Flick

I just saw this at the Irishreels Film Festival in Seattle and really enjoyed it. Writer/director Fintan Connolly attended the screening and took questions afterwards. This was his first feature film, and it was done on a shoestring budget. He said the two lead male actors, David Murray and David Wilmot, are best friends in real life, which made it easier for them to play similar roles in the film. David Murray, in his first major acting role, plays the lead character, Jack Flinter (aka "Flick"). He does a solid, bang-up job carrying the picture. There are a lot of close-ups of his long, slightly pock-marked face and he is mostly deadpan but nonetheless quite compelling. He and his buddy Des (Wilmot) are small-time drug dealers operating around the club scene in Dublin. They get into trouble when they try to take their little "business" to the next level, contacting the Irish mob to work a deal with them. Things spiral out of control thanks in part to the local police, and Jack seeks comfort with an attractive young woman he's met recently in a nightclub named Isabelle, played by Isabelle Menke. Isabelle holds the emotional center of the picture, and provides Jack some much-needed, if not necessarily deserved, relief. The soundtrack is nice with a mix of classic and jazz sounds. The whole thing was apparently filmed in just 18 days. It takes place in Dublin, but Dublin kind of stands for "any major city" and there aren't too many distinctively Dublin shots. The supporting cast of older mob-like characters lend an authentic weight to the proceedings. I would recommend this film to anyone who liked "Reservoir Dogs" (although this is less violent) or "The General", among others.

`FLiCK' reminds me a lot of a soap opera. Slow, predictable and for the most part boring. The film is the story for two small time drug dealers in Dublin who are attempting to make the big score. Of course, as they do so, they run a foul of the police, and a local gang of `big' time drug dealers. Along with that, the usual relationship problems, drug addiction and violence one expects from a movie like this unfold in all the usual ways. This film lacks even the most rudimentary elements of intrigue or originality. The plot also has several holes in it. Character appears with little explanation as to who are or what relevance they have to the story line. Then, as suddenly as they appear; they're gone.

The movie does have one high point. David Murray plays the lead role as `Jack Flinter', and does a good job. He was able to bring a sense of believability to the role with his tough but sensitive style. It would be interesting to see what he might do with a well written script and a good role in a big mainstream movie. I hope such a role comes his way in the near future, as I'll bet he'll give a great performance.

This movie didn't make me irritated, as some true wastes of time and money do, but it's really kind of... oy.

This 'flick' is a scrambled egg. I rented it on a 2-4-$1 deal at my local grindhouse video rental hackjob, which typically features a good deal of horror, vulgar comedy, and straight-to-video drug dealer sagas; the cover sold this as a drug/mobster movie set in Dublin. However, I was unable to tell where it was shot except for an occasional set of wet cobblestones. As for the filmmaker, it looks a a temporarily hip bartender was able to con his bosses into financing a movie about the 'thug life' as imagined by a complete neophyte.

Really, it's a mopey romantic 'guy flick' slightly modified to seem less pathetically whiny by tacking on a 'tough-guy' mob subplot. The party where 'flick' runs into the one chick, the thing with his partner, his personal issues, etc. etc. etc. It's really an episode of FRIENDS with some guys in leather coats hovering about.

The sex scene is not bad, I'll give it that, but other than that, it wasn't even a very good time-waster.

(Oh; reading the other reviews and finding it was shot on the proverbial shoestring budget, it totally explains the obviously fake Walther PPK in the van, and the rabbit-hunting rifle the 'police' tote at the iffy climactic shootout).

I'd like to be nicer, but really.

Another reviewer compared this film's pace to a soap opera's. I think that's appropriate commentary, but it only captures part of the problem.

The film is about a couple of novice drug dealers so I suppose it's reasonable that they lack the look and demeanor of real criminals. Unfortunately, so also does every other character in the film. The "big time" drug buyers look like spongy, average business people rather than sinister, dangerous organized criminals. Not one of them looks like he or she could buy drugs, let alone distribute them. In a film with terrible scenery, props, and wardrobe, it takes a lot of work on the part of the actors to keep the film convincing. This film's actors lack the character to make this a convincing film about (even small-time) crime.

Other areas of disappointment are cinematography, lightning, and music. Each detract from whatever substance the film has.

I'd pass on this one: there are plenty of low-budget gangster moves to choose from that are both less boring and more assuring.

Watching this movie felt pretty much like watching an average Joe's life for a week. Luckily these were the days before the onslaught of reality TV and the audience were able to sit through it.

Flick tells the story of a small time dealer. You won't really care what happens to him, or his friends, although his German girlfriend is easy on the eye and is the only truly positive thing which I can remember about this film.

If you have some time to kill and absolutely nothing better to do then it could pass the time but you'd have to be really bored to enjoy the experience!