Movie Review: Garage

Director: Lenny Abrahamson
Starring: Pat Shortt, Conor J Ryan, Anne-Marie Duff
Release Date: 5 October 2007
Tardy Review Date: 28 January 2011
Format: DVD


A bittersweet Irish film about a small-town misfit


I think I must've heard good things about this film a while ago and just added it to my list on the off-chance, because when the DVD arrived, I couldn't really remember what it was meant to be about.  It's only a short film, running at only 1 hr 20 mins, which makes a nice change these days with so many films running around the two and a half hour mark.

It centres around a nice but naive man called Josie (Shortt), who works in a garage in a very small Irish town.  He is of low intelligence and taken advantage of and taunted by people around him, whilst they simultaneously offer him some level of protection and community.  It seems likely he has learning difficulties, although this isn't explicitly discussed, and so his treatment can seem uncomfortable at times.

The pacing of the film is extremely slow, with often very little happening or being said, which really portrays the feel of a backwater town in a realistic way.  The garage where Josie works has almost no customers and the boss's decision to open late on weekends to cater for passing traffic seems utterly pointless.  Josie's biggest decision at work is whether to display the oil bottles on the forecourt or not.

Despite this lack of custom, the boss arranges for a teenage lad called David (Ryan) to help him out at the weekends.  It seems at first as though this will be another socially awkward situation for Josie to contend with, but the two manage to strike up a friendship, albeit a low-key and relatively uncommunicative one.  David appears to be equally socially inept in his own way - he's a teenager after all - and the two make a good fit as friends.

With David's presence, Josie's life seems to be taking an upward turn for a while, but it's not meant to be and other events cause problems for him, including a brush-off from Carmen (Duff), on whom he has a crush.  Ultimately, things get worse for Josie rather than better, and what seems like a quaint story in its beginnings ends up getting more bittersweet as it progresses.  Ultimately it's a film about small town life and the pain of not fitting in and this awkwardness, combined with his lack of intelligence, cause Jodie to make choices that become his own undoing.

Stylistically, the film is almost more a TV movie than a cinema release, with the action tending to take place in a few small locations - most of it in and around the garage itself.  That, combined with it's slow pace and smallish cast don't make it an obvious choice for a rental, but Shortt's performance is very convincing as Josie and some of the cinematography around the local countryside is really beautiful.  It's quality is reflected in the fact that it won several awards on release, including ones at Cannes, London and Toronto.

I'm not sure who this film would appeal to - it's definitely not one for blockbuster fans, so not sure I could recommend you pay to watch it.  Having said that, I enjoyed it and it's definitely worth watching if its on TV.

TV Review: Being Human, Series 3 Ep 1 - 'Lia'

Air Date: 23 January 2011

Tardy Review Date: 25 January 2011
Channel: BBC Three

The supernatural flatmates make a solid return

So series 3 of Being Human has started and I figured I'd do a brief piece on it. I don't think I'll do one for every episode, but probably a series review after the last one.

As a fan since the pilot episode, I've been waiting for the new series for a while. During the first ten minutes, though, I was a bit worried I'd be disappointed. There's a bit of time spent covering the set up of the gang's new home in Wales, plus a reminder that Annie is trapped in purgatory. Then it launches into an intro of a couple of new characters (one of whom is played byRobson Green) and it feels like the show is about to abandon its series long story arcs for random episodic adventures.

My fears were unfounded, though, and it wasn't long before I remembered why I love the show. 'Being Human' is certainly an apt name. It might, on the surface, be about supernatural creatures trying to live as normal people but it is, of course, a metaphor for the problems we face as human beings.

Mitchell the vampire represents the guilty man, trying to reconcile his murderous past but struggling to break free from his urges. Where vampirism normally focuses on sexuality or disease (and there's still a bit of both in here), Being Human deals with it more as an addiction. Mitchell tries to justify his actions by saying he was helpless to his blood lust, but he knows that control is within his grasp and it''s just times of weakness that lead to his atrocities.

George and Nina, as werewolves, are obviously repressing their animalistic nature to the point where, when the full moon rises, they can hold it back no longer and it bursts forth in their transformations. But the werewolves in the series also take the part of an ethnic minority, when the superior vampires refer to them as a sub-species and treat them as such.

Annie, the ghost, is ultimately the lost soul, unable to find her way in the world or work out what she's meant to be. Her lack of confidence prevents her from connecting with those outside her close circle of friends. On the rare occasions she does manage to venture out and interact with others, she is rapidly knocked back and her insecurities take over again.

This mix of human problems and frailties, with a supernatural twist, is what makes the show work and this first episode suggests that's not going to change.

There's some good investigation into Mitchell's past, examining the effect he has on his victims and their families. Mitchell, who so often has tried to take the moral high ground, is forced to realise that he may have been lying to himself about his recent good intentions. This whole section runs parallel to the rest of the episode and features a good performance from Lacey Turner as the title character, Lia, who is a mysterious and unsettling presence.

As for George and Nina, they continue to battle with their curse and the show is still managing to keep their transformation scenes both nail-bitingly tense and absurdly funny. This is probably the trickiest part of the series to keep interesting but they're succeeding so far.

Annie is still trapped and spends a lot of the episode calling for help, so we don't get to see much of what she will bring to this series. There is a hint at the end, though, that her character will add some new complications to the household.

Plus, the Robson Green character and his son look like they might be here for the duration of this series, so that''ll be the long story arc sorted, then.

So, all in all, a good start to the series and I'm looking forward to episode 2 already. The BBC have got a good fan site for the show here, if you're interested: http://www.bbc.co.uk/beinghuman/

Movie Review: Lonesome Jim

Director: Steve Buscemi

Starring: Casey Affleck, Liv Tyler

UK Release Date: 11 April 2008 (US Release 2005)

Tardy Review Date: 19 January 2011
Format: DVD

A quirky indie film with depression and laughs

Well, this one is a weird one to be starting with, in more ways than one. I don't know how it ended up on my LoveFilm list and can't say I'd even heard of it before I got the dispatch email. Still, I checked out the summary and it sounded kind of interesting, so I figured I'd give it a go rather than just send it straight back.

If I was going to describe this film in one word it'd be something like Offbeat or Quirky but that wouldn't really be doing it justice. I mean, it definitely is offbeat and quirky but it's much more than that.

Ben Affleck is the 27 year old Jim of the title, who quits New York and returns to his parents house in Indiana to reassess his life. His 32 year old divorced brother Tim is also living in the family home so that he can afford the maintenance payments for his two daughters.

To say the atmosphere in the house is awkward would be an understatement. It's almost like a home-based version of The Office, with a number of laughs coming from uncomfortable pauses and friction between the family members. When Jim arrives home unannounced, he barely speaks to Tim or his parents. There are plenty of scenes with the mother, excellently played by Mary Kay Place, desperately trying to share time with her sons and overstepping the line in her efforts. The heart to heart she tries to instigate with Tim whilst he's in the bath and attempting to cover his modesty is endearing and cringeful in equal measure.

The two sons seem intent on showing their dissatisfaction with their lives at every turn and Tim, in particular, makes no efforts to consider the feelings of others, with some of their comments seeming utterly brutal. One such interaction with his already depressed brother leads to a suicide attempt from Tim, which still seems to prompt little reaction from Jim himself.

Thrown into the mix of this disjointed family are a few neatly crafted characters that prevent the story from stagnating and deliver its (albeit limited) arc. Tim picks up Nurse, Annika (Liv Tyler) in a bar for a one-night fling. When he later begins dating her, he finds himself accompanied on their dates by her young, but wise before his time, son. The more healthy mother-son relationship here contrasts well with the too-old-to-be-at-home Tim and Jim, and starts to wear away some of his hard edges.

Being forced to work in his parents's factory, Tim also gets to know his uncle Stacy (Mark Boone Junior), the true villain of the piece, who prefers to be called Evil. Evil is a small-time crook and drug dealer with a healthy chunk of rough-edged charisma and he delivers a few of the best one-liners and a couple of nice slapstick moments.

Stylistically, the film is about as far from Hollywood as you can get. Apparently they had to film it on mini-DV due to budget cuts, and it shows, but this adds to the reality of the story. It's almost documentary-like at times, with a clearly hand-held approach and basic, minimal editing. The DV has given a desaturated look, which mirrors the way the colour seems to have drained from the characters lives. There is no American dream for sale in this film and it's down-to-earth approach and deliberately mundane backdrops seem more reminiscent of British indie, or even kitchen sink dramas, than any typical US output.

Ultimately this is a film about depression, self-obsession, disappointment and avoidance of responsibility, but it's not at all presented in a depressing way. It's funny and, yes, quirky and offbeat. I found myself laughing out loud a few times, and that's not something most comedies achieve these days. Whilst Jim's depressions may be genuine, Tim seems to affect his depression and wallow in it, making it possible to draw humour from this façade. One of his funnier lines, following Jim's suicide attempt, hits this nail right on the head - 'I came home to have a nervous breakdown, but my brother beat me to it!'

If you like broad, Hollywood comedies, slickly edited and with a glossy style then this definitely isn't for you. But if you don't mind a bit of shaky camera work and a low-budget style, then there are enough good performances, interesting characters and laughs to make this worth your while.