Perrier's Bounty

This is an urban Irish crime-comedy, so between the slang and the sort of accents where Michael is pronounced MOY-cul, I'm sure I missed some of the subtleties of Perrier's Bounty. I think I got the gist of it, though, and what I understood was pretty good. I'm not sure if the cavalcade of colorful characters who sprint through this tight but sparse little story are reflective of true Irish self-image or if they're playing to the prejudices of cinema tourists. Either way, they're a fun group with which to spend a fast hour and a half. Michael (Cillian Murphy) is a low-level denizen of Ireland's criminal underworld, which isn't so much under anything as sort of off to the side and behind the local pub. I always love how British films treat crime as though it was just another vocation. American thieves and killers are always cast as outlaws. With the Brits, it's like some people simply grow up to be gangsters the way others grow up to be mechanics or butchers or meter maids. It gives their crime stories a refreshing workaday sensibility. Anyway, Michael owes a thousand Euro to his local crime boss, Perrier (Brendan Gleeson). He doesn't have it and faces the prospect of two broken bones if he can't come up with it in a few hours. Michael's also got to deal with the girl he clearly loves (Jodie Whittaker) getting strung along by her douchebag boyfriend. Then his estranged "Da", that's "Dad" to us Yanks, shows up in what appears to be one of Don Johnson's Miami Vice outfits after it's been dipped in ink and proclaims that he's dying. As if that's not enough, when Perrier's thugs come to collect, one of them winds up dead and that means Michael is facing a lot worse that a couple of fractures. With a 10,000 Euro bounty on one side, his melancholy but surprisingly violent father on another, his unspoken love's heartbreak on a third side and an unresolved conflict with his mother on a fourth, Michael is boxed in and needs a hell of a lot of Irish luck to get out alive. About the only complaint I have with this movie is that the character of Perrier, though ably brought to life by Brendan Gleeson, never lives up to his advance billing. He's repeatedly referred to and built up in the viewer's mind. Then as soon as he shows up on screen, the character is sidetracked into this homosexual tolerance digression that's amusing at first but just becomes puzzling as it goes on and on. I can appreciate the dramatic logic of leading the audience's expectations in one direction and then going a different way, but the character of Perrier is left stumbling out of the gate and never finds his footing. This story needed a great comic but still threatening villain and Perrier's personality and agenda never congeal enough to make him that. There are too many times when Perrier is put in service to the Almighty Plot Hammer to make him a real enough antagonist for Michael. As for everything else, it's a delight. Jim Broadbent is particularly good as an irresolute old dude forced into action by his looming mortality and there's a pleasant depth to the relationship between Michael and his father. You can feel the layers of history between them in their dialog and you can see in their behavior how the two are similar and how they're separate. There are also quite a few funny lines, though frequently a bit hard to decipher, honestly humorous situations and even some gratuitous nudity. And while this isn't an intricate plot, there are more than enough times when it heads in an unexpected direction to keep you glued to what's going on. Perrier's Bounty is a clever and energetic piece of entertainment. If I could have figured out everything that was said, I probably would have liked it even more.

Running dry of ideas for DVDs from video rental, we happened upon this one. In general I like British comedies, and "Trainspotting" is one of my favorites. But some of them also fall flat for me. I will add "Perrier's Bounty" to that list of the latter. Brendan Gleeson is Darren Perrier, an Irish mobster who takes his loans very seriously. Cillian Murphy is Michael McCrea, who is a bit of a slacker and finds himself with just a few hours to get the cash to keep the goons off him. Perhaps the best character is old faithful Jim Broadbent as Jim McCrea, Michael's dad. As with most British and Irish movies of this sort, lots of 'blue' language is used, and is off-putting. But that is the genre. It was somewhat entertaining but mostly wasted time watching it.

I cannot imagine why anyone likes anything about this film. I'm about 20 minutes into it, taking a break from the boring task at home of putting some curtains up. Putting up curtains is becoming an attractive alternative to watching this piece of rubbish. It's a good argument for countries not to have a film board, as I see this was subsidised by the Irish Film Board. Quite why a country would use its tax money to finance a movie that shows its capital as full of violent loan sharks and hapless drug addicts is beyond me. It seems to be an inferior Irish copy of the already inferior type of gangster Mockney movies produced by the former Mrs Madonna.

An Irish gangster crime comedy. Well, Irish, gangster and crime are all accurate but whether it's a comedy, drama or thriller that's up to you to decide. Perrier (Brendan Gleeson) has a bounty for the head of Michael (Cillian Murphy). Poor lad, he owes money to some local thugs. With the help of his beautiful, slightly crazy and suicidal neighbour Brenda (Jodie Whittaker), they accidentally kill a thug, and then with the encouragement of his might-be-dying father (Jim Broadbent), they go on a crime spree. It's a comedy of errors where the errors lead to many murders, some accidental but some because there's nothing better to do. It's violent for the sake of being violent with a few uneasy laughs. Add Gabriel Byrne as the voice of the narrator/The Reaper expounding on the philosophical virtues of life, death and the ocean, just to make the film more well-rounded. I'm assuming that's the purpose, and also that the contradiction between philosophy and gangster crime is supposed to be hilarious. "Perrier's Bounty" could be a brilliant fusion of all genres into a gangster crime film. But it's missing some vital cohesiveness and substance to make this more than a weirdly funny, violent crime spree through an Irish night. Which isn't all that bad, but it's no "In Bruges".

Disappointed in this film. Was expecting a classical as it has a tremendous cast of actors. The writer and director are top shelve too. Sadly, all these ingredients have not created a good movie. The word 'MAN' becomes very annoying through the film. It's used as much as the word 'The'. Dublin working class people use this word, but not like it is portrayed in the script. In saying that it's better than many irish films.

My decision to watch this stemmed from the star power of Cillian Murphy, if not then I would have approached English/Irish crime thrillers with a little apprehension as most somehow come across as Guy Ritchie wannabes, or follow a dark and gritty formula that gets quite tired after a while. London Boulevard was a little underwhelming with a sprawling narrative that got nowhere, and in some ways Perrier's Bounty didn't quite leave a favourable impression. Granted the film boasts great character actors, from Murphy as the down and out protagonist Michael McCrea, Jim Broadbent as his dad Jim, and Jodie Whittaker as the hot next door neighbour Brenda who all get embroiled in Michael's affairs with the titular gangster Darren Perrier (Brendan Gleeson, whom is probably known to worldwide audiences better for his role as Mad-Eye Moody in the Harry Potter franchise), when they inevitably knock off two of the latter's foot soldiers when they come knocking violently to get back money owed, and a bounty is declared on Michael and the group which runs its course in an overnight tale of hunter versus prey. The better parts of the film come from the incredibly chemistry that Murphy and Broadbent share as son and father, especially when they got introduced in the film not really speaking or on good terms, but for the inevitable improvement when Jim's death sentence by way of a medical condition gets made known, and the wicked modus operandi of Perrier coming into play. The complimentary romance subplot was credible between Michael and Brenda, but you just know it had to give way to more pressing survival issues on hand, especially when Perrier demonstrates why he is not to be trifled with. That of course gives way to plenty of scenes with graphic violence, which to a modern audience is something already quite numbing if the intention is to shock. Still, director Ian Fitzgibbon keeps Mark O'Rowe's story moving at incredible pace, set against an eclectic soundtrack, but alas it is the pace that doesn't allow for the film to breathe and give a little bit more dimension to the characters, especially the villains who come across as pretty one dimensional goons out for blood and constantly cursing through their limited vocabulary. It's touted to be a comedy, but unless you have a ear for thick Irish accents, then most of the verbal jibes would probably have gone unheard, which is a pity since I would have loved it if it was subtitled to assist non native English speakers. Perrier's Bounty lacked a certain X-factor to its rather bland storyline, which had the actors to thank for making it a lot more enjoyable if not for their presence, since you're likely to be able to stay ahead of plot developments, which spell mediocre and average.

For this particular genre of movies, then "Perrier's Bounty" failed to make a lasting impression, nor did it leave any significant impact. The story never really made it out of the parking lot, so to speak. The story, despite trying hard, never turned out to be more than mediocre. The movie does have an impressive list of actors and actresses on the cast list, but despite this fact, that wasn't enough to pull off the story in a manner that would turn out to be outstanding. The story is about Michael McCrea who owes money to Perrier. Michael is given a short amount of time to make payment due, otherwise Perrier's goons will set out to collect the debt one way or another. A frantic night turns worse when Michael ends up on the run with his suicidal neighbor and his dying father. Storywise, then there were moments throughout the movie that were great and there were some good ideas to the script as well. However, the overall impression of the movie was fairly mediocre, and there is sort of an irrelevant vibe to the movie, which was a shame. "Perrier's Bounty" is great for a single watching, but the movie is nowhere near anything that would support multiple viewings of the movie. The storyline just doesn't have what it takes.

Granted, this movie had its share of moments, but it's still more dependent in the comedy spectrum which is a bit misleading in its billing as an action comedy and the humor might be easier to decipher if you were from the land of the Celtics. "Intermission" helmsman Ian Fitzgibbon exhibits "Perrier's Bounty" is an overall letdown as it merely touches the pinnacles of comedy that "Intermission" displayed in spite of a very pedestrian plot. Cillian Murphy stars as a young bloke who's in a financial predicament as he owes 1000 smackers to a local hoodlum. After several attempts in earning the dough, his neighbor unintentionally murders one of the hoodlum's accomplices. This puts Michael, his neighbor and his father (Jim Broadbent)in a deeper hole as they are now on the run. Sure it sounds like a crime caper with a touch of humor, but it's overall a misnomer. It's just a standard comedy as Perrier (played by Brendan Gleeson)has a few minutes of screen time and his presence is seen during the dying hours of the film. The centerpiece of the film is on the failed relationship between Michael and his father. Some of the humor is quite hilarious, but most of them are staler than age-old bread. It starts to fizzle in the middle, but recovers in the conclusion when the hoodlums become the center of attention. The acting was very impressive overall, though Jim Broadbent's accent was a bit hard to decipher at times. The main scene stealer is Cillian Murphy who really shows his comical talent and Michael was the funniest of the zany bunch. Not a terrible film by far, but just lacks the qualitative humor that "Intermission" possesses. And knowing the ensemble of talented Irish performers, this movie should have been 10x better.

Cillian Murphy owes money to Perrier a crime lord and has hours to pay him back. Wandering around through Dublin he tries to get the money, deal with a girl, his dying father and other crazies crossing his path. Amusing but just misses being great romp wanders through the territory of Tarantino and Guy Richie to often occasional funny results. Its well made and well done but there is something about it that made me wish it were trying less hard. What bothered me about the film is that there is so much the film gets right that when it fails to come together you're rather disappointed. I liked it more than I should. Worth a look but wait for a rental or cable, full movie price is too much

This is not a movie to be taken too seriously, but if you are looking a good, lighthearted mix of drama, action and ironic comedy, this is a fantastic choice. I've not researched all of those who were involved in each movie, but the feel is very similar to In Bruges with Colin Farrell (which I highly recommend - especially if you've ever been to Bruges), maybe because the great Brendan Gleeson is in both... The settings, from the bar, to the bad guys' headquarters are great and, in addition to Brendan, the cast does a great job with what they are given. I had not seen much of Jodie Whittaker's work before this, but I will be looking forward to more from here for sure. I did read another review that mentioned the fact that some of the characters were not fully developed and, while it may have been a constraint of budget, having more background on Jodie's character would have made you despise her boyfriend more and cheer for her and the protagonist in this case. Nevertheless - nine stars.