"The Snapper", apparently Irish slang for "baby", is all about a young Irish woman (Kellegher) who gets pregnant while living with her working class family of eight. Refusing to name the father, the town buzzes with gossip while the family takes the matter in stride with the exception of Sharon's father (Meaney) who wrestles with the matter all the way to the end. Too Irish and too wry to have broad commercial appeal, "The Snapper" is doubtless another excellent helping in the Doyle/Frears trilogy including "The Van" and "The Commitments". If you like one of the three, check out the other two. If you haven't seen any of them, be prepared for a whole lot of "bollocks", "eejit", and "s***e". (B)

Note - The film ends with the newborn nursing at his mother's breast while the grandfather downs a pint in a pub, smiling and belching with satisfaction. If you can see the earthy charm of that juxtaposition, then, perhaps, this film is for you.

The Snapper is directed by Stephen Frears and adapted to screenplay by Roddy Doyle from his own novel of the same name. It stars Colm Meaney, Tina Kellegher, Ruth McCabe, Fionnula Murphy and Brendan Gleeson.

The Snapper is the middle part of what became known as Roddy Doyle's Barrytown Trilogy (The Commitments and The Van either side of it). The Snapper of the title is a baby expected by young Sharon Curley (Kellegher) when she unexpectedly falls pregnant during a drunken liaison. Refusing to name who the father is, the strain on the large Curley family reaches breaking point, especially when the neighbourhood and so called friends begin to point and judge with malice. Can the Curley family pull through? It's going to need some humour and no end of Irish family grit to do so.

Affectionate realism draped in comedy, The Snapper in Frears' hands unfolds as an original take on the stress caused to a family by an unplanned pregnancy. Initially the film's structure feels bumpy, the blending of family drama with uproariously scripted comedy, but once you settle into it you realise that this is exactly how the Curley family are feeling, how they cope. As we get deeper into the picture, and there is much human depth here, peripheral characters come alive and the relationship between Sharon and her father Des (Meaney) really holds the attention whilst simultaneously tickling the requisite emotional threads.

Impeccably performed (Meaney, Kellegher and McCabe are terrific) and with a great script brought vividly to life by Frears, The Snapper is very much a recommended bowl of comedy drama Irish Stew. 8/10