Kerry Condon

F1: The Movie

25/06/25

Cineworld, Edinburgh

Capturing the appeal of Formula 1 in a feature film has eluded directors since the 1950s. This Apple production, helmed by Joseph Kosinski, has had a fairly troubled journey to its cinematic release and arrives boasting a rumoured production budget in the region of 300 million dollars – which Groucho Marx would doubtless have dubbed ‘one hell of a region.’ As somebody who cares not one jot for Formula 1, I had expected not to like this quite as much as I do. But Kosinski, pretty much as he did in Top Gun: Maverick, straps the viewer into the driving seat and stamps a virtual foot down hard on the accelerator. For the most part, it works.

Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) is a former F1 driver, who, after a near-fatal crash back in his youth, has lowered his sights somewhat. When we first meet him, he’s gleefully driving a jalopy around a less sophisticated track but he’s clearly learned much over the years and is easily picking up some decent prizes. Out of the blue, he’s approached by his old racing partner, Ruben (Javier Bardem), who offers him second seat on the APXGP Formula 1 team, he now runs, which is currently going through a bad patch. Ruben thinks that Sonny’s vast experience may be just the thing to help his team up the scoreboard.

Sonny is initially reluctant to return to the fray, but eventually the offer of a first class plane ticket to London lures him to Silverstone. He’s immediately met with derision by the team’s young lead driver, Joshua (Damson Idris), and with reluctant interest by the team’s resident car designer, Kate (Kerry Condon). But it’s clear that over the ensuing season of high-stakes racing, Sonny’s relaxed and easygoing attitude is eventually going to win over all opposition…

With a running time of more than two and a half hours, F1: the Movie is probably going to find the bulk of its audience on streaming, but there’s no denying how handsome the film looks with cars thundering around the track to the raunchy backing of classic cuts from the likes of Led Zeppelin and Queen. One of the producers is Lewis Hamilton (who even I’ve heard of) and it’s clear that there are cameos scattered throughout proceedings from people I think I’m supposed to recognise. There’s also a little too much here for a rube like me about the various tricks of the trade that Sonny uses to clip seconds off each circuit. Characters debate the advantages of hard tyres versus soft tyres and various additional doo-hingies, leaving me none the wiser, but I’ve no doubt that fans of the sport will be nodding along in approval.

Pitt makes a great job of the lead role, giving us a character who’s driven by his inner demons but nonetheless remains eminently likeable. While his younger teammates are half killing themselves with their exercise regimes, he seems happy to throw a tennis ball around and head out for a leisurely jog. Condon is terrific as the straight-talking Kate, a perfect foil for Hayes’ cynical, hard-bitten one-liners. But I would like to see the excellent Kim Bodnia given more to do as the team’s principal, Kaspar, than just sit around, frowning furiously at a console.

Everything builds to a final showdown at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, with the very future of the team hanging in the balance. Do they seriously think they’ve a chance of winning?

This makes for decent entertainment; indeed, one sequence, depicting a terrifying crash, actually has me gasping out loud. Aficionados will doubtless have different, more informed criticisms of the film, but for me, this is an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours. Whether F1 will ever earn back that prodigious production budget remains to be seen.

3.8 stars

Philip Caveney

In the Land of Saints and Sinners

07/04/24

Netflix

In recent years, Liam Neeson’s film output seems to have evolved into a series of geri-action brawls, so In the Land of Saints and Sinners comes as something of a breath of fresh air. Not that it doesn’t feature plenty of action – it does. But it’s also a deceptively gentle, almost pastoral, sort of film that has the good sense to show us enough about its many characters to make us care what happens to them.

Written by Mark Michael McNally and Terry Loane, the story takes place largely in the tranquil setting of Glencomcille, County Donegal. It’s 1976 and Finbar Murphy (Neeson) is a pillar of the community, kind, gentle and always ready to help anyone in trouble. He’s best friends with the local garda officer Vinnie (Ciarán Hinds) and enjoys a chaste but tender relationship with his neighbour, Rita (Niamh Cusack). But like many freelancers, Finbar has hidden depths.

Since the death of his wife, he’s worked for local crime kingpin, Robert McQue (Colm Meaney), helping to rid him of his enemies by taking them to a tranquil nook, despatching them with his trusty shotgun and burying them deep. He always plants a tree to commemorate each shooting and there are a lot of saplings in evidence.

But his latest victim (another contract killer)’s final words strike a chord with Finbar and make him think wistfully about abandoning this lucrative sideline and doing something less stressful. He asks McQue to pass on his cleaning-up duties to eager young hotshot, Kevin (Jack Gleeson), and McQue reluctantly agrees. But it isn’t long before the actions of nasty piece of work, Curtis June (Desmond Eastwood), recall Finbar to his former endeavours. Curtis is the brother of Doireann (Kerry Condon), a member of the provisional IRA, who, with two other members of her unit, is currently hiding out in in Glencomcille after fleeing a bombing incident in Belfast. Doireann is a force to be reckoned with and it’s clear that the tranquility of this sleepy suburb is soon to be rudely interrupted…

Though the ever-present threat of violence does inevitably build to a bloody conclusion, what really works for the film are the moments that lead up to it. Neeson is great here, as a kind, caring and avuncular character, always ready to do what has to be done when the situation demands it. He’s surrounded by the cream of Irish talent, not least Condon (a recent Oscar-winner, lest we forget, for The Banshees of Inisherin), who imbues Doireann with a fierce and unrelenting determination to destroy anyone reckless enough to stand in her way. Gleeson’s Kevin is also a revelation, a kid who’s never been treated kindly and who nurtures a hopeless ambition to go to California where, he’s been told, peace and love are currently in the air. Mind you, all the characters in this drama have the resonance of real people and that’s one of the elements that makes it work so effectively.

Director Robert Lorenz uses the majestic landscape of Donegal to the film’s advantage, counterpointing scenes of stark violence with the beauty and serenity of nature. It all makes for something far more nuanced than I’d normally expect to find in this genre – and ensures that the tragedy of its brutal conclusion is all the more affecting.

4.2 stars

Philip Caveney

Night Swim

07/01/24

Cineworld, Edinburgh

As regular cinema-goers, we’ve experienced quite a few haunted locations over the years: haunted cabins, haunted mansions, haunted theatres. But a haunted swimming pool? I think that’s a first. And yes, I can guess what you’re thinking. A haunted swimming pool – how scary is that going to be?

So it’s to writer/director Bryce McGuire’s credit that Night Swim is genuinely unsettling. (Note of caution: if being immersed in water makes you nervous, this film may not be for you).

The swimming pool in question comes included in the knock-down price of the new property purchased by former baseball star, Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell), and his wife, Eve (Kerry Condon). Their kids, Izzy (Amélie Hoeferie) and Elliot (Gavin Warren), are understandably thrilled, mostly because – unlike me – they haven’t watched the film’s opening sequence, which depicts what happened to the little girl who lived there before…

Ray is in the early stages of a degenerative illness and struggling with the thought of not being able to play his beloved sport any more, but a doctor has assured him that swimming is the ideal exercise for him. So having the pool there is a good thing, right? Soon, Ray discovers that his regular swim sessions do appear to be improving his health, so he’s keen to dive in at every opportunity. But we know, don’t we, that in stories like this, apparent good fortune generally comes with a hefty price tag? And the two kids are starting to experience unpleasant things down in those shadowy depths.

Somehow, Night Swim never feels repetitive – and, unlike those films that beggar your belief (no way would they ever dive back in there!) – there are always convincing reasons for the major players to re-immerse themselves. What’s more, these are not the kind of 2D characters that so often inhabit films in this genre. They are well-rounded, likeable people, who we actually care about. The ghostly goings-on are at first just glimpsed or suggested, observing the rule that what we don’t quite see is so much scarier than splatter laid on with a trowel. And yes, there are expertly handled jump scares – though I’m not sure the shuddering, swooping 4DX seats at the screening we attend add very much to the experience.

This is a superior fright flick in almost every respect. Even the eventual explanation for what’s happening in the Wallers’ pool carries water (sorry). Advance reviews suggested that this film was lacklustre but for me, Night Swim keeps delivering the chills right up to its watery conclusion, without ever jumping the shark.

Hey, now there’s an idea. A haunted shark in a swimming pool! Hollywood, give me a call. I’m always open to offers. Meanwhile, Night Swim is a tight little chiller that keeps me hooked. Come on in, the water’s er… unpredictable.

4 stars

Philip Caveney

The Banshees of Insisherin

25/10/22

Cineworld, Edinburgh

Last week, I finally managed to catch up with Martin McDonagh’s debut play, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, at the Traverse Theatre – and now here’s his latest cinematic offering, which itself started life as a play, the projected third piece in his Aran Islands trilogy. For various reasons, McDonagh wasn’t happy with it in its original form, so it was never released. He should be delighted, however, with the critical reception for The Banshees of Inisherin, where important voices have been talking about potential Oscar nominations.

It’s 1923 and the titular island is a remote and inaccessible place. Across the water on the mainland, a civil war is raging and, even from a distance, the sound and fury can be overheard. But here there’s precious little to occupy the inhabitants, who spend their days trying to grub some kind of living from the soil. Pádraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell) lives with his sister, Siobhan (Kerry Condon), and he’s a man who likes to follow a routine. Every day at 2 pm, it’s his custom to call on his best friend, Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson), and accompany him to the local pub for a couple of pints.

He’s understandably shocked when one day Colm announces that he doesn’t want to be friends with Pádraic anymore. Colm claims that his regular drinking companion is the dullest man on the island and that he wishes to devote the rest of his life to writing his music. Pádraic is never to speak a word to him again – and, if he does, there will be terrible consequences…

Pádraic is hit for six by this announcement and haplessly tries to rescue the situation – but he has no idea how far Colm is prepared to go in order that his edict is followed.

Banshee’s theatrical origins are evident from the opening scenes and it’s clear that here is a piece that could work very effectively on stage, though the beautiful rural settings do help to open the story up to wider horizons. McDonagh’s ear for absurdist black humour has rarely been better and the plot, which sounds slight on paper, is filled with fascinating nuance. McDonagh has plenty to say about the insular psyche of island communities, an unforgiving world where everyone knows everyone else’s business and is happy to discuss it in public. Both Farrell and Gleeson make the most of their acting reunion, fourteen years after In Bruges, though I would suspect Farrell’s performance as the vulnerable Pádraic is the most Oscar-worthy of the two. Both Condon and Barry Keoghan (as, respectively, Siobhan and the tragic Dominic) may be worthy of ‘best supporting’ nods.

The Banshees of Inisherin is a beautifully observed contemplation of the thankless futility of human existence. Colm is stubborn and self-aggrandising, locked in hopeless dreams of being remembered after his death. Pádraic, meanwhile, is incapable of dealing with anything that compromises his preferred schedule.

Only Siobhan has the courage to change her life, but even that simple act – it turns out – has dark consequences.

4.6 Stars

Philip Caveney