A Further Gesture (1997)

Director:

Robert Dornhelm

Writers:

Ronan Bennett (screenplay)
Stephen Rea (idea by)

Release Date:

20 February 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

Dowd, who's IRA, escapes an Irish prison in a bloody jailbreak, making his way to New York City where he lives alone...

Plot Keywords:

Restaurant | Jailbreak | Assassination | Friendship | Irish Republican Army

Awards:

1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Mon. Dec. 7

3:30 AM

TMC

Cast

Stephen Rea	...	Sean Dowd
Alfred Molina	...	Tulio
Rosana Pastor	...	Monica
Brendan Gleeson	...	Richard
Jorge Sanz	...	Paco
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Scott
Frankie McCafferty	...	Danny
Sean McGinley	...	Tommy Breen
Paul Ronan	...	Liam
Richard Dormer	...	Joe
Roy Heaybeard	...	Food Lorry Driver
Toby Bradford	...	Charlie
Maria Doyle Kennedy	...	Roisin
Robert Taylor	...	Visiting Room Prison Officer
B.J. Hogg	...	Albert

Also Known As:

Das letzte Attentat (Germany)
The Break (USA)
Un gesto más (Spain)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and some sexuality.

Runtime:

USA:96 min | Argentina:96 min

Country:

UK | Spain | Germany | Ireland | Japan

Language:

English | Irish Gaelic | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | France:U | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Company:

Channel Four Films

Movie Connections:

References "Dr. Kildare" (1961)

Stephen Rea at his intense best

Stephen Rea is at it again, with the IRA I mean, and the beginning prison break scene is non-stop action, which continues for the whole film. The violent breakout with his pal Richard (Brendan Gleesan) leads him to break all ties and land in NYC circa 1996. He gets a job washing dishes and works with Tulio (Alfred Molina), gets involved with his sister Monica (Rosana Pastor), and ends up helping them take out a Guatemalan death squad commander who's funded by the CIA.

Well I have to say this was a refreshing alternative film, a bit of underground New York, a bit of Leftist Latino bent, a bit of the Shamrock. Really I prefer this to the Crying Game. In that we have a real good first sequence with Forest Whittaker, the best actor of the film dies in the beginning, and then it's all anti-climax. Here we get the unique mixing of an Irish-Guatemalan relationship, a sleazy NYC hotel sequence, the Midnight Cowboy type alienation of a man alone in New York, and the great Alfred Molina (We've seen him as an Iranian, a Greek,now a Guatemalan...and he's British to boot.)

So overlook the flaws of the film and enjoy it for what it is. The only real flaws are that some things are disturbingly unexplained: Why was Rea a prisoner to begin with, The Guatemalan Death squad thing in the post-cold war Clinton era, and what was up with that chick in the hotel?! Finally, does Stephen Rea remind you of Bob Geldof in The Wall or what!