Despite
their titles, the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister of Northern
Ireland, UK have equal executive powers. It is all very fair & square and even-steven.
It almost sounds ridiculous, but it sure beats shootings and bombings. Before the
bitter rivals Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness could assume their historic
power-sharing offices, they would have to agree to end the violence and start
trusting each other. Their eventual meeting of the minds inspired Nick Hamm’s
(mostly) fictionalized The Journey (trailer here), which opens this
Friday in New York.
Obviously,
an agreement was hashed out at St. Andrews that both sides would abide by.
Frankly, if The Journey were about a
peace-summit negotiator opting for bloodshed over peace it probably would have
been called “Arafat at Taba” instead. Ian Paisley was the Democratic Unionist
Party Nixon going to China, whereas McGuinness was the first to admit he was a
more palatable public face of Sinn Féin than the radioactive Gerry Adams, but at
this point in the negotiations, they were still rather standoffish towards each
other.
Facing
a potential deadlock, MI-5 ever so logically decides a long car ride will be
just the thing to improve their dispositions. Opportunity presents itself when
Paisley asks for one day’s leave to attend his 50th wedding
anniversary party. McGuinness is willing to oblige, but he invites himself along
for the ride. All the while Tony Blair and fictional (or is he?) MI-5 Northern
Ireland specialist Harry Patterson monitor their discussions through the dash
cam, relying instructions to the twelve-year-old looking livery driver, who is
actually Patterson’s plant. The clock is ticking, because Paisley’s private
flight has a narrow to beat an approaching storm.
Throughout
the film, Hamm and screenwriter Colin Bateman consistently portray McGuinness
as the more reasonable and willing to compromise of the two, whereas Paisley
(whose DUP party is currently propping up Theresa May) is the more formidable, in
a righteous Old Testament sort of way. Despite these biases, it is a pleasure
to watch two old pros like Colm Meaney and Timothy Spall play off each other. They
clearly relish the opportunity to spar together, but, unfortunately, Bateman is
no Peter Morgan. For the most part, his dialogue is rather workaday and/or on
the nose, except for the incisively written scene in which McGuinness sort
of-kind of acknowledges his past complicity for supporting horrific acts of
terror.
Of
course, it is treat to watch the late Sir John Hurt liven up the proceedings
with his crafty, charismatic presence. As usual, he is slyly understated as the
MI-5 spook for peace. It should also be noted Ian Beattie is an eerie
dead-ringer for Gerry Adams (seriously, has anyone ever seen them together in
the same room?), whereas Toby Stephens does not look the slightest bit like
Tony Blair, but it hardly matters, since he mostly just watches the dash cam
and frets about.
