A look inside Hollywood and the movies : ‘Father’ Gets Off on the Right Foot, Buzzwise

Come September, it’s standard form for studio publicity arms to begin spreading the word that this or that upcoming release looks like Oscar material, or that it boasts an Oscar-caliber lead performance.

In one case, studio-generated buzz about Jim Sheridan’s new movie “In the Name of the Father,” is being helped by early positive word of mouth from a recent research screening and private showing of the film in New York. One of the forecasts circulating is that Daniel Day-Lewis could snag a best actor nomination for his performance as wrongly imprisoned Irishman Gerry Conlon in this latest effort by the writer-director of “My Left Foot” and “The Field.” Word is that Universal may find a warm reception from U.S. audiences when it opens the film in a limited fashion in December.

Based on a script by Sheridan and journalist Terry George, “In the Name of the Father” relates the true story of how Conlon, an irresponsible IRA sympathizer, was fraudulently convicted for complicity in a notorious London pub bombing that occurred in October, 1974, in which four people died. Conlon’s innocence was finally proved in late 1989 by London attorney Gareth Peirce, portrayed in the film by Emma Thompson.

But “Father” isn’t a political drama, says Sheridan, “as much as a father-son story” about Conlon and his dad, Giuseppe (Pete Postlethwaite). The elder Conlon, also wrongly convicted for the pub bombing, was incarcerated along with his son and died before being released. “It’s about a son coming to realize at the end what a good man his father was.”

All the “Father” buzz is being driven by accounts of a favorable research screening recently held at the AMC Century City theater, and by a few naturally biased reactions among Sheridan’s friends and associates who attended a private screening of the movie in New York on Aug. 23. The consensus is that Sheridan has a proven track record when it comes to Irish-themed subjects and that Day-Lewis, who won a best actor Oscar for 1989’s “My Left Foot,” is one of the screen’s more uncompromising chameleons. (He also stars in Martin Scorsese’s “The Age of Innocence”--also being touted as a possible multiple Oscar contender.)

The AMC screening tested a version that ran just under 2 1/2 hours, according to sources. “Father” co-screenwriter Terry George, who attended along with Sheridan and various Universal executives, reports that the age spread of the test audience was 17 to 30, with a fair amount being Asian-American and African-American. He said the favorable score (those describing the film as excellent or very good) tallied at “83% overall and 89% among women alone”--an excellent response for a film about a foreign culture that doesn’t offer the emotional bromides usually found in mainstream fare.

The New York screening was attended by various Irish and British loyalists, including Pete Hamill and Daily Mail journalist Adrianne Boynton. Even given this crowd’s expected receptivity to the film, their reactions were highly favorable. The final cut will likely be downsized. Sheridan admits he “knew going into (the research screening) that the film was twenty minutes too long.”

Noting that U.S. audiences tend to shy away from overtly political movies, Sheridan says, “In a funny way, I don’t mind that. If the political side is diminished, then the universal side is elevated.” Sheridan insists that his film “doesn’t operate” on a political level, and “doesn’t endorse violence on either side of the conflict. For myself, it’s a universal story about a man coming to terms with himself and taking responsibility for his actions.”

“In the Name of the Father,” which cost roughly $14 million to produce, originated when actor Gabriel Byrne bought the rights to Conlon’s ghost-written novel, “Proved Innocent,” in early 1990. George produced a 50-page screen treatment by mid-1992 based on interviews with Conlon, which interested Sheridan and, soon after, Day-Lewis. Byrne, who had wanted to play Conlon, left the project after Day-Lewis came aboard. He’s listed as the film’s co-producer.