Chicken Mary

Alex, an Irish American filmmaker with a severe case of nostalgia, wants to locate his modern remake of the Hollywood classic The Quiet Man in the west of Ireland. The original American film is director John Ford’s idealized depiction of Ireland of the last century. Its plot revolves around a retired American boxer (John Wayne) returning to Innisfree, the village of his birth, in 1920s Ireland, where he falls for a spirited redhead (Maureen O’Hara) whose brother (Victor McLaglen) is contemptuous of her union with the American outsider. To shoot his modern remake, Alex stumbles into the small, economically-isolated village of Tubberfeck where he is charmed by the colorful locals and their customs. Folksy Mickey, the carefree storyteller and village drunk, guides Alex on his journey of discovery with the legends and lore of Ireland. As production of his Hollywood remake starts, Alex begins to realize that his idyllic notions of Ireland (and The Quiet Man’s, for that matter) are misguided at best; hilariously inaccurate at worst. While searching for his own Irishness, Alex becomes trapped in a metaphorical fairy ring: enraptured by the magic of Ireland, he is drawn to her like Ford and so many other Irish Americans before him. As the movie’s production collapses under the weight of its own identity crisis, Alex will need help from the shrewd and practical Chicken Mary (and a sprinkle of real magic) to break the spell and help young Alex find his way back out of Mickey’s fairy ring in order to save his dream project.