I don't know much about Martin McGuiness but if what a previous reviewer claims about the two protagonists being so faithful to their subjects is true, I now have a better idea, as I'm a big fan of Colm Meany. The dialogue between the men is necessarily historic conjecture, but I would well agree that it was McGuiness who broke the ice and made the necessary concessions, and who better than Colm to pull it off. If snakes ever invade the Emerald Isle, 'twill be himself that charms them out. (Mind you, I'm not nominating him for sainthood!)

"The Journey" offers a highly speculative version of the conversation that put an end to the conflict in Northern Ireland that has come to be known as the Troubles.Actors Timothy Spall and Colm Meany both portray their roles powerfully. Their verbal sparring and give-and-take maneuverings make for a compelling performance.

"These two are the Troubles." The "two" are Ian Paisley (Timothy Spall), the leader of the Northern Ireland Democratic Unionist Party, and Martin McGuiness (Colm Meaney), Sinn Fein politician and IRA operative, traveling together in a fictional hour of two-handed politics, whose interaction had the outcome of peace. The Journey, meticulously directed by Nick Hamm, is superb filmmaking that illuminates history and showcases transcendent acting.Facing off each other with Paisley's accurate condemnation of IRA violence and McGuiness's hatred of Paisley's rigid evangelical Protestantism, the two in the van on the way to the Glasgow airport dance around each other as they figure out how to survive their own arrogance and win a peace. But as we know, an accord was made back then that ended 40 years of bloodshed and a unified Northern Ireland under the combined leadership of both men.Although actors like Toby Stephens as Tony Blair and John Hurt as Harry Patterson could command any screen at any time, Spall and Meaney are so believable as to make you forget all other performances. Their job to let you see the growing friendship by small increments is marvelous to behold.Applause, too, must be given for a production design that commands maximum intimacy and suspenseful plot distribution: The interior of the van becomes an intimate drawing room with no diplomats or functionaries to distract from the plan at hand; the brief time to get to the airport has the properties of a digital readout in a heist movie—everyone is aware that the handshake may not happen if the van gets to the plane on time or too late.The Journey is required for those who love first-rate acting and those who want to feel history in the making. For anyone else, it is the antidote to the summer blockbuster.

Greetings again from the darkness. Only the rarest of fiction can match the depth and intensity of historically crucial watershed moments. A list of such moments would certainly include the 2006 St. Andrews Agreement that ended 40 years of violent civil war between the Unionist and Republican factions of Northern Ireland. Director Nick Hamm and writer Colin Bateman team up to bring us a speculative dramatization of the conversation that 'might' have led to the treaty.Timothy Spall plays Reverend Ian Paisley, leader of the Unionists and an anti-Catholic evangelical minister. Colm Meaney plays Martin McGuinness, the rebellious former IRA leader ("allegedly", he clarifies) who leads the Irish Republicans (Sinn Fein). These two extremists have been at war for most of their lives, yet had never met until circumstances brought them together for negotiations.One's take on the film will likely be determined by the level of need for historical accuracy and any personal connection to long-lasting war in Northern Ireland. Either of these traits will likely have you scoffing at the backseat verbal sparring and the plot contrivances that allow the two mortal enemies to slowly break down the ideological barriers. On the other hand, it can be viewed as a mis-matched buddy movie featuring a game of witty one-upmanship with political and historical relevance.Either way, the dueling actors are a pleasure to watch. Mr. Spall surely has the more theatrical role, and he revels in the buttoned-up judgmental nature of Paisley – a man loyal enough to be attending his 50th wedding anniversary party, and sufficiently devoted to his beliefs that his last visit to a movie theatre was in 1973 as he led the protests against The Exorcist. In contrast, Mr. Meaney plays McGuinness as both determined to find common ground and worn down by the years of fighting and lack of progress.Toby Stephens plays Prime Minister Tony Blair, while Freddie Highmore is the young driver charged with surreptitiously igniting conversation between the two rivals. He is fed instructions through his ear-piece by an MI5 director played by John Hurt, in one of his final film appearances. Unfortunately, this bit of "narration" came across as condescending to this viewer who surely could have done without such elementary guidance. Still, the sight of Mr. Hurt on film is always welcome.The infusion of humor is nearly non-stop. There's a comical exchange about Samuel L. Jackson, a joke about the Titanic, and a Paisley diatribe at a gas station over a declined credit card that would easily fit in most any Hollywood buddy flick. However, these elements undermine one of the early on screen interviews we see when a citizen states bombs going off as you walk down the street is "part of life". "You can almost taste the hatred" is a great line, but unfortunately doesn't match the script of what we witness on screen. The two men re-hash some key events such as 1972's Bloody Sunday, and it's these moments that remind us just how important this new agreement was to the country. It's understandable (and relevant today) how 40 years of hate can become a way of life and difficult to end, and it also shows us just how far actual communication can go in finding common ground between folks … even The Chuckles Brothers.