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Rewind
| Released |
25 March 2011 |
| Director |
P.J. Dillon |
Starring
|
Amy Huberman, Allen Leech, Owen McDonnell |
Writer(s)
|
P.J. Dillon, Roger Karshan, Ronan Carr |
| Producer(s) |
Alex Jones, John Wallace |
| Origin |
Ireland |
| Running Time |
82 minutes |
| Genre |
Thriller |
| Rating |
15A |
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Press Play.
Rewind, a film in which Amy Huberman dallies around an idyllic Wicklow village seeking wholesome fulfilment in newfound family life and the ten step erasure of her best forgotten drug addled antics, until, at least, the arrival of her dubiously motivated past associate Allen Leech leads the aforementioned Huberman out of her IKEA catalogue lifestyle and onto a journey of blackmail, reprisals and intimidation. With suburban skies no longer protective, fearful for her daughter's safety and unable to reveal the extent of her misdeeds to her new husband, Karen (Huberman) must appease the unstable Karl (Allen Leech) as they road trip toward an inevitably horrific conclusion.
I grudgingly like Rewind, not because of its premise, which doesn't particularly grab me, but because of an intelligence of script and a series of solid performances that brings you around to holding it in a certain regard whether you really want to or not. There's a proficiency and a seriousness in everything Rewind has to offer and writer/director P.J. Dillon's experience as a cinematographer is apparent in every carefully framed shot. If, in fact, there was a minor quibble to be had as to the artistic direction of Rewind it would be that the constant system of pulling focus within the film's frame (even when a greater depth of field would have created an equally pleasing effect) at times traverses the line of good film sense. But the forethought towards crafting a beautifully framed film is certainly present if sometimes a little over enthusiastic.
As to the script, adjectives like 'taut', 'tense' and 'suspenseful' are entirely apt with Allen Leech's maleficent unpredictability driving most of the narrative's drama and Amy Huberman's playing against her southside WAG persona with aplomb. Winning an IFTA for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Huberman plays Karen as both vulnerable and completely self reliant and has a hard edge throughout that doesn't always make for a sympathetic study but instead admirably aims for complexity while Allen Leech's Karl has a character whose quiet capacity for violence consistently simmers below the surface and whose inherent grubbiness and abject unscrupulousness adds a little more grease to his slicked back hair with every untruth he utters. While Rewind has a few moments of cliché (and this is a film with its feet firmly planted in the thriller genre so why wouldn't it?) the only ones allowed are those that don't truly jar with everything else being truly turned upon its head with pacing, plot points, a tight three act script and a healthy amount of coincidence.
- Cormac O’Brien |
