Saltwater

I had the opportunity to see "SALTWATER" during this years Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale) and I really liked it a lot. It was so much fun, packed with good ideas and fine acting. I hope the fact, that the theater was packed and the crowd was relly excited will help this great movie to make it´s way to cinemas all over the world. I think this was one of the few highlights in a not too good festival. Watch it!

I enjoyed the way the film seemed to start the story a way into it. So often H'wood flicks hand feed you the story line, grossly pointing out every little plot point and character trait. I found the fact that every character wasn't well explained and that it almost felt like i was watching this family as a neighbor not knowing the whole story but finding it interesting nonetheless. I commented when i walked out that i felt the filmmaker respected my intelligence and ability to follow along. Some VERY funny moments and well worth the time.

The film had a bit of a slow start to it but gathered a bit more momentum as it progressed. The storyline seemed a bit disjointed at times. That's what was most disappointing about the film, after seeing the storyline slowly develop the film had an abrupt end. On the other hand it is a film that has a lot of extremely funny moments in it especially one scene in particular. This redeemed the film for me. All said and done this film is much better than a lot of big budget Hollywood fare that hits the cinemas. The acting was very good with great performances from all the actors involved. It is well worth a look.

"Saltwater" is the directorial debut of Conor McPherson, the writer of the very funny film, "I Went Down". As such, "Saltwater" promises much but delivers very little. It is a disjointed and ill-conceived attempt to do for Dublin what "Short Cuts" did for Los Angeles. The main stories concern an Irish-Italian café owner in debt to the local bookie and the attempt by one of his two sons to exact revenge for his father's humiliation, the adventures of another son of the above man and his latchkey schoolfriend, and a university lecturer and friend of the above family who embarks on a fling with a college student. There are vague references to a woman who could possibly be the mother of the family who is no longer present but this is never made clear.

The separate plots barely relate to each other and have significant holes which stretch credulity. Furthermore, the story set in the university (University College Dublin, for the benefit of location freaks) seems to exist entirely for the purposes of its 'hilarious' climax. Characters are not well developed and some are almost cardboard cutouts, such as the schoolgoing son, his friend and their teacher, to name but a few. The stories do not develop logically and fail to reach any satisfactory conclusion leaving many loose ends unresolved.

Finally, the film is so blandly photographed as to be a TV film rather than a large screen motion picture. There is no appreciation of the art of cinema at all. McPherson is better known as a writer for theatre and this is patently obvious from "Saltwater". It appears that he has made the transition from stage to screen too quickly for his own good. Overall, I cannot recommend people to go and see this film.

As any fan of Irish movies knows, the people of Ireland generally like to while away their time - between warm pints of Guinness - by embarking on secret affairs with ginger housemaids, further corroding their repressive relationships with their fathers, and building nail-bombs for the IRA. In recent years, films like 'Waking Ned' and 'I Went Down' have shamefully attempted to re-orientate this perception, emphasizing the inherent amiability and humour of the Irish people. Conor Mcpherson's 'Saltwater' dares to take this dangerous agenda even further, by setting the action in a small South Dublin seaside community and actually making the characters within it seem real. 'Michael Collins' fans beware – you have been warned.

There are several plot lines in the movie, but they all orbit around the family of chip-shop owner George (Brian Cox), who has recently lost his wife – and a lot of money at the bookies. His son (Peter McDonald), frustrated with the way his life is going, takes it upon himself to steal some money back for his father. And his younger brother Joe (Laurence Kinlan) is having his own problems, covering for a rebellious school-mate, and witnessing a rape that he can't get out of his mind. Meanwhile, their friend Ray (Conor Mullen), a university lecturer with a mid-life crisis, is juggling two women and an imploding career.

Around these simple ideas, and from his own script, first-time director McPherson (author of hit play 'The Weir') builds up a charming, convincing environment in which beauty can be found in monotony and havoc can ensue from familiarity; a timewarped town in which everybody knows the local policewoman and great ripples can be caused by the tiniest splash. Most impressively, he manages to inspire exceptionally natural performances from every single member of his cast, from the adolescent bully to the elderly drunkard. Rising middle-aged star Brendan Gleeson is especially good, in a supporting role as a corrupt loan shark, but top acting honours have to go to Kinlan ('Angela's Ashes'), who manages to make all American child actors look silly with a striking performance as the young man who knows too much.

'Saltwater' is an undeniably small movie, and this means it's not for everyone. There is little that is cinematic about the script, which seems to naturally belong somewhere between theatre and television (the film was adapted from McPherson's play, 'This Lime Tree Bower'). There is also some horribly plinky-plonky music, and some paper-thin characters. But elements like these didn't inhibit 'American Beauty', and, although 'Saltwater' lacks the mass-appeal of that movie, it's often just as enjoyable, and just as adept at veering between the subtly dark and the genuinely hilarious. Yes, there's nothing here that hasn't been done before – but when a movie contains the most memorable hangover scene in recent memory, (worth the admission price alone), it's scarcely worth complaining. It's a very encouraging directorial debut, which deserves to be seen; a small landmark for Irish film. And there's not even a leprechaun in sight.