Review of Five Minutes of Heaven (2009) by John D — 14 Jul 2009

With Northern Ireland's recent peace of sorts, a Tony Blair/Bill Clinton "third way" approach to reconcilliation is equally explored and torn to shreds here. While the external value of unity is milked by an icky liberal TV crew, Neeson and Nesbitt's characters are as chalk and cheese as is possible.

Oliver Hirschbiegel's narrative is practically primal, in it, the broken lives of tormented killer and his victim's tormented brother are left to find a different kind of peace, away from the Good Friday Agreement crowd pleasing.

Some wounds are best left to take their natural course, often getting deeper before they can truly heal. Hirschbiegel nearly throws the whole film away with a rather slap dash fight scene in the overlong finale, perhaps he too had become subdued by the tension of the ticking clock, as Neeson's Alastair finds the closest thing to peace of mind that is possible, he blends into the metropolitan crowd, a man of yesterday, yet one which still lingers on the edges of an Ulster still rife with its acerbic ghosts.

B+ for this one, and it's nice to see Neeson and Nesbitt in roles which push them to limits mainstream directors wouldn't dare explore.