Film Reviews

Perrier's Bounty

• Rating:
• Director: Ian FitzGibbon
• Starring: Brendan Gleeson
• Details: Ireland/UK/ 88mins (16)

A crime caper with a procrastinating protagonist, Perrier's Bounty may not be nearly as smart as it thinks it is, but it's still a mildly entertaining hour and a half. Written by Mark O'Rowe, who also penned the breakout home-grown hit Intermission, the filmmakers will be hoping this does similar business abroad as well as at home. With the always watchable Brendan Gleeson and Cillian Murphy headlining, there is every chance that might happen.
Extremely sharp in points, an atrocious attempt at an Irish accent by Jim Broadbent, and a plot that culminates with an ending that feels more lazy than franticly fun (as obviously intended), sidetrack proceedings somewhat. Still, it's very amusing in parts, and with the exception of Broadbent the acting is top notch.
Murphy is a broke Dubliner who must pay back Brendan Gleeson's local gangster Perrier the dough he owes him, before his henchmen go to town on his legs with some baseball bats. Failing to come up with the money in time, just as he's about to take a beating, his neurotic mess of a neighbour shoots one of his would be assailants. When news gets back to Perrier, he vows revenge and he and his gang set about tracking him down and killing him. As if he didn't have enough on his plate, his father, played by Broadbent, is tagging along for the ride and is convinced he's at death's door.
Containing the kind of over-articulated dialogue that is a staple in independent film all over the world, O'Rowe certainly knows how to string an amusing sentence together. Those sentences coming from the mouths of actors with the capability of Gleeson and Murphy are a joy to behold at points. Murphy is particularly strong, giving another thoroughly natural performance and making his scruffy loser likeable. But an over-reliance on the word "man", which admittedly some Dubliners do overuse somewhat, begins to grate after a while.
The quirky hitmen, and violent main gangster with a penchant for long-winded monologues, may draw parallels with other capers of an obviously similar ilk, but Perrier's Bounty is sharp enough for long enough to, just about, be its own beast.

Review by Mike Sheridan