'Ondine': Mermaid is a catch, or is she?

The original Grimm and Andersen fairy tales always had a streak of darkness, even imminent tragedy, running through them, and the same can be said for "Ondine," Neil Jordan's richly romantic fable set among characters as jagged and picturesque as their Irish seacoast home. A story that lists between pure fantasy and gritty realism, it begins with a fisherman named Syracuse (Colin Farrell) pulling in a beautiful blonde in his trawling net. What could possibly go wrong?

Plenty, of course, but much already has: Syracuse - who's trying to live down the nickname "Circus" he acquired as one of his town's epic drunks - has an ex-wife who still drinks and a bright star of a daughter, Annie (Allison Barry), who's been confined to a wheelchair because of the kidney failure. Annie, whose sharp mind is obviously the outcome of many books (she quotes Lewis Carroll), has been waiting for something marvelous to happen. Ondine, as the "mermaid" (Alicja Bachleda) calls herself, may be just what Annie's been waiting for - a "selkie," or Irish sea nymph, come to rescue her from stultifying boredom, and her father from himself.

But "Ondine" (which refers to another European sea myth) isn't pure fantasy, far from it: Exquisitely shot by Christopher Doyle, the film has both visual and narrative gravity: A car crash, a menacing stranger, Ondine's real back story - they all come home to roost just as Syracuse is making himself believe in his good luck, and the inevitable bad luck to follow. Ultimately, "Ondine" is a bit slim on story, but rich in atmosphere and humor - the exchanges between Syracuse and his parish priest (Jordan regular Stephen Rea) are dryly hilarious, and the perfect chaser to an otherwise ethereal movie.