Almost everything is wrong with this film. It is two hours too long, the production was frankly insane and involved Robert Mitchum OD-ing Christopher Jones because he did not like Sarah Miles, and seriously, why did John Mills get an Oscar for giving one of the most painful mutes performances ever? The two stars are for the camera work, the film's only merit, although even it is over done at times. In 1970 the film was rightly panned by the critics but it was a huge financial success, the sole reason for this being obviously that it is set in Ireland so every American of Irish descent ran out like a lemming to see it.
The film consists of a series of underdeveloped or overdeveloped scenes, with a lot of Irish crowd violence and Anglophobia (unfunny while attempting to be humorous) and a beta-situation about arms smuggling involving the main character's father to complicate what is otherwise a simple tale of adultery that defies any description other than disturbing. Whether it is a drama or a comedy I do not think anyone truly knows.
The film consists of a series of underdeveloped or overdeveloped scenes, with a lot of Irish crowd violence and Anglophobia (unfunny while attempting to be humorous) and a beta-situation about arms smuggling involving the main character's father to complicate what is otherwise a simple tale of adultery that defies any description other than disturbing. Whether it is a drama or a comedy I do not think anyone truly knows.