If you thought that the book was bleak and depressing(as I did, even though I loved it,) wait until you see the movie. Now you get to SEE the McCourt family deteriorate, through a series of misfortunes, from poor and miserable, to poorer and even more miserable. Adding to the family's plight, is the "man" of the family(acted perfectly by Robert Carlyle), who drinks away the few shillings that the family manages to scrape together each month. The other villains of the piece, are the usual Irish villains...drink, ignorance, and the catholic church. The picturesque town of Limerick, is filmed dramatically through a bluish-gray haze and constant rain. It becomes yet another villain. The acting by the fine ensemble of actors is very good, and often hard to watch. In fact, the whole film is something like watching a cat die....interesting, but not really entertaining.