When Brendan Met Trudy (2000) from Tuna

When Brendan Met Trudy (2000) is a quirky romantic Irish comedy from writer Roddy Doyle (The Commitments, The Snapper, The Van), in which we finally learn how he writes such great screenplays. He is a serious film buff. This comedy is full of film clips, dialogue, and other homages to classic films.
Brendan (Peter McDonald) is a teacher, a film buff, and a wimp. His chief entertainment is singing in the church choir. One night after practice, he goes to the pub with the other members, but stands by himself at the bar. He is chatted up by Trudy (Flora Montgomery), who has personality, looks, and attitude. What he doesn't know at the time is that she also has an atypical occupation -- she is a burglar.  When Trudy isn't working, she hangs around with a politically radical crowd. The two hit it off, and become intimate.

NUDITY REPORT
Montgomery shows breasts in a lengthy sex and post sex scene, and again in a long shot undressing. She also shows bush in another undressing scene.
For the boy loses girl segment, Brendan has her to dinner with the family. His sister is insulting, and Brendan doesn't come to her aid. After he is arrested for trying to free one of her Nigerian friends who is being deported, she agrees to take him back, but only if they burgle the sisters house, and he shits on their rug.
available in region 4 and in Germany within region 2, but not in region 1.
I was not familiar with Flora Montgomery before this film, but she is well worth seeing. She has been around and working steadily for about five years, and this film should help her career. I enjoyed this film a great deal. The offbeat humor, Montgomery's appeal, the great performances, and the film references all resonated with me.  

The Critics Vote

  • General consensus: a hair less than three stars. Ebert 3/4, Berardinelli 3/4, BBC 3/5, filmcritic.com 4/5

The People Vote ...

  • with their dollars: it did fairly well in limited distribution within the U.K. - close to a million dollars on only 30 screens, but couldn't get started anywhere else. Spain and the USA - about $125,000 each.
IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a C+. For those who like off-beat comedy, this is a must. For those who don't, it will probably not please.

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