A delightful Dublin after dark rom-com
Musician Alan (Brian Gleeson) has been stuck in a rut since he quit his banking job. He fills his days at the mindnumbingly boring tourist desk at Dublin Airport alongside, cringe, his mother (Tina Kellegher) while his rockabilly band is contemplating wedding gigs. Things take an unexpected upturn in Standby (15A)
HHHH when Alice (Jessica Paré of Mad Men) appears at his desk desperately seeking a night’s accommodation.
Having enjoyed a summer romance in New York while on a J1 some years ago, Alan does the gentlemanly thing and offers the beauty his bed (he’ll sleep on the couch). The two head downtown to pass the time until her morning flight but because she’s a hot illustrator with a hotter lawyer fiancé, Alan feels compelled to hide his boring life and his longing to rekindle that old spark.
This kind of a romantic comedy needs a few elements to make it work. It needs chemistry between the leads, funny dialogue and, because it’s set over one night, it must avoid being an episodic adventure.
Standby delivers on all fronts. Created by first timers, writer Pierce Ryan and directors Rob and Ronan Burke, the drama skips along at a brisk pace as the leads bounce from bar to street to club and back again; the joke being that there isn’t anything else to do in Ireland after dark.
A wedding scene sparkles, a cycling montage is cute. Gleeson and Paré circle each other cautiously but Ryan’s clever dialogue and the Burkes’ tendency to let their camera rest on their welcoming faces in between one-liners, soon draws out the warmth as the two spend more time together.
Jason Solomons adds: If there was an award for the worst Christmas movie ever, I’d put
money on Nativity 3: Dude,
Where’s My Donkey? (G) H. This scruffy franchise about a plucky primary school began life using the charm of Martin Freeman to drag the movies over the line.
But they couldn’t get him this time, so got Martin Clunes instead. His look of self-loath- ing throughout is, perversely, the only thing worth watching.
Celia Imrie does a decent job with her meagre comic moments as the school’s new head. She has to get rid of the school’s pet donkey and the imbecilic Mr Poppy (Marc Wootton) or face closure.
Catherine Tate plays the girl- friend but she’s hopeless when not doing one of her comic characters. The stage-school brats who play the kids can’t summon a lovable moment between them.
The film’s plot involves Clunes losing his memory, forgetting what Christmas is and trying to get to New York for his own wedding. Director Debbie Isitt likes to improvise her films but this takes doing it on the hoof a trot too far. It could put children off Christmas for life.