Jump

I saw this movie as part of the Belfast Film Festival and was expecting some tragic love story set in Northern Ireland to the backdrop of the troubles. Well I'm pleased to say this was refreshing take on a story set in Northern Ireland where nothing is mentioned in relation to "The Troubles", which is an important part of the country's history, but exciting to see truly ingenious independent film making from this tiny country.

The story or each character's story all move at a pace that whilst you have time to sympathise the script never dwells too long for you to become too involved, and this where the weakness of the film may be? Possibly a bit more development around the 2 central characters of Nichola Burley(Greta) and Martin McCann(Pearse) might have given more depth/explanation.

There is light relief from from the henchmen of the local gangster which I suppose you could say follow all the usual clichés of one that's dim and the other whom is tormented soul for his past actions.

The story whilst simple does have its twist and turns and how all they eventually collide is down to good writing and the director giving the story room to breathe whilst not let things drag. The other point is that this could have been filmed/made in any city around the world and hopefully should therefore translate to a wider audience.

I do hope this get picked up for distribution, as not to win awards but just for pure entertainment.....

Jump is a low budget Irish film that invites comparisons with Doug Liman's 'Go.'

It is a multi narrative crime story that you see from different perspectives, time period and involves chance encounters and near misses.

It is New Year's Eve in Derry, Greta dressed like an angel and a daughter of a gangster who after a night of partying has left her friends behind and is looking to jump from a bridge.

Walking by is Pearse, bloodied after being beaten up by a gangster, looking for his dodgy brother who might have been killed but he encounters Greta and wants to stop her from jumping. As you can guess it was Greta's father who sent two of his goons to beat up Pearse.

As the film progresses we see that throughout New Years Eve, these various characters criss crossed each other and were somehow connected.

This is the type of film ushered in by Quentin Tarantino in the mid 1990s. It has a kinetic energy, some black humour, violence but the characters are thinly developed and the film has a short running time which suggests there was not much to the story.

"There are things for when you feel low and when you feel high" says Greta who is about to jump from a bridge on new year's eve, "yet not for when you feel absolutely nothing." She is not alone, even in the city of Derry. As the new year approaches Greta's story intersects with other similarly situated characters. The interlinked stories include a car crash, stolen money, a neglected gangster's daughter (Greta), clueless thugs and more.

I loved this fast paced, cheeky, clever and thrilling crime caper. Derry, which wallows in the shadows of Bloody Sunday, is the perfect setting for Jump. There is hope and humor amid the gloom, and fine acting and directing from relative unknowns. It rarely crosses anyone's mind, but Jump is extremely well edited and the transitions between the scenes are stellar. The editing really makes this film, yet the story is enthralling too. Seen at the Toronto international film festival.