When Brendan Met Trudy

Plot

Brendan (Peter McDonald) is a shy, reserved teacher who takes his profession seriously. Away from the classroom, he has a love of films and classical music. One night, after practising with his church choir, he meets Trudy (Flora Montgomery), a bright, witty and free-spirited woman whom he believes is a Montessori teacher. Despite the differences in their personalities, the two begin a relationship. Brendan is unaware that his new girlfriend is actually a burglar, and is shocked when Trudy asks him to prove his love by helping her on one of her 'jobs'. Brendan is torn between his feelings for Trudy, and the desire to do what is right. Throughout his relationship with her, Brendan slowly begins to discover himself, and realises that there is more to life than music and movies.

Cast

Production

The film received funding from The Irish Film Board.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 61% based on reviews from 62 critics. The site's consensus was "The references to other films are rather overdone, and the direction is uneven". Metacritic gives the film a score of 53% based on reviews from 25 critics.

Reviewing for the BBC, George Perry gives the film 3/5 stars.

Peter Bradshaw describes the film as "ordinary piece of work from Roddy Doyle" a standard rom-com, witheringly calling it "dull enough to qualify as an honorary British film".

Roger Ebert gave the film 3/4 stars. Ebert says you will likely enjoy the film more if you get the film references but whether you do the film still works.