Week-end de débauche

A frothy romp, encompassing all those aspects of the human condition designed by a bored deity for the amusement of pilgrims trudging the road to happy destiny: nudity, the institution of marriage, and the question that has bedevilled the Boy Scout movement since Baden Powell's day: whether to jerk off inside or outside the communal tent. But for this critic the film was lifted out of the ordinary by the virtuoso performance of B. McCaughley (as B. McCaughly) as father of the bride. I thought he brought to the role a perfect balance between the gravitas, the graceful aplomb, of a James Robertson Justice and the elfin charm of an arthritic David Norris. His performance will come as no surprise to stage cognoscenti, who will not easily forget Honey, Well I shrunk the Kids (1980), or the hilarious frilly-knickers tour-de-force Under the Boardwalk (1991). And breathes there a cinema buff who has not gripped the edge of his tip-up seat throughout the thrilling 2002 suspense drama The Smoking Hoover? But it is a sad measure of the parochialism of the Irish cinema scene that this splendid thespian is nowadays better known among the tattooed and bearded roughnecks of the Oakland chapter than among the Great Unwashed in the one-and-thruppenies here at home.

-Shallow focus framing ignores beautiful Irish scenery as well as being shot on digital doesn't do it justice -Dodgy accent at times for The Machine, might be a conscious decision to differentiate character -Male friendships fraught and acts of forgiveness as out of bounds -Laughs come from the visual gags and slapstick instead of dialogue -Reminiscent of Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) with string music, animal fur and dog chases -The frenetic energy rolls it all along up and down the mountain -The subtext of the older generations lack of progressive thought hiding in the background is played put well -Andrew Scott 2010s work is seriously under appreciated -As far as nude comedies go its better than Nude Tuesday (2022) in my opinion.

Another title for this movie that is, which kind of describes what this is about. But some things cannot be put into words. And like with Hangover you do get the one character who is very much out of place. But without that character the movie would've (probably) been boring, so while you might not want to see him at first, you do realize, that he's necessary.

There are some really bad moments in this, but there are also some very funny ones. While you can see that this is going somewhere (no pun intended), it also stops from time to time (especially that one scene which puts this to a full stop - crucial scene, but there had to had been a better way to handle that). Other than that, pretty solid and decent effort. More drama than comedy though (unlike Hangover in case you started to compare those two)

I somehow ran across this title after review of the title 'Calvary' (2014), another film from the Irish Film Board that I was impressed with. I was quite delighted with this tale of a bachelor stag gone awry, that didn't take the low road of comedy, as the infamous 'Hangover' Trilogy.

Long time friends Davin and Fionan find themselves planning and impromptu stag party for the rather effeminate and polite groom. What starts off as a simple little camping trip between 5 friends turns into a rather long evening of mishaps, bad decisions, and inconveniences. Enter 'The Machine,' brilliantly played by Peter McDonald, the grooms soon to be brother in-law, and a character of insulting bravado, who acts as an instigator throughout the film. Things begin nicely enough, but little by little, plans get skewed and they all end up off course.

What made this film such a pleasure was how real the whole situation seems. If you've ever been hiking with friends, you learn very quickly who are the capable friends, and who are not. This film delightfully plays into this idea, when friendships are tested out in the wilderness after a few slight mishaps. At no point did this film scream fake, and I found myself laughing along with the banter. Each character brings a little bit of their own humour in this film, and each personality was perfect for their role. The run on jokes are timed very well, and even though you know they might be coming, they still deliver laughs.

A great heartfelt comedy, funny and smart throughout.

6/10

Marketed as an Irish version of The Hangover, cinema goers expecting to see a gross-out outlandish comedy will be left disappointed. In its place they will find a charming, genuinely touching and not to mention hilarious comedy drama. This is a movie that belongs more in the realism of Barrytown then the fantasy world of Las Vegas.

At her wits end with fiancée Fionan's (Hugh O'Conor) obsessing over every detail of their upcoming nuptials (particularly in one fantastic scene with wedding planner Justine Mitchell – who nearly walks off with the film in her brief scene), Ruth (Amy Huberman), enlists the help of his best man Davin (Moriarty himself, Andrew Scott) to take the metro… Politan Fionan away for a stag weekend. He is joined by mild mannered U2 denier Simon (Brian Gleeson), gay couple Kevin and Kevin (Andrew Bennett and Michael Legge) and, against his best efforts, by Ruth's boorish brother, known as The Machine (Moone Boy's Peter McDonald).

The set up is nothing original, with everything from The Hangover to last year's Few Best Men mining the pre-wedding blow-out as an excuse for raunchy, far flung mayhem. What sets this film apart is that none of the cast fall into their expected token role. The Machine could quite easily have turned into the movie's equivalent of Stiffler but McDonald (who also co-wrote the script) is in spectacular form, grounding his character with real depth and a realism to any group of friends who all have that 'one' within the group. He never crosses the line to offensive or tasteless and, as a result, the audience is rewarded with a character that resembles an actual person as opposed to a catchphrase spouting bore.

The cast are excellent across the board, Brian Gleeson (son of Irish film legend Brendan) shows enough guile and put upon humor to suggest it won't be too long before his name isn't suffixed with his famous father's name and becomes a respected talent in his own right. Andrew Bennett and Michael Legge convey a wonderful chemistry as a couple plagued with all too real and topical problems and thankfully their sexuality is never played for tasteless laughs. Their story arc is beautifully handled and threatens to overshadow the main plot, which sees tensions between Davin and Fionan simmering to a boil due to the best man's feelings towards his friend's fiancée. Scott, fresh from his reappearance in Sherlock, gives a wonderfully nuanced performance, his eyes tinged with sadness while maintaining his loyalty to his best friend. The duality is never conveyed better than during his heartbreaking rendition of the Patrick Kavanagh classic Raglan Road, which hopefully will find its way into the soundtrack. Stuck with what could have been the least interesting role in the movie theater, stand out Hugh O'Conor inhibits Fionan with enough restraint so as to never make the character a whiny cliché, but also stands his ground enough that we never want to just see him cast aside for the more romantic Davin to step in. It is a very tricky balancing act and O'Conor, who has been on the cusp of a break out role for the past few years, absolutely nails it.

The film though will ultimately live and die by one measuring stick, is it funny? And on that front the film is a massive success. Foregoing any artificially outrageous set pieces – no tigers or giraffe decapitations here. The film instead relies on the delivery of its talented cast, along with its slick humor and stinging one liners. This is not to say that director John Butler is above moments of crudeness, as he puts his game cast through the ringer during one unforgettable reenactment of the Emperor Penguin huddle. It is a nice commentary on male bonding rituals without ever sacrificing story for laughs. It is the best Irish film for quite some time and seems destined to be spoken about in the same terms as The Snapper or The Commitments. Highly recommended. www.followingthenerd.com