Closing the Ring

R

2007

1h 59m

Drama

Romance

List

32%

19 Reviews

Tomatometer

58%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

During the 1940s, a group of young men go off to war, leaving behind Ethel Ann (Mischa Barton), who is in love with one of them, Teddy. In modern-day Belfast, a man named Jimmy (Martin McCann) endeavors to return a ring found in the wreckage of a crashed plane. He travels to Michigan, where the grown Ethel Ann (Shirley MacLaine), 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.

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Audience Member

The best film I have seen for ages. Three generations of superb actors. The plot and direction are remarkable in their close observation of the human condition. Maybe you have to be a romantic and not a cynic to appreciste this. The final scene with a buzzard couple circling in the air brought a lump to my throat.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Attenborough is a past master at this type of drama, and he confidently shifts between the decades, avoiding the confusion so common to non-linear films like this. this one is good and most watchable but just a footnote to Attenborough's filmography.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Notebook-esque, but it's very boring. Mischa Barton shows off her boobies, but aside from that it's quite unmemorable. (not the best claim to fame)

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Have watched this more than a dozen times. One of my favourite movies!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Good movie and interesting story that keeps you guessing

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Sad and beautiful. A lovely story about love, true love, and how settling does not make you happy.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

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Richard Attenborough

Director

Shirley MacLaine

Ethel Ann

Christopher Plummer

Jack

Mischa Barton

Young Ethel Ann

Gregory Smith

Young Jack

Martin McCann

Jimmy

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Atonement

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Deborah Ross

The Spectator

Credulity is stretched so far it twangs back into your face

Aug 22, 2018

Full Review

Peter Howell

Toronto Star

Attenborough is a past master at this type of drama, and he confidently shifts between the decades, avoiding the confusion so common to non-linear films like this.

Rated: 3/4

Aug 1, 2008

Full Review

Kamal Al-Solaylee

Globe and Mail

Closing the Ring needed to find a context for its free-flowing emotions.

Rated: 2/4

Aug 1, 2008

Full Review

Toni Vall

Cinemanía (Spain)

[A] moth-eaten film. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 2.5/5

Nov 4, 2020

Full Review

Sarah Manvel

Cinemattraction

Has Plummer or Postlethwaite ever given a bad performance? Attenborough is no auteur, as he says himself, but his ability to enable his actors to shine makes Closing the Ring a film which really grows on you.

Aug 7, 2018

Full Review

Joseph Proimakis

Movies for the Masses

Click to read full revoew [Greek]

Rated: 2/5

May 10, 2009

Full Review

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Synopsis

During the 1940s, a group of young men go off to war, leaving behind Ethel Ann (Mischa Barton), who is in love with one of them, Teddy. In modern-day Belfast, a man named Jimmy (Martin McCann) endeavors to return a ring found in the wreckage of a crashed plane. He travels to Michigan, where the grown Ethel Ann (Shirley MacLaine), 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.

Director: Richard Attenborough
Screenwriter: Peter Woodward
Production Co: Premiere Picture
Rating: R (Nudity|Brief Sexuality|Violent Images)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 28, 2017
Runtime: 1h 59m

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