What Richard Did

Great elements, good film
This film seems to confirm and amplify Abrahamson's (Adam & Paul, Garage) considerable strengths as a film-maker, and,
to a lesser extent his frustrating weaknesses.

On the plus side, he is great with his actors, both in who he casts and what he gets out of them. His characters always feel
complex and real. He also sets up very convincing, morally ambiguous worlds, situations and people. No easy heroes and
villains.

But he also has a tendency to be drawn to melodramatic twists, and those actually make his films less interesting, not more,
as it feels like he's trying to force the emotional issues.

In many ways my favorite part of the film was the first 45 minutes before the central incident. Abrahamson excells at observing
and capturing the complexities of late teen-age life with subtlety and a fresh eye. These aren't the desperate angry street kids
of poverty, nor are they the morally bankrupt idiots we often see...

A Hero dies but once, the coward a thousand times.
This is a film from Ireland that introduces us to Richard Karlsen (Jack Reynor) who is the lad who has it all. Good at sport, all the girls fancy him, his parents are cool and he is even intelligent. The sort of guy that made you green with envy at school. He also has a girlfriend in Lara (Roisin Murphy) and his parents are so rich they have a holiday home. Unfortunately it is on the beach outside Dublin, so no need for the Factor 30 here but possible need for `wind smear', `drizzle cream' or `gloom juice'.

He has loads of mates who of course all look up to him, and the youngsters all want to bathe in the glow of his reflected love and glory. Then things take a turn for the sinister, when jealousy rears its' ugly head at one the `cool `parties things go very wrong, very quick. What follows will strip away the social veneers of a life of privilege and show him up for what he truly is.

Now I actually enjoyed this independent effort but there are a few issues with...

Terrific film...
Wonderful pace, slowly builds to a powerful story. Terrific acting, great script, perfect music -- just wonderfully made. Kudos to the director.

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