It's all "wha?" and "jaysis" at the Curley house in Dublin when Dessie (Colm Meaney), a plasterer, and his wife, Kay (Ruth McCabe), learn that their daughter Sharon (Tina Kellegher), 20, is preggers. Sharon won't name the father of her snapper, but the "shyt" flies when Dessie figures it might be his paunchy old married pub mate, George Burgess (Pat Laffan).

This rip-roaring Irish comedy is the freshest surprise of the season. Writer Roddy Doyle (The Commitments) laces every line with humor and heartbreak. And British director Stephen Frears (My Beautiful Laundrette) works on an intimate scale again after tripping up in Hollywood with Hero. Frears is a whiz with actors, notably Kellegher, who imbues the film with her passionate, fighting spirit.

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.