The Tiger's Tail
Brendan Gleeson delivers a performance which leaves you in no doubt of his acting versatility
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Friday, 08, Jun 2007 12:00
Directed by John Boorman, out June 8th in cinemas, starring Brendan Gleeson, Kim Cattrall, Ciarán Hinds, Briain Gleeson, running time 106 minutes.
In a nutshell.
Gleeson, Gleeson and more Gleeson
What's it all about?
First, a disclaimer: if you don't like the Gleeson style of acting then don't watch this film. You get three Gleesons for your money in The Tiger's Tail (four if you count the occasional body double role fulfilled by Brendan's less famous brother Frank) - a Prince and the Pauper-type tale of life either side of economically-booming Dublin's society.
Brendan Gleeson plays high-flying Irish property developer Liam O'Leary who has it all until he happens across his doppelganger who begins to change his life in wholly unexpected ways. Of course, there is no ghostly double, merely an envious twin brother ditched at birth and set on the path to poverty as his sibling reached for the stars - yes, that old chestnut.
Slowly, O'Leary's world is turned on its head. His wife (Cattrall) realises she quite likes the other man who has landed in her life; his son (Briain Gleeson) ends up attempting suicide after his father rejects him once too often; and his company looks as though it is going to go the same way as his family life if his Irish luck doesn't improve in the very near future.
Who's in it?
Gleeson - the famous one - puts in a truly impressive turn as the rough diamond O'Leary and his just-plain-rough double. Anyone who can carry off a shoreline fight scene with himself without it looking entirely implausible deserves praise in our book. His son Briain also deserves mention, playing the communism-inspired 16-year-old Connor O'Leary who is longing for the attention of his unnoticing father.
Cattrall is better known for the all-American femme fatale she plays in Sex in the City and so casting her here as downtrodden Irish wife Jane seems brave at best. She tries, to her credit, and does most things right, but her attempt at an Irish accent makes a mockery of her best efforts. It's laughable at times and it is to the film's immense disadvantage that she has to persist with it throughout. Would it really have affected the plot so much if she had instead been cast as the bit of US stuff O'Leary had wined and dined on a business trip across the Atlantic?
As an example
Connor O'Leary to his father while reading Marx: "Capitalism is going down the toilet."
O'Leary: "Capitalism got you this house. Got you your Playstation. Your Gameboy. Your iPod. Your mobile phone."
O'Leary at awards speech to fellow money-grabbers: "We've got the Celtic tiger by the tail and if we let go it will turn around and bite us in the arse."
Jane while in bed with the double, in her best Oirish: "When you make love like that you're totally alive and completely yourself.whoever you are."
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars
It scooped two - best music in a film and best cinematography - and was nominated for five other gongs at the Irish Film and Television Awards after it's release in Ireland last year and there is a slim chance it might enjoy an equally fruitful time this side of the Irish Sea. Gleeson's performance is laudable but the cracks in the plot see the light of day a little too often for there to be any real challenge for the top awards.
What the others say
"A top-form Brendan Gleeson returns to John Boorman's lopsided modern world in The Tiger's Tail, arguably the director's most appealing entry since The General." - Variety
"You get two Brendan Gleesons for the price of one in John Boorman's Dublin-set comedy, though neither is shown to his advantage in this uncomfortable mix of social satire and over-ripe melodrama." - Total Film
So is it any good?
The acting's good; the grimy Dublin setting better; and the attempt at social commentary is commendable if not entirely successful. But the film is let down by the fact that it is as unsure of its identity as its lead character appears to be. Is it a dark comedic portrayal of an age-old fairy tale with a modern slant? Or a satirical account of the inevitable consequences of a lifetime of money-grabbing? Or merely a mildly amusing showcase for Cattrall to step off our TV screens and on to the bigger ones?
In his production notes for the film, Boorman talks of the research he did on the streets of Dublin - seeing firsthand the "new underclass" that exists among the guns and drugs of the Irish capital. He talks of the haves and the have-nots and he clearly set out to give a public airing for this group of people he feels have been "sidelined by the Celtic Tiger". The trouble is, however laudable his intentions, the film just doesn't feel as real as it needs to in order to avoid the sense that what you're seeing on screen is not replicated by what is going on outside.
Gleeson does his best to hold the film up to examination and very nearly succeeds. Here, he proves just what a versatile actor he is, and by all accounts he's teaching his son well too. But there's only so much he can do with a limited storyline which narrowly fails to hit its high target. And let's not even start on Cattrall's accent.
6/10
Martin Ashplant