Dublin Oldschool

"YA SHOULD FEEL GUILT. YA SHOULD OWN IT! WEAR IT! WRAP YOURSELF UP IN THAT SHIT!" 

That sounds like a painful bit of dialogue doesn't it. Something you'd hear shouted across Albert Square in an episode of Eastenders. You'd be right to think that but in the hands of a committed performance it becomes a line so sharp it would nearly cut you and it feels right at home in Dublin Oldschool.

It's the start of a bank holiday weekend and there's a buzz in the air. Jason is a wannabe DJ in Dublin and is arranging a serious session for the days ahead. Just as things are about to kick off he runs into his estranged brother Danno who's heroin use has left him homeless and ragged. As if that wasn't enough to deal with he also encounters Gemma, a woman on her way out of his life. And to add insult to injury he's just lost his bleedin' phone too.

I really liked this film. It's a funny, upsetting, compelling and in places stunning story about not wanting to let go of your youth and about being afraid to grow up, something the vast majority of people can identify with. How drowning yourself in drink and drugs can help mask the suffering that come from just being alive. It's about how family ties can withstand enormous strain and how in the end, family really matters. It's a painfully genuine mix of pathos, piss and petrol with a load of house music and ketamine thrown in on top and even a quote from the Treasure Of The Sierra Madre in there for good measure.

Like the best Irish films it grabs you and shakes every type of emotion out of you. You'll laugh at zonked DJ's doing a bit of impromptu dry walling at 4am. You'll cry at an alleyway argument that goes from zero to 90 in seconds. You'll feel guilt when onscreen occurrences remind you of similar scenes in your own life and eventually you'll feel exhilarated when the music kicks in. Most crucially you'll care about the characters on screen. I dunno, maybe it it's because they speak in accents we hear everyday or walk around in places we recognise but I was pulling for these characters to clean themselves up, to be safe, to be happy, to survive until the end credits. Kudos to writers Dave Tynan and Emmett Kirwan here adapting their own play into film, they don't bring the story the way you expect it to go. Characters aren't given easy ways out, things aren't tied up neatly. Just like life.

Emmett Kirwan is excellent in the lead role of Jason. A man trying and failing to stay young, resorting to drug abuse to mask the pain that shows clear behind his eyes and overlooking his own hypocrisy when it comes to how he sees his brother Danno. Danno is played by Ian Lloyd Anderson. He has really committed to the part looking drawn and drained and absolutely convincing as a man looking to reconnect with humanity. Their scenes together just feel real. The way brothers can laugh together one moment and be vicious towards each other the next. Seána Kerslake who was so good in last year's A Date For Mad Mary rounds out the cast as Gemma, Jason's ex. You'll feel the pain in their scenes together, the sense of loss and what could have been being palpable. Seána's expressive face saying things words could never say. Three superb performances from three actors who deserve to hit it big.

This is out on Friday the 29th. Go see it if it hits a cinema near you. It's an excellently acted tale that will hit home for a lot of people. It gives us a look at a side of Irish life that isn't talked about much. It shows us the parts of Dublin we walk by with our eyes averted. It's a film that will make you feel and that's a rare thing these days.