Intermission
Directed by John Crowely.
Written by Marc O’Rowe.
Stars Colin Farrell, Shirley Henderson, Kelly McDonald.
Set in the streets of Dublin, Intermission is the effort of first time director John Crowely. The film begins with a close up of thug Lehiff, played by self-confessed bad boy Colin Farrell. Lehiff using his immense charm is flirting with a cashier at the local diner commenting that the pair could fall in love with each other one day. Then suddenly in a violent twist Lehiff breaks the girl’s nose with his fist and robs the place; and thus the story begins.
The film commences introducing the viewer to each of the characters and their situations. Although it appears that they are all leading separate lives, as the narrative unfolds, the characters’ stories begin to intertwine together into a dramatic conclusion. Each of the characters are dealing with certain hardships in their life, and the film demonstrates how some people deal with such particular problems. John has just broken up with his girlfriend Deirdre, who is now dating Sam, an older and extremely dull bank manager, much to John’s disgust.
Then there is Deirdre’s frumpy and depressed sister Sally, who is unaware of her declining physical appearance and is even blind to the fact that she is growing a moustache! Noeleen, the unhappy wife of Sam, is coming to terms with being on her own, and is in search of a younger man to fulfil her needs, in which she meets John’s sexually frustrated best friend Oscar. Jerry Lynch is an egotistical detective in the process of starring in a documentary about his life in the force and who has an extreme disliking to Lehiff. There are many more characters that emerge throughout the story that contribute to the interconnected story being depicted. Mix into this already chaotic storyline, a high-speed chase, a bank robbery, a bus crash, and revenge plot and you have Intermission.
Intermission is a wonderful blend of drama, realistic crime culture, dark humour and of course not to forget, a touching love story. The acting is impressive by the ensemble cast including Shirley Henderson, Cillian Murphy, Colm Meaney and Kelly Macdonald, to name a few. It is the collection of quirky, offbeat characters that make this an enjoyable film. Unfortunately however, some of the characters lack depth, and only a handful of the many characters are developed and well defined, which is to be expected when portraying so many key protagonists in the one story. The dialogue is sharp and witty, and although the film is dramatic and somewhat tense in parts, the film does provide many laugh-out-loud moments and recurring jokes to keep the audience amused.
*** ½ (out of 5)Amanda Giacomin
Intermission is a sort of Irish riff on multi-character, hyperkinetic American films like Magnolia or Pulp Fiction, straining desperately for the cult cred of both of those films and, unfortunately, failing. The plot revolves around almost a dozen characters and their intertwining stories over the course of a few days in modern-day Dublin.
Perhaps it’s inevitable that with such a large cast the characters are as sketchy as they are, but with the exception of Colm Meaney’s pugnacious cop, none of them even come off as stereotypes or cartoons. Many of them are bland, inconsistent or both.
To be sure, the film is never boring. It’s crammed with bits and pieces — dialogue, stunts, ideas — that are amusing or surprising in themselves, but since they’re so often disconnected from story, character or reality that they don’t pack any real punch. The sheer hyperactivity of the film ultimately becomes overkill.
The cast is certainly cannot be faulted, and director John Crowley certainly shows a lot of skill in juggling so many stories at once. However, with next-to- no emotional tie with any of the characters, I found myself becoming increasingly disconnected — and more interested in the diversity of Irish accents on display than anything else.
The high point might very well be Colin Farrell’s (who, now a bona fide movie star, was a good sport to return to his Irish roots) rendition The Clash’s I Fought the Law over the closing credits.
Brenton Priestley
