Directed by Ian Fitzgibbon
Written by Mark Doherty

with Mark Doherty, Dylan Moran, Neil Jordan, Keith Allen, Aisling O'Sullivan, Amy Huberman

The picture follows a failing actor (Doherty) and his alcoholic screenwriter/director friend (Moran). Together they struggle to pay off their mutual landlord (played by an hilarious Keith Allen). Mark’s brother is mentally impaired and his wife has lost, quite understandably, any love for her deadbeat and dull husband. It is a life of failure and monotony, which somehow comes off as funny. When his wife leaves him, Mark is left to rot in his derelict flat, which the landlord refuses to fix until the rent is payed. As the flat falls apart, so does his life. He becomes enveloped in a series of amusing, however dark, accidents which “look bad,” to put it lightly.

Moran’s inarticulate dithering is extraordinarily funny and well performed. Few could master the character so perfectly. He is frequently getting lost in his film fantasies, making allusions to Dog Day Afternoon and other classics. Doherty is likewise expert in his deadpan rôle. Perhaps their success can be attributed to the similarity between the characters and themselves. Aside from being about two friends struggling with fate, it is about two people struggling to make it in the film industry.

The utterly dark humour, combined with the film’s use of suspense, keep the audience laughing hysterically, while simultaneously cursing the characters for their crazy ideas which seem to get them into a deeper and deeper mess. It is a unique comedy with a unique plot and unique characters.