Route Irish

It's hard to peel your eyes away from this one. It's not that there's a lot happening in Route Irish or that there's much action to be had, but it's more about the way the story unfolds, and the story elements it canvasses.

This more of a slow-burn mystery thriller, as you're left guessing throughout the entire film, nearly right up to the end, as to "who dun-it?" regarding the death of a relatively upstanding PMC named Frankie, the friend of the main character, Fergus.

A large portion of the film -- as bits and pieces unravel the murder-mystery of Frankie's death -- is about the PTSD and guilt of the soldiers/PMCs who survived their ordeals in Iraq while also dealing with the carnage, chaos, and abhorrent acts they committed while there.

This film -- like many other reviewers pointed out -- doesn't pull any punches. Interspersed throughout the story are grisly images of death and carnage; bloody and burned carcasses removed from explosive-hewn rubble.

However, the film isn't about the lack of humanity that these PMCs doled out overseas, but rather how far removed they've become from their own humanity in their homeland, and the disconnect civilians have with people who engaged in unspeakable war-crimes.

There are really no good guys here, but the film doesn't want you to dwell so much on that as is the fact that under the right pretenses seemingly good men can go bad when given the green light in a foreign country where the rules can be bent and broken at will.

In any case, Route Irish is a hard hitting film. It is slow, though. Some people may have a hard time with the pace and the fact that there aren't any traditional action sequences, which may put some people off. It's not a quick-edited mystery film either, with lots of snappy dialogue or fanciful set pieces. No chase scenes. No fisticuffs.

This is about as grounded and realistic a mystery-thriller as you can get. It's probably not for everyone, and the war-imagery and footage may be a bit harrowing for those who like slow-burn mystery films but don't quite care realistic war violence.

The chemistry between actor Mark Womack and actress Andrea Lowe is handled really well, and their relationship definitely comes across as troubled and emotionally fractured but also necessary for two people trying to heal and overcome a disturbing trauma. It's a difficult film to properly compare and categorize, but well worth watching for those who don't mind an honest depiction of a mystery wrapped around the themes of war and greed.

A very strong piece of cinema by Ken Loach, away from his usual social dramas, being this more a kind of war-thriller, but not lacking strong denunciation and great courage. The director uses his camera to denounce the crude reality of contractors behind the real stage of Iraqui war. We get to know the life of these contractors, once simply called mercenaries, working for private security firms, whose acting inside wars seem uncontrollable and out of every rule. Loach wants to display and manages to display things in an objective and cold way, regaining the right perspective, showing that although in a war context it is difficult to take the right perspective, there is always, if we want to be honest, a well-cut border between good and evil, good people and bad people, between right and wrong, and this is the most convincing point through the movie. It's difficult to have a conscience with a gun or a bomb in your hands, but when innocent people are killed, and when your conscience prevails, one has to come to terms with it in some way, and the price to be paid may be very high. It's a very harsh movie, it has the crudity of a documentary piece, in search for as much as verity, that's why the more entertaining elements, such as the thriller one, and also the love between Fergus and Frank's wife is treated in a cold way, as if love cannot side with such atrocities. Certainly a thought-provoking, very actual movie which again raises many questions and doubts about the legitimacy of a "just war".

Many movies are political but just a few directors are as consciously political film-maker like Ken Loach. This work hasn't got a clear left-wing agenda like others but it's his point on the Iraki war and handles subjects discussed upon many occasions, such as the exploitation of the unemployed and war crimes. Aside from the original (in Loach's films) issue, Route Irish is a characteristic production of this director and has many grim sequences. There are also very good acting performances that keep pace with the progress of the story. The conclusion is shocking but on the whole the film is a didactic and angry thriller, in the typical style of the social realist Loach.

The private companies with special tasks in Iraq are since long a problem. They aren't bound by the rules which regular armed forces have. They also exist in Britain and this new Ken Loach movie is about them.

A taxi with two children is destroyed. Later one of the contracted soldiers is killed and his friend tries to find out what happened. Who are the bad guys here? That warhead in the barrack or somebody or somebodies much higher in the hierarchy? This is not a typical Ken Loach drama, since it's on the surface more of a typical war thriller than an outcry about social injustice. But social injustice becomes the main theme. Loach is one of the few remaining outraged society commentators. We shall be glad we have him.

Ken Loach remains the British auteur. Route Irish while definitely not his best due to the off-script ad lib workshop style remains a powerful and relevant film. It would have been made into a big Hollywood thriller in the US going all the way up to the Senate and beyond, and this is the film's strength - it focuses on squaddies - simple soldiers - no big politics here - and the film gets its impact from that.

The plot of the man whose best friend joins up because of him then dies is mysterious circumstances in Iraq is a very strong plot - more so that most Loach films.

Set in Liverpool and Iraq the filming, the settings, the language, and even, in places the acting are crude and in your face - this is not Ae Fond Kiss or even The Wind That Shakes The Barley, this is an angry Ken, a Ken saying look this matters forget subtlety - let's just get it done.

The film is carried by Mark Womack who brings both skill as an actor and improviser and an unknown raw almost out of control energy that carries the themes and give the film its power.

All in all, while not Loach's best in terms of film, this should be his most powerful and relevant, but by opting for a crude and broad approach instead of some subtle in with the barrage - left this viewer numbed - some space and silences (Like all over Loach films have had magnificently) would have helped perhaps.

A visceral film but one that overpowers the viewer's emotions too much, one that while still very powerful doesn't linger as other Loach films have.