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Pierce Brosnan takes a break from playing the role of super-spy James Bond to star in a pet project of his, which he is also producing. To help him with this film, he has brought on board veteran director Bruce Beresford (Double Jeopardy and Academy Award-winning Driving Miss Daisy) and screenwriter Paul Pender, who is making his feature-film debut. Mr. Pender has worked as a writer for British TV, including the popular show Brother Cadfael. Brosnan has also signed quite a list of acting talent for this picture, including Julianna Margulies, Aidan Quinn, and Stephen Rea.

The film is based on a true story set in Ireland in 1953. Brosnan plays Desmond Doyle, a man whose wife, Charlotte (Mairhead Devlin), has just left him. The wife’s mother (Eileen Colgan) reports the abandonment to the authorities. That doesn’t sound like much of a plot for a movie, does it?

The problem is that there is a 1941 law that allows the Catholic church to take Mr. Doyle’s three children and place them in an orphanage until he can find a job, which wasn’t easy to do in Ireland at that time. His children suffer the abuses that are present every day in the orphanage system, and he’s determined to regain custody by fighting the law.

With the help of a feisty barmaid (Margulies) and her solicitor brother (Rea), they take on the church in court, and unfortunately lose. When a visiting Irish-born lawyer from America named Nick Barron (Quinn) hears about the case, he decides to help, with the aid of his old mentor Thomas Connolly (Alan Bates). Connolly is a famously-colorful retired barrister who is chomping at the bit to take on his old foes in the Irish High Court. With the support and encouragement of his fellow countrymen and from people around the world, they challenge the constitutionality of the law before the Irish Supreme Court.

The film is currently planned for release in December of 2002. I think that many times these “pet projects” turn out to be wonderful films. Since the actor, producer, director, etc., has a personal interest in the subject, they seem to put a lot of energy into the film to make it just as they want it to be. (Marty Doskins/BOP)

Vital statistics for Evelyn Main Cast Pierce Brosnan, Sophie Vavasseur, Juliana Margulies, Alan Bates, John Lynch, Aidan Quinn, Stephen Rea Supporting Cast Alan Barry, Eileen Colgan, Marian Quinn, Karen Ardiff, Niall Beagen, Des Braiden, Lauren Carpenter Director Bruce Beresford Screenwriter Paul Pender Distributor MGM Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture