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The Abduction Club - A half masterpiece.

'The Abduction Club' is a 2002 British and Irish film directed by Stefan Schwartz, it is written by Richard Crawford, Bill Britten and produced by David Collins. It is described as a romantic comedy-drama adventure film. It is also based loosley on real historical events.

Cast and Characters - ~ Alice Evans as Catherine Kennedy. ~ Daniel Lapaine as Garrett Byrne. ~ Sophia Myles as Anne Kennedy. ~ Matthew Rhys as James Strang. ~ Liam Cunningham as John Power. ~ Edward Woodward as Lord Fermoy. ~ Patrick Malahide as Sir Myles. ~ Tom Murphy as Knox.

Plot - Garrett Byrne and James Strang are both members of a notorious gang called 'The Abduction Club', in 18th century Ireland if you where the younger brother you had to find your own means of living while the older brother got all the fortune and titles. This is where the abduction club plays a part, woo and then abduct a wealthy heiress which could lead to marriage and financial security or become a priest. When it comes to Garretts turn to pick an heiress he sets his sights on Catherine Kennedy, together with the help of James he begins to woo Miss Kennedy at a horse race, but James would also have a very interesting interaction with her sister, Anne Kennedy. When it comes time for Garrett to abduct Catherine, James would break the rules of the club and also abduct Anne which then sets in motion chaos, for Anne is promised to a noble man. John Power not happy that his future bride has been stolen away goes after the sisters and chases them all over the Irish countryside. One of their other 'friends' from the club, a man named Knox who seems to be obsessed with Garrett shoots a Redcoat soldier while they are fleeing in what he thinks is a heroic act to protect Garrett but this backfires and now Garrett and James are famed for the murder of the redcoat.

Spoilers under the cut, for those who haven’t seen the movie don’t go past this point ‼️

Okay i'm going to start this off with talking about Garrett and Catherine because they are the main couple but my least favourite couple of the movie, then we'll get onto James and Anne because they are one of my favourite movies couples ever.

So Garrett and Catherine, what can I say? Terrible that's what. Both the actor and actress are amazing and so good in this film, just not when their acting together. Garrett with Strang is funny and charming and you can tell he really cares for his friend, their bromance is unshaken. Catherine with her sister is heartwarming and nurturing and you can tell she just wants to take care of her and make sure she has the best life possible. But as a couple Garrett and Catherine have absolutely no chemistry whatsoever, it's honestly super cringey at times mainly the things that Garrett says to her and I have seen this movie a lot at this point and yes, I do sometimes skip over the cringe because wtf? I don't think at any point I like them and are convinced that they are falling in love, from the start their whole relationship is based on lies (and I know this is kinda the whole thing about the club but compared to the next couple it's just not it) and honestly half of the things that spew out of Garretts mouth towards Catherine do not make sense. We literally had more bonding from Strang and Anne but they tried to make it seem that Garrett and Catherine were way more in love, but it's just not convincing at all. They never really say anything of importance to either other either, it's all politics or lies and in no scene do I feel like they connected real enough for them to fall in love. Him saying that he was 'Enslaved' by her words at the races when they talked for about 1 minute and it was literally about nothing....

To me it feel like he only cares about looks and not having to become a priest and he's obsessed with trying to win her over. Even their attempts to joke with each other are awkward and not funny at all.

Okay enough about their lacklustre relationship, let's talk about my main couple of the movie. Anne and Strang, my second favourite movie couple EVER, their chemistry was off the charts. Their first ever meeting Anne challenges Strang for the lies he's telling for Garrett and snaps back at him, which I think Strang is surprised at, it's an instant connection that makes me squeal. Strang is just pure chaos and Anne compliments this so very well, also during the time it's set woman where supposed to be seen now heard, which is how John Power (Her admirer) wants her to be but with Strang she can be herself and he plays into this while also keeping her safe. Strangs banter in general is just so charming and likeable, no wonder Anne falls for him. And from the actor it's so natural and not forced.

I think as well I love them so much because Anne is promised to someone else not of her choosing which makes them a forbidden romance, which is my favourite trope. I love the way they playfully insult each other, if Anne insults Strang he gives it back tenfold and so on, but it's playful and endearing, they both have the widest smiles, and again from both actors IT'S SO NATURAL.

I also wish we could have seen more of the tension between Strang and John Power, especially at the beach scene but also around Anne after finding out that Power essentially owns Anne after her father gambled with her. When Power finds the group while they are having breakfast and storms in, theres no emotion from any of them, I would have liked to see Strang get up and try beat his ass for thinking he could own Anne like some property, but I'm getting ahead of myself here, we shall come back to this point.

When the abduction club comes for Catherine and Strang lowers his mask after fighting with Power, THE EYE CONTACT with Anne, unbeatable.

'Strang entering the room Anne is in after kidnapping/ her willingly going with him, Anne throwing a vase at the door as he enters, barely missing him.'

"𝒮𝑜, 𝒴𝑜𝓊'𝓇𝑒 𝒶 𝑔𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓁𝑒𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝓃𝑜𝓌?" "𝒜𝓈 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒶𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓇𝑒 𝒶 𝓁𝒶𝒹𝓎."

"𝐼𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒹𝑜?" "𝒲𝑒𝓁𝓁, 𝒲𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝒾𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓈 𝒹𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝒾𝓉. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝑒𝒾𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓂𝑒, 𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒹𝑜𝓃'𝓉." "𝐿𝑒𝓉 𝓂𝑒 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶 𝒸𝓁𝓊𝑒."

'Throws another vase at his head this time which he only slightly dodges.'

They feel so natural and I definitely think they were love at first sight and are soulmates. Anne is allowed to be whoever she wants around strang with the also assurity that he will keep her safe, example- after he jumps off the cliff into the water she wants her own taste of adrenaline, so she takes the stronger horse and rides off, Strang is right behind her to make sure she's safe a good thing too as she flys off the horse but is unharmed. But strang doesn't scold her for this, he's just glad she's safe which I think Anne appreciates.

One of my favourite scenes is when they are at the church for the night and later that day Anne finds out that Garrett asked strang to keep her busy so that Catherine would stick around so he could get to know her better, obviously she's upset and goes outside to get some fresh air and Strang follows her. He tries to apologise and explain but she's rambling on and Strang interrupts her by kissing her. Shocked but delighted they both smile at each other when they pull away only to kiss again but this is interrupted by Catherine calling for her sister.

Some things that really pissed me off that's more I think to do with the writing, and so that Anne and Strang wouldn't over shadow what is meant to be the main love story of Catherine and Garrett -

When they are having breakfast, and Strang shows no emotion when he learns that Anne's father gambled her away to Power, and now she basically belongs to Power.

Feel like Anne should have also been way more upset about this revelation as well, it's her life that has been gambled away.

There is also no emotion when power Interrupts the breakfast and supposingly off screen arrests Garrett and Strang.

Again no emotion when they are at trail and Garrett and Strang are sentenced to death. I again feel this was overshadowed by Garrett and Catherine.

Anne willing to sacrifice her life and marry Power if it means that Strang will not be dead, she would rather she knew he was alive somewhere without her than to see him in pain and know he is no long on earth. Their ending was very satisfying though, the heartbreak of 'Is he actually going to leave her?' Anne having to see her sister get her happily ever after but she has to stay so her dad would be safe and seeing Strang ride away without her not knowing if they would see each other again. Only for Strang to turn around and come back, GET ON HIS KNEES and adorably stutter while Anne is so naturally giggling (Honestly think the laugh is Sophia's natural reaction to the scene) and then that hug! 🥺 These two have my whole heart and I'm devastated that they weren't given the full justice they deserved.

I love this movie and I think you can all tell just how much I love Anne and Strang. It's just a shame that they did Garrett and Catherine so dirty, I don't know if it was the writing or just the actors not having chemistry and it's a shame their storyline had to overshadow Anne and Strangs. It's okay I'll just stick to skipping through for their parts to get some serotonin and wish for a relationship like theirs. Highly recommend this movie if you love Forbidden romance, period dramas and just some good old adventure. 9/10

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