The Van (1996)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Stephen Frears

Writers:

Roddy Doyle (novel)
Roddy Doyle (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 May 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

A large portion of life...

Plot:

The third installment of Irish author Roddy Doyle's 'Barrytown Trilogy' depicts the hilarious yet poignant adventures of Bimbo...

Plot Keywords:

Fish | Business | Van | Irish | Friendship

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Colm Meaney	...	Larry
Donal O'Kelly	...	Bimbo
Ger Ryan	...	Maggie
Caroline Rothwell	...	Mary
Neilí Conroy	...	Diane
Rúaidhrí Conroy	...	Kevin
Brendan O'Carroll	...	Weslie
Stuart Dunne	...	Sam
Jack Lynch	...	Cancer
Laurie Morton	...	Maggie's Mum
Marie Mullen	...	Vera
Jon Kenny	...	Gerry McCarthy
Moses Rowen	...	Glenn
Linda McGovern	...	Jessica
Eoin Chaney	...	Wayne

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

UK | Ireland

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-7 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Germany:6 (bw) | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:7 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Ardmore Studios - Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland

Company:

Beacon Communications

Trivia:

This is the third story in Roddy Doyle's "Barrytown Trilogy", following the adventures of the Rabbitte family. However, as 20th Century Fox owned the film rights to the Rabbitte name (from The Commitments), the characters had to be re-named in the subsequent film adaptations (The Snapper, The Van).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The movie is set during World Cup 1990, and on at least two occasions, the radio can be heard promoting 98FM. This station did not use this branding until the mid 1990s; it was called Classic Hits at the time.

Quotes:

Bimbo: Got a bit of bad news today. Knocked me back a bit. I was let go.
Larry: What?
Bimbo: Made redundant.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Ghostbusters II (1989)

Soundtrack:

Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole

Charming concept in search of real characters

The characters drink, bicker, whine, drink more, try to get their act together, bicker, whine, drink, whine...

The writers could have used someone to ask them some tough questions. Why are these characters friends? What are you trying to say about these people? If the answer is "for some people, hard work will never pay off," then pray tell us, why not? Does it have something to do with being Irish? If so, what? If not, then what? The friendship between the protagonists is not adequately developed, and when the friendship hits rough times it is hard to care. They didn't seem to like each other very much to begin with. I began not to like them. I didn't see them as tormented, confused or angry, just disagreeable.

Although I don't demand that all films about the Irish have a gentle Bill Forsyth touch, a little of his character development and motivation would have helped here. The concept is charming, why are the characters so harsh and helpless?