Hilarious throughout, but edited in such an erratic manner it feels a bit overwhelming at times.
I went into this practically blind. While I have picked up on many references to other famous Irish films through just general osmosis, this film (other than its hilarious obsession with Chef brown sauce) has largely eluded me. So I was absolutely delighted when before the credits had even rolled I was laughing out loud. If I was to use a word to describe this film, it would have to be UNRELENTING. There are so many jokes packed into what felt like a relatively short runtime. Like any comedy movie, not every swing is a home run, but even the lines that aren’t necessarily laugh-out-loud funny are delivered with an endearing Irish charm that won me over.
With an ensemble cast of such Irish movie royalty, I was unsure how they would fare given the relative young age of a lot of them, but honestly they all live up to expectations. I would have liked more of Colin Farrell, but by the end his character was maybe getting a bit one-dimensional (then again, his little rant about the home appliance was quite funny). While I did enjoy Cillian, it was Colm Meaney and his brilliant character’s plot line that was the highlight for me, with a special shout-out to Shirley Henderson as Sally. Any time Colm was on screen I found myself beaming.
My main gripe, as I alluded to at the beginning, is the editing. At times it felt like I was watching a sketch show. I understand throughout the film there are different plot lines that then seem like they might coalesce in the robbery, but Colm’s character isn’t a part of that scene and the film continues after it. Throughout the film these events are happening in parallel, and once the plan is proposed to Cillian you can imagine a hilarious way all the plots will tie together akin to Pulp Fiction, but they never really seem to. So without this crescendo ending you have to question what purpose some of the erratic storytelling serves. Also, the short scenes mean that, like in a sketch show, the scenes that maybe aren’t as engaging do move on quickly, but we don’t get enough time with the ones that are great. At times it felt like I was watching SNL, where my favourite recurring bit of Colm the rogue guard would pop up for two minutes and then I’d have to watch Deirdre and her bald fella have an argument about her wanting to go out and him not for the third time.
Overall, an enjoyable watch with some funny moments. A good casual film to watch on a Sunday with a cup of tea for a bit of a laugh.
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