|
Parked
| Released |
14 October 2011 |
| Director |
Darragh Byrne |
Starring
|
Colm Meaney, Colin Morgan, Milka Ahlroth, Stuart Graham, Michael McElhatton, David Wilmot |
| Writer(s) |
Ciaran Creagh |
Producer(s)
|
Jacqueline Kerrin,
Dominic Wright |
| Origin |
Ireland, Finland |
| Running Time |
94 minutes |
| Genre |
Drama |
| Rating |
15A |
|
|
Worthwhile.
Drive, Fast Five, Gone in 60 Seconds, Death Race the vehicle centred movie has always contained all the excitement, action and sex the silver screen can muster, Parked a movie about a disenfranchised middle-aged man living in his car on The Coast Road seems a stationery premise in comparison. But while there isn't any chase scenes here, in actuality Parked manages quite a few high octane, edge-of-your-seat moments of its own and its audience certainly won't be left wanting. Navigating sentimentality while avoiding mawkishness Parked is an unlikely buddy movie detailing the friendship between two down and outs, Fred a meticulous man who seems to have misplaced his happiness played by Colm Meaney and addict Cathal played by Merlin's Colin Morgan who needs a second chance at life.
Beautifully shot on location in and around Dollymount Strand, Parked is a recession tale that, at times, looks more like a European arthouse movie. As the title suggests Meaney and Morgan aren't only 'parked', residing in their cars but also unable to move forward in life, trapped in a foreboding kind of stasis, in a blue-tinged, wintry, often unlovely Ireland.
Avoiding what seems like recent cliché Parked isn't one of those shambolic Irish crime capers that have dominated our screens of late. Instead, you'll find yourself wryly chuckling while simultaneously offering condolences during this bittersweet film, with characters that are easy to warm to and maintain a sizable depth throughout (a sensitivity that shines from the writing as much as the performances) the movie never has to resort to more obviously broad tropes of comedy. Parked asserts Meaney yet again as one of the most watchable Irish actors out there and puts Morgan on the map as a young contender in the emerging generation of Irish lead men. As often is the case in modern Irish film Parked was made possibly by funding it as a European co-production and it brings the welcome addition of Finnish actress Milka Alhroth as Meaney's romantic interest Juliana.
Winning Best First Feature at Paris Close Up Film Festival and The Galway Film Fleadh as well as Best Feature at Boston Irish Film Festival and the audience award at Brussels Film Festival, Parked by first time feature director Darragh Byrne and writer Ciaran Creagh is definitely one to watch.
- Cormac O’Brien |
