Tuesday, June 15, 2010  Movie Review: Ondine (2010) - 2 stars
There is an odd charm to the romantic fantasy Ondine that makes
it watchable for about half of its running time. Established
writer-director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game) is able to work
well with cinematographer Christopher Doyle to create a film of
visual entrancement. The problem here is that the story never
takes off and, even worse, doesn't have much of an attention-
getting quality to begin with.  The main character is Syracuse,
an Irish fisherman played by Colin Farrell. Since his divorce,
Syracuse has made good on his promise to stay sober so that he
can remain a viable role model for his daughter Annie (Alison
Barry), who suffers from kidney failure. He isn't a churchgoer,
but he makes frequent visits the local priest (Stephen Rea) to
confess his wrongdoings. He is a good man at heart, and Farrell
makes him easy to like.  At the start of the film, we are
introduced to the title character (Alicja Bachleda), whom
Syracuse inexplicably finds