Review of Five Minutes of Heaven (2009) by Brooker B — 22 Feb 2011

A promising premise eventually does not quite live up to expectations. Wonderfully acted and competently directed, the film is based on (a surprise to me) actual programs in which killers and the family members of their victims are arranged to meet on camera.

A repentant and solemn Neeson must face an unhinged and almost manic Nesbitt thirty years after he shot his father during Catholic/Protestant violence. What lacks is either the writer's or the director's clear view of the final chapter.

I don't mind another "violence isn't worth it" message (it can't be made enough), but the conclusion doesn't try to make that point in any sort of creative way.