Nominated for eight Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Performance by an Actor and Best Original Score, the buzz is that this film will be nominated at the 95th Academy Awards, most likely in all those same categories or comparable ones.
Writer-director Martin McDonagh is already an Oscar winner. He's been recognized, specifically in the category of Best Original Screenplay twice before, so chances are he'll be up again. Many are predicting that the two main actors will be nominated as well, marking each of those actors' first nominations at the Oscars.
McDonagh is an Irish playwright who has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play five times. One of his early plays was The Cripple of Inishman (1996), which was about a group of people living on the Aran Islands, which are three small pieces of acreage off the western coast of Ireland. Set in 1934, it's mainly about the boredom of life on those islands. Not that long after, McDonagh wrote The Lieutenant of Inishmore (2001), which was about a psychotic man named Padraic, pronounced PAW-RICK, who returns to his home on the Aran Islands and seeks revenge after learning his beloved cat dies. For this film, McDonagh has combined elements from those previous plays or is revisiting themes from both to craft this tale.
Colin Farrell (The Batman and Minority Report) stars as Pádraic, a farmer living on the Aran Islands. It's 1923 and it's the tail end of the Irish Civil War, which pitted the Free State versus the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Pádraic doesn't seem to have too much interest in the war. He can see and hear explosions from the shore of the Aran Islands, but otherwise he doesn't seem to have much interest in the IRA conflict, as it doesn't seem to affect the people on the islands. He lives with his sister, following the deaths of their parents eight years ago. He spends most of his time tending to his farm animals, such as cows, horses and in particular a donkey named Jenny, but otherwise he hangs out at a nearby pub with his friend.
Brendan Gleeson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 and Calvary) co-stars as Colm Doherty, a folk musician also living on the Aran Islands. His specialty seems to be playing the fiddle or violin. He also works on composing music but he seems to make whatever money he has on teaching music to students whose origins are unclear. The main conflict of the film begins when Colm tells Pádraic that he doesn't want to be friends any more. Even worse, Colm says that if Pádraic doesn't stop talking to him, then Colm will cut off one of his own fingers and deliver them one after the other.
It's a comedic scenario that pushes the limits of how far each man will go. Pádraic can't help but want to spend time with Colm and Colm insists that he can't stand Pádraic any more. It's a darkly humorous conceit to see the tension grow, as each man becomes more extreme in their actions and neither will relent. Gleeson remains this depressing and bitter contrast, whereas Farrell along with several of the other men in this film are nice but dim-witted counterparts, which provide a somewhat funny milieu to this film.
Strangely though, this film isn't as interesting in the dynamic between Pádraic and Colm because McDonagh doesn't develop that dynamic that satisfactorily, which is likely the point. One question is why the the two were friends at all and the fact remains that maybe they never were. Yes, it's somewhat funny to see how these two friends part ways, but I was baffled as to how they got to be so entrenched in the first place. Colm appears to be in his mid to late 60's in age. Pádraic is in his 40's. It's never explained how or why the two connected initially, besides hanging out at the same pub.
Barry Keoghan (Eternals and Dunkirk) also co-stars as Dominic Kearney, the son of the local policeman who lives with his father who appears to be a single dad. It's not clear how old Dominic is, but he's clearly younger than everyone else. He could possibly be a teenager but the actor playing him is in his late 20's, early 30's. Most of Dominic's interactions are with Pádraic. Dominic likes Pádraic, but, like with Pádraic and Colm, it's not clear how the two came to be connected. There doesn't seem to be people Dominic's age with whom he could be friends. There appears to be a church on the island but we don't see a school. It's implied that Dominic isn't the smartest person around, but it's not clear if it's due to a lack of schooling or otherwise.
Kerry Condon (Ray Donovan and Better Call Saul) also co-stars as Siobhán, the sister to Pádraic. She also works on the farm and maintains their family home. It's a small house where she and her brother sleep in the same room. It begs the question as to where the parents slept when they were alive because one would assume that either Pádraic or Siobhán would have taken the parents' room when the parents passed. Siobhán seems more educated and well-read in as much as she's applied for a job off the island at a library. This suggests that she had some schooling but we never see from where. Again, this film never shows us a school on the island.
The question becomes if she will leave the island and pursue better opportunities on the main land. This is a great question, but it seems to be one that is limited to her. There are some people on the Aran Islands who are perfectly content to stay there and continue living the way they are until they die. Pádraic appears to be one such person. However, Siobhán and Dominic appear to be the opposite. Both of them ultimately aren't happy about their circumstances on the island. Seeing them grapple with that is vastly more interesting than the squabble between Pádraic and Colm.
All of them to some extent are grappling with loneliness and despair. The idea is conveyed that the island is desolate and the few people there don't have many options. Yet, this film is confusing about those options. As mentioned, I was unclear about the schooling situation. I was unclear whether people traveled off the island or had much awareness of what was happening. They seemed like they did, but if that's the case, then why would there be so much loneliness and despair? McDonagh is underlining the isolation of this place, but I don't know if I ever truly felt that isolation. Given how Siobhán considers leaving and does so rather easily, I was never convinced of how isolating the island truly was.
One last observation is that this film might have made more sense, if McDonagh had leaned on what could be a queer interpretation. Yes, I understand that this film is about a platonic relationship between two heterosexual men and how it can turn toxic. Toxic masculinity has been a topic of a lot of recent films. However, at one point, a priest asks Colm, if he's ever had impure thoughts about men. Colm has a very homophobic reaction. At another point, Pádraic is talking to Dominic who is pushing him to talk to women, but Pádraic shows no interest in women. It's not far-fetched to assume that maybe Pádraic is a closeted homosexual who is in love with Colm. This is a queer interpretation that holds not much water, but it would have made this film's narrative far more intriguing to me because as it stands, I don't get the draw between the two men.
Rated R for language, some violent content and brief graphic nudity.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 54 mins.
Available on HBO Max.
