Reviewed by Michael Edwards
Stars Pat Shortt, Conor Ryan, Anne-Marie Duff, Tommy Fitzgerald, Andrew Bennett,
Denis Conway, Suzy Lawler, Jason Nelligan, Una Kavanagh, John Keogh | Written by Mark O'Halloran
UK certification 18 | UK RRP £15.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 81 minutes | Directed by Leonard Abrahamson
After I'd sat through this movie I could do little more than sit in silence and mumble to myself "that was such a good film" over and over again. This is one of those rarely found pieces of cinema that manages to take the humdrum elements of life and display in beautiful detail all the intricacy hidden underneath their simple exterior.
In this instance the humdrum is the life of Josie, the attendant of a dilapidated garage in the quiet countryside of Ireland. It's a job he's had his whole life and to all intents and purposes he is just a simple man, a bit of a misfit, but at the bottom of it all basically quite content and never likely to do anyone any harm. As we follow him pottering about and getting on with his daily routine he comes across as being kind, optimistic, tolerant and a little slow-witted. He is also lonely and herein lies the core of this delicately crafted and intricately spun tale. As he searches for intimacy we see his stable and unchanging world shift, leading inexorably to a deeply moving climax.
The beauty of this movie is that, unlike my opening paragraph, it is all put together in an understated way that conveys the most complex of human emotions through nothing more than careful observations, well thought out framing and sparse dialogue. Everything is there for a reason and you really feel it. There's almost nothing of this film that can be faulted. The writing, which feels so natural you could sell it with an 'organic' label, is brimming over with insightful comments on life and superbly smattered with dark humour; it's delivered superbly by a cast who gel perfectly with the script (only the slightly suspect Irish accent of Anne-Marie Duff grates slightly within the quality ensemble) and they are clearly masterfully directed. The cinematography alternates between forcing us to consider the bleak character of a lonely country life and hurling us into the often uncomfortable closeness of small-town relationships.
In a film as short as 81 minutes you are taken on a rollercoaster ride of emotion without any need for the usual trappings deployed by big budget tear jerkers, or the aggressive tactics of the less subtle arthouse movies. There is very little higher praise that can be placed on a film such as this: watch it and you'll agree how deserved this is.
EXTRAS ** A commentary with director Leonard Abrahamson and writer Mark O'Halloran which is well worth a listen, but other than that pretty uninspired. You get the original shooting script (useful for budding writers to learn from perhaps?), a stills gallery and the obligatory trailers.