Alicja Bachleda and Colin Farrell

Neil Jordan is a resolutely independent and idiosyncratic filmmaker whose enthusiasms have often tread a fine line between gritty realism and unsettling fantasy in movies as diverse as “The Crying Game,” “In Dreams,” “The Butcher Boy” and “Breakfast on Pluto.”

In his latest, “Ondine,” the Irish writer-director seems off on an aimless ramble through the mystical mists of a craggy, dreamlike seascape that might or might not be populated by beautiful mermaids.

A wistful wisp of a tale that lightly calls to mind Rob Reiner’s conventional 1984 romantic comedy “Splash,” but more rightly resembles John Sayles’ folklorish 1994 film “The Secret of Roan Inish,” Jordan’s work here seems more propelled by local legend, subdued performances and the lovely scenery around his coastal Irish home than by any urgent need of storytelling.

“Ondine” introduces us to Syracuse (Colin Farrell in light, mournful mood), a hardscrabble fisherman and recovering alcoholic. Syracuse’s woes include a bitter estrangement from his hard-partying wife; a wheelchair-bound daughter, Annie (Alison Barry), struggling with debilitating disease, and a long, frustrating stretch of fishless days.

But one magical morn, Syracuse hauls up his net and finds a young woman trapped there, just clinging to life. He quickly revives her and learns that she is Ondine (Alicja Bachleda, Farrell’s real-life companion), a mysterious, beguiling creature whom this rustic fisherman is instantly drawn to.

Offering the frightened Ondine shelter, Syracuse finds his fortunes quickly changing, and each day his nets are filled with fish. As he harbors romantic thoughts toward Ondine, the wise Annie reveals her own suspicions about this newly arrived beauty – that Ondine must be a selkie, a mythical creature said to be a seal that can take human form.

Understandably, Jordan steers clear of easy sentimentality and invests the story with a touch of kitchen-sink realism, mostly in the form of a violent stranger who arrives and threatens to upset Syracuse and Annie’s newfound spiritual uplift. But the film’s easy pace and light manner never really waver much and things never really turn dark.

Contributions by Jordan mainstays lend a convivial feeling to the whole enterprise, with actor Stephen Rea registering strongly as a sardonic priest and Syracuse’s pal, and cinematographer Christopher Doyle capturing the wild beauty of Ireland’s rugged coast and the melancholy majesty of her skies with a painter’s eye.

“Ondine” is a film touched with blarney and a bit of rustic Irish indulgence – light, lovely and not terribly substantial. But as adult fairy tales go, it exudes enough easy charm to make us set aside cynicism and believe for a moment in selkies.

- Dennis King

“Ondine”

PG-13
1:43
2.5 stars
Starring: Colin Farrell, Alison Barry and Alicja Bachleda
(Mild action, brief nudity)

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