Movie Reviews: Boys from County Hell stars a no-nonsense woman who takes guff from no man
Boys from County Hell: a clever deconstruction of the vampire genre
Irish comedy-horrors haven’t always got the balance right, but (15A) is an inspired slice of lunacy from Chris Baugh, who directs and co-writes with Brendan Mullin. Set in the village of Six Mile Hill, which appears to be located somewhere in rural Northern Ireland, the story’s premise is that Bram Stoker stole his idea for Dracula from the ancient legend of Abhartach that the locals swear is true.Â
Likely lads Eugene (Jack Rowan) and Will (Fra Fee) tend to scoff at the gory tales, but when an old mound is disturbed during the building of a motorway bypass, and Will is afterwards savaged by a creature that turns him into a demented, bloodsucking monster, both are obliged to rethink their scepticism.Â
What follows is a clever deconstruction of the vampire genre that’s also laugh-out-loud funny, in part because Chris Baugh and Brendan Mullin invest the horror with classic Irish stereotypes — the comforting effect of a nice cup of tea, for example, is a balm in virtually every situation, including that of being besieged by ravenous vampires.Â
Indeed, it’s that blend of the exotic otherness of the vampires and the down-to-earth Irish response that generates the most humour: an undead creature on the rampage is one thing, but one that stops a man getting to the pub is another matter entirely. Jack Rowan and Fra Fee do a fine job of playing a straight bat whilst a comic chaos erupts around them, and there’s strong support from John Lynch as Will’s devastated father and David Pearse as the feckless local garda, although Louisa Harland, playing Will’s girlfriend Claire, steals the show with her hilarious turn as a no-nonsense woman who takes guff from no man, alive or undead. (cinema release)
The set-up for (15A) makes it sound like -meets- , which opens with Oklahoma oil-rig worker Bill Baker (Matt Damon) travelling to Paris, where his daughter Allison (Abigail Breslin) has been imprisoned after being convicted of killing her girlfriend. Writer-director Tom McCarthy ( ) has a very different film in mind, however, and one that appears to be loosely based on the Amanda Knox story: Bill travels to Paris not to free his daughter, but simply to visit and console.Â
When Allison reveals that she has information that identifies her girlfriend’s real killer, Bill attempts to do the right thing, helped by Virginie (Camille Cotton) and her young daughter Maya (Lilou Siauvaud), but a blue-collar Okie just doesn’t carry any weight in the labyrinthine world of the French legal system. Matt Damon is one of those rare actors who can switch from comedy to drama to action-adventure with effortless ease, and he’s terrific in the role of Bill Baker, an unfailingly polite blue-collar guy who finds himself out of his depth in trying to help the daughter he has already failed far too many times. Patiently told, the story is a character study of a complex man: stoical, hardworking, and God-fearing, Bill understands that even his best efforts on Allison’s behalf are unlikely to effect the reconciliation he so deeply craves.Â
The relationship that evolves between Bill and Virginie is entirely platonic, and plausibly achieved even as Bill moves into her apartment, but where the story really scores is in the chemistry between Matt Damon and the young Lilou Siauvaud, whose precociously charming Maya sees a father-figure in ‘Beel’, and offers him one last shot at redemption. Mature, realistic and heart-breaking, is a hugely engrossing drama. (cinema release)
(12A) stars Felicity Jones as Ellie Haworth, a London-based journalist who discovers a poignant love letter written at the end of an affair that took place in the 1960s. The affair, between Jennifer (Shailene Woodley) and Anthony (Callum Turner), was of the illicit variety: in extended flashback we discover that Jennifer is suffering amnesia after a tragic accident, and is being held at arm’s-length by her emotionally cold husband Lawrence (Joe Alwyn).Â
As Jennifer tries to retrieve her memories by finding the love letters written by Anthony, Ellie goes digging through the archives in the hope of finding the exact same letters, in order to write a feature on a real-life story of love and loss. The 1960s storyline is by far the more beguiling here: set against a backdrop of Swinging London and jaunts to the French Riviera, Jennifer’s story is a gilded tale of privilege and wealth, with Shailene Woodley resplendent in couture inspired by Chanel and Dior.Â
Callum Turner is great value as the raffish foreign correspondent Anthony but there’s very little chemistry between he and Woodley, which fatally undermines the romantic drama. (cinema release)
