A Love Divided (1999)

Review by All Movie Guide
"You and me against the world, Sean," announces Sheila after the third of their weddings -- one civil, one Catholic (for Sean's family), one Protestant (for hers). Sheila knows what they're in for, especially because her Protestants are in the minority in their village. Because the Catholic Church has demanded of mixed marriages that the children be raised Catholic, you can see what's coming. Their eldest daughter heads off to the local parochial school, but Sheila isn't sure. Sheila doesn't claim that the local public school (a one-room affair taught by a Catholic woman) is far superior. In other words, she is arguing about the principle of choice, and when Sean sides with the priest (not wanting to raise a fuss, but of course doing so), Sheila does the unthinkable and flees with their two girls. The town turns in on itself, with the Catholic flock shepherded into a boycott and, worse off, the Protestants by a priest (Tony Doyle) who would have been played by Edward Arnold in a Frank Capra version of this story. While it's easy to sympathize with Sheila's stand against the Church and to feel that the Catholics' overreaction has much more to do with self-righteousness than simple principle, there is this nagging thought that Sheila was more than a little naïve when she agreed to that pledge to raise the girls in the Church. Sydney Macartney's film of a true story is done without flourishes and is affecting, largely because the leads, Orla Brady as Sheila and Liam Cunningham as Sean, are on the money. Their chemistry as a couple is persuasive, and their anguish when separated palpable. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide