The Secret of Roan Inish 1994

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Though its protagonist is a 10-year-old girl, it is a crackling good tale with a sense of wonder and mystery strong enough to captivate any age group. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: One of Mr. Sayles's artistic strengths (and commercial liabilities) is his refusal to make movies that knock you over the head with larger-than-life characters and emotions. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: This is all rather low-key and uninsistent, but the settings are gorgeous, and Haskell Wexler's cinematography makes the most of them. Read more

Entertainment Weekly: Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: A bauble, perhaps, but smartly mounted and sweetly offered -- a Disney flick with brains. Read more

Bruce Diones, New Yorker: The rhythms are placid and the camerawork (by Haskell Wexler) is simple and unfussy. The film's a charm. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: An enchanting story about magic and tradition that is suitable for family viewing. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It is the exhilarating account of the way Fiona rediscovers her family's history and reclaims their island. Read more

Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle: Sayles demonstrates again his amazing breadth of interest and the extent to which he can't be pigeonholed. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out: Tales within tales, a subtle sense of economic and social realities, fine landscape photography and strong performances make for an engrossing, unusual fantasy. Read more

Dennis Harvey, Variety: John Sayles' latest marks his entry into family-pic terrain, a crossing that draws pleasant but unexciting results. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: [Sayles's] plodding manner works somewhat to advantage in The Secret of Roan Inish. Read more

Rita Kempley, Washington Post: Only the seals and the sea gulls know The Secret of Roan Inish, a beguiling mystery shrouded in stubborn sea mist. Read more