There is no need to warn people away from "The Run of the Country" because at this point you are not exactly deluged with viewing opportunities. That said there is little reason to track down this film unless you yearn for some nice Irish scenery (including a fair red-haired Irish lass-Victoria Smurfit of "Berkeley Square" fame).

Although directed by Peter Yates, do not expect anything on the level of his "Breaking Away" masterpiece. Shane Connaughton adapted his own novel about characters living near the "artificial" border between the two Irelands. His characters are all contradictions. Teenage Danny (Matt Keeslar) is cold and reserved but given to moments of extreme impulse and passion. His father (Albert Finney) fluctuates between a wise caring philosopher and a nasty frustrated bully. His wild friend Prunty (Anthony Brophy) is a fun-loving free spirit who is secretly a very active member of the IRA. His red-haired Irish girl is the product of a mixed (Catholic-Protestant) marriage and fluctuates between a mature self-possessed young woman and a weak little girl who inexplicably fails to do and say very obvious things that would improve the situation. These contradictions might be effective allegorical elements in the novel but do not translate to believable characters in the context of a film, where there is not adequate time to explore their motivations and complexities.

The production is technically solid and the supporting cast is excellent. Brophy is the best of the leads and Keeslar is worst. If there was a box office reason for casting a handsome American actor as Danny (who was not a pretty boy in the novel), it did not serve them well and it totally alters the basic charm of the core romance.

The scenery is nice, David Kelly (the Irish builder O'Reilly in "Fawlty Towers) is excellent as the local priest, Carole Nimmons is very entertaining as Mrs. Prunty, and there are some funny lines. The weakest parts of the film are the closing scenes, which are soap opera melodrama. Up to this point the film has maintained a generally realistic tone and the resolution comes across as contrived and unlikely (insert disappointing here).