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Intermission (2004)
Director:
John Crowley
Genre:
Crime, Comedy
Studio:
IFC Films
For more information, head to Movies.com.
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"Intermission" screened at this year's
EU Festival at the Siskel Center.
It opens March 26th at the Landmark Century.
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It's virtually impossible to watch "Intermission" and not think of its predecessors - films that rely on stylized brutality, quick edits and bad guy heroes who occasionally beat the bejeezus out of women. Toss in a robbery, some revenge, a little speed and there y’are.
When he's not massacring an Italian classic like "Swept Away" with his whiny wife Madonna, Guy Ritchie has served up some of the genre's top offerings in "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels." Danny Boyle's "Trainspotting" added a little heroin and some quality electronica into the mix with much success. And then there's the genre-defining Quentin Tarantino, whose "Reservoir Dogs" begat "Pulp Fiction" which begat "Kill Bill," featuring women getting beat both by men and other women.
A lot of these gritty, quirky modern action films are both entertaining and easily digestible, but whereas once there was novelty to the form, it's beginning to all look very familiar.
Enter "Intermission," by first-time Irish director John Crowley and screenwriter Mark Rowe. Featuring a fine cast in "28 Days Later" star Cillian Murphy, Colm Meaney and Collin Ferrell, the film concerns a bunch of dissatisfied social misfits having trouble in life and love, resulting in a none too surprising bank robbery attempt. The robbery has, as one would imagine, a few hitches, and as things go awry, the characters lives intersect and they learn a few things about themselves and the foibles of pride and criminal activity.
The plotline is occasionally funny and largely predictable, but the film stands strong when it delves into the lives of its 54 different characters. Particularly engaging is the subplot of a TV reporter following Colm Meaney's Irish detective around as he deals with criminals in a brutal and fairly ridiculous manner.
Cillian Murphy brings considerable talent to his character as well, proving an empathy-worthy subject as a disgruntled supermarket employee. Murphy's recent work in "Girl With a Pearl Earring" and Danny Boyle's "28 Days Later" shows he's capable of much, and had the film spent more time delving into his relationship with love interest Deirdre (played by "Trainspotting" star Kelly MacDonald), perhaps the end result would have been more interesting.
The obligatory character quirks are also there, with some legitimately funny scenes concerning the potentially varied uses for brown sauce and troublesome she-stache.
Beyond those Cheeseburger Royalities, there are, of course, woman beatings, as the film opens up with a girl having her nose broken with a punch from Collen Farrell. Another character describes how she was literally shat upon by a former partner. Perhaps it's just the Midwestern upbringin' in me, or that dripping, bleeding liberal heart of mine, but if I never see another woman get the crap beat out of her in a film (particularly without it driving home some sort of pivotal plot point), I'll be just fine.
"Intermission" was produced by Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan and his production company Band of Wolves. Jordan's recent work with Nick Nolte in "The Good Thief" was a far superior crime film, largely because it relied on both style and substance (not to mention some quality source material in Melville's "Bob LaFlambeur") without resorting to overt clichés.
Director John Crowley and writer Mark Rowe show remarkable promise with their first film, but perhaps they should take a cue from their producer and focus on a brand of filmmaking more succinctly their own. It's easy to see why the Irish press has latched on to the film as a critical success. The cast is great, the action is engaging, and it's a generally funny film. But as the great savior of Irish independent filmmaking it's been getting billed as, it has a long ways to go.
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Written by Richard Sharp
Review Date: March 26, 2004
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