The Journey

How they try to make two hard-line ideologists into almost acceptable human forms is a mystery to me, but they do not a bad job of it. The movie works, despite some overly contrived schemes and ruses to fill up the time. In the end the grumpiness of one (and I'll leave it to you to guess who might be the grumpy one) is won over by the deceptive Irish charm of the other, and we get to what is a disarmingly simple solution to decades and decades of blood and tragedy. The main parts are well played by both protagonists and it's a film you can easily get drawn into.

I've read lots of books about iron-willed politicians and the constant theme is a refusal to compromise no matter who dies in the struggle.

This movie gives us hope that direct talk between the big shots can sometimes bring a solution that the underlings can't pull off. It doesn't always bring peace but it does give each side a chance to weigh up the opponent personally.

Thank goodness that fate allowed these guys to agree , otherwise we'd still be seeing explosions and carnage in Northern Ireland.

So strange because EVERY single Irishman I've met in my life ( and I'm part Irish myself) has been a joy to be with.

For the naysayers who don't want Trump to meet with Kim Jong Un or Putin, this film is confirmation that good things can happen on the odd occasion.