The Tiger's Tail

I was an extra on this movie, in the Awards Dinner scene near the beginning, and I looked forward to the finished product with some trepidation because the dialog seemed quite poor. However, i have been pleasantly surprised. This is a good movie, and maybe I'm stupid but I didn't see the ending coming; It thought it was a very good resolution, and I don't understand why one reviewer says it leaves numerous threads hanging. I thought all of the production values the music and everything were very good. My criticisms would be the same for most Irish movies; the relatively poor acting of the more junior actors (I refer in particular to the drunken girlfriend we first encounter in the Temple Bar nightclub. There were other weaknesses, things that could have been much better handled such as the first appearance of the doplleganger, and O'Leary getting coshed in the toilets (again, bad acting by the other actors there). Some things were just stupid, like the statement that the more houses O'Leary builds the more homeless there are; Boorman should stick to the directing and leave the economics to others. Kim shouldn't have attempted the Oirish (sic) accent. It would have been quite believable for O'Leary to have married an American, and better, even.

It gives a reasonably good insight into middle-class Ireland, and a glimpse of the world of the down-and-out (which is the same everywhere, I suppose). I stayed until the very end of the credits.

I have read some of the different opinions here and I concede that some of the points made could be relevant to this film. Most modern films do very little for me (I've been filmgoing since the 1950's) but I really enjoyed this film immensely with the possible exception of the way the "situation" was resolved in the end. However, most people could probably think of a hundred ways to end this one so I accept the one chosen. The acting was first class, Seamus Deasy's photography was spot on and Stephen McKeon's wonderful score raised it all a notch or two. What a refreshing break from the ear-bashing, grossly offensive noise that passes for film music these days. I give it 7 because, quite simply, I enjoyed it and that's what counts in the end, not who didn't speak very well, who was or wasn't liked in it and how bad Irish society is today.

This film begins with a wealthy architect named "Liam O'Leary" (Brendan Gleeson) having some financial difficulties concerning a speculative purchase on some land he has recently financed. In addition to that, he is also having some martial problems with his wife "Jane O'Leary" (Kim Cattrall). So, things aren't going as smoothly as he would like. It's during this time of stress that he begins to have what his friends consider to be hallucinations when he tells them that a man who looks exactly like him keeps appearing at irregular moments. To make matters even worse, he becomes convinced that this man intends on harming him for unknown reasons as well. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, although this film is billed as a comedy, I really didn't see much humor in it as it was more of a mystery-drama than anything else. In essence, this was a rather peculiar film which had some dull scenes here and there yet still managed to keep my attention for the most part, and for that reason, I have rated it accordingly. Average.

I'm not sure whether this movie was good or not, but I kind of liked it. It was peculiar, but in a good way (not like Solondz's Wiener-Dog I saw recently).

The "Celtic Tiger" part was of no relevance to me - I wouldn't know whether it portrayed 2006 Ireland accurately or not; I was viewing this movie as a regular stalker flick, and, as such, it was quite engaging.

The acting was good, especially by the lead male. Kim Cattrall's role was not a major one, so her accent didn't bother me, especially since everyone in the movie had sort of a "neutral" accent. Having been to Ireland, I can say that none of the people in the movie sounded like the natives I met on my trip to Ireland.

The set-up was very good and engaging, but the movie declined significantly upon the doubles's entering the protagonist's house. There is no way something like this would happen in real life. It was just not believable. I was also sort of offended by the way they chose to portray the wife - as though they were trying to say that women are generally dumb and shallow, and the only thing they care about is for a man to pay attention to them. This is inaccurate and there is no way a wife would mistake a stranger for her husband of many years. Perhaps they were meant to imply that Jane knew all along that it was the double (if so, I must have missed it), in which case, perhaps, I would have seen it differently.

The ending was also kind of weird, but very original and somewhat satisfying and thought-provoking.

All in all, an enjoyable movie, and definitely superior to many a stalker flick I've seen lately. Would recommend.

I recently saw this at the 2007 Palm Springs International Film Festival for it's North American premiere. Director/writer John Boorman has had a very sporadic directorial career making only 15 feature length films between 1965 and 2006 including this, his latest offering. Boorman has rarely enjoyed the success that struck early in his career with such films as Point Blank, Hell in the Pacific and his biggest to date Deliverance. This time around Boorman has delivered a black comedy set in Ireland where Liam O'Leary (Brendan Gleesan) plays a wealthy real estate developer who's new found wealth has come through hard work and determination but is also costing him a loveless marriage to his wife Jane (Kim Catrell), an indifferent rebellious son Connor (real-life son Brian Gleeson), and he is overextended with his bank and battling with a rival developer and flirting with a nervous breakdown. Liam begins to think he is going mad when he starts seeing his double. Gleeson is very good in the double role of Liam and his double. Catrall drifts in and out of an Irish accent but it's not that pronounced of an accent to begin with to be bothersome to the viewer or detracting from the story. Brian Gleeson turns in a fine first screen debut. This is not a great film and not without it's flaws but it's got some great peripheral support players in the cast and good story with some witty moments. I liked it. It's got kind of a 1940's Hollywood B movie quality to it although set in modern times. I would give it a 7.5 out of 10 and it's worth a look.