Garage (2007)

A tragicomedy set in the world of gas stations in rural Ireland, where over-diligent employee of the garage searches for intimacy during the course of a life-changing summer.

Director:

Lenny Abrahamson

Writer:

Mark O'Halloran

Stars:

Pat Shortt, John Keogh, George Costigan

12 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pat Shortt	...	Josie
John Keogh	...	Mr. Gallagher
George Costigan	...	Dan
Anne-Marie Duff	...	Carmel
Conor Ryan	...	David
Anne Byrne	...	Vivienne
Gary Lilburn	...	Val
Brian Doherty	...	Bon
Don Wycherley	...	Breffni
Andrew Bennett	...	Sully
Tommy Fitzgerald	...	Declan
Suzy Lawlor	...	Louise
Fiona Kelly	...	Woman at Pumps
Tom Hickey	...	Mr. Skerrit
Una Kavanagh	...	Pauline

Storyline

Tragi-comedy from the margins of contemporary Irish life. Regarded by his neighbors as a harmless misfit, eliciting idle kindness, benign tolerance and occasional abuse, Josie has spent all his adult life as the caretaker of a crumbling petrol station on the outskirts of a small town in the mid-west of Ireland. He is limited, lonely, yet relentlessly optimistic and, in his own peculiar way, happy. But then over the course of a summer, Josie's world shifts. A teenager, David, comes to work with him. David likes him. They open up to each other and suddenly the lonely adult is drinking cans down at the railway tracks with the local kids. He is awakened to needs in himself that have never been met. And Carmel, from the local shop, who has always been kind to him, stirs feelings within him that he struggles to name. And then one thoughtless moment unravels the threads of faltering friendship. Events spiral. Josie's life is changed, forever.

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Plot Keywords:

ireland | friendship | small town | misfit | teenager | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

MK2 [France] Official site

Country:

Ireland

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 October 2007 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

Garaje

Filming Locations:

Dublin, Ireland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Element Pictures, Broadcasting Commission of Ireland, Bórd Scannán na hÉireann

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min 85 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The reason why this film received the highest UK cinema rating - 18 - is entirely due to the close-up of the porn video that Josie receives from a van driver.

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Goofs

In one of the scenes where Josie feeds the horse, the reflection of something (likely a car windscreen) is visible through the trees, in the direction from which Josie came down the lane.

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Connections

Features The Affair (2006)

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Soundtracks

Ride On
written by Jimmy MacCarthy
published by Universal Music Publishing Ltd.
background music in the pub

User Reviews

This movie was amazing!

This movie is visually stunning in design, almost like a moving painting. Pat Shortt who plays Josie, is just absolutely brilliant! His sense of purity and sincerity is consistently communicated. I have not been able to stop talking about the film since I watched it, and NEED to watch it again.

A quick comment on it's pacing. For me, a movie doesn't have to continually stimulate me to keep my attention. If the characters are riveting and the story movies at it's OWN pace, and not with my expectations, that's the whole goal. We are so commercialized with our expectations when it comes to movies, we've forgotten to just go along with it. Garage is a movie you just go along with. The Josie character is so sweet and pure, it's difficult not to have him affect you.

There are several topics I could bring up with regards to this movie, but one that stands out. How difficult it really must be for someone challenged. This movie is a microscopic look into this world. We talk about how alone we are in the world. But imagine having a disability in the process. This movie paints one perspective of what I would imagine it's like.

The overwhelming thing I noticed, was no one was helpful to Josie. As a human being, this disturbed me greatly! This movie shows perfectly, how amazing the world would be, if we just made a little effort, to help one another. Such little effort, to make such a big impact.

For someone to not understand and feel what Josie is going through, only supports the apathy that has seeded itself in our current lifestyles, and society as a whole to date.

RL