Michael owes money to Perrier, a local thug. When two enforcers demand payment by nightfall, Michael does a burglary with two others but won't be paid till morning. All he has to do is stay away from the thugs until he can get the money then give it to Perrier. But the lads catch Michael and start to deliver a beating, but Brenda, Michael's suicidal neighbour, shoots one. Now they must run for their lives, accompanied by Jim, Michael's estranged father who claims to be dying and has come to reconcile with his son.....A good premise, a great cast, and a short running, do sometimes make for a rollicking good movie. Here we get an average Gangster film we have seen a dozen times before, albeit with an awesome cast.The makers seem to think it will be funny for the audience if some of the characters have tics, one not being able to sleep, one wanting to commit suicide, and obviously, the token 'funny' banter between the criminals.It's getting old now, and the fact that actors like Gleeson, Murphy, and Whittaker signed up for this baffled me.There are a couple of good scenes toward the end, but it didn't make up for the Deja Vu I experienced for the first hour.Disappointing.
... View MoreWhen his plans to pay back a 1,000 debt go awry, scruffy criminal Cillian Murphy, the girl he loves (Jodie Whittaker) and his dying dad (Jim Broadbent) have to stay one step ahead of Brendan Gleeson's goons, who want to lop off his willy and put it up his bottom. Given the cast, this crime-comedy is a big disappointment, with a poor, mannered script of the type currently entrancing the Irish Film Board: a torrent of swearing and a show-off's vocabulary intending to compensate for a complete absence of anything to say. Man. Sorry, everyone in the film says "Man" all the time, like it's 1967 (or Manchester in 1998). Films like Brick really did create their own vernacular; this isn't how you do that. The movie is also saturated in the kind of obvious post-modern irony of which The Guard was sometimes guilty. Gleeson gives an excellent performance and Murphy and Broadbent are both quite good, but it's a smug and unsatisfying film, the agreeable invention of parts of the plotting and a handful of nice lines obliterated by a blizzard of bull faeces and a climactic death scene that is a new kind of rubbish. Perrier's Bounty sounds like a two- for-one at WHSmith. That it's actually less inspiring than that is probably a criticism.
... View MoreThis is not a movie to be taken too seriously, but if you are looking a good, lighthearted mix of drama, action and ironic comedy, this is a fantastic choice.I've not researched all of those who were involved in each movie, but the feel is very similar to In Bruges with Colin Farrell (which I highly recommend - especially if you've ever been to Bruges), maybe because the great Brendan Gleeson is in both...The settings, from the bar, to the bad guys' headquarters are great and, in addition to Brendan, the cast does a great job with what they are given. I had not seen much of Jodie Whittaker's work before this, but I will be looking forward to more from here for sure.I did read another review that mentioned the fact that some of the characters were not fully developed and, while it may have been a constraint of budget, having more background on Jodie's character would have made you despise her boyfriend more and cheer for her and the protagonist in this case.Nevertheless - nine stars.
... View MoreAn aptly-described "urban western" that fans Crank and Lock Stock should not miss. In addition to fully working as a perilous crime thriller, the film's script is filled with comedy, and the performances bring that out incredibly well. The magnetic Cillian Murphy is a quick hook into the world of the film, but Jim Broadbent is the story's heart, and the eccentric but completely relatable character he paints is a treat to watch. Brendan Gleeson as the titular Perrier is, of course, great. In short, the film is prime entertainment, whose believable setting acts as a portal into something very unique. Definitely recommended.
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