THE SNAPPER is the second of the Barrytown trilogy by Roddy Doyle, following up his earlier THE COMMITMENTS. That movie version was filmed by Alan Parker and was a thoroughly entertaining film. Because of its success, however, the studio (Fox) had the rights to those characters in case they wanted to make a sequel (which they have yet to do), so for THE SNAPPER, the character names had to be changed, and also some of the family dynamic. Still, the essential story is the same.
Sharon Curley(Tina Kellegher), the oldest in a family of eight, shocks her parents, Dessie (Colm Meaney) and Kay (Ruth McCabe), when she informs them one night that she's pregnant, and she won't name the father. After the initial shock, however, Sharon's parents seem to recover (Dessie even invites Sharon that night over to the pub), and things go on as normal. Well, except that Sharon has to adjust to life while being pregnant. But things get sticky when it turns out the father may be George Burgess (Pat Laffan), who Dessie knows from the pub, and is older than Dessie to boot. Though Sharon quickly makes up a story about some Spanish sailor she met while he was on leave, Dessie isn't buying it.
As with Doyle's novel, the main part of the movie is the relationship between Sharon and her father. Dessie is unemployed, on welfare (or as they call it in Ireland, on the dole), and goes to the pub every night, but this isn't your stereotypical Archie Bunker type. Though as I said he's initially shocked by Sharon's pregnancy, he gets over it. He even reads about it so he can better help Sharon (though he can fuss too much as well). And when Ruth wonders if she should tell the rest of the family that Sharon was wrong to become pregnant out of wedlock, Dessie says it's up to her and it'll come best from her, but also gently reminds her that times change (to which she asks, "Do we have to change with them?"). And when he finds out the father may be someone older than him, and married to boot, he has a believable reaction. Sharon, meanwhile, may go out and carouse, but she does do her best to deal with pregnancy, and is clearly a good member of the family, helping out when she can. And while she may not always get along with her father, she clearly loves and respects him.
