Film Reviews

Mystics

• Rating:
• Director: David Blair
• Starring: David Kelly
• Details: Ire / 90 mins / (15PG).

No point in fooling around here, in a very decent year for Irish films - 'Intermission', 'Dead Bodies', 'In America', take a bow - 'Mystics' is very poor film. A half an idea executed by a hammy cast, 'Mystics' follows a couple of OAP's Dave (Kelly) and Locky (O'Shea) who run a seance business in their flat over a Dublin pub. Rather implausibly (not to mention distastefully) the pair of old codgers have no problems exploiting the grief of bereaved families, but shy away when a real dead spirit comes a-calling. The problem is that it belongs to Larry (voiced by Drew), a notorious, recently deceased Dublin gangster, whose family, headed by his widow Foxy (Maria Doyle Kennedy) are determined to get a few answers about stolen loot.
Built around an idea that would seem slight if stretched into a thirty second sketch, 'Mystics' is a ludicrous, deep farcical which doesn't have anything resembling a sense of order. The film may pertain to have its inspirations in the Ealing comedies of yore, but it shows nothing of their charm, energy and real understanding of the power of the absurd. An utter shambles.

Review by Garreth Murphy