Jimmy’s Hall: How to Get Deported from Ireland

The Pearse-Connolly Hall was sort of like a cross between Hull House and Café Society in rural County Leitrim, but with way more ideology. It was founded by Irish Communist organizer James Gralton, who was not about to let a wee little thing like the Ukrainian Famine dampen his enthusiasm for an all-powerful state. He became the only Irishman deported from his homeland, but fortunately he still had his American citizenship from his previous stint in exile. Gralton’s final Irish residency gets hagiographic treatment in Ken Loach’s Jimmy’s Hall (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Throughout his life, Gralton did a considerable amount of Atlantic-hopping, agitating and fighting in the 1920s uprising, only to periodically retreat to New York whenever things got too hot. In 1932, he thought he was returning for good, in order to help his mother run the family farm. Of course, it is only a matter of time before he reopens the torched Pearse-Connolly Hall, which he bills as a community center of sorts. Boxing lessons and art classes are indeed held there, as well as militant organizing sessions. It is enough to send Father Sheridan, the parish priest into full crisis management mode.

Frankly, instead of Jimmy’s Hall, Loach should have called the film The Passion of the Gralton. Like most heroes of propaganda films, Gralton is pretty darn dull, but it is not the fault of lead actor Barry Ward, who brings an earthy, unassuming charisma to the role. Unfortunately, Loach always makes him the calmest, most rational person in every conversation. “That’s an argument for another day” he says evasively, when Father Sheridan challenges him on the Soviet human rights record. Yes, isn’t that always the case? However, there is no time like the present to settle scores with those on Loach’s enemies list, starting with the Catholic Church and the British government.

Far and away, the best sequences in Jimmy’s Hall involve Gralton’s impossible love for his now married old flame Oonagh. Star-crossed romance is tough to beat. Unfortunately, the instructive drama is appallingly stilted. Yet, despite the lengths Loach goes to stack the deck against good Father Sheridan, he cannot overwhelm the twinkle in Jim Norton’s eye. By the second act, most of the audience will be rooting for wily Father and against the Socialist sob sisters. Even more strangely, the film completely wastes the compulsively watchable Andrew Scott (Jim Moriarty in Sherlock and the voice of Tom Hardy’s high strung assistant in Locke) as the younger and hipper Father Seamus.

Loach has made some wonderfully humanistic films, like Looking for Eric and The Angels’ Share that reflect his proletarian sympathies without didactically bashing the audience over the head. Unfortunately, Jimmy’s Hall is not one of them. Aside from Gralton’s stolen moments with Oonagh, it is a rather slow and lecturey experience. Deeply disappointing, Jimmy’s Hall opens this Friday (7/3) in New York, at the Angelika Film Center, just in time for Independence Day.

Ken Loach’s The Angel’s Share

You can always count on distillers for a lyrical turn of phrase.  In their parlance, the vintage whiskey lost in the barrel to evaporation is called the “Angels’ share.”  It is hard to anticipate how much those angels will partake.  This opens the door for an unlikely scheme in Ken Loach’s working class comedy The Angels’ Share (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Robbie has a temper and a pregnant girl friend.  The former almost gets him sent to prison, but the latter helps keep him out.  Sentenced to community service, Robbie falls under the supervision of Harry, an understanding middle-aged volunteer.  Through Harry’s friendship, Robbie discovers he has a nose, if not necessarily a taste for fine malt whiskey.  He also learns of an upcoming auction of one of the rarest vintages ever distilled in Scotland.  With the dubious assistance of three losers from his community service, Robbie intends to nick a bit of the angels’ share.

The widely accessible Share follows in the tradition of Loach’s Looking for Eric.  It is a crowd-pleasing comedy, but it remains faithful to filmmaker’s proletarian aesthetic.  Indeed, Loach takes his time, establishing his characters and their lack of prospects before launching into the caper.  Yet, it is nowhere near as didactic as his socialist social issues dramas, which is a major reason why Share is so much more entertaining.

While looking the part of a troubled young man, Paul Brannigan has genuine screen presence as Robbie.  The audience can sense there is a real fire within him, in both good and bad ways.  John Henshaw is also quite appealingly down-to-earth and humane as Harry.  Veteran character actor Roger Allam (recognizable from Endeavour, The Thick of It, and Parade’s End) adds a welcome splash of roguish sophistication as the mysterious whiskey broker, Thaddeus.  Unfortunately, Robbie’s three co-conspirators largely come across like recycled stock characters from previous Loach films, but even at their most exaggerated, they cannot undermine the film’s charm.

The stakes are considerable and the milieu is rather grim throughout Share.  Yet, it is an enormously satisfying, perfectly titled film.  A “feel good movie” does not adequately describe it.  “Feel giddy” comes closer.  Naturalistic yet uplifting and consistently funny, The Angels’ Share is enthusiastically recommended for general audiences even more than Loach’s usual admirers when it opens this Friday (4/12) in New York at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema.

Loach's Looking for Eric

If Americans were as passionate about soccer (henceforth referred as football) as we are about our “football” and David Beckham had come to Los Angeles at the absolute peak of his game, it would approximate the excitement generated when French football sensation Eric Cantona joined Leeds United. However, it was his time with Manchester United shortly thereafter that cemented Cantona’s reputation, earning him legions of local blue collar fans. One particular fan draws special inspiration from Cantona in Ken Loach’s surprisingly lighthearted Looking for Eric (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Eric Bishop tries to do right by his daughter from his first wife and the two step-sons ex-wife number two left with him, but he is quickly unraveling. Prone to panic attacks, even his mates at the post office start to notice he is in danger of going postal when a nasty looking (but relatively harmless) traffic accident briefly lands him in hospital. While well-intentioned, their new age self-help intervention is not very helpful. Just as Bishop is about to hit rock bottom, he comes face-to-face with his new spirit guide: his idol, Eric Cantona.

Cantona (played by the footballer himself) helps Bishop work through his issues of self-confidence and trust with insight gleaned throughout his storied playing career. Screenwriter Paul Laverty shrewdly revisits illustrative highlights from Cantona’s career whose significance will not be lost on American audiences, while surely bringing back floods of memories for Manchester United fans.

Essentially, Looking roughly approximates the template of Play It Again Sam, but Bishop is a far more down-to-earth protagonist and his problems are much more serious. In fact, Loach frequently shifts the film’s tone, alternating between good-natured comedy with Cantona, wistful romance as Bishop tentatively pursues his first wife, and the grittily realistic drama involving the nihilistic gangster with his hooks in Bishop’s eldest step-son. Yet, his transitions are always fluid and never jarring.

Though many of Loach’s previous films are highly ideological and class conscious, here he displays a welcomed lighter touch, while retaining his affinity for his working class characters. Indeed, as Bishop, Steve Evets creates a memorable portrait of a harried everyman, perfectly balancing pathos and comedy. At least convincing as himself, Cantona also shows flashes of the eccentric charisma that made him a media and fan favorite.

More than just an ode to British football, Looking is an unexpectedly endearing film about the big universals of life, including family, friends, love, and redemption. Easily accessible to a wide American audience, it has the right ingredients to become a hit beyond the typical art-house circuit. It opens in New York this Friday (5/14) at the IFC Center and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas.