Hard Times

In a sleepy Irish village, nothing much is happening and the only exciting part of everyone's week is when the local band play in the pub. Then with job cuts and no prospects of financial security, local postman, Podger Burns (Cornelius Clarke), hatches a plan to hijack a shipment of Viagra and together with his band-mates (John Lynch, Lochlainn O Mearin, Cian Barry), the heist is set in motion. This is a fun film. It reminded me a little of A Fish Called Wanda, Waking Ned and many of the old Ealing Comedies. Full of Irish character actors, bursting with charm, good performances, this is an ideal way to spend 90 minutes. There are some truly comic moments and the dialogue cracks along. There's something for everyone here.

A small, sleepy Irish town, on wonderful cliffs, some funny characters, a comic plot bursting with gags and sound fun and the movie appeals, in every sense. If you want to enjoy a truly amusing picture, full of humanity, sounding picturesque but never grotesque, take a chance on "Holy water". You will spend 90 minutes in good company, with those realistic and true characters that only movies like these have (see for example the French "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis" to find a similar authentic cast), not being ruined by Linda Hamilton and company coming from the great Hollywood environment, on the contrary they amalgamate very well, to create a pleasant and always familiar atmosphere. Another enthusiastic, exciting, and authentic Irish-made comedy.

A group of Irish mates can see no future in their village, so they decide to get rich quick by hi-jacking the Pfizer van as it picks up a vast consignment of Viagra tablets, or 'shag the missus pills' as they like to call them. Needless to say their plans go awry and in a panic they hide their spoils down a local well, and when the canisters begin to leak, the locals get a bit of a lift... and with the Americans turning up to see what's going on there's plenty of scope for lots of running around and even more panic. A good natured, lightweight, middle of the road comedy.

Sadly the execution of said plot left a bit to be desired. Lightweight mediocre comedy which was at least painless to watch.

This movie turned out to be better than I had anticipated. I thought it was just going to be yet another comedy. But "Holy Water" is more than just your average comedy.

The story was good and catchy right from the beginning, and it just got better and better as the story progressed throughout the movie. The characters in the movie were well fleshed out and had lots of depth.

As for the cast. Well nothing to point your fingers at here. Although they did have fairly big names like Linda Hamilton and Tony "Tiny" Lister, the movie would have worked even without their names on the list.

Well, it is not the kind of comedy that will leave you laughing yourself breathless, but it got enough satire and 'out there' comedy to keep you amused throughout the entire movie.

If you are in for an evening, "Holy Water" is a good choice for a movie to watch. Though you should know that they are speaking English with heavy Irish accent, but that fact shouldn't keep movie fans at bay.