Please don't spend money on this.

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

This is an enjoyable romantic comedy which even I, being a man, could watch without my toenails crinkling or my gonads shriveling up. The movie works perfectly as long as brassy big-city-girl Janeane Garofalo is confronted with an every-cliché-in-the-book village in the Irish boondocks. This concept stops working as soon as Janeane becomes all gooey gooey about that Irish heartthrob, which happens at about two thirds of the movie. At this point the script tries to tie up too many loose ends and performs a 180° turn towards a happy ending in which big city girl and Oirish oik find true love, the senatorial candiadate wins his election, and the hard-nosed spin doctor commits societal suicide. A bit too much cheese for my palate. Before that the movie was fresh and entertaining -- although it did pander to every cliché about the emerald isle in the book (the women all have luscious arse-length curly red hair, etc.).Stuff I didn't like:*Marcy (Janeane Garofalo) harping on about how she's addicted to fax machines and the New York Times at inappropriate moments. It just makes her seem self-important and boorish.*The fact that autochtonic love interest Sean isn't just a simple Oirish country yokel but actually a cutting-edge investigative journalist who left the business because he was disgusted by the lack of ethics in the industry.*When Marcy arrives at the hotel, she is told that there aren't any rooms available. No more rooms, huh, she asks back. Nope, none whatsoever, she is told. Then they ask around every hotel in the county. Finally the landlady concedes that they do, after all, have a room with en-suite bathroom and fecking bathtub available. Funny that she didn't think of that in the first place.*That this -- for some dark reason -- was director Mark Joffe's last movie to date.Stuff I did like:*How Marcy, when she is being chatted up by Sean, lowers her voice and asks him intimately: "Is being an idiot like being high all the time?"*The acting, especially of the secondary characters, is amazing. Check out matchmaker Milo O'Shea or the local "it's a filthy, FILTHY business" genealogist. Jay O'Sanders and Dennis Leary also make an amazing couple as the nit-witted senator and his ruthless adviser.

A wonderful example of the perfectly average romantic comedy. This one gets bonus points for being set largely in Ireland (gorgeous scenery, even more gorgeous accents, and haunting music). It gets detractor points for its hackneyed plot, flat characters, and painfully missed opportunities.All actors do a wonderful job with a terribly flaccid script. The standard "charming" Irish characters are all present -- they mention leprechauns in the picture; perhaps these cardboard cutouts of eccentric Irishmen and Irishwomen are the real leprechauns. The love story itself is remarkably devoid of love or even romance. What saves the film is how much the actors bring to their roles, and how much we as viewers are able to fill in the huge gaps of context, character, dialogue, and significance. We want the picture to succeed, so we cheer along. But as others have noted, once watched, this film is easily forgotten.

OK...so some may say The Matchmaker is a bit cheesy, but I completely disagree! If we take this movie for what it's meant to be -- a whimsical look at not only two different people getting to know each other, but two people from two entirely different cultures becoming entangled -- then you will fall as in love with this movie as I have! Not only was this story very sweet (I swear I've seen this movie at least 100 times), but, whist living in Ireland, I was blessed to have been able to visit the quiet village of Roundstone, where most of the movie was filmed. I tell you, the depiction of the Irish in this movie was highly accurate, and if you've never known an Irish person, or visited the country (the Republic of Ireland, not Northern Ireland), you might think the dialog much exaggerated. Trust me...it isn't.So, if you'd like to take a bit of a glimpse into the true nature of the lovely Irish people -- from their use of colorful language to their friendly demeanor -- or just want a bit of the 'craic,' I highly recommend this film. The only this I wished for was a soundtrack to the film, as there were some great songs!

I really enjoy this movie. It's just a great chick flick - my favorite genre! OK so maybe it's playing up to all the Irish stereotypes, but so what, it still leaves you with a wee smile on yer face.I've even visited the town it was made in, on the Connemara coast - Roundstone. Gorgeous place. I highly recommend it if you are ever travelling around in that part of the world.I've been a fan of David O'Hara's ever since. Saw him again tonight on The Commander - he's aged a bit! But then I see from the info here the poor man has just had his 40th birthday, only 6 months ahead of my own.Happy Birthday David!