Dias Selvagens

Well, if you loved "Crash" (no not the David Cronenberg version, but the Academy Award winning Paul Haggis film) you'll love this Irish version of everyday Irish folk in everyday life, living everyday life interchanging and interacting, kind of like a Irish "six degrees" thing. Speaking of acting, what acting...Everyone is so "real" almost like a documentary, Oscars for All! Great camera work, it just flows so well together, great cast nice to see Scottish actress Kelly MacDonald (Trainspotting, Gosford Park) again. Colin Ferrell is as intense as always, he is such fun to watch he's a great "on-the-edge-of-your-seat" actor. So if you enjoy great acting, a good story with some twists and turns check this one out. Other great Irish films are: Omagh(2004), Veronica Guerin(2003), Bloody Sunday(2002), The Commitments(1991), Waking Ned Divine(1998) and The Field(1990).

Slainté

Dublin. The producer of a small news segment about the people, Ben(O'Suilleabhain, toying with that edge) wants to do a show on cop and self-proclaimed hardass Jerry(Meaney, determined and volatile), who is harassing small-timer Lehiff(Farrell, playing to his strength as a charming bad boy), who thinks of a bigger scheme. He will need people for it, so he approaches bus driver Mick(O'Byrne, kind but needing money for the missus, or, more appropriately, her plans for new floors, a shed, and...), whose friend John(Murphy, nice but keeps his feelings bottled up) misses his ex Deirdre(MacDonald, sweet) who, get this, has already gotten together with Sam(McElhatton, defensive) who left his wife of 14 years for her, understandably making her a bit upset.

Thus this weaves the people and story lines in with one another, often letting us spend just a little time with one situation, allowing it to be, as the film is, fairly fast-paced, effective in its establishing and developing of characters, plot and the dark, quirky and harsh comedy, and, in spite of everything being set up and paid off on, immensely surprising. Along the way, we explore the themes of relationships, job situation, money and happiness. The ingredients of life, right there! And it manages to mix in drama, and maintain its Irish roots and identity throughout. The occasional intercutting of mounting tensions in different locations is a great tool, and at no point do we lose interest or track of any of the connected tales.

There is a lot of strong language, some bloody, violent and disturbing content and a little sexuality in this. The DVD comes with interesting interviews with crew(about 4 and a half minutes) and cast(7 and a half minutes) and trailers for The United States of Leland, The Butterfly Effect, Step on It, Monster, The Passion of The Christ, Sky Captain and the world of Tomorrow, Godsend and Inkasso. I recommend this to any fan of local flavor and the superb cast. 7/10

I really enjoyed this movie. I laughed and laughed. It held me intrigued and wasn't a chore to watch or follow the story line. This movie dared to do what many others don't - very un-PC in places. Good on them for making such a refreshing movie. Sure we've seen many elements of the story line before and could anticipate many of the outcomes but I don't think this detracted from it at all. Great to see so many well known actors in different roles too. And demonstrating their acting talent by creating believable Irish accents. I did wonder if Colin Farrell had to practice his mother tongue after being in the USA for so long - seems he did OK though. I would definitely watch this again and recommend it whole heartedly to others.

to be honest, the first scene sums this movie up, it's a punch in the face. you have to have a very dry sense of humor to like this movie, i don't think it was made for the usual "american" market. our culture is geared toward in your face comedy, like old school or dodge ball, where subtle darker humor about everyday life gets lost. husbands leave wives, people get fired from terrible jobs, and in general have crappy lives. but it is up to us to enjoy what we have, and finding the strength to keep on going no matter what, and this movie is like that. it has an all star cast, from Colin Farrell to Colm Meany, Shirley Henderson to Cillian Murphy they all shine like the stars they are.

I guess the fact that it has a great cast and a lot of black humour is what makes it so fun. But it has a good script, nice sound and that thick accent is funny as hell.

As some other guy here said, movies that show a lot of interconnected subplots that elevate the level of intimate knowledge about the characters is unlikely to get old, at most it is in danger of being done to death.

Bottom line: this is an Irish "Crash". I found it well done and funny, although a bit slow at times and you have to strain your ears a bit if English is not your mother tongue. However, I advice against translations, as you risk getting something an illiterate 10 year old thought he heard, like I did :(