope expressed side by side. His attempts to bond with his aunt and Bailey are artfully portrayed, with just enough success and frustration to feel genuine.

As the uncle, Jonathan Silverman provides a balanced portrayal of self effacing humor and sensitivity. In the character of Uncle David Allen is able to see that other ways of living that are completely alien to his very proper British up bringing.

A warm and hopeful film. It's characters, their relationships, and the personal growth that occurs in each of them make it a genuine joy to watch.

Not bad at all

[lynzee · 7/10 · 10 June 2002]

Tuned in although I had never heard of it before. The acting was fine but the little boy who plays Alan absolutely walks away with the movie. The scenes between him and David, brother of Bailey, were beautifully done. The ending of the movie was kind of a loser. Really very brusque. It's an interesting film and worth the time to tune in.

Beautiful, wrenching, realistic film about breast cancer and the needs of a parentless child.

[pyotr-3 · 10/10 · 30 June 2002]

I expected a Made-for-TV-type movie here, but got a much richer and far more touching story. A little boy is taken in by two women in Ireland when his parents die - and one of the women soon finds she has breast cancer. She isn't exactly naturally maternal to begin with, and having to deal with breast cancer makes her even less able to make the child feel loved.

The story doesn't attempt to make saints of anyone, and as such it feels very realistic. Thomas Sangster as the little boy puts in a marvelous performance that makes the film the most moving portrayal of a child since Britain's "Hollow Reed." It is a beautiful film about responsibility, life and death which anyone can relate to.

If You Really Love Someone-GET MARRIED!!

[whpratt1 · 10/10 · 13 October 2004]

Some how I seemed to have missed this film and was not certain if I was going to like the theme of this story. It did not take me very long before I was spellbound with each character in the film and my heart went out to the young boy and the threat of breast cancer and the great warm and lovely love between two same sex gals. Bernadette Peters,(Bailey Lewis)," Snow Days",'99, gave an outstanding performance along with Rachel Ward,(Roberta Langham),"The Ascent",'94. Bailey & Roberta were madly in love with each other and their co-worker Jewish friends made quite a combination of team players. The background and photography in Ireland was a perfect location. If you love someone very very deeply, don't miss out on the opportunity of sharing your entire life with them. Great Story About LOVE!

Phooey

[zackim-1 · 2/10 · 23 April 2006]

If not for Bernadette Peters I wouldn't have picked this out from the NYPUBLIC Library on a loan....Hollywood propaganda now has come full round to TV as well as the movies showing Lesbians as wonderful wholesome people with ordinary problems of life...the kid is given to them and he seems a bit disturbed after the deaths of his parents in a car accident, all he does is run out of the room when he feels insulted... and never is anyone's character even explored fully...a feel good movie...more self serving propaganda than anything else.........it is all blather and as I have said, propaganda....dishonest, hiding behind light, good cheer and all the damned clichés one can find....what stinky movie...except for Bernie...I find her adorable and wonder what the hell was on her mind in making such garbage.

Oh yes

[roo1 · 9/10 · 2 November 2005]

First, I watched the film (last night) without realising that Roberta Langham was played by Rachel Ward; it's been years since I saw her in anything.

Anyway, I enjoyed this film immensely, ignoring - as other contributors have pointed out - the rather unlikely scenario of a largish Jewish community in a small RoI seaside town and the ability of a gay couple to live so openly there.

Thomas Sangster's performance was indeed years ahead of his age and had me sniffling occasionally. Yes, I agree with another contributor who suggested this film is best watched with someone you love.

A beautifully warm film, without resorting to schmaltz. See it.

Terrific performances

[movilover · 21 May 2003]

After the death of his parents a 10-year-old orphan is sent to live with an aunt he's never seen, a brusque woman in a lesbian relationship who lives in a gay bar she owns. Not everybody is thrilled with the assignment, especially the boy's grandfather, but surprisingly little is made of community disapproval. Instead, the focus is on the relationships among the various characters. Luckily, the writing and acting are outstanding, especially Rachel Ward and Bernadette Peters as the lesbian partners and, in the best role I've seen him in, Jonathan Silverman as the gay "uncle", who works in the bar. The fact that the boy is also working in a gay bar, and apparently will be growing up there, doesn't seem to bother anybody, least of all the boy. Thomas Sangster, the 11-year-old actor who plays the part, gives a highly intelligent and affecting performance. Perhaps it's in his genes: he's the cousin of Hugh Grant.

a life invoking drama set in a real world

[ceige666 · 10/10 · 24 December 2005]

I saw this film purely by chance and have to say I am glad. Seeing it without any expectations made it very enjoyable but left me wondering how I could of not found it before. The acting,writing and directing was fantastic. Very rarely does a film leave me wanting to tell everyone I know or meet all about it but this has, all I can say is thank you to all those involved. Films such as this are so often overlooked by the mainstream but shouldn't be. If anyone has had to make difficult decisions , this will be a very true and honest representation of choices we all have to make. Regardless of the main characters sexual orientation this film hits a nerve we will all feel at some point in our lives.

I'm sure I shall watch this again.

[gsivers · 9/10 · 24 November 2006]

I predominantly agree with all of the positive comment. I also agree a couple of minor faults exist. IE the wedding and the number of Jewish people to be found in a small Irish area. These however are easily ignored. All four leads are terrific. In reply to those who found Allen's reaction to the news difficult to understand. Realise he was in a British style boarding school. He had probably been there for the last 4 or 5 years. He probably only saw his parents briefly during the holidays. As an ex boarding school inmate myself I had no difficulty understanding his reaction. Remember also he had a "frozen heart" according to his mother. Basicaly no-one so far in his life, least of all his parents, "knew" him. Leaving him completely alone with or without his parents. Sangster carried this off masterfully. Well done all.

Pub is Irish original, not gay setting - Where in Bray???

[blueberryjuice · 10/10 · 15 October 2006]

Movilover, Although I agree with you in many aspects of your review, I'd like to clear out that the bar in "Bobbie's Girl" IS BY NO MEANS A GAY ONE, but a regular Irish pub, a place that welcomes everybody and even serves tea (see scene with Granpa looking for Alan, the kid). The place seemed very normal to me, you could even say a little "clean cut", where customers are seeing watching football matches and doing harmless karaoke (no smoke, no drunks or drugs or sex). Everybody is very friendly to Bobbie (a free pint?) and Bailey, perhaps because they've been there forever (couple decades, perhaps) and support them as friends. It was very thoughtful of the writers to focus the plot on stressing the adults in charge as "aunts and uncles" and away from their sexuality; also, if you see Bobbie in the pub, she's always taking care of the business, not discussing her preferences.

Overall, is a very touching movie experience, where people are displayed positively, if eccentric due to their artistic flair. Kudos to the cast & crew!!!

PD: Does anyone know where in Bray is the "Two Sisters" pub? For what I've found, the only public bar under that name is in Dublin. Is that building a real hanging place or just a plain home habitat?

That one bizarre, tasteless scene -- am I the only one who noticed it?

[newyorker_film_buff · 23 March 2003]

Overall this was an excellent film, but there was one odd scene at the very beginning that made me wonder if the rest of the film was going to be just as bizarre. It wasn't, and kudos should be given to the entire cast, most especially Thomas Sangster, a superb young actor who plays 10-year-old Alan. But that one scene still remains in my mind as one of the most strangely played I've ever observed. When even the sharpest critics failed to mention it, I was truly befuddled.

So what is the scene I'm objecting to? It is the moment when Bailey, played by Bernadette Peters, approaches Alan at his school and bluntly reports to him the death of his parents in a tragic auto accident. (The headmaster had chosen not to tell the boy what had happened, instead waiting for a family member -- in this case, Bailey -- to break the news.) After this sudden announcement, Alan looks only mildly surprised, glances toward the headmaster, then back to Bailey, and never sheds a tear (nor ever afterward in the film, except at the end, and not about his parents). Bailey, meanwhile, goes into some kind of odd comic shtick where she attempts to add detail. "There was a terrible accident," she says, then with a squeaky comic voice and mugging expression segues into "Ooo, it sounds like a mystery where people stand around saying, 'There's been a terrible accident, ooo, ooo....'" Immediately afterward, the film merrily bounces along as she takes the boy from the school, with hardly another mention of the tragedy that has just happened.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. In an otherwise sensitive film of the highest quality, why did the director allow that early scene to be played that way? Wouldn't Alan have cried at the news? Wouldn't Bailey have hugged him to console him and perhaps even wept with him? I found the scene tasteless, and I thought the follow-on treatment of the accident (nearly no mention afterward) to be a convenience of the scriptwriters to get the plot moving along quickly (two lesbian lovers find themselves "mothers" to an orphaned child with resulting complications, both serious and funny). Am I the only one to have been disturbed by this scene? Or is there something I'm missing?

Great Little Film - Two Leads Not Believable as Couple

[wordswork02 · 8/10 · 30 July 2006]

I really liked this movie. I came upon it totally by accident one day while channel surfing. I love intimate little films that are about people and their personal journeys, not about how many cars can be blown up.

The little actor playing Allan (Thomas Sangster) has the biggest and most expressive eyes I've seen in a while.

I've read comments that the openly lesbian and Jewish elements wouldn't really fly in a small town like the one in the film, but that didn't bother me.

What kind of bothered me was the fact that Bailey and Bobbie didn't seem like a real couple. I'm a lesbian and I see straight women playing lesbians all the time. You can tell they're straight and a little uncomfortable with same-sex affection. There were moments in this film where I got that distinct impression.

But other than that, I think the movie is great. I've seen it a few times now, and I always cry at the end.

Good Movie

[moviesampink · 10/10 · 5 October 2007]

Bobbie's Girl is a great movie and it's hard to find lesbian movies. This movie shows that lesbians can be couples and still be a little uncomfortable once in a while. Rachel Ward was great as Allan's aunt and Thomas Sangster is incredible as Allan. He is a natural born actor. Jonathon Silverman is one of a kind and very sweet as Bailey's brother and Allan's uncle. Bernadette Peters beautifully shines as Bailey, she is very gifted. All of the character's have great chemistry together and it really shows. If you want to watch a feel good movie or a dramatic movie, this is the one, just don't judge it to harshly. I give this movie a 10/10 rating.

Hollywood invades Bray

[daraghfi · 7 September 2003]

Okay - not a bad movie, but two major exceptions:

1. (Unfortunately) Lesbianism is still very underground in Ireland, and even more so in a suburban/rural town like Bray - so it's unlikely that that part of the story would have flown. And even more so the wedding at the end of the movie.

2. I grew up in the town this was filmed in, and went to school in Dublin. I met a total of one Jewish person over 21 years. There just aren't any! Ireland is 99% Catholic, although Bray is known to have a large population of Protestants, many from the North. But Jews? Sorry, no.

So, I came to the conclusion that the writer/producer Samuel Berstein (obviously Jewish, but obviously not lesbian!) just took his generic story and transplanted it to Bray. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see another film set in Ireland, but a bit of reality needs to be tempered in these cases - maybe that was offset by the American/English characters, but even then the English Jewish population is pretty small, too (except in the movie business...) For the record, I am anti-racism and pro-equality (& reality)

*yawn*

[tellmemorex2 · 12 June 2002]

This movie is good ONLY if you're bored, there's nothing else on to watch and it's playing on the cable you already pay way too much for per month.

The relationship between the characters is considerably believable, however, the portrayal of said characters is only mediocre. It's fluff. However, the wardrobe and set decorations in the movie are just wonderful. It's too bad that having the perfect set and the perfect clothes didn't make up for the lousy acting in the film.