Undernourished costume drama from writer Hugh Leonard and director John Irvin, with Natasha Richardson playing pretty war widow from 1920s England who comes to gossip-laden town in Ireland and gets on the wrong side of a surly spinster (Mia Farrow, looking wrung-out). This small Irish village is beset with the usual gaggle of hot-headed supporting characters, all sounding off on cue as if they were on stage. Poor in nearly every department: the color photography is bad, the twist at the finish is outlandish, and the handling is skittish and lumpy. One can only imagine the team of Merchant-Ivory expanding the central idea of this piece, giving that final twist a few more screws and applying more gloss and luster to the production. Alas, that panache just isn't present. *1/2 from ****