Review

Review Date: 28-March-04
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Just OK

Intermission (2004)

The Irish film "Intermission" has a refreshingly non-American feel to it, deriving from its grittiness, its smallness, and the fact that its principal characters exist in grey regions between good and bad, cool and pathetic. This mosaic of stories about men and women trying to find some peace in life illustrates that people screw up because they're confused, alone, or hurt, and that the only way for them to get beyond their failings is to rely on one another. When working on this level, the drama and humor usually click; but director John Crowley occasionally attempts a more Hollywood-style flourish that doesn't fit well with the rest, giving the picture a clumsy quality overall.

The central theme of "Intermission" is emphasized by the presence of three distinctly non-grey characters, genuine scumbags whose defining trait is a complete lack of respect for their inherent association with others. The first, played by Colin Farrell, memorably opens the film by seducing a pretty store clerk (and the audience) with romantic words and then violently breaking the trust he has just begun to build. Farrell's sociopathic punk snarls his way through the movie, brushing up against all the other characters and tainting them in the process. Like the nameless little boy who throws rocks at passing cars and buses, he represents the downside of living in a society where neighbors impact neighbors.

Most of the other players, however, are more disconnected than destructive. Foremost is John (Cillian Murphy), a sensitive lad who suffers from a dead-end job and a broken relationship with Deirdre (Kelly Macdonald), who has taken an older lover (Michael McElhatton) just six weeks after John tried to test her by asking for space. Deirdre's new boyfriend is the third character who can be classified as a scumbag; he seems incapable of considering the needs or emotions of anyone other than himself, including the wife he walks out on after 14 years (Deirdre O'Kane). While his spurned ex turns to John's love-starved friend Oscar (David Wilmot) to help her regain a sense of empowerment, another victim of emotional abuse, Deirdre's sister Sally (Shirley Henderson), struggles with feelings of anger and betrayal (and the shame of having a mustache). While all of this is going on, a TV newsman (Tom O'Sullivan) attempts to find a cutting-edge subject for a documentary, eventually settling on an obsessively tough cop who promises to take him on a tour of "the underbelly" (Colm Meaney).

As in many Irish movies, the people in "Intermission" grapple with issues of poverty and identity, but mainly they just want to be loved and understood. (I believe that's a global thing.) This being the case, the overtly flashy elements of the film feel like unnecessary filler, in particular a stick-it-to-the-Man victory for John and an accident involving a double-decker bus. The moments that really hit home are smaller and more personal, as when Sally's mother (Ger Ryan) explains why she would never remarry, and when John and Oscar infiltrate a singles bar for the over-40 crowd. As the movie's tagline suggests, life is what happens in between the big, dramatic events that most writers and filmmakers use to define reality. "Intermission" is at its best when it focuses on the in-between, but, unfortunately, it sometimes strays in its vision.

Copyright © 2004 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.