Small Engine Repair (2006) User Reviews

Easing your problems with music & friendship

[jarlath-lavelle · 8/10 · 8 August 2007]

As a regular at all the Dublin film festivals to date I was disappointed to miss this film during this years programme.

The old story of a clash of films on the same night.Now that it has been given a long overdue release in 2 Dublin cinemas I caught up,and I was delighted to have seen it at last.

This film is a little gem,beautifully paced and filmed, great work from cinematographer Tim Fleming.We know it is set in Ireland,but without any large city or town imposing itself,it could be in an rural setting in Europe,the Americas, north and south,or the Antipodes,such was the general ambiance of the setting.As an antidote to mainstream films there was no violence, no CGI stuff, no foul language,it was well written & well acted. With only 6 main characters they managed to tell a story that was timeless.A big gruff-looking,but gentle man copes with his sad life through his music and old friendships

Great little film

[behanj-1 · 9/10 · 27 October 2009]

Small Engine Repair is a great film. It is well acted, written and directed and though I'm not a fan of Country Music, I enjoyed the music throughout the movie especially the ones performed by the main character.

A previous reviewer bemoaned the tameness of the film - "where's the violence".I think that misses the point. For me the confrontation scenes were quite powerful thanks to the great script and acting.

The same reviewer comments that the film tries to emulate American movies of the 70s. I know what they mean and the setting and soundtrack would definitely remind you of them. But I found the tone of the film closer to British kitchen-sink drama.

The only fault I found was the occasional falling in and out of accent by the main actors.

Overall though I really enjoyed this film, not an action-fest or laugh- a-minute, but if you're looking for some good, honest, drama then this will work for you.

patience in persistence, and vice-versa

[vazo555 · 10/10 · 12 July 2012]

I don't know what it was, but within the 1st scene I knew I was gonna like this film. Maybe something just appealed to me from the on-set, who knows... None the less, this is a timely classic; sweet in it's telling, yet frank in telling it straight.

A great cast of characters who pour emotions out of real life and into this story. You do get thrown from side to side with scenes and you end up rooting for different people at different times, as you want the best for the character at that given moment - you feel for each one of them and want to take their side, but when it boils down to it, you want Doug, the gentile moralistic folk singer, to shine with this light which you see in him from the word go.

Whole-heartedly agree with 'jarlath-lavelle's comment. As soon as I watched it on BBC iPlayer I went looking for it to buy! =))

A great film and time well spent watching !

Entertaining shenanigans in remote rural Ireland

[robinakaaly · 30 December 2010]

The best part of this film was the scene behind the credits of a logging machine at work. It was a caterpillar with a long flexible boom. The gubbins at the business end would grab a tree and a chain saw would cut through the trunk near the ground. The gubbins would then rotate the tree to the horizontal, then rollers would draw the trunk through cutters to remove branches. The trunk would also be cut to the required length then the logs would be loaded onto a trailer. All highly efficient, and slightly disturbing.

Near a timber works on the outskirts of a small town, is an engine repair shop, run by boss and a young assistant. Everybody meets in a C&W bar in town where an irresolute friend of the boss is summoning courage to perform his own songs. A friend, recently released from a year in gaol for killing a child in a road accident, then leaving the scene, arrives. They are old friends but old tensions surface amongst this somewhat dysfunctional group. The characters develop sympathetically (even though they are Irish), the strains and tensions of the relationships, including with the women on the sidelines of the group, are effectively played out, and nothing really serious happens. In the end the singer gets discovered, and the young assistant leaves to seek his fortune elsewhere.