Perrier's Bounty tries hard to be as pithy and wittily profound as In Bruges, but doesn't quite manage the task. To be fair, Bruges is a masterpiece and a Goliath of a script to aspire too, but this one has its own brand of scrappy crime fun, full of enough beans to keep the viewer jumping for its slight running time. Few films can boast narration provided by the Grim Reaper, and fewer still can say that said Reaper is voiced by Gabriel Byrne. But indeed, Byrne beckons us into this violent fable with his patented tone, both baleful and quaint. The fable in question concerns Michael McCrea (Cillian Murphy) an irresponsible young Irish lad who is seriously bereft of both luck and common sense. He lives in a small town in northern Ireland and owes a hefty loan to local crime lord Darren Perrier (Brendan Gleeson). Because of how tiny the town is, it's pretty easy for Perrier's goons to find and engage him in a road runner goose chase all about the area, forcing him to scoop up his on and off girlfriend (Jodie Whittaker), and head for the hills. He's also joined by his uber eccentric father (Jim Broadbent) who believes that the Grim Reaper has visited him at night and given him the alarming prognosis that he will die the next time he falls asleep. Broadbent is a solid gold asset to any film he's in, and practically spews perfectly timed comic banter non stop. Michael thinks he has a way out of trouble with local petty thief The Mutt (Liam Cunningham, aka Ser Davos Seaworth, also a comedic treasure here), which turns out to be another notch in the belt of bad judgment. Meanwhile, Perrier's crew reels after one of their slain thugs (at Michael's hand) turns out to have been involved in a love affair with another, who now has the wrath of vengeance in his eyes. There's a scene where Gleeson comforts the bereaved hoodlum and seems deeply wounded at the couple's reluctance to tell him of their love. Gleeson assures them he has no issue with homosexuality and wishes they would have shared with him. In the context of hardened criminals out for blood, this kind of exchange is priceless and brings rigid archetypes right down to earth, for maximum hilarity and well earned pathos. The film meanders a bit, but never out ran my attention span, following through with it's story in ways both welcomingly bloody and predictably quirky. It doesn't add up to anything life altering when all is said and done, but damn if the things which are said and are done along the way aren't just pure genre entertainment, inducing chuckles, thrills and nostalgia for other films withing the niche. In the troupe of writers who look up to Guy Ritchie, Quentin Tarantino and Martin McDonough, this scribe is on to something. Keep an eye out for Lord Varys, Roose Bolton and a young Domhall Gleeson too.

Perrier's bounty is a Irish/British co-production, and is a just what you expect. The film delivers as an entertaining hour and a half, with a load of Irish/British humor and fine actors, but it doesn't manage to get up to a classic standing.Cillian Murphy is playing unfortunate Michael, which owes a grand to small time gangster Perrier. At the same time as his pay is due, his father shows up, with the Grim reaper in his heels, according to himself. Well, Michael can't pay up, and Perrier's two gay (!) bounty hunters are after him. It goes wrong, as Michael's female neighbor steals his gun to commit suicide, and more or less are the reason for the following mess.The film manages to keep interest, as well as keeping the story very real, as British and Irish films nearly always are. I appreciate that. This film is funny, but don't expect it to be fast paced, like the marketing say, comparing it to Lock, stock and two smoking barrels. It's not close in story either, though it's still in the same genre.A fine piece of light entertainment which manages to keep you interested, as long as you don't expect it to be fast paced. By the way, a pool table cellar is a perfect place to hide when you're in for a shoot out!

Running dry of ideas for DVDs from video rental, we happened upon this one. In general I like British comedies, and "Trainspotting" is one of my favorites. But some of them also fall flat for me. I will add "Perrier's Bounty" to that list of the latter.Brendan Gleeson is Darren Perrier, an Irish mobster who takes his loans very seriously. Cillian Murphy is Michael McCrea, who is a bit of a slacker and finds himself with just a few hours to get the cash to keep the goons off him. Perhaps the best character is old faithful Jim Broadbent as Jim McCrea, Michael's dad. As with most British and Irish movies of this sort, lots of 'blue' language is used, and is off-putting. But that is the genre. It was somewhat entertaining but mostly wasted time watching it.

Rented this on a recommendation from the video store owner, who like myself, is into just about every genre. We certainly don't shy away from foreign films, and this gangster/father-son story looked to be right up my alley.Like I mentioned in the title - there is quite a bit of humor here that can be hard to pick up because of its' dry nature, and because of the thick accents. It can really make the difference between this being a completely average film, and this being a truly enjoyable, albeit lesser-known, humorous, and darkly adventurous tale.The cast is strong and the story moves at a brisk pace. It's in the storyline vein of Tarantino or Ritchie, but lacks a bit of the panache of those directors' work.Perrier's Bounty has good performances throughout, and there is little doubt that those fans of the afore mentioned directors will find this to be an exciting film. It's rated R for brief nudity, drug use, and violence.The only stand-out negative would be the music. The music selections were great, but the volume of the music was WAY too loud compared to the dialog and the rest of the movie. Maybe the music director was a bit too proud of his/her selections. I had to turn the TV down every time a song came on, and then turn it back up when the dialog resumed. The only other negative would be a slightly rushed and under-developed love story that could have really put this over-the-top.Recommended. THose who liked pulp fiction and lock stock will find this to be a good(not great) film along the same lines. LIsten carefully as many of the hilarious lines can pass you by. The strongest characteristic of this film is the relationship between Cillian Murphy and the actor(who's name escapes me as I'm writing this) who plays Cillian's father. Also, having two fantastic actors playing in the two lead Gangster roles helps immensely.71/100You'll like it if you liked: Layer Cake, State of Grace, or Harry Brown.