INTERMISSION

Country: Ireland
Director: John Crowley
Lead Actors: Colin Farrell, Kelly Macdonald, Cillian Murphy, Shirley Henderson, Colm Meaney
Running time: 102 min.
Rating: 18A (Frequent coarse language, sexually suggestive scenes, violence)

Life is what happens in between.

Although it is set in Dublin where it was shot, Intermission covers a lot of territory. The lives of fifty-four characters intertwine and overlap through eleven different stories in this punchy, witty drama that plays with connections between seemingly unrelated people.

Lehiff (Colin Farrell, familiar to Toronto International Film Festival audiences from his appearances in Tigerland and Phone Booth) is an antisocial small-time crook looking to bag a good haul so he can retire to a life of virtue. When he and girlfriend Deirdre (the luminous Kelly Macdonald of Gosford Park and Trainspotting) take an “intermission” from their relationship, they try to prove that they are unaffected by the breakup. Deirdre is willing to court misery to show Lehiff has left her unscathed, while he continues to dream about the big score and the perfect girl.

Their hiatus has repercussions for many besides themselves and sets off a chain of events: John (Cillian Murphy) is torn between his job at the supermarket and Lehiff’s ambitious plans; Deirdre’s sister (Shirley Henderson) is reeling from her own love gone bad; detective Jerry Lynch (Colm Meaney) tears ferociously through Dublin’s underbelly. The stories collide and bounce off each other, the characters ignorant of the cosmic connections between their lives.

One of the film’s great joys is the shared energy of the members of its fine ensemble cast, who shine in well-rounded, well-written roles. Those off-screen provide an equally exciting combination of fresh talent: director John Crowley and writer Mark O’Rowe both come from highly successful careers in the theatre and take to the cinema with great relish.

Crowley’s segue from live theatre to film seems natural given that he has been praised for his visual language and has recently directed such actors as Woody Harrelson and Kyle MacLachlan on the London stage.

O’Rowe, already known for his edgy dialogue and smart, gritty portraits, has written an insightful tapestry shaded with both humour and sorrow. Intermission never pauses.

John Crowley’s film is high on its own briskness, and its glances at Irish backstreet life land it securely in the terrain that was mapped out by Stephen Frears’s “The Snapper” and “The Van.” - Anthony Lane, The New Yorker