Come Here To Me!

First off, apologies; I’ve been off the beaten  track for a while. Hitting Doolin took a bit of planning, I was in no state to type over that weekend, for obvious reasons, and then I got landed with a “bug” when I got back, keeping me occupied until Thursday. Anyways…

Pre- planning things in this city rarely works out, as evidenced by Thursdays trip to the flicks. Having rounded up a gang of five lads to head see Perrier’s Bounty on Thursday evening, it ended up just the two of us, the two Ciaráns. Ah well. Into McNeills on Capel Street for a quick pint first (the business,) up to Cineworld, a ten euro bag of Pick ‘n’ Mix (I shit you not, my belly was in tatters after) and we settled into Screen 6. Deadly.

The Good Guys

But, the film. I don’t like starting a positive review with a negative statement but, well, I’m going to do it anyways. Go see Perrier’s Bounty if you want to hear the worst attempt at an Irish accent you’re ever likely to hear on the big screen. For while Jim Broadbent  is not out of his depth in Hollywood blockbusters like Harry Potter, he makes a balls of the Dublin accent, slipping between a thick Liberties accent and a Darby O’Gill- esque spuds and pot of gold twang. It’s actually quite funny in itself. But that’s not the worst thing about the film. It really does seem sluggish in parts; I don’t know how to explain it- you just wish the film could be just all the good scenes and would be an ace film at that. For while there are scenes where you’re thinking… hurry the fuck up, there are also scenes that make you crack your shite laughing.

In a nutshell, the story line is this. (To be honest, it’s not far off Dead Man Running, the low-budget crime caper “starring” the king of naughty himself, Danny Dyer;) Michael McCrea (Cillian Murphy,) is a small time geezer who somehow ends up owing a grand to a big time geezer called Darren Perrier (Gleeson.) Under threat of having two bones of his choice broken (fingers don’t count,) he has twenty four hours to come up with the yoyos. Cue drama with his estranged father Jim (Broadbent) arriving on the scene, the girl next door Brenda (Whittaker) breaking up with her boyfriend and threatening to top herself, a proposal from fellow geezer “the Mutt” and well… as these stories inevitably go, it’s a mish mash of lots of stuff happening that inevitably has something got to do with the story come the end. Perrier (Gleeson) is an unscrupulous gangster who rules Dublin’s streets with an iron fist. And he’s not letting Michael away easy, after what happens when two of his goons show up to break Michael’s legs. I won’t say what, but a trip up to the Dublin Mountains for Michael, Brenda and Jim shortly follows. It’s from here to the end that the film hits form, the showdown with Perrier and the culmination of the plot, with the day being saved by the comrades of Achilles and Apollo (two dogs by the way.)

The Bad Guys

There are some laughs in the film, though I’m sure a lot of them will be lost on international audiences- the best humour is colloquial, the insults local, and the analogies… well… a bit over the top to be honest. Some of the dialogue interspersed between scenes is out of place in this film, like it’s trying to be something it’s not  but this didn’t spoil it for me. Well, nothing spoiled the film for me; I quite liked it start to finish.

The best thing about it is the scenes filmed on the streets of Dublin. I spent most of the time trying to think where the scenes were shot; and smiling knowingly when I worked out the routes the characters take are arseways. Nice night-time shots of the quays, O’Connell Street, a beautiful view over the city from the Mountains, and what I think are those flats around the back of St. Patricks Cathedral. It’s always nice to see the city on film.

Anyhow, not much more I can say. If you have a couple of hours to kill, and a tenner burning a hole in your pocket, go see this film. Whilst you might not be blown away, you certainly won’t be disappointed. On to Slatterys for a quick one on the way home and sorted, not a bad evening!

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