Very disappointing...

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

I find it a bit hard to quantify what makes this film so spectacular; it just is.It flows seamlessly from drama to mystery to comedy to horror to romance.Ciarin Hinds and Iben Hjejle have excellent on screen chemistry. These are two people who have been out in the world and experienced life. Hannah Lynch is not in the film a lot, but she brings much to the role as the caring daughter. Mac the dog does a great job as Ringo (gotta love a dog named after a Beatle). What makes Ciarin Hinds so special is that he is honest, mysterious, complicated, and vulnerable without even trying. He is a seasoned actor, and I cannot imagine anyone else in the lead role. He's simply a lovely man.The mark of a great film is that it is over before you want it to be over, and you feel satisfied.

Michael Farr (Ciarán Hinds) is a widower with two kids in an Irish seaside town. He experiences strange visions. His father-in-law is dying in a nursing home. He volunteers at the annual literary festival. The arrogant famous writer Nicholas Holden (Aidan Quinn) is a married womanizer who is trying to rekindle an affair with fellow writer Lena Morelle (Iben Hjejle). Lena and Michael develop chemistry as the two men struggle for Lena.As a horror movie, it's not a scary one. This is something much more an old slow quiet moody ghost story romance with some jump scares. Aidan Quinn's character is really off-putting and I wish his scenes with Iben Hjejle can be cut back. I also wish the kids are bigger parts of the movie. The saving grace is Ciarán Hinds and the power of his performance. He's quite compelling in every scene he's in. I do wish it ends with more drama.

I like ghost stories, the older and closer to the abyss I get, and there is one scene in this film that won the day for me. Hinds' character awakes one morning, to find his dead wife sitting on the bed, her hair gone to chemo, looking at him with darkened eyes. He does a double take, and she is still there, her lustrous, long, brown hair shining, and she looking well, a shadow of sad on her face. He is stunned, and cannot move as she gets up, sits down beside him on the bed and hugs him warmly for at least a minute...he weeps openly, and she gets up and drifts away. I cannot embellish that marvelous scene any more....The detractions were the scenes of slasher gore as Hind's character saw visions of his wife's sick father, dead and rotting and grabbing for him....don't quite understand why those were in there, but this was a good film

"The Eclipse" is a surreal walk in the shoes of a few Irish villagers. Some have criticized this piece for being somewhat disjointed and confusing. I must heartily disagree! It is simply a limited time in life of a few very interesting people in Ireland at a Literary Conference and how those lives rode a little rougher when disturbed by the supernatural.For those who have forfeited pieces of your heart a bloody chunk at a time after losing someone dear, this movie will inspire. Our psyche, often in partnership with our dreams, can work through some regret, pain, loss, guilt and loneliness by gifting us very real visions in which we touch or hug that loved one, possibly even sharing meaningful words with them. In 2006 my sister died in a fire. On and off, for a few years, I experienced the sound of her calling my name in the night shortly after I fell asleep. This happened several times, waking me, bringing me to actually look for her. In fact, many years before that, I had the opportunity to be with and hold my infant daughter, who died of SIDS when she was 5 months. I held her preciousness in my arms and played with her several times over a matter of years. This always seemed to occur in the twilight of my sleep. At first, I experienced the loss of her, magnified when I awoke, knowing it was a dream; after a couple of years, I unexpectedly became grateful for the privilege to spend that time with her. Since my loss, I have talked with so many people who have experienced similar incidents. I can almost imagine these phenomena taking themselves just a step further. Can't you? The enigmatic Ciaran Hinds has held my attention since I first noticed him in Jane Austen's "Persuasion". He seemed an unlikely, oafish sort for the part. I was wrong. The man, as I have witnessed since, is a great character actor and quite a strong, yet vulnerable, lead.The music was beautiful and apropos, the subject matter intriguing, the acting well done and as a note of interest, the writer, Billy Roche, was the host of the literary event. While he was just short of invisible, he managed to create some comic relief. This was an eccentrically mysterious movie you will either love or not. It IS definitely worth the time to give it a try.