The Tale of Sweety Barrett

A great performance by Brendan gleeson in a well written touching drama.

If you asked me to name my number one film of all time, It's not the ShawShank or the other usual suspects!. The tale of Sweety Barrett is my number 1. It is the only film I have ever watched that makes me want to cry. If I were Brendan Gleeson, this would be the one film I would be most proud of (and God knows he has some great films). I understand that most people won't or don't get it, (I watched Raging Bull and thought it was Rubish!) but if you are one of the few that does, you will Love this film. The story is about a guy who is a bit simple, but has some very unusual talents, can drink just about anything, is as hardy as a rock and strong as an OX. It's a simple tale without the usual special effects

I should qualify my remarks by saying that the person sitting nearest me (that's "nearest" as opposed to "next to" or "beside") cried profusely at the film's denouement. This tale of a recently unemployed circus worker who gets involved with some poteen smugglers (poteen, in the unlikely event of this movie getting an international release, is an illegal liquor) left me wanting to cry only for the hour and a half of my life I had wasted. It's clear form the start of the film that Sweety, played competently by Brendan Gleeson, is a Gentle giant, and anyone who's seen _Slingblade_ or any other gentle giant movies know what eventually happens to them, especially when it's so clear who the bad guys are. If I had to think of something good to say about this film, it's that it deals with Irish crime without referring to the IRA, but this could also be said of _I Went Down_ also starring Gleeson, as well as including some wit and irony. With its emphasis on the sordid and moribund, it aspires to the profundity of Italian neo-realism but ends up looking more like a tacky British TV movie. How this film can headline at Irish multiplexes when witty, intelligent films like _Separation Anxiety_ and _Pete's Meteor_ await a release is a secret film distributors will probably keep under their cloven hooves.

This was a selection in the Seattle Int'l Film Festival this year. A parallel to 'Sling Blade' can obviously be drawn, but Brendan Gleeson's excellent performance as the wide-eyed, lumbering Sweety and a not-entirely-expected ending make up for remaining deficiencies. A touching film.