Parked

I wouldn't call Parked an excellent movie like some others on here but it's a good movie enough to watch once and that's about it. The story is okay but in my eyes it's been told a bit too slow. The homeless guy living in his car because of unfortunate circumstances with a heroin junkie as his neighbor also living in his car. You can have some sympathy for one and a bit lesser for the other. It's interesting to watch them becoming friends with all the differences they have, and to watch them struggle to get their life back on track again. Colm Meaney and Colin Morgan did a good job playing the two main characters. The movie could just have used a bit more tempo and a happier note but it is what it is. Not bad but not excellent.

A very moving film - a credit to the producers Ripple World and to a very talented cast. The story follows Fred Daly (Colm Meaney), an introverted and marginalized middle-aged man who returns to Ireland and ends up living in his car. He befriends a young homeless junkie, Cathal (Colin Morgan) and the two find comfort and a glimmer of hope in their low-key friendship.

Meaney gives a superb performance, walking the tightrope between sentimentality and cheap laughs without ever falling into either trap. He plays a man clinging to the last vestiges of normality, whether it be watering a plant or brushing his teeth, - a drowning man by the sea, clinging to the smallest pieces of debris to stay afloat. Morgan, best known as Merlin in the TV series of the same name, shows huge promise as a big screen actor.

Well written by Ciaran Creagh whose theatre background has given him a good ear for dialogue. Directed with elegant understatement by Darragh Byrne and with some beautiful photography from John Conroy including cinematic landscapes that lifted it away from potential TV-style relentless grimness.

If there is a single word for the movie, it is uncompromising. It takes a hard, unblinking look at lives on the margins but manages to retain its characters' humanity. I watched it at the LA Irish Film Festival 2011 and there were more than a few tears shed in the audience, which again is a credit to the film-makers in a world where shiny things and explosions usually dominate. For sure it is a slow burn, but all the more elegant for that. Full of sadness and pathos, but leaving the door open for a final sliver of hope to shine through. Bravo.

So many lives end up this way because those in the know still don't listen and admit to the signs.

Been given the right help is a lottery, too much talk and not enough action and certainly funds are not given enough here rather than to health factors who can help themselves a lot more.

Wake up world.

I liked the look of this and the storyline sounded interesting

It is ok up to the first half then before you know it it is over with a poor ending.

I didn't care for either of the characters and didn't feel it was as harrowing as some are miking out. In fact I would say it was very weak in parts.

There's always something so comforting about returning to quaint, little, low-budget Indies from the UK or Ireland, I can't describe it... Despite the cinematic spectacle of gargantuan Hollywood blockbusters (flaunting super pristine, egregiously large production values with heavy corporate involvement / oversight), I believe there are endearingly charming quirks to be appreciated in the imperfections, borne from filmmakers lovingly crafting a tale with limited resources at their disposal - which I continually find myself preferring, personally.

If anything, the issues stemming from ambitious artistic creativity, warring against the restrictive confines of reality often ground the narrative in a feeling of authenticity that's seldom able to be replicated by high end production studios, specifically because prestigious projects - in their vain attempts to capture moments faultlessly (& in an unconvincingly American way) - deprive the majority of scenes exactly what makes them so relatable to us; their flaws.

"Parked" is a great example of this, proving my point (hence the verbose anecdote, preceding); stripped back, devoid of the US glitz & glamour we've typically grown accustomed to as audiences, focusing entirely on the substance of character - as opposed to superficial style, artificially rendered to usually compensate for a lack of it. No, rather than indulge in that increasingly tedious shallowness I've alluded to, the movie's just a really well told story - indeed, basic, yet undeniably effective - unfolding beautifully in a poignant, organically developing, bittersweet tale, balancing bleakness with a profound sense of hopefulness (possessing layers of depth, warmth & a sincerity in its depiction of humanity, I couldn't help but admire), making for an extremely rewarding viewing experience - due to how crushingly honest everything seems, from beginning to end.

Plus, Colin Morgan & Colm Meaney are both notably incredible here (Morgan in particular, arguably delivering one of the most devastating performances I've ever seen him give in his career - embodying a deeply tragic figure "Cathal", a homeless drug addict with a heart of gold - keeping "Fred", the protagonist, company as they take refuge in a car park by the ocean, using their vehicles as shelter whilst they search for properties to live in; his tortured mind tragically yearning for a place to call home, metaphorically & literally, incapable of finding his idea of solace in the world, nor reconciling with the events of the past, leading to a wrenching sense of separation; visualised through a nuanced, powerful imagining brought to the screen under the watchful eye of excellent director Darragh Byrne - however, what a double act), impressively capitalising off of the opportunity given by writer Ciaran Creagh (constructing such a rich emotional landscape for them to play in), bringing his script to life from the page, brilliantly.

Hence, although miniscule, it's poetically mighty - packing a punch, many bigger blockbusters fail to ever make.

Available on Amazon Prime in England. Definitely recommend & well worth your time, if you have it.