The prospect of a visit to Ireland would inspire many a woman to visions of verdant hills and picturesque valleys, ruddy faces with ready smiles and melodic strains from swarthy tenors sure to steal her heart away. What woman could resist being swept away?
Meet Marcy Tizard. She's a dedicated yet jaded political aide who is none too happy with her recent assignment ... traveling to a god-forsaken Irish town in order to exploit her boss' ancestral roots for the advancement of his political future. What Marcy does not count on is being stuck in the middle of a Matchmaking festival - especially when she becomes an unwilling participant. With a little luck (and love) of the Irish, perhaps Marcy will complete her task, re-establish her integrity, and most importantly, maintain her sense of humor.
Marcy Tizard (JANEANE GAROFALO) is a jaded political professional, working on the re-election campaign of Massachusetts Senator John McGlory (JAY O. SANDERS). The campaign is going badly, so his chief of staff (DENIS LEARY) gets the idea that if they could find some of the Senator's Irish ancestors - maybe even discover a connection to the Kennedy clan - it would be a big help toward insuring McGlory's electoral triumph.
Marcy is drafted to go to Ireland to find the relatives who would bolster that claim. It should be a quick in and out: find the records, find the relations, get some photos of them with the Senator and get back to Boston.
When Marcy arrives in the town of Ballinagra, it is in the middle of the Matchmaking Festival (an actual annual event that happens on the West Coast of Ireland). Finding a likely lad is the last thing on Marcy's mind, but finding her a match appears to be foremost on the minds of everyone she meets. These include the naked man named Sean (DAVID O'HARA) she finds in the bathtub of her hotel room, and a persistent Matchmaker named Dermot (MILO O'SHEA), who also owns the local tanning parlor. Dermot's rival in the matchmaking business, Millie (ROSALEEN LINEHAN), also finds a worthy project in the pretty American and is soon lining up every eligible man in the village from whom she can take her pick.
Marcy's search for the Senator's Irish roots takes her all over the Galway Coast. She is diligent in her efforts but those efforts only succeed at drawing hopeful romantic suitors - not the McGlory relatives for whom she is looking. Her best hope is the village genealogist, but he needs more time than she wanted to spend on this annoying errand. Meanwhile, Sean has taken it upon himself to become Marcy's tour guide and personal assistant in her quest.
While Marcy, a modern girl with the accompaning modern cynicism, waits for the genealogist to do his work, the town of Ballinagra begins to work its magic on her.
Trying to aid in her quest to find the Senator's extended family, Dermot steers Marcy to an old man on the Isle of Inis Mor. Sean accompanies her there. They find no McGlorys and a rainstorm leaves them stranded overnight on the isle. Then a singing contest which Marcy is coaxed into judging, brings them together. But their romance is short-lived when they return to Ballinagra and find Sean's estranged wife Moira (SAFFRON BURROWS) there.
Still, falling under love's spell is not what Marcy came there for. Neither is what the Senator and his campaign chief ask her to do when they unexpectedly show up in Ballinagra: they want her to recruit a couple of impostors who will pose for the publicity pictures they need and lie about being McGlorys.
Moral quandaries and romantic bedlam combine to make THE MATCHMAKER a unique comedy with universal appeal.
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