Irish American director Ed Burns strikes again with his new movie, She’s the One.
Anyone concerned that director Ed Burns might suffer a sophomore slump after the phenomenal success of his debut movie, The Brothers McMullen, need not worry. His second film, She’s the One, is, if anything, a more self-assured piece of filmmaking. As writer, director and star of the movie, Burns has fashioned a genial, insightful romantic comedy aimed squarely at the twenty-something set.
Thankfully, this time around Burns has dropped most of the “Irish-isms” — Aran sweaters, shillelaghs, and obsessive Catholicism — that made Brothers McMullen seem at best overly cute and at worst painfully self-conscious. In She’s the One he explores the relationship between two brothers and a father who happen to be Irish American, though it is hardly the determining factor in their lives.
Mickey and Francis Fitzpatrick are both young New Yorkers at a crucial point in their lives. Mickey, as played by Burns, is a somewhat laconic under-achiever who avoids the rat race by driving a cab for a living. Francis, played by Michael McGlone — the same actor who played the overtly Catholic McMullen brother in Burns’ last movie — is a successful Wall Street broker.
Below the surface, Francis is driven by a fierce competitiveness toward his older brother, which leads him into a secret affair with Mickey’s ex-fiancée. Francis, you see, is already married to an attractive though slightly dimwitted wife, gamely played by Jennifer Anniston, star of the hit TV show, Friends. The wife doesn’t realize that her husband’s unwillingness to have sex with her (they haven’t made love in months) may be because he’s sleeping with someone else.
Meanwhile, Mickey is in the throes of romance himself. On a whim, he marries Hope (Maxine Bahns), whom he meets in his cab one afternoon. Mickey, it turns out, still has some unresolved emotional attachments to his ex-fiancée, but has no idea she is sleeping with his married brother.
The two Fitzpatrick brothers struggle to deal with the women in their lives while all the while sparring with each other. Their father, played with great gusto by veteran movie and TV actor John Mahoney, dispenses “wisdom” to the boys on weekend boating trips. A fire fighter by profession, he constantly challenges the boys’ manhood with biting asides, and his advice — “You got to do what makes you happy first” — tends to undermine their personal relationships.
All the characters exhibit obvious shortcomings, though none are dealt with too harshly in the movie. One of the most endearing qualities about She’s the One and Burns’ work so far is the likability factor. When characters are less than forthright or even downright scurrilous, their failings are usually played for humor. McGlone, in particular, imbues Francis with a kind of redeeming, often hilarious self-doubt that overshadows his lesser instincts.
It has been barely 18 months since Ed Burns first took the independent film community by storm, opening The Brothers McMullen in New York City to great acclaim after surprising everyone by winning the Grand Jury prize at Robert Redford’s Sundance Film Festival earlier in 1995. He was able to parlay that success into a three-picture deal with Fox Searchlight Pictures, which bankrolled She’s the One. Most young directors — even those who are lucky enough to strike gold their first time out — spend years trying to capitalize on their initial success.
The screenplay for his latest movie had apparently been written long ago, one of numerous projects Burns tried to peddle to no avail while working as a stagehand for the TV show, Entertainment Tonight. With a few alterations, he was able to land some big name actors and get the film into production in record time.
For Irish Americans, there is an added pleasure to Burns’ work; it is refreshing to have an Irish American filmmaker who brings an ethnic sensibility to his movies, much the way Martin Scorsese’s Italian American background infuses his work, or Woody Allen’s Jewishness serves as a persistent theme for him. Burns’ ethnicity gives his movies a unique point of view, though, in the future, he might want to vary his tone and broaden his subject matter beyond the familiar themes of familial loyalty and middle class angst. At times, She’s the One feels too much like The Brothers McMullen on a bigger budget.
Given that Burns is barely thirty years old and already has two accomplished movies under his belt, however, it appears he will have ample time to branch off in new directions, should he be so inclined. If anything, She’s the One is likely to add more luster to an already remarkable young career.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the July/August 1996 issue of Irish America. ⬥
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