Stockholm
Distinguished Member
The Journey - 2016 - Nick Hamm
Loved the premise of this film and knew immediately that I wanted to see it. It's a simple premise really: two men, Rev. Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness, each representing opposing sides of the politico-religious divide that plunged Britain and Ireland into a protracted era of disarray, chaos and strife are forced to share a limo to peace talks in St Andrews, Scotland in 2006.
I went into it expecting a stern and intense study of two implacable foes trying to get their arms around the concept of conceding even an iota of anything - much less peace - to one another. Instead, it's pretty light-hearted and made me laugh on more than one occasion. As you watch it you know that the director and writer have taken huge liberties with the true account of the real journey in crafting their version of the story and its characters, and I'm glad that they did as it made for quite an entertaining road trip rather than a dull one or one propped up by phoney tension. Edit - Actually, some of the tension is contrived but again it works quite well because it's used in a sort of humorous and daft manner that fits the film's tone quite well.
Timothy Spall plays Rev. Paisley and Colm Meaney is Martin McGuinness. Spall is fitted with prosthetic teeth in his depiction of Paisley and at the start of the journey he plays him with a serial killer's menace whereas Colm Meaney's McGuinness is up for a bit of craic and uses humour to jab at his opponent and expose the perceived hypocrisy and stubbornness of his position re. the political aims of both sides of the conflict. The teeth are unsettling and there are moments when you can see Paisley struggling to remain calm and not go gnasher crazy on McGuinness during moments of provocation. I felt sorry for Daniel Portman (Podrick from GoT) during one tense but funny scene near the end when Paisley unleashes his firebrand tongue against him for a customer service inconvenience.
I'd recommend it if you're in the mood for a goofy but entertaining fictitious account of one of the most important moments in the recent histories of both Ireland and Great Britain. John Hurt plays a small but valuable role here too, and Tony Blair is depicted in quite a humourous but accurate light as well, i.e. weasely. Edit - McGuinness is easily the more sympathetic of the two protagonists here.
Loved the premise of this film and knew immediately that I wanted to see it. It's a simple premise really: two men, Rev. Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness, each representing opposing sides of the politico-religious divide that plunged Britain and Ireland into a protracted era of disarray, chaos and strife are forced to share a limo to peace talks in St Andrews, Scotland in 2006.
I went into it expecting a stern and intense study of two implacable foes trying to get their arms around the concept of conceding even an iota of anything - much less peace - to one another. Instead, it's pretty light-hearted and made me laugh on more than one occasion. As you watch it you know that the director and writer have taken huge liberties with the true account of the real journey in crafting their version of the story and its characters, and I'm glad that they did as it made for quite an entertaining road trip rather than a dull one or one propped up by phoney tension. Edit - Actually, some of the tension is contrived but again it works quite well because it's used in a sort of humorous and daft manner that fits the film's tone quite well.
Timothy Spall plays Rev. Paisley and Colm Meaney is Martin McGuinness. Spall is fitted with prosthetic teeth in his depiction of Paisley and at the start of the journey he plays him with a serial killer's menace whereas Colm Meaney's McGuinness is up for a bit of craic and uses humour to jab at his opponent and expose the perceived hypocrisy and stubbornness of his position re. the political aims of both sides of the conflict. The teeth are unsettling and there are moments when you can see Paisley struggling to remain calm and not go gnasher crazy on McGuinness during moments of provocation. I felt sorry for Daniel Portman (Podrick from GoT) during one tense but funny scene near the end when Paisley unleashes his firebrand tongue against him for a customer service inconvenience.
I'd recommend it if you're in the mood for a goofy but entertaining fictitious account of one of the most important moments in the recent histories of both Ireland and Great Britain. John Hurt plays a small but valuable role here too, and Tony Blair is depicted in quite a humourous but accurate light as well, i.e. weasely. Edit - McGuinness is easily the more sympathetic of the two protagonists here.
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