Something to celebrate in Patrick’s Day
After the critical mauling dished out to his first feature, an unperturbed Terry McMahon follows up the divisive Charlie Casanova with a gentler offering. Patrick’s Day might still kick and punch like its predecessor but in rooting this difficult drama in romance, the director delivers a more approachable and pleasant film.
Say what you want about his pointed style of storytelling, McMahon is proving to be a filmmaker with a real voice.
Dulled by medication, 26-yearold schizophrenic Patrick (Moe Dunford) is trusted to leave his institution to earn a little cash as a stockroom boy in a Dublin supermarket.
When he loses his mother (Kerry Fox) during their yearly trip into the city to enjoy the Patrick’s Day festivities, Patrick runs into troubled suicidal flight attendant (Catherine Walker) who, tickled by this oddity, puts her suicide plans on hold.
The pair embark on a romance but Patrick’s mother, fearing her son will turn violent, urges a detective (Phillip Jackson) to help her drive the two apart.
McMahon once again picks an interesting premise: are we not all entitled to love? Typical of the writer-director, the answers are just as difficult as the questions.
Yes we are entitled, mental difficulties and all, and love is a beautiful thing, but it is also misdirected and poisonous.
In one terrific scene, Fox pleads with Walker not just to break up with her son but to do so in a fashion that will destroy him: ‘You have to humiliate him.’
McMahon takes a step back from the confrontational directing style of Charlie Casanova and this allows the performances to shine through.
While the always-dependable Kerry Fox delivers another powerful turn, it’s newcomers Dunford and Walker who really throw themselves into their difficult parts.
Hard and unpredictable but also warm and loving, Patrick’s Day whets the appetite – McMahon’s next film will be an exciting prospect.