This Movie is – Not Rated
This is an incredibly intense, at times very dark, look into the lives of Pig (Cillian Murphy) and Runt (Elaine Cassidy). They were born just minutes apart and from the moment that they were put side by side in the hospital nursery an instant bond was formed. They mean the world to each other and no one else is of any importance to them.
At least until shortly before their seventeenth birthday. Runt (aka Sinead) starts wondering if there is more to life than what she currently has. Maybe it would be nice to be someone else for a little while to try it out. Pig (aka Darin) doesn’t understand why she would think that. She is everything to him and he doesn’t want that to change.
Things become even more complicated when Pig starts seeing Runt as a woman and starts having sexual feelings for her. Unfortunately, she doesn’t feel the same way about him. However, she has started to take notice of another boy at school, Marky. Obviously, this is a tragedy in the making.
The first seventeen years of their lives they are together constantly. In fact they even live next door to each other. Mere inches separate their beds, so they took care of that by breaking a hole through their walls to allow them to hold hands during the night. They are so closely bonded that they can sense when the other is near and at times can communicate to each other without even speaking. Pig and Runt are also quite the bullies around town. At times Pig can turn violent.
We go along for the ride with them as they approach their seventeenth birthday and things start to escalate (at home, at school and within their relationship). There are also flashbacks to their childhood to show us how they developed into what they are now and how it effected their respective families.
Both Cillian and Elaine are amazing in this movie. The main focus throughout is on their characters. They both have a lot of lengthy and passionate, monologue style scenes, which can be very difficult to deliver with the proper emotion and intensity. However, they both excel at it. Their performances are what make this movie so incredible.
Some of my favorite quotes:
Runt – “And for the one and only time, we three are family.”
Runt – “From that moment we become one and we need no one else.”
Runt – “What’s the color of love Pig?”
Pig – “You’re my life Runt.”
Runt – “He’s my whole life, him. My one and only.”
Pig – “How would we know that a big adventure would kick off that very night for our hero that is Runt.”
Runt – “He’s close.”
Pig – “It’s like a big rescue isn’t it Runt?”
Pig – “You’re the most beautiful thing in the whole world for me Runt.”
Yes, Cillian is actually singing “You Really Got Me” during the karaoke scene. He also performs an original song of his that plays during the credits. It’s called “So New”.
This is an Irish movie, so expect very heavy Irish accents. I don’t have any problems understanding anyone, however, I also watch a lot of Scottish, Irish, British and Welsh movies/television shows. So I am quite used to heavy accents.
I must mention that there is one glitch with the movie. When you reach the end of chapter six it will automatically kick you back to the main menu. If you go to the scene selection menu and choose chapter seven you will start right back up without missing anything. It’s a bit annoying; however, all of the DVDs (at least the Region 1 versions) seem to have this problem. I figure it’s not worth missing out on a great movie because of this one glitch, so I just live with it.
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 movie that contains spoilers. If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.
Wow, the scene in the diner when Pig stabs the fork through that guy’s hand is so shocking and unexpected. He is just so calm about it, which makes it so eerie. This is when you start to realize what he is capable of.
Poor Marky, he seems like such a nice guy, but he got himself in way over his head. He obviously didn’t understand Pig and Runt’s relationship and how possessive Pig is. What a horribly shocking and violent way to go.
The ending was perfect, albeit tragically sad. First, Pig and Runt make love on the beach. Which was her way of giving Pig the connection he so desperately wanted with her. It was also her goodbye to him. Then her final act of love is to end his suffering, since there is no way he could survive without her and she couldn’t possibly stay with him after what he has done.
