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Closing the Ring

Closing the Ring

  • Status: Released
  • 14-09-2007
  • Runtime: 118 min
  • Score: 6.1
  • Vote count: 96

During the 1940s, a group of young men go off to war, leaving behind Ethel Ann, who is in love with one of them, Teddy. In modern-day Belfast, a man named Jimmy endeavors to return a ring found in the wreckage of a crashed plane. He travels to Michigan, where the grown Ethel Ann, who married another man after Teddy was killed in battle, now lives. Ethel Ann must decide whether to go with Jimmy to meet the soldier who last saw Teddy alive.

Shirley MacLaine

Ethel Ann

Christopher Plummer

Jack

Mischa Barton

Young Ethel Ann

Stephen Amell

Teddy Gordon

Neve Campbell

Marie

Pete Postlethwaite

Quinlan

Martin McCann

Jimmy

Allan Hawco

Peter Etty

Gregory Smith

Young Jack

David Alpay

Chuck

John Travers

Young Quinlan

Dylan Roberts

Wilbur

Brenda Fricker

Eleanor

Gene Dinovi

Weeping Veteran

Chris Benson

Local Sheriff

George Shane

Maginty

Kirsty Stuart

Young Eleanor

Marie Jones

Mrs. Dyole

Alec McClure

Co-Pilot

Susie Kelly

Second Woman in Rain

Steve Franks

Bugler

Karen Lewis

Mrs. Dean

Anthony Finigan

Mr. Cobb

John Kavanagh

Reverend Smith

Martin Reid

Father Ignatius

Sidney Dodsworth

Shelterer from the Air Raid

Derek Halligan

Shelterer from the Air Raid

Maureen Dow

Shelterer from the Air Raid

Rosina Brown

Shelterer from the Air Raid

Michael Magee

Shelterer from the Air Raid

Claire Lamont

Shelterer from the Air Raid

Mathew McElhinney

Young Cathal

James Millard

Lt. Wilkins

Gerry Quigley

Barman

Bill Lynn

Truck Driver

Ian McElhinney

Cathal Thomas

Ian Beattie

Seamus McCarty

Olivia Nash

First Woman in Rain

B.J. Hogg

Maguigan

Alan McKee

Dougal

Tom Maguire

Billy

Sean McGinley

Campbell

Darryl Flatman

Pilot

Paul Dunn

Co-Pilot

Kieran Gallant

Navigator

Layke Anderson

Army Corporal

Alex Palmer

Lt. Jones

Paul Charlton

Army Private

Allan Gildea

First Policeman

Stephen Don

Second Policeman

Tom Collins

Fireman Fergus

Harry Dickson

Taxi Driver

Kerry-Lee Finkle

Waitress

Stephen Harland

Resident

CinemaSerf

Richard Attenborough has assembled a good cast for this nostalgic wartime drama. In a troubles-torn Belfast, the young Wilbur (Dylan Roberts) finds a ring in a burnt out aircraft left over from WWII. His search for the owner leads him to Shirley MacLaine's "Ethel Ann", and our story slowly reveals, via a mix of current and retrospective scenarios, just what happened when and to whom. The beginning is a bit disjointed, the chopping and changing of timeframes and characters happens too soon after the film starts without us having quite enough information to follow the story easily, but once that settles down and the role of Christopher Plummer ("Jack") becomes clearer, this makes for an engaging story of loves lost and bravery. It also doesn't ignore the fact that bombs continued to fall in Belfast for some years after the end of the War too. It's a simple vehicle for the two stars, that isn't the most plausible of stories, but it has a gentle warmth that just about carries it off.