This Movie is Rated R – For Pervasive Language, Some Sexual Content and Violence
This is a terrific Irish film. It’s a dark comedy filled with humor, action, drama and quirkiness. It really is an ensemble piece, filled with a bunch of wonderful Irish and Scottish actors.
Following are some of the main characters:
Lehiff (Colin Farrell) can be a very charming man; however, he also happens to be a violent criminal. Who for some reason also seems to be obsessed with woks.
John (Cillian Murphy) is a young man that seems frustrated with his life. He works at a market, stocking shelves. He is bored, which leads to him being a bit of a slacker on the job, plus he hates his boss. He recently, kind of accidently, broke up with his girlfriend.
Oscar (David Wilmot) is John’s best friend. They work at the market together. Oscar is lonely and would really like to find someone to settle down with.
Deirdre (Kelly Macdonald) is John’s former girlfriend. She has put him behind her and has moved on to a new man. Which really doesn’t make John very happy when he finds out.
Sally (Shirley Henderson) is Deirdre’s sister. After an extremely bad experience with a former boyfriend she moved back in with her mother. Sally is depressed, angry and really isn’t interested in participating in life at the moment.
Jerry (Colm Meaney) is a police officer. He is a tough guy with a lot of attitude. He also doesn’t seem to mind bending the rules in order to get what he wants.
Ben (Tomas O’Suilleabhain) is a reporter for the local television station. His show is a rather fluffy, lifestyle type. He has dreams of reporting on grittier and more interesting stories.
I really don’t want to say much about the opening scene, other than it involves Colin Farrell’s character and it’s very surprising. It also does a good job of setting the tone for what is to come. The story takes place in a small town in Ireland. Many of the characters know each other and there are a lot of interconnecting storylines.
It’s very difficult to talk about this movie without giving too much away. Since there are so many characters and their stories all weave themselves into each other. There are stories involving love, loss, kidnapping, robbery, bus accidents and just generally dealing with life. So I guess the best bet is to tell you some of my favorite scenes, while trying to keep spoilers to a minimum.
Jerry sees Lehiff walk into the pub and directly back to the bathroom. He is familiar with Lehiff and his criminal activities, so he decides to take this opportunity to harass him a bit. Jerry threatens Lehiff, tells him to stay out of trouble and then proceeds to pee on his legs and feet. It’s a terrific scene and both of the actors do an incredible job.
John finds out that Deirdre already has a new guy. He is pissed off about it and goes to her house to confront her, dragging Oscar along with him. John goes on quite the rant about how it was too soon for her to move on, unless she never really cared about him in the first place. I love how Deirdre doesn’t say much of anything and just lets him get it out of his system. Poor Oscar is feeling extremely uncomfortable about being stuck there in the middle of all of it.
Oscar is tired of being lonely and is getting desperate to find a connection with a woman (even if it’s just a shag). He talks John into going to a club with him, so he can try to find someone. It ends up being all older people (in most cases, much older). I especially like when one of the older women, Celia, is hitting on John. It’s so funny and Cillian plays the scene so well.
When John is trying to convince Oscar into going along with a scheme he is involved in. Oscar refuses to participate and John isn’t happy about it. So he starts harassing Oscar about his older woman. Which leads to them brawling in the middle of the store. I love the way John knows how to get to Oscar and just keeps pushing.
Some of my favorite quotes:
John – “Kissing a baldy fella?”
Co-worker – “Holding hands and all, yeah.”
John – “I just thought I’d give her a little test, you know? I say to her, “Let’s take a break.” She says, “Let’s not.” Then I know, see?”
John – “Need to go home and reflect on my choices.”
Oscar – “You do what you have to do, man.”
John – “No, f*ck that, man. That’s over now. This is the new shit.”
Oscar – “It’s all a bit risky.”
John – “But vengeance, man, it’s not about the money. Well, it is, but the satisfaction …”
John – “If you were any use …”
Oscar – “I am use.”
John – “Except for f*cking fogeys.”
Oscar – “She’s no fogey. She may be older, but she’s sporty. And I’m taking exception to that description.”
John – “Granny she is.”
Oscar – “May have to break your face for you, you keep it up.”
Lehiff – “That’s f*ckin’ delish man.”
Lehiff – “Is that a wok I see? Very nice. Are they worth gettin’? I mean, do you find you have much use for it?”
Random Thoughts:
The song “I Fought the Law” that plays during the credits is performed by Colin Farrell.
The masks used during the kidnapping/robbery really freak me out.
John’s obsession with brown sauce was funny. I don’t even know what it is, but I can tell by looking at it that it’s not something you would expect someone to put in tea.
Jan
P.S. Comments are welcomed. Scroll towards the bottom of the page (below the spoiler section) to where it says “Click Here to Make a Comment”. Or on entries from previous days there is a comment box.
Following is additional information about the show that contains spoilers. If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.
I liked the scene in the café between Oscar and Sally. They discover that they are both looking for a relationship, but are both also scared to pursue one (understandably so, given their past experiences). It was interesting that even though they have know each other for quite some time, it had never occurred to them that they might actually be a good match.
Yeah, John and Deirdre got back together. It was a great scene. I liked how John still had trouble putting his feelings into words and stumbled around a bit. However, the fact that he finally admitted that she is what he wants was enough for her.
