Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I've always been a great admirer of writer/director Neil Jordan and consider him to be one of the greatest storytellers in the world of cinema. "Ondine" is one of my favorite movies of his, simply because it more or less represents a return to his roots and his devotion for fantasy/fairy-tale movies. Of course he will never make another masterpiece like "The Company of Wolves", but I very much prefer his fantasy films over the more mainstream and Hollywoodesque titles like "The Brave One" or "The Good Thief". Okay, so admittedly I'm a bit biased, but everything about "Ondine" feels right straight from the beginning. Beautiful images of the Irish Sea and coast side, enchanting music, a moody atmosphere and the immediate introduction of melancholic and deeply convoluted main characters. This film also finally offers native Irishman Colin Farrell the opportunity to depict the protagonist he was born to depict! Syracuse – nicknamed Circus because he used to behave like a clown when he was still a drunkard – is an independent fisherman on the verge of poverty, continuously in dispute with his alcoholic ex-wife and only trying to remain on the right path out of love for his severely ill daughter Annie. During the opening sequences of the film already, Syracuse drags his fishing nets back aboard of his boat and is astonished to find a beautiful girl caught in them. She calls herself Ondine and insists that only Syracuse knows of her existence. He shelters her in his deceased mother's coastal shed and doesn't mind keeping her around because all of a sudden his fisherman's nets are now miraculously full of thick juicy lobsters and rare quality salmons. When Annie finds out about Ondine, the little girl is convinced that she's a Selkie; a folklore mermaid-creature that can only remain on land if she marries a landsman and buries her seal coat. For the vast majority of its running time "Ondine" is a truly marvelous fantasy adventure with a dreamy atmosphere and identifiable characters. Unfortunately the climax is a bit disappointing, because Neil Jordan found it necessary to give a rational explanation at the end after all. I, for one, would have been perfectly satisfied if the plot remained mysterious and fantastic. "Ondine" is brought to an even higher quality-level thanks to the mesmerizing music of the awesome Icelandic band Sigur Rós (YouTube them in case you don't know their music!) and stellar performances from the entire ensemble cast. Colin Farrell is terrific, as stated already, but also the young girl Alison Barry impresses as Syracuse's daughter and Dervla Kirwan is brilliant as his loathsome and possessive ex- wife. Neil Jordan regular Stephen Rea appears as the priest where Syracuse goes to confess and – last but not least – there's the Polish actress Alicja Bachleda as the titular Ondine. She's a good actress and definitely one of the most ravishing beings – mermaid, human or otherwise – on this planet. I certainly don't blame Colin Farrell that he kept her close to him even long after the film was finalized

"The truth is not what you know. It's what you believe."This is a movie about a myth that materializes in reality, hope that finds its way through despair. A movie that will restore your faith in the imaginary and will leave you believing that we are re-living our favorite childhood fairy tales everyday but with different details. This is a movie about hope and happiness; hope that favors only the strong, and happiness that needs courage, persistence and belief. And as the priest tells Syracuse, it is always easier to fall into misery because it does not require much effort. It's happiness that needs working at. Everyday, unlimited opportunities of happiness knock on our door but we foolishly waste them or abandon them halfway because of our crippling sense of reality, cowardice, or lack of faith.Ondine is about a former alcoholic Irish fisherman, Syracuse, who fishes out of the water a woman whom his sick daughter believes to be a Silkie, a mythological creature with magical powers that lives as a seal in the water and sheds off its skin on land. Throughout his journey to uncover the true identity of the woman, to know whether she belongs to the real or the imaginary world, the fisherman (played well enough by Colin Farrell) discovers what it takes to deserve happiness.Alicja Bachelda was beautiful as Ondine. Her body and facial features truly give you the feeling that she belongs to a different world. The film is visually beautiful as well, except for a few extremely dim lit scenes which I believe were done so on purpose to juxtapose the gruesomely 'real' with the supposedly 'imaginary.'

Basically "The Secret of Roan Inish" darkened with Irish realism including with alcoholism, kidney failure and, in the case of Colin Farrell, really bad hair and an impenetrable accent. Critics made a big deal about the thickness of the Irish brogues in this gritty fairy tale and for good reason - most American audiences and I suspect most others outside Ireland itself will catch every third word. Ultimately, Neil Jordan movies are more about place, tone and the unexpected emotional pops that catch you off-guard and these are in abundance here. The frank depictions of alcoholics recovering and otherwise tell a story that make their words largely superfluous and the wide shots of Ireland's darkly beautiful coast need no verbal accompaniment. Alison Barry, as the daughter of the "recovering" alcoholic Syracuse played by Farrell, and a definitely not recovering mother is more understandable. While she genuinely does a nice job in the part, her character Annie is a wee bit too self-sufficient, mature and together given all that is against her. A little more emotional vulnerability would have made the character more believable. The plot itself is solidly credible and it is worth staying around to see how it turns out. In short, if you can find a version with English subtitles this is worth the view, if not try "The Secret of Roan Inish" instead.

Fairy tales are supposed to be divorced from reality but Neil Jordan comes up with a delicious piece of storytelling and cinema which has elements of fantasy and reality.Superbly acted and directed 'Ondine' revels in the simplicity of being human where a good story can, in the right hands, be the most satisfying of entertainment. The whole cast does well, in particular the three main leads, Colin Farrell, Alicja Bachleda, and Alison Barry.The story centres upon an alcoholic fisherman, his catch, and he and his young daughter's observations about his catch, and it is told with startling cinematography, haunting music, building ideas in our minds just as any good story should. As Annie, the fisherman's daughter would have it, her father's story "is s***e", but, nonetheless, we are still captivated and so, apparently, is Annie! Neil Jordan even manages meaningful diversions intended to either knock our fantasy about or confuse our reality and leave us wondering what is next. Yes it is flawed in places but what storytelling isn't? What this film has in bucket loads is personality.See this film please, it is just too good to miss.