Closing the Ring

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Closing the Ring is a 2007 romantic drama directed by Richard Attenborough and stars Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer, Mischa Barton, Stephen Amell, Neve Campbell, Pete Postlethwaite, Brenda Fricker, and others. It was Attenborough’s final film as director. The movie was released in Ireland and the United Kingdom on December 28, 2007, and is a UK-Canada-US co-production.

Plot in simple terms:
In rural Michigan in 1991, Marie Harris speaks at her father Chuck’s funeral. Her mother, Ethel, sits on the church porch, haunted by rumors about her past. The story then moves to Ethel’s youth, when she was in love with a farmer named Teddy Gordon. After the Pearl Harbor attack, Teddy secretly marries Ethel with friends Jack and Chuck as witnesses. Teddy, Jack, and Chuck soon go off to war.
Many years later in Belfast, a young man named Jimmy Riley finds a ring while exploring a crash site. He learns from authorities that the ring belonged to Ethel. Jimmy brings the ring back to Michigan and gives it to Ethel. She reveals a room full of mementos from Teddy — a room that Jack and Chuck helped her build after Teddy’s death in 1944.
As Marie learns more about her mother, she begins to understand why Ethel mourns Teddy for so long and why she shut herself off from her daughter and Chuck. Jack explains that he has always loved Ethel, and Ethel eventually travels to Belfast with Jimmy. There, during a difficult moment, Teddy’s death and promises are revealed and the meaning of the ring is clarified. In the end, Ethel and Jack confront their feelings and share a heartfelt reunion.

Production details:
The film was shot in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, and Belfast, Northern Ireland. The B-17 aircraft used in the movie is the Yankee Lady from the Yankee Air Museum in Michigan.

Release details:
Closing the Ring premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 2007, and had its UK premiere at the London Film Festival on October 21, 2007. It runs 113 minutes.

Reception:
The movie received mixed reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, about 32% of critics gave it a positive review. Some critics praised the performances and emotional warmth, while others felt the story was old-fashioned or overly sentimental.