''Frankie Starlight'' is a 1995

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

– romantic

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

directed by

Michael Lindsay-Hogg Sir Michael Edward Lindsay-Hogg, 5th Baronet (born 5 May 1940) is an American-born television, film, music video, and theatre director. Beginning his career in British television, Lindsay-Hogg became a pioneer in music film production, directing ...

. The

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, f ...

was written by Ronan O'Leary and

Chet Raymo Chet Raymo (born September 17, 1936 in Chattanooga, Tennessee) is a noted writer, educator and naturalist. He is Professor Emeritus of Physics at Stonehill College, in Easton, Massachusetts. His weekly newspaper column ''Science Musings'' appear ...

, based on the internationally best-selling novel ''The Dork of Cork'' by Raymo.

Plot

Frank Bois writes a successful first novel and finds himself looking back over his life. His mother Bernadette ( Parillaud) was a French woman who, after the death of her friends and family in World War II, hid herself aboard an Allied war ship heading to Ireland, where she exchanged sexual favors for silence among the soldiers who found her on board. A nice customs agent, Jack Kelly (

Byrne ' Byrne (also O'Byrne) is an Irish surname. It is derived from the Gaelic ''Ó Broin'' or ''Ó Beirn''. There are two Irish surnames which have Byrne as their English spelling; the most common comes from Ó Broin, which refers to the Leinster-b ...

), allowed Bernadette to enter Ireland illegally, and they soon became a couple, even though she was already pregnant from one of the soldiers from the ship. Bernadette gave birth to Frankie (Alan Pentony), who suffered from dwarfism. As he grew older, Frankie developed romantic feelings for Jack's daughter Emma (

Georgina Cates Georgina Elaine Cates (born Clare Elaine Woodgate; 14 January 1975) is an English film and television actress. Life and career Born Clare Elaine Woodgate in Colchester, Essex, Cates attended Colchester County High School for Girls and broke i ...

), who did not share his feelings, while Jack taught astronomy to Frankie. Eventually, Bernadette met Terry Klout (

Dillon Dillon may refer to: People *Dillon (surname) * Dillon (given name) * Dillon (singer) (born 1988), Brazilian singer * Viscount Dillon, a title in the Peerage of Ireland Places Canada *Dillon, Saskatchewan United States *Dillon Beach, Californ ...

), an American soldier she had met on the war ship, who offered to marry her. Bernadette and Frankie went with Terry to his home in Texas, but both mother and son felt they didn't belong, so they returned to the Irish home they loved. An older Bernadette eventually committed suicide, and Frank then used his life as source material for his writing.

Principal cast

Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, audiobook narrator, and author. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's s ...

as Jack Kelly *

Anne Parillaud Anne Parillaud (; born 6 May 1960) is a French actress who has been active since 1977. She is best known internationally for playing the title character in Luc Besson's film '' La Femme Nikita''. Biography Parillaud was born in Paris. While in ...

as Bernadette *

Matt Dillon Matthew Raymond Dillon (born February 18, 1964) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including an Oscar and Grammy nomination. Dillon made his feature film debut in '' Over the Edge'' (1979) and established himself as a te ...

as Terry Klout * Corban Walker as Frank Bois *

Rudi Davies Ruth Emmanuella Davies (born 24 March 1965), known professionally as Rudi Davies, is an English actress, the daughter of Alan Sharp (1934–2013) and the writer, Dame Beryl Bainbridge (1932–2010). Career Davies began her acting career as Penny ...

as Emma **

as Young Emma * Dearbhla Molloy as Effa Kelly

Critical reception

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' thought the film was flawed but decent and did not think highly of Parillaud's acting:

References

External links

* * * {{Michael Lindsay-Hogg 1995 films Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Films based on American novels Films set in the 1940s Films set in Ireland Films set in Texas Films shot in London Films shot in the Republic of Ireland Films shot in Texas Films directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg Films about mother–son relationships 1990s English-language films