The Last Right

Rule of thumb. Never remove your earphones when you are on public transport. Just don't do it. Even when someone is trying to talk to you and they do that annoying hand signal for you to listen to them. Don't be afraid to be rude. Don't worry if you appear ignorant. DO NOT REMOVE YOUR EARPHONES. Because if you do you never know what will happen next. It might just involve lube, stolen coffins and international incidents.

Daniel Murphy (Michiel Huisman) is coming home. New York City to Clonakilty, Cork. His mother has just died and the funeral is soon. The elderly man beside him on the plane is a Murphy too. Not the biggest coincidence in the world on a Cork bound flight but a moment of human connection sees Daniel mistaken as the next of kin when his flying neighbour passes away midair. Now Daniel has to deal with his mother's burial, driving the body of a man he knew for less than 8 hours across Ireland, his own autistic brother Louis (Samuel Bottomley), the lovely Mary Sullivan (Niamh Algar) who's along for the ride with her own agenda and a whole dose of deep dark secrets.

The Last Right is a nice, low key charmer of a movie. It's a funny, touching, silly and splendidly Irish watch. Yeah it's predictable as hell and yeah it's a touch too long and finishes about 15 minutes later than it should have but when you have something this warm and fuzzy to enjoy such things don't really matter. It feels like a throwback to simpler Irish cinema, the stuff we used to get embarrassed about but now look back on with nostalgia. Dopey gardai, gombeen officials, vicious nordies, salt of the earth culchies, lovely looking chips, priests who were actually decent. It's all here.

One thing that isn't a throwback thankfully is the film's depiction of autism. Louis is a complex individual and the film respects that. Rain Man gets a namecheck but there's no autism related deus ex machinas here. Just a boy coping his best with a condition that makes certain aspects of daily life unbearable for him while the people around him try their best to learn and adapt for him. It's here The Last Right does what Irish films do best. Their wondrous ability to make you laugh while punching you in the heart. His bluntness is startlingly funny in places but his pain really hurts. As such Samuel Bottomley steals all the limelight throughout and even better, he pulls off a pitch perfect Irish accent. Kudos.

Michiel Huisman as a decent lead, selfish, self pitying, broken by the past, all conveyed well and Niamh Algar, while veering dangerously close to the manic pixie dream girl territory in early scenes solidifies her role later on with a bedtime confession that feels cruelly true to life. The chemistry between them works nicely and carries the film through it's sillier moments, including a crime subplot that appears and disappears without any impact. That subplot drives Colm Meaney's story along. Always an actor who could make a little from a lot, he's on form here and uses his grouchy mush to fine effect. I'd love to see him back in the lead of an Irish film. It's been way too long.

The Last Right is a nice easy watch. It will make you smile, give you a laugh or three and it might even make you cry. In cinemas now.