Perriers Bounty

(2009)
Brendan Gleeson, Cillian Murphy, and Jim Broadbent; that was all the convincing I needed to give this film a try. Murphy plays Michael McCrea, a rough-and-tumble loser in Dublin whos into a local crimelord Perrier (Gleeson) for a thousand Euros. When Perrier sends two goons around to threaten Michael, the young man spends his few remaining injury-free hours trying to find a way to raise the cash he requires. Along the way he also has to deal with his estranged father, Jim (Broadbent), a man who refuses to sleep because he believes the Grim Reaper will come and get him if he does, and his neighbor Brenda (Jodie Whittaker), who is at wits end over her troubled relationship. Initially Brenda has nothing to do with Michaels plight aside from proximity, but when she accidentally kills one of the guys who comes to rough up Michael, she, like him, is up to her neck in it. Theres a fair bit of dark comedy in the film; while there are dire events transpiring, both the dialogue and the attitude of the leads tends toward wry irony. Brenda is more upset about her boyfriend than the trouble shes in, and Michael and his dad play off one another sharply, Jim trying to reconcile with the boy and Michael not really believing his fathers story about a visit from the Reaper. There are other narrative twists native to the genre, quirky turns of fate that ease our would-be heroes out of tight corners, or maneuver them into one, but they are played here as comedy and irony, with the omniscient narrator (Gabriel Byrne) promising us we wont get a happy ending. As well as a clever script, the film is buoyed by excellent performances. Murphy is likable enough as Michael, a bit shoddy around the edges as befits a small-time hood, and we get attached to him almost straight away. Whittaker is excellent as Brenda; she gets better and better as the movie goes, and we share Michaels emotional arc with her that starts with borderline exasperation and ends up with caring attachment. Gleeson isnt in the movie as much as I would have liked, and for him this role isnt any stretch; hes very good, but hes mining familiar smartass villain territory, so of course hes enjoyable. Broadbent pretty much steals the show; his wired character who refuses to sleep and insists on familial reconciliation at every turn is easily the funniest and most amusing in a gallery of off-kilter thugs and lowlives. Again, one expects a strong performance from Broadbent, but even for him this is a smart turn, an unpredictable, amusing character who careens around the screen stealing our attention. Though Ive seen better films in this genre (In Bruges, for one; Gleesons own The Guard, for another), Perriers Bounty is a solid, enjoyable effort well worth your while to track down (or drop in your Netflix queue, like I did). Its barely ninety minutes, moving us along briskly toward its satisfying conclusion; time well spent. December 21, 2012