Film Reviews

Cowboys and Angels

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Allen Leech
• Details: Ire / 90 mins / (15PG).

Enjoyable if very slight, Cowboys and Angels is a loose riff on the old coming of age formula set within a suitably funked up Limerick. It's here that Shane (Michael Legge, Angela's Ashes) works as a civil servant and moves into his very first apartment. His new flatmate, Vinny (Leech) is a gay fashion student, who delights in giving Shane some help in the sartorial stakes, while helping him get closer to his best pal, Gemma (Shiels). It soon becomes apparent that Shane's not sure whether he has the stomach for a life (and death) in the civil service and begins to conduct a series of experiments in an effort to see if there's more out there.

Although it threatens to become a feature-length episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and goes for some easy-to-digest stereotypes (has there ever been a gay man in the history of cinema who isn't interested in fashion?), Cowboys and Angels has enough going for it - primarily the eager performances of the enthusiastic young cast. Writer-director David Gleeson is a little too fond of narrative conveniences and the story feels a little too lightweight and drawn out - despite its meagre running time - but you could still do an awful lot worse.

Review by Garreth Murphy