It is the old story of a boy and a girl in love who are forbidden to love each other because they come from two different worlds who hate each other. Yes, it's "Romeo and Juliet", it's "West Side Story" and I even would go so far to say that there'S a little bit Rose and Jack in it but never before has this story been told in such a charming way.

Here, it's a story within the story. An American businessman comes to Ireland in order to check the location and prepare everything for his American company who wants to build a golf territory in Western Ireland. At his second day of Arrival, the businessman by chance saves the life of a Leperchaun which means that the Leperchaun is devoted to him for the rest of his life. Through this incident the businessman gets to know another, magical parallel world that exists in the real human world. The parallel world has mainly two groups of human-like beings in it, the Leperchauns and the Fairys. The Leperchauns are lazy, always playing tricks on somebody and always in trouble. The Fairys on the other hand, are royal, prissy and always trying to make the world beautiful - they are responsible for the appearance of flowers and trees, e.g. for the perfect shape of the leaves and so on. Now, the son of the Leperchaun whose life the businessman saved, Mickey, falls for Jessica, a fairy and the daughter of the Fairy king. Of course this leads to trouble and you can guess how the story will go on, but it's still a pleasure to watch.

The movie is a feast of colours, nature and music, always with a bit magic in the air. Besides, the cast is brilliant. We've got Colm Meany as the Leperchaun dad, Daniel Betts as his charming son Mickey, Caroline Carver as Princess Jessica and - watch out - Whoopie Goldberg as the Big Banshee, a goddesslike creature observing all that goes on in the magical work. The movie might not be a big piece of cinema, but is really charming and a pleasure to see. It is crowned by a great music score and the title song "Fly away" performed by Emma Townsend.

I thought this movie was excellent. The acting, casting, script, direction, special effects and music were flawless. A warm-hearted visit to the land of Irish folk tradition and mythology, with adventure, romance and surprises at every turn.

The script and screenplay were so well done that it is the best movie I have seen this year. The movie shows us just how good of a dramatic actor Randy Quaid is. Whoopi Goldberg is on-screen for maybe four minutes altogether, and cudos to the director John Henderson for understanding that her intensity works best in small doses. Colm Meaney was brilliant as Seamus (King of the Kerry Leprechauns).

Roger Daltry was surprisingly good and did an inspired job as a somewhat receding and inept King of the Fairies. His acting job was particularly good in view of the fact that most of his fans remember him as leader of the dramatic and brash group The Who^.

Daniel Betts (as Mickey Muldoon ) and Caroline Carver as Princess Jessica are one of the most attractive couples I have ever seen on screen. Zoe Wanamaker was great (as always) as Seamus' wife, Mary. Orla Brady plays a powerful woman, and it is heart-warming to see her fall in love with Jack (Randy Quaid).

I could have easily issued nine stars to The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns. If some of the second and third battle scenes had been substituted with or altered (softened) by scenes of Irish magical spells confounding both sides, I would have. Certainly, Mickey and Jessica could have taught Jack and Kathleen these rituals and joined forces with the humans to thwart the aggression.

The love scene underneath the barren tree was beautiful. My review would be incomplete if I did not mention the vivid characters played by Tony Curran (as Sean Divine) and Frank Finlay (as General Bulstrode).

Obviously, everybody from hair and wardrobe on up was at the top of their game in this movie. A film with a great amount of kindness and imagination that missed a beat only during the later battles.

Also, it has a great ending. I am grateful to all involved for this movie, and it is going into my permanent collection. (It's been over a year since I've added a film to it).

A nice story of Leprechauns and Fairies. It stars Randy Quaid in probably his most subtle role to date, which is fitting and appreciated. Colm Meaney is excellent as the leprechaun, Seamus Muldoon. This movie falls a little short of being a classic in the fantasy genre, but it's a decent enough tale for the St. Patrick's Day season. It was made for television, so it lacks a little of the bigger production but the costumes are good and the special effects aren't bad. Probably the biggest fault of this movie is it's running time at nearly 3 hours. It has a fair bit of romance thrown in along with the battles in the forest, Irish song & dance, and other bits of merriment. I think the wee ones might be more patient with this epic length movie, while older folks may grow a bit weary waiting for it to play out.

**1/2 (Out of 4)