I
Went Down
Reviewed
by Leonard Heldreth, October, 1999
Director Paddy Breathnach has
put together a buddy road movie about two dysfunctional amateur criminals
sent on a mission by a crime boss to bring back a third criminal who
allegedly owes him some money. Although the setting is Ireland, the
scenes, characters and climactic episode could have come out of the
Cohn Brothers' Miller's Crossing, and that's a compliment.
Git Hynes (Peter McDonald) and Bunny Kelly (Brendan Gleeson)
are sent by gang leader Tom French (Tony Doyle) to pick up Frank Grogan
(Peter Caffrey). Git owes French compensation for beating up two of
his thugs, and French holds something over Bunny which is revealed
as the story progresses. The two men set off in a stolen car to locate
Grogan, but run into one complication after another as the plot thickens.
The plot, while interesting, hardly justifies watching
the film. The interplay between Git, Bunny, and, to some extent, Frank
is the reason to savor sections of this episodic narrative. Git, fresh
out of prison, has never shot a gun, but keeps finding himself to
be better at fighting and shooting than he had ever imagined. Bunny,
though experienced and cynical, can't pick a lock when someone is
watching, and he's not much of a car thief either. But the two together
manage to make an effective team, and the driv-ing and talking let
them develop a quite interesting relationship. At one point Git is
so infuriated at Bunny that he just turns away and stares out of the
window, refusing to answer, even when Bunny is conciliatory. In another
scene, Frank tells them lie after lie, including his feelings about
sleeping with another mobster's wife, until finally they force him
to shut up because they can't handle any more conflicting stories.
Some of the dialogue is witty and memorable, and the traditional
Irish loquacity is skewered when one of the gangsters says to their
captive, "Don't you ever shut up?" Not really a comedy,
the film has a number of chuckles, including a bit of slapstick when
Git becomes mired in a bog and a hilarious scene involving a television
remote control. The nicely handled ending is a little predictable,
but the violence is distanced and made almost pastoral by the setting.
The photography is lovely, the film being shot on location in Ireland,
and the music, with its combination of Irish music and blues, fits
nicely, however incongruous the combination may sound.
