PLAYING WITH MATCHES
"The Matchmaker"
Garofalo fell in love with the breathtaking Irish countryside while shooting "The Matchmaker" (here with costar David O'Hara). Although she says she would like to live in Dublin, she won't leave Manhattan because "pets have to go into quarantine for six months, and my three dogs would die of broken hearts."
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In the wee
Galway Bay village of Ballinagra, Ireland, asking someone to catch you a catch might just net you one of the fish that make up the townsfolk's livelihood each year. Unless, that is, you happen upon the tiny town during its annual Matchmaking festival. During that week of drinking, dancing and wooing, romance experts (AKA Matchmakers), pair up lonely locals with single out-of-towners who come to Ballinagra looking for love. Cold fish need not apply.
But since the new film The Matchmaker is a romantic comedy, a fish out of water is, of course, plopped into this amorous setting. That fish is cute, caustic Yankee political aide Marcy (Janeane Garofalo). Overworked and underappreciated, Marcy has been sent to Ballinagra from Boston to try to find long-lost Irish relations for her floundering boss, Senator John McGlory, to use in photo-ops. As Marcy dives into her genealogical goose chase, the attractive American becomes the catch of the festival, despite her protests.
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"The Matchmaker" director Mark Joffe says the Irish locals he worked with in Roundstone reminded him of his Australian neighbors.
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Naturally, amidst beautiful
coastal Ireland and eager suitors, her sarcastic, defensive days are numbered. Will Marcy find love with the also attractive, also acerbic Sean (David O'Hara)? Will she ever find any McGlorys? Will she fall prey to the soulless schemes of fellow aide Nick (Denis Leary)? You'll have to see it yourself to find out. But rest assured that Matchmaker Dermot (Milo O'Shea) hopes to have some say in the matter.
Matchmaking may sound like typical Hollywood blarney, but it's not. Forerunners to video dating and personal ads, matchmaking festivals have been coupling far-flung folk from the Irish countryside for generations. And while a sense of humor is essential for all the goings-on, "the participants do take it seriously," says director Mark Joffe, who attended a festival himself to do research.
The Matchmaker has it both ways, with disobedient dogs, pratfalls and sharp one-liners from Garofalo and Leary leavening the love. Or, as Garofalo puts it: "You've got your romance. You've got your comedy." Sounds like a perfect match.
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