Review of Intermission (2003) by Tyler M — 04 Dec 2007

You just don't have the requisite Celtic soul, man.

The story: It's kind of hard to explain the story for this film for one simple reason...There's a whole lot of stories moving along at the same time. One man, John, who hates his go nowhere job, has just broken up with his girlfriend, his ex-girlfriend has moved on to a married man, all the while her cynical sister tries to find happiness, at the same time the married mans wife tries to convince herself that she's still attractive to men, she ends up with Johns best friend, Johns best friend is the shy shut in that doesn't seem to really know what he wants but still tries to fall in love, there's a bus driver that crashes a bus and loses his job all because of a little kid, a thief/common criminal that is desperate for money and adventure, a cop that believes that his brutal brand of justice is just what the world needs, and a news reporter searching for a great edgy story...Follow that? You get all of that in the first hour or so of the film so it's a lot to take in, John, ex-girlfriend, married man, cynical sister, wife, best friend, bus driver, criminal, cop, and a news reporter...So the last part of the film consists of weaving all these stories into one. Ten characters and ten stories that all come together in the end. Rest assured that the story makes a little more sense when you watch it...A little more sense...It kind of moves slowly at first, but the last 45 minutes when you see just how each character has affected each other, make it worth your time. If you're patient enough to wait for the end you won't be disappointed But if you just skip to the end you'll be lost...You have to take the first hour to really appreciate the last 45 minutes. And chances are you'll really appreciate the last 45 minutes.

The Cast: Cillian Murphy, Collin Farrel, Colm Meaney, Kelly Macdonald...The cast gets the job done, but never really got me too interested. I don't think it was poor acting that failed to pull me in or failed to get me interested in the characters, I think it was the jumbled story. In fact I know it was the jumbled story because the acting was top notch and great. Lines recited great, action acted wonderfully, and the characters would all be interesting if you ever got a chance to really see them. Understandably each character doesn't get equal screen time, ten characters in 105 minutes only adds up to about ten minutes worth of story for each character. Granted each character has a storyline paired with another character so you're actually getting more than ten minutes each, but the point is, there's so much going on that no matter how great the acting is, you just don't grow a solid connection with anyone in the film.

One to five scale: 3.

Tyler.

7/16/05.