It’s a brilliant film. I can’t stop thinking about it since I saw it Sunday. I think the magic of it is that it doesn’t give you any easy answers it just gives you some difficult questions. If anything the movie feels like a lesson.
My word, this is an extraordinary movie. I can’t stop thinking about it. Should I have laughed (and I haven’t laughed as much in a cinema in many years). Why am I crying? What does loneliness mean? I loved In Bruges, but this is at an entirely different level. It’s a masterpiece and I can see it sweeping up at awards season.
I walked the entire island of Inisheer, and would watch the movie just for that alone. It's stunningly beautiful with stone fences that date back thousands of years.
Great review. I also think Barry’s character is smarter than people think of him. He’s the one making allusions to faint heart and that, it’s small but knowing the French word. Think he’s one that’s been very mistreated by his father of course, but also the rest of the island who just assume hes stupid and treat him as such. Great film and review
I live 40 minutes away from the shoots of the movie. You can actually see the point to where I live if you paused the movie around the pub. But my grandmother passed away at 98 last year. And she would speak of the characters around the area and I grew up knowing these people around the area from a distance, was always told “ don’t bother him, his a little touched” meaning his an idiot. But getting back to the story of my grandmother talking about local characters, my dad made an interesting observation “well anyone with brains, left the area, the idiots hung around, but bless them for their outlook and stories”. But the characters you see in the movie are the characters of my childhood
I just saw the film this evening, in Dublin. I loved it. The treatment of the Irish Civil War, which is a hundred years ago now, is brilliant. I like the way McDonagh avoids cliche in all his approaches to Irish tropes, which he again employs here. An amazing film, I find it hard to think of a better Irish one, albeit having just left the cinema a few hours ago.
Great to hear! I know Martin's brother John Michael McDonagh got in some hot water about ten years ago for some of his comments about Irish cinema and I didn't know if there would be any lingering negative sentiment that might spill over to Martin. I loved the film as well and hope it becomes a monster hit.
Avoids cliche..? The backdrop of the Irish civil war is invoked for nothing more than enabling the characters to utter trite truisms (or ‘cliches’, if you prefer) like ‘ah sure they’ll be fightin’ about sumthin’ else tomorrow’, said whilst solemnly staring out to sea so it’s very deep of course, not trite at all. Nothing is done with it, the setting of the island is hermetically sealed and works best that way, the civil war is just there to add some unnecessary historical context to a rather thin script I would describe as sort of third-rate Beckett - fairly uninspired and predictable route for an Irish playwright go take (and McDonagh is a playwright so much more than he is a film-maker, all his films are conceived as plays and show no particular awareness of cinema as a medium). Lit. The only thing he does that couldn’t be done in a play is the obnoxiously overused landscape shots
@@helvete_ingres4717 As you well know, the Irish Civil War started with both sides being on the same side, against the English. Then, all of a sudden (overnight you might say) those two sides became enemies. And what was the result? Thousands dead and the same damn treaty that they started with. Useless self-destruction that benefited nobody, over what amounted to differences in philosophy. Does that sound familiar? People destroying themselves because overnight they decided that they didn't like each other? At the end of the film, Pádraic says that he thinks they will continue to fight the war forever, and he thinks that is a good thing. What is rotten in Inisherin is rotten all over Ireland, repressed self-destruction turning nice people against one another. What could possibly possess Irish executing other Irish, without even knowing who or why they are doing it? Probably the same kind of madness that would cause someone to cut off their own fingers to spite a friend, and not feel bad about it. So no, the Irish Civil War is not useless backdrop, the whole meaning of the movie hinges on it.
So i’m a 45 years old irishman. To answer your question James, the Irish civil war is still a very difficult subject, its not taught in schools, as I remember, because many families were split on sides taken, so its a very difficult part of Irish history. Fighting against your own kin when you spent generations having a common goal is a very sad thing. As you can understand ‘the troubles’ and Civil War still occupy the political landscape in Ireland so i think the whole film is a metaphor for Irish life in a way.
I'm 28, it was taught in school when I was in 5th year. I think the line in the film that summed it up very well and is much like your point "I wish we could go back to the old days when we were just fighting the english, it was simpler times" (something like that anyways 😅) In my opinion you could make arguments for either side, but fighting amongst eachother always seemed like the most pointless part in our history.
It’s taught in a superficial way but with no depth, most young people have no clue about it. The Irish civil war, much like the Spanish was simply covered over and hushed up and it’s easier to blame everything on the British rather than truly look at what was done by Irish people against their own. It’s really grim, but it was probably a necessary thing to try to forget rather than go through a process of forgiveness and closure. We never faced up to what happened or dealt with it, it was all locked away and forgotten very much like the Spanish `pacto de olvido’. The media has also pushed certain figures as having been heroes and denigrated others..it works well for tourism and movies but the truth is often brushed over.
Colin Farrel has always been an incredible actor but I feel like Hollywood did a disservice to him by putting him into the 'latest hunky hunk hearththrob of the week' in movies. When romantic leads didn't work, he started doing low-hanging fruit villain roles. I'm really happy that he kept on keepin' on and that he's been getting more meaty roles. Really loved the movie.
Simply, sadly, comically brilliant . . . in a darkly Irish way. Excellent cast, superb screenplay, directing, and acting with beautiful cinematography and a subtly captivating musical score. This movie gets under your skin and stays with you like a true work of art.
Easily film of the year - it hasn't left my head for the last few days. Despite only seeing it once, my wife and I have been quoting it to each other like we have seen it ten times. Very little affects her cinematically, yet she was crying from early on in the film and did not stop throughout. As an aside, Farrell is incredible but for any who did not see it, I would also recommend his turn in the recent 5-part BBC TV series 'The North Water'. Despite, 'only' being a TV production, Farrell went all-out Christian Bale and bulked up into a terrifying hulk to play one of the most heinous villains of recent years.
On the same day I watched this film, my boyfriend said he didn't love me anymore. He continued being happy, but I just wasn't part of his happiness anymore. "But you liked me yesterday ?" The incomprehension, denial, distress, anger, despair, resignation. You start questioning who you are. All the emotions I went through were so beautifully depicted in the film, with great accuracy. It truly blew me away.
I am Irish and this movie is Amazing, with regards to the civil war….. We gained our freedom only to sell out to anyone power far more powerful than the empire. The Holy Roman Empire. We also inherited the British civil service, so the police men at the time didn’t give a dam who paid them as long as they got paid, when the priest arrives on the Island he is embraced by the police man. That embrace is a metaphor for the embrace of church and state that was to last for almost 70 years. I should know because I was a child of the late 50s early 60s and Ireland was hell for children.
@@geekinwithJamesHancock Great. I'll re-listen to the first one. But yeah, I like the variety of the films you cover. Kudos and hopefully you get more sponsors.
@@geekinwithJamesHancock Yes small channels are hard to grow nowadays but sharing defo helps. I think YT throttles certain vids too depending on the subject and content.
I'm Irish and the scenes with the policeman was quite accurate and hit home actually (his attitude towards the civil war) I feel there's this cultural Irish thing of "It's none of my business", and so long as I get my pint etc and have a laugh who cares? It is kind of heartbreaking.
I grew up from where they shoot this movie 40minutes in the shoots of the pub. My dad used to talk about the local policeman and his hate of them. The way he would talk about them, was exactly they way they were brought to screen. To this day the local police station,now closed still has the RUC sign over the door, from when the English were here
Also saw this with a packed house at the Hollywood theater in Portland. Amazing experience..no standing ovation just laughter throughout followed by that sobering and perfect ending.
Great review! Colin Farrell's always been one of my favorite actors, and I'm really looking forward to seeing this one. I remember listening to Colin on the Bill Simmons podcast a few years ago talking about 'In Bruges' & 'Miami Vice' (amongst other movies), and being slightly surprised at how intelligent, articulate and thoughtful he was about art and life in general. I'd had a false general impression of him as a hard partying, sex tape filming, Britney Spears dating Wild Man, and it actually turns out that he's a goddamn thespian LOL. Thanks for the review, James!
I had that same impression of Farrell for years but he's totally converted me into a massive fan. Hopefully he'll continue to give us great performances for many more decades.
Many great actors are quite like the Tom Ripley character - social chameleons who adapt their behavior to fit into almost any social niche. When Farrell hung around in the young wild scene, he was just that. It's only with age and experience that he gained confidence and discovered who he was. The wild persona was a real but transitory façade.
When he was doing booze and drugs, he was the hard-party sex tape guy but a long stint in rehab cleaned him up and allowed him to really tap into his art and explore characters that blow us away. He's also had a first class education in Ireland, and attended the Gaiety Theatre and Drama school in Dublin so it's not a surprise that he's a bit of a thespian ☘
been looking forward to this since the buzz coming out of the festivals but hearing how much you enjoyed it just makes me that much more excited! can’t wait to support this film.
Fingers crossed, the movie manages to cross over into being more than just an art house hit. The crowd at the Angelika was great but the flick deserves a much wider audience. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Colin Farrell was in 4 movies this year so far, 3 including this could all be possibly Oscar nominated performances for Best Actor and the other film he plays the Penguin in Batman amazingly too, very underrated actor now
I think it’s really significant that Padraic is considered by his friend and everyone else to be dull, up until the point that he calls the policeman out not only on beating his son, which the entire island knows about and seems to agree with (as demonstrated by the shopkeeper saying she’d have beat him herself is she could hold the stick), but also of ‘fiddlin’ with him, which the son immediately denies telling anyone about, but what comes as a huge shock to everyone in the room, so much so that Dominic denies ever telling Padraic. This proves that even though everyone thought Padraic was dull, he was the only one to see what’s actually going on at home with Dominic and his policeman father. I think the reason Colin said he liked Padraic again wasn’t because of his drunken blow up, but was because Padraic was able to see what no one else could and felt the need to call the policeman out on it!!!
Loved the movie as well James, great review. Will check out your trip to Ireland with Robert, big fan of Irish cinema as well. Thanks for your always amazing content ❤️
Admiro muito o seu trabalho, sou fã de seus filmes, aqui no Brasil só irá passar em fevereiro, estou aguardando ansiosa pra ver Colin Farrell nesse novo filme . Parabéns pelo sucesso ❤
Greater review. Haven't even it yet as I'm living abroad and it hasn't been dubbed yet 🙄, I won't be watching in Spanish! So I'll have to wait to see it in Its original language version but I have been following it's path. Hope it does well in the Oscars.
The comedy is outstanding - but it never detracts from the bleak narrative (as many black comedies can tend to). I've never felt so melancholic and yet so entertained watching a film. I'm not Irish (I'm Scottish, though my grandmother is Irish) but you can view this entire film as an allusion to the Irish civil war (and to the subsequent 'troubles') in microcosm. Friend fighting friend; brother fighting brother for petty reasons that leads predominantly to both losing far more than either ought to have lost.
Excellent review as always James, appreciate the heads up to go in not expecting In Bruges. Do you plan to review All Quiet on the Western Front at all?
Thank you for the reminder! I sent a request to Netflix for a press screener but have not heard back. The movie is playing here in New York in the theater so I'll try and catch it this week.
I didn’t even know this one was out. I had to watch it on max after it went to streaming, but I loved it. It wasn’t my normal type either. Maybe it’s just satisfying to see something novel and unique. I loved the dark humor, which for me made it tolerable. I couldn’t have handled it if they’d played it straight.
Martin McDonagh is the sultan of writing the saltiest characters on the face of this Earth. Recently he had his old play, Hangman on Broadway with Theon Greyjoy. It did not disappoint. I cannot wait to see this film.
My buddy Rob Cotto caught 'Hangman' and loved it. Just checked for tickets and sadly it looks like I missed it. I almost never go to see a proper play but I'd love to see more of his work on the stage.
I will be seeing the film on Thursday but my guess is the Civil War is a parallel to what is going on with the 2 friends, The Civil War was one where brothers or friends could have found themselves on different sides, having in the previous years been on the same side fighting the English
Hey My Easy Coast Movie Go too Man Saw this Film today. What you say the Intention and Obstacle of Story is ? Great visuals costumes acting animals music at times but Did not get end yet ?
To be fair, the civil war was such a small part in the film. Can’t recall much history emanating from the islands around that time. It was filmed on Inis Mor which is off Galway which definitely did have a lot of chaos in the 20s. I’d say Colin Farrell could be in with a shout for best actor. My biggest criticism of the film is that there wasn’t enough Brendan Gleeson in it. A film like Calvary showed off how good Brendan is more than this one, imo. Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan were standouts, imo.
I watch the Film Belfast after all the hype l can honestly say l wasted 2 hours l tunes in to this film with a open mind after Belfast But can honestly say a beautiful, magical, magnificent, awesome, film l enjoyed every second l laugh and cried absolutely 💯 Magical Jackie
Dominic, despite being put in there as the "village idiot" has some of the most cutting and poignant observations and I have no doubts about it being McDonagh's intention - still, Barry Keoghan totally owned and perfected this role.
I was fascinated by this film, but I did not find the savage humor to be laugh-out-loud funny. To me, it was the most gravely serious film I have seen in many, many years. It seriously broke my heart.
A Quick Synopsis that is not mainstream. Colm loves Siobhan and turns on Padraig when he discovers she is leaving. Remember, the job offer letter was opened in the post office. Colm used Padraig to get in proximity to Siobhan and abandons their false friendship. He mutilates himself as a desperate act of self-pity to garner sympathy and attention from Siobhan. It does not work. Innisherin is Ireland, it translates as the Island of Ireland, which is pretty obvious. The mainland with the civil war coming to an end is the bigger world, which is more attractive than the ongoing hellish war in Ireland. The film is essentially also a prison film, and characters cannot escape. Siobhan looks back at Padraig and you see him on a cliff as if the island is a fortress and the old hag is the evil prison warden. Hints of Papillon. Siobhan is the future, Padraig is the present and Colm is the past. Colm digs up a past that is self-destructive, inward, indulgent, in the Gaelic revival music. His pretence to acquired universal culture is corrected by a cultured Siobhan regarding the date of Mozart’s music. The hero of the film is Siobhan who escapes the island, Padraig is the masses caught up in a situation not knowing the actual truth. Dominic is a character who suffers reality under the skin of the cruel veneer of Irish society, with a legacy of corruption and abuse in the church etc. He has the magnificent line " There goes that dream" and kills himself as his love is lost to him. He had more guts than Colm, he declared his love and accepted his fate. Padraig will never know the truth, he just senses there is something wrong but lacks the moral conviction to change his circumstances. He writes false letters full of lies. He fools himself and pretends that by burning Colm:s house that he has done something. All he has achieved is added to the destruction of hope and a better future. Colm and Padraig becomes flip sides of the same coin. A film masterpiece. One for the ages. Greetings from Ireland, we know this shit.
The Film is filmed on two islands actually that look very different Inishmore is the rocky but flat landscape whereas Achill is mountainous hilly and boggy.
So glad to come to this review that's shows me I'm not the only one that feels this movie is so bad. It's so boring. I think it only relates to caucasians or Irish. It's not funny, it's stupid that the guy goes so far to stop talking to someone. I'm open minded to films and that's why I risked it but dammm did I lose 2 hours of my life
Seen it tonight Way too dark and can’t see why this needs to be more than 25 minutes long !?!?! Would have walked out if I wasn’t at the far end of the row
This movie is a pretentious piece of garbage. Its the story of a man who cuts his fingers off because he doesn't want to talk to someone anymore. This premise utterly idiotic.
I saw it … hated it .., not funny and full of cliches and stereotypes of the Irish …forced and non funny …. All the characters r unappealing …. Btw I have visited the islands, spent a lot of time on the Aran islands ( speaking Irish )…. An Irish speaking island in 1923 but not one heard of Irish spoken in this movie … the scenery is the big winner in this simplistic dud …. 🙏
I didn't like the trailer , but going to see it anyway. In Burges - ❤️❤️❤️ Gleeson 😎😎😎 Farrel - 🐧 one of my favourite actors Lots of real Irish actors in the movie. Farrell stared with Barry Keoghan in Killing of sacred dear 😇 Thank you, James for review 🦆🫡 Ps. It seems, that movie goers in UKare much more respectful than in the USA 😐 I'm planning to visit Ireland right after new year. Such a beautiful place 🧐
For whatever reason New York moviegoers tend to treat theaters like their own private living room, but last night's crowd was thankfully on its best behavior.
It’s a brilliant film. I can’t stop thinking about it since I saw it Sunday. I think the magic of it is that it doesn’t give you any easy answers it just gives you some difficult questions. If anything the movie feels like a lesson.
My word, this is an extraordinary movie. I can’t stop thinking about it. Should I have laughed (and I haven’t laughed as much in a cinema in many years). Why am I crying? What does loneliness mean? I loved In Bruges, but this is at an entirely different level. It’s a masterpiece and I can see it sweeping up at awards season.
Better than In Bruges? Fuck me, I have to see this now
I thoroughly agree. And yeah, I enjoyed it more than the brilliant In Bruges. Had me in tears of laughter and tears of sadness.
It really sticks with you.
I walked the entire island of Inisheer, and would watch the movie just for that alone. It's stunningly beautiful with stone fences that date back thousands of years.
Great review. I also think Barry’s character is smarter than people think of him. He’s the one making allusions to faint heart and that, it’s small but knowing the French word. Think he’s one that’s been very mistreated by his father of course, but also the rest of the island who just assume hes stupid and treat him as such.
Great film and review
I live 40 minutes away from the shoots of the movie. You can actually see the point to where I live if you paused the movie around the pub. But my grandmother passed away at 98 last year. And she would speak of the characters around the area and I grew up knowing these people around the area from a distance, was always told “ don’t bother him, his a little touched” meaning his an idiot. But getting back to the story of my grandmother talking about local characters, my dad made an interesting observation “well anyone with brains, left the area, the idiots hung around, but bless them for their outlook and stories”. But the characters you see in the movie are the characters of my childhood
I just saw the film this evening, in Dublin. I loved it. The treatment of the Irish Civil War, which is a hundred years ago now, is brilliant. I like the way McDonagh avoids cliche in all his approaches to Irish tropes, which he again employs here. An amazing film, I find it hard to think of a better Irish one, albeit having just left the cinema a few hours ago.
Great to hear! I know Martin's brother John Michael McDonagh got in some hot water about ten years ago for some of his comments about Irish cinema and I didn't know if there would be any lingering negative sentiment that might spill over to Martin. I loved the film as well and hope it becomes a monster hit.
Avoids cliche..? The backdrop of the Irish civil war is invoked for nothing more than enabling the characters to utter trite truisms (or ‘cliches’, if you prefer) like ‘ah sure they’ll be fightin’ about sumthin’ else tomorrow’, said whilst solemnly staring out to sea so it’s very deep of course, not trite at all. Nothing is done with it, the setting of the island is hermetically sealed and works best that way, the civil war is just there to add some unnecessary historical context to a rather thin script I would describe as sort of third-rate Beckett - fairly uninspired and predictable route for an Irish playwright go take (and McDonagh is a playwright so much more than he is a film-maker, all his films are conceived as plays and show no particular awareness of cinema as a medium). Lit. The only thing he does that couldn’t be done in a play is the obnoxiously overused landscape shots
@@helvete_ingres4717 well that's a bitter, bile-speckled retort, and frankly it's a pile of bollocks.
@@helvete_ingres4717 As you well know, the Irish Civil War started with both sides being on the same side, against the English. Then, all of a sudden (overnight you might say) those two sides became enemies. And what was the result? Thousands dead and the same damn treaty that they started with. Useless self-destruction that benefited nobody, over what amounted to differences in philosophy. Does that sound familiar? People destroying themselves because overnight they decided that they didn't like each other? At the end of the film, Pádraic says that he thinks they will continue to fight the war forever, and he thinks that is a good thing. What is rotten in Inisherin is rotten all over Ireland, repressed self-destruction turning nice people against one another. What could possibly possess Irish executing other Irish, without even knowing who or why they are doing it? Probably the same kind of madness that would cause someone to cut off their own fingers to spite a friend, and not feel bad about it. So no, the Irish Civil War is not useless backdrop, the whole meaning of the movie hinges on it.
@@ryanokane1312
So i’m a 45 years old irishman. To answer your question James, the Irish civil war is still a very difficult subject, its not taught in schools, as I remember, because many families were split on sides taken, so its a very difficult part of Irish history. Fighting against your own kin when you spent generations having a common goal is a very sad thing. As you can understand ‘the troubles’ and Civil War still occupy the political landscape in Ireland so i think the whole film is a metaphor for Irish life in a way.
I'm 28, it was taught in school when I was in 5th year. I think the line in the film that summed it up very well and is much like your point "I wish we could go back to the old days when we were just fighting the english, it was simpler times" (something like that anyways 😅) In my opinion you could make arguments for either side, but fighting amongst eachother always seemed like the most pointless part in our history.
It absolutely is taught in schools hahaha
It’s taught in a superficial way but with no depth, most young people have no clue about it. The Irish civil war, much like the Spanish was simply covered over and hushed up and it’s easier to blame everything on the British rather than truly look at what was done by Irish people against their own. It’s really grim, but it was probably a necessary thing to try to forget rather than go through a process of forgiveness and closure. We never faced up to what happened or dealt with it, it was all locked away and forgotten very much like the Spanish `pacto de olvido’.
The media has also pushed certain figures as having been heroes and denigrated others..it works well for tourism and movies but the truth is often brushed over.
Colin Farrel has always been an incredible actor but I feel like Hollywood did a disservice to him by putting him into the 'latest hunky hunk hearththrob of the week' in movies. When romantic leads didn't work, he started doing low-hanging fruit villain roles. I'm really happy that he kept on keepin' on and that he's been getting more meaty roles. Really loved the movie.
So glad to hear this is good! I've been looking forward to this quite a bit. I love Martin McDonagh.
Completely agree 🐧
Would love to see him crank out more movies. Might have to go see his latest play 'Hangmen' if I can find a theater still performing it.
Simply, sadly, comically brilliant . . . in a darkly Irish way. Excellent cast, superb screenplay, directing, and acting with beautiful cinematography and a subtly captivating musical score. This movie gets under your skin and stays with you like a true work of art.
Easily film of the year - it hasn't left my head for the last few days. Despite only seeing it once, my wife and I have been quoting it to each other like we have seen it ten times. Very little affects her cinematically, yet she was crying from early on in the film and did not stop throughout.
As an aside, Farrell is incredible but for any who did not see it, I would also recommend his turn in the recent 5-part BBC TV series 'The North Water'. Despite, 'only' being a TV production, Farrell went all-out Christian Bale and bulked up into a terrifying hulk to play one of the most heinous villains of recent years.
On the same day I watched this film, my boyfriend said he didn't love me anymore. He continued being happy, but I just wasn't part of his happiness anymore. "But you liked me yesterday ?" The incomprehension, denial, distress, anger, despair, resignation. You start questioning who you are. All the emotions I went through were so beautifully depicted in the film, with great accuracy. It truly blew me away.
I am Irish and this movie is Amazing, with regards to the civil war….. We gained our freedom only to sell out to anyone power far more powerful than the empire. The Holy Roman Empire. We also inherited the British civil service, so the police men at the time didn’t give a dam who paid them as long as they got paid, when the priest arrives on the Island he is embraced by the police man. That embrace is a metaphor for the embrace of church and state that was to last for almost 70 years. I should know because I was a child of the late 50s early 60s and Ireland was hell for children.
This sounds like it's right up my ally. Thanks for the review. Also, Wrong Reel Podcast is highly recommended. Been listening since 2017.
Oh hell yeah! Glad you like the podcast. About to do the deep on Chaplin. It is Part II to an episode I recorded 4 years ago.
@@geekinwithJamesHancock Great. I'll re-listen to the first one. But yeah, I like the variety of the films you cover. Kudos and hopefully you get more sponsors.
This movie is as authentic as it gets! Left me thinking about life and relationships after watching. Would recommend 100% ..worth your time.
Yet another thoughtful, articulate & passionate review. You need more subs!
Thanks for the kind words! I'd love to have more subs as well but as long as folks are enjoying my videos, I'll keep cranking them out.
@@geekinwithJamesHancock Yes small channels are hard to grow nowadays but sharing defo helps. I think YT throttles certain vids too depending on the subject and content.
I'm Irish and the scenes with the policeman was quite accurate and hit home actually (his attitude towards the civil war)
I feel there's this cultural Irish thing of "It's none of my business", and so long as I get my pint etc and have a laugh who cares? It is kind of heartbreaking.
I grew up from where they shoot this movie 40minutes in the shoots of the pub. My dad used to talk about the local policeman and his hate of them. The way he would talk about them, was exactly they way they were brought to screen. To this day the local police station,now closed still has the RUC sign over the door, from when the English were here
Best of 2022 thus far in my opinion.
You should do a retrospective on McDonaugh's film career on here or Wrong Reel. Underrated director imo.
Also saw this with a packed house at the Hollywood theater in Portland. Amazing experience..no standing ovation just laughter throughout followed by that sobering and perfect ending.
Great review! Colin Farrell's always been one of my favorite actors, and I'm really looking forward to seeing this one. I remember listening to Colin on the Bill Simmons podcast a few years ago talking about 'In Bruges' & 'Miami Vice' (amongst other movies), and being slightly surprised at how intelligent, articulate and thoughtful he was about art and life in general. I'd had a false general impression of him as a hard partying, sex tape filming, Britney Spears dating Wild Man, and it actually turns out that he's a goddamn thespian LOL. Thanks for the review, James!
I had that same impression of Farrell for years but he's totally converted me into a massive fan. Hopefully he'll continue to give us great performances for many more decades.
Many great actors are quite like the Tom Ripley character - social chameleons who adapt their behavior to fit into almost any social niche. When Farrell hung around in the young wild scene, he was just that. It's only with age and experience that he gained confidence and discovered who he was. The wild persona was a real but transitory façade.
Do you have the link of the podcast? Thanks
When he was doing booze and drugs, he was the hard-party sex tape guy but a long stint in rehab cleaned him up and allowed him to really tap into his art and explore characters that blow us away. He's also had a first class education in Ireland, and attended the Gaiety Theatre and Drama school in Dublin so it's not a surprise that he's a bit of a thespian ☘
been looking forward to this since the buzz coming out of the festivals but hearing how much you enjoyed it just makes me that much more excited! can’t wait to support this film.
Fingers crossed, the movie manages to cross over into being more than just an art house hit. The crowd at the Angelika was great but the flick deserves a much wider audience. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
It's amazing but it will mess with your head
Colin Farrell was in 4 movies this year so far, 3 including this could all be possibly Oscar nominated performances for Best Actor and the other film he plays the Penguin in Batman amazingly too, very underrated actor now
I think it’s really significant that Padraic is considered by his friend and everyone else to be dull, up until the point that he calls the policeman out not only on beating his son, which the entire island knows about and seems to agree with (as demonstrated by the shopkeeper saying she’d have beat him herself is she could hold the stick), but also of ‘fiddlin’ with him, which the son immediately denies telling anyone about, but what comes as a huge shock to everyone in the room, so much so that Dominic denies ever telling Padraic. This proves that even though everyone thought Padraic was dull, he was the only one to see what’s actually going on at home with Dominic and his policeman father. I think the reason Colin said he liked Padraic again wasn’t because of his drunken blow up, but was because Padraic was able to see what no one else could and felt the need to call the policeman out on it!!!
Loved the movie as well James, great review. Will check out your trip to Ireland with Robert, big fan of Irish cinema as well. Thanks for your always amazing content ❤️
"Smithwicks red ale"?!! No way! I loOoved that brew when I visited Ireland!
I admire you taste.
Admiro muito o seu trabalho, sou fã de seus filmes, aqui no Brasil só irá passar em fevereiro, estou aguardando ansiosa pra ver Colin Farrell nesse novo filme . Parabéns pelo sucesso ❤
Greater review. Haven't even it yet as I'm living abroad and it hasn't been dubbed yet 🙄, I won't be watching in Spanish! So I'll have to wait to see it in Its original language version but I have been following it's path. Hope it does well in the Oscars.
I am absolutely looking forward to diving into this one.
It absolutely rules. Loved it.
Great review, James. This film is going on my must see list, love those actors.
You won't be disappointed. They need to reunite with McDonagh for the end of an unofficial trilogy.
The comedy is outstanding - but it never detracts from the bleak narrative (as many black comedies can tend to).
I've never felt so melancholic and yet so entertained watching a film.
I'm not Irish (I'm Scottish, though my grandmother is Irish) but you can view this entire film as an allusion to the Irish civil war (and to the subsequent 'troubles') in microcosm. Friend fighting friend; brother fighting brother for petty reasons that leads predominantly to both losing far more than either ought to have lost.
Excellent review as always James, appreciate the heads up to go in not expecting In Bruges. Do you plan to review All Quiet on the Western Front at all?
Thank you for the reminder! I sent a request to Netflix for a press screener but have not heard back. The movie is playing here in New York in the theater so I'll try and catch it this week.
@@geekinwithJamesHancock It's playing in one theater here in Boston. I bet it would be great to see on the big screen!
I didn’t even know this one was out. I had to watch it on max after it went to streaming, but I loved it. It wasn’t my normal type either. Maybe it’s just satisfying to see something novel and unique. I loved the dark humor, which for me made it tolerable. I couldn’t have handled it if they’d played it straight.
I'm looking forward to this, it opens here next weekend
added to the top of my to-watch list, gonna check your irish podast thingy too, wuw me some northern europe cinema
Many thanks! Hope you enjoy our rants on Irish cinema!
Martin McDonagh is the sultan of writing the saltiest characters on the face of this Earth. Recently he had his old play, Hangman on Broadway with Theon Greyjoy. It did not disappoint. I cannot wait to see this film.
My buddy Rob Cotto caught 'Hangman' and loved it. Just checked for tickets and sadly it looks like I missed it. I almost never go to see a proper play but I'd love to see more of his work on the stage.
I will be seeing the film on Thursday but my guess is the Civil War is a parallel to what is going on with the 2 friends, The Civil War was one where brothers or friends could have found themselves on different sides, having in the previous years been on the same side fighting the English
Beautiful film. Thnx James.
I like Bruge and 3 Billboards, though the trailer for this doesn't tell me what it's even about so decided to wait for streaming.
Can't help but notice heat 2 in the back round?
Can't wait to watch the Banshees of Ed Sherren
Hey My Easy Coast Movie Go too Man Saw this Film today. What you say the Intention and Obstacle of Story is ? Great visuals costumes acting animals music at times but Did not get end yet ?
I’ve been looking forward to seeing this one.
Well worth the wait. Definitely one of my favorites of the year.
To be fair, the civil war was such a small part in the film. Can’t recall much history emanating from the islands around that time. It was filmed on Inis Mor which is off Galway which definitely did have a lot of chaos in the 20s.
I’d say Colin Farrell could be in with a shout for best actor. My biggest criticism of the film is that there wasn’t enough Brendan Gleeson in it. A film like Calvary showed off how good Brendan is more than this one, imo.
Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan were standouts, imo.
Really looking forward to seeing this movie. It seems even the the little donkey is up for an award!
Recently saw it. Wow, not my cup of tea. Location was beautiful. The acting was great. The story? Hard pass.
I watch the Film Belfast after all the hype l can honestly say l wasted 2 hours l tunes in to this film with a open mind after Belfast But can honestly say a beautiful, magical, magnificent, awesome, film l enjoyed every second l laugh and cried absolutely 💯 Magical Jackie
Sounds good!! Hope i can see this one
Dominic, despite being put in there as the "village idiot" has some of the most cutting and poignant observations and I have no doubts about it being McDonagh's intention - still, Barry Keoghan totally owned and perfected this role.
I was fascinated by this film, but I did not find the savage humor to be laugh-out-loud funny. To me, it was the most gravely serious film I have seen in many, many years. It seriously broke my heart.
A Quick Synopsis that is not mainstream. Colm loves Siobhan and turns on Padraig when he discovers she is leaving. Remember, the job offer letter was opened in the post office. Colm used Padraig to get in proximity to Siobhan and abandons their false friendship. He mutilates himself as a desperate act of self-pity to garner sympathy and attention from Siobhan. It does not work. Innisherin is Ireland, it translates as the Island of Ireland, which is pretty obvious. The mainland with the civil war coming to an end is the bigger world, which is more attractive than the ongoing hellish war in Ireland. The film is essentially also a prison film, and characters cannot escape. Siobhan looks back at Padraig and you see him on a cliff as if the island is a fortress and the old hag is the evil prison warden. Hints of Papillon. Siobhan is the future, Padraig is the present and Colm is the past. Colm digs up a past that is self-destructive, inward, indulgent, in the Gaelic revival music. His pretence to acquired universal culture is corrected by a cultured Siobhan regarding the date of Mozart’s music. The hero of the film is Siobhan who escapes the island, Padraig is the masses caught up in a situation not knowing the actual truth. Dominic is a character who suffers reality under the skin of the cruel veneer of Irish society, with a legacy of corruption and abuse in the church etc. He has the magnificent line " There goes that dream" and kills himself as his love is lost to him. He had more guts than Colm, he declared his love and accepted his fate. Padraig will never know the truth, he just senses there is something wrong but lacks the moral conviction to change his circumstances. He writes false letters full of lies. He fools himself and pretends that by burning Colm:s house that he has done something. All he has achieved is added to the destruction of hope and a better future. Colm and Padraig becomes flip sides of the same coin. A film masterpiece. One for the ages. Greetings from Ireland, we know this shit.
The Film is filmed on two islands actually that look very different Inishmore is the rocky but flat landscape whereas Achill is mountainous hilly and boggy.
Remote 1920's Ireland needs far more mud, rain and smoke.
Padraic can really write that letter to his sister at the end😲 wtf
Can’t wait to watch
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Can't remember the last time we got to enjoy a really great dark comedy.
This is really: A book coming to life
BIG SPOILERS in James' review here... But great reaction to a truly GREAT film. You'll be talking about it for weeks.
I`m a old person that wants to see a film like this one
Ooh Nice movie cast!
Absolutely first rate.
Shout out to the angelika!
Sorry. Wife and I walked out after half an hour. Really tried as I'm of Irish extraction and still found it ridiculous and implausible.
I didn’t see this movie in a theater good acting , This movie left me depressed
So glad to come to this review that's shows me I'm not the only one that feels this movie is so bad. It's so boring. I think it only relates to caucasians or Irish. It's not funny, it's stupid that the guy goes so far to stop talking to someone. I'm open minded to films and that's why I risked it but dammm did I lose 2 hours of my life
It's pronounced Smidix
☘️
It's pronounced "Spo kan" not "cane"
Seen it tonight
Way too dark and can’t see why this needs to be more than 25 minutes long !?!?!
Would have walked out if I wasn’t at the far end of the row
Hmm I thought the 2 main characters were a donkey and a border collie?
This movie is a pretentious piece of garbage. Its the story of a man who cuts his fingers off because he doesn't want to talk to someone anymore. This premise utterly idiotic.
I saw it … hated it .., not funny and full of cliches and stereotypes of the Irish …forced and non funny …. All the characters r unappealing …. Btw I have visited the islands, spent a lot of time on the Aran islands ( speaking Irish )…. An Irish speaking island in 1923 but not one heard of Irish spoken in this movie … the scenery is the big winner in this simplistic dud …. 🙏
How the hell can you like this movie? It is the worst movie of the 21st century and it’s not even close
I didn't like the trailer , but going to see it anyway. In Burges - ❤️❤️❤️
Gleeson 😎😎😎
Farrel - 🐧 one of my favourite actors
Lots of real Irish actors in the movie.
Farrell stared with Barry Keoghan in Killing of sacred dear 😇
Thank you, James for review 🦆🫡
Ps. It seems, that movie goers in UKare much more respectful than in the USA 😐
I'm planning to visit Ireland right after new year. Such a beautiful place 🧐
For whatever reason New York moviegoers tend to treat theaters like their own private living room, but last night's crowd was thankfully on its best behavior.