Something you may have noticed: I absolutely love anything to do with film. I also make a point to promote any Irish production when I can, through social media. Why? Because our film industry doesn't get enough recognition.
I haven't seen the film, yet (which was released on April 17th) but from reading countless reviews from Ireland and abroad (most importantly), this film is being received well. The film centres on around the relationship between John (Jack Reynor), a taxi driver, and Jean ( Toni Collette) his alcoholic mother, who has a Down Syndrome son in care.
Naturally I'm going to speak positively of Jack Reynor, the main character John in this film, because he's from Ireland. Born in Colorado, USA, but he was brought up in Ireland so I think we'll claim him! The first time I saw Jack Reynor was in the milk ad as a child. But he was amazing as Richard, in Lenny Abrahamson's 2012 film "What Richard Did", playing a privileged Southern Dublin teenager who causes a tragic accident when he sees his girlfriend talking to her ex-boyfriend. He plays someone with maddening guilt extremely well and this was the role that Michael Bay saw him in and it landed Jack a part in the fourth Transformers film "Age of Extinction"
Even in the trailer, I was impressed with Will Poulter and Toni Collette's take on the Tallaght accent. Irish accents are quite difficult to capture in an authentic, non-insulting way and in my opinion they did it justice. Toni plays Jean, a woman who finds solace in alcohol and does it extremely well. Will Poulter is impressive as Shane, a quietly confident actor who I hope to see in other good productions.
The director, Gerard Barrett is only 27 years old, from Co Kerry. Another film he directed was Pilgrim Hill. For such an interesting film to come from a man who has only been directing a short while, I was seriously impressed.
One thing I concentrated on when watching the trailer was the cinematography, the lighting, sound and editing. The camera shots aren't too shaky, which is a huge plus. I noted that the colouring of the film is very dark, probably to fit in with somber mood of the film. I really like the look of it and as I said before, all these aspects have to work together to make me consider watching a film.
Keep on the look out for any upcoming Irish films!
Thanks for reading.
