Dark comedy is not a genre that was made for me. Though there are many exceptions to the rule, the comedies I most enjoy star actors such as Will Ferrell (Old School, The Campaign, Step Brothers, The Other Guys), Adam Sandler (Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Waterboy), Jason Segel (I Love You, Man, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Five-Year Engagement, Sex Tape, or Ed Helms (The Hangover, We’re the Millers, Vacation). Some of my other favorite comedies are There’s Something About Mary, all three of The original-cast American Pie films, Meet the Parents, Daddy’s Home, Get Him to the Greek, Hall Pass, The Internship, and Long Shot. Some comedies I greatly liked from my adolescence include Uncle Buck, Parenthood, Father of the Bride, Three Amigos, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, The Money Pit, and A League of Their Own.
Those movies made me laugh. Dark comedies such as the movies I referenced in the first paragraph of my review of The Menu (a dark comedy I ironically enjoyed) I typically don’t find funny and don’t enjoy. Martin McDonagh’s (Seven Psychopaths, In Bruges) The Banshees of Inisherin is a dark comedy many will enjoy. However, I did not. Hopefully, this first paragraph sheds a little light on how I did not enjoy this film that has landed on many people’s end-of-year Top 10 lists and a movie that will likely earn multiple Academy Award nominations.
The bright spots of the movie were the acting. Gleeson and Farrell have natural chemistry between them. Farrell, in particular, was outstanding. His role as the friend who “got dumped” and is frantically trying to figure out what he has done and what he can do to make amends may have been his best performance to date and one that will likely earn him his long-overdue first Oscar nomination. Gleeson’s Colm plays the perfect foil. He doesn’t offer much of a reason for not wanting to be friends with Pádraic before finally relenting after nauseating persistence that he finds him to be too dull.
Padraic is hell-bent on doing whatever it takes to mend fences with Colm, frantically enlisting help from his sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Bad Samaritan) and even a local man named Dominic (Barry Keoghan – The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Dunkirk). Despite his efforts, Colm insists he is done with Padraic. When Padraic continues to pester him, Colm issues an ultimatum. He tells Padraic that if he doesn’t leave him alone, Colm will cut off his own fingers and deliver them to Padraic. And…this is where the movie fell off the rails for me.
The other part of the film that I enjoyed was its setting. It takes place on Inisherin, an island off the coast of Ireland. The beautiful landscape felt peaceful, starkly contrasting the 1923 Irish Civil War, which was taking place on the country’s mainland.
There is an audience that will love this movie. A good dark comedy will often earn considerable money at the box office and strike an accord with critics. The Banshees of Inisherin have accomplished each of these feats. Those who enjoy McDonagh’s other films (In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,, In Bruges) will undoubtedly like this film. I’ve seen all three of McDonagh’s previous films. I did like Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri quite a bit (if it felt very much like Fargo). The other two were misses for me. With that said, I didn’t hate The Banshees of Inisherin. However, it didn’t resonate with me as it has done with so many others. It’s not a movie that I will revisit, nor will it be one that will leave any lasting impression.
Plot 7/10
Character Development 7/10
Character Chemistry 8/10
Acting 9/10
Screenplay 5/10
Directing 6/10
Cinematography 9/10
Sound 6/10
Hook and Reel 5/10
Universal Relevance 5/10
67%
Movies You Might Like If You Liked This Movie
- The Lobster
- The Nice Guys
- The Guard
- The Big Lebowski
- In Bruges