Terry Wogan, for those who don't know, is a veteran Irish broadcaster on BBC Radio 2 who is the closest UK equivalent to the legendary American sportscaster Howard Cosell, i.e. he fancies himself to death, and it's blindingly obvious to everyone that that strange thing on his head is not natural. Were he and his TOGS (Terry's Old Guys/Gals - what his audience is known as) to turn up at some point during "An Everlasting Piece," the movie would have been a lot better. (Was this really directed by Barry Levinson?)
Though the movie is set in the real Ireland and not some fairytale facsimile thereof, writer and star Barry McEvoy is still guilty of spinning a totally fatuous yarn that strains a bit too hard for whimsy while at the same time never managing to find the right tone; set in Belfast "sometime during the 1980s," the movie revolves around two friends and barbers at an asylum, one Catholic and the other Protestant, who get the rights to the only hairpiece company in Northern Ireland, and thereby hangs our tale. (No, honestly - was this REALLY directed by Barry Levinson?)
Movies about Irish barbers-turned-wigmakers certainly don't come around every day, but you will search in vain for anything resembling a point or a coherent plot; I was wondering if some key elements of the tale had been left on the cutting-room floor. It can't make up its mind whether it wants to be a comedy or a drama, and it frequently mistakes Irish people shouting "F***!" for humour - beware any movie that resorts to jokes about pulling off the clothes of a sleeping young man in belief that he's someone other than who he is. Basically, this isn't nearly as charming as it thinks it is. (You're sure this was directed by Barry Levinson?)
Anna Friel was the chief reason your scribe got a look at "Brookside" (until her character was killed off); watching her in this tosh as our hero's girlfriend is one of the few positive aspects, but even she can't turn this sow's ear into a silk purse. (We won't say a word about Billy Connolly. Not a word.) The sight of Pauline McLynn also brings up memories of "Father Ted" - and the comparisons to this movie aren't favourable to the movie. You wind up wishing that you were joining the characters in watching "Stop Making Sense" or "The Dukes Of Hazzard," as happens during the flick; and in any case, the premise is part of the problem. Be honest - even allowing for Anna Friel's legs, does anyone really want to sit through a movie about WIGS? (This must have been directed by the Barry Levinson who worked on the TV show "Storybook International," because it can't have been the other Barry Levinson.)
Other than Hans Zimmer's enjoyable score and the credit for "Hair Piece Consultant," it's difficult not to think that two words are missing from the title "An Everlasting Piece." And the first word is "Of." (Come on now, this can't be Barry Levinson! This is the man who did "Diner," "The Natural," "Young Sherlock Holmes," "Toys," "Sleepers"... Wait a minute. Maybe it was that Barry Levinson.)