TORONTO - Based on that not-so-precious motion picture commodity known as the "true story," Bruce Beresford's "Evelyn" is a perfectly agreeable, efficiently directed and expertly acted underdog drama set in Ireland, circa 1953. The factual events involve the legal battle between a working-class, newly single Dublin dad (robustly played by Pierce Brosnan) and the Irish courts that have placed his daughter and two sons in Church-run orphanages. Even with likable Brosnan leading the way, United Artists is going to require the luck of the Irish to turn "Evelyn" into an unqualified hit, but skilled marketing building on decent word-of-mouth could help generate respectable domestic returns.

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