Rory O'Shea Was Here
Directed: Damien O'Donnell
Written by: Jeffrey Caine
Starring: James McAvoy, Steve Robertson, Romola Garai, Gerald McSorley, Brenda Fricker.
Country: Ireland

Three Wheelchairs

Reviewed by Hal Gray

Bring the Hankies.

When all your budget, or time, will allow is one newly released flick a week, you have to make some judicious choices. First you start with a list of the releases, read the reviews and puff pieces in the Friday papers; then, after looking at the ads (they lie) and trying to erase the trailers (they lie, too) you've seen from your impulse-buying feverish mind, you pick the right movie. Or not.

After a brief cull of horror schlock and IMAX schlick, this week I was faced with Woody Allen's newest, Melinda and Melinda, the uber-hyped Sin City, and the ‘small' Irish/Brit co-pro Rory O'Shea Was Here.

Whenever I think of Woody, my first reaction always involves a small smile and an image of his nebbish bank robber in Take the Money and Run. But then reality sets in. ‘Money' was over 35 years ago and he's stunk the joint out for the last ten. He gets more desperate each time out. So, despite the lovely and talented Radha Mitchell, Woody got crossed off the list.

Sin City got the most reviews and the biggest raves. Another comic book—adult in nature but a comic book nonetheless—it's touted as ‘brilliant', ‘starkly violent', ‘a technical tour de force' and ‘a perfect replication of Frank Miller's world'. And it's got all those A-list sexy stars. Of all the reviews and supercilious trade articles I read (where else could you read about Jessica Alba's epiphany that she didn't really need to take her clothes off to find the essence of her role), the words ‘story' and ‘character' were mentioned (drum roll) not a single time. So ef-off Sin City.

Rory O'Shea Was Here was made my Working Title Films who in short order have produced Four Weddings and a Funeral, Fargo, Elizabeth and Billy Eliot among others. So they can tell a story and that's what this critic needed to hear.

The Hook: A wheelchair-bound rebel breaks his new-found friend out of his sedentary life in an institution so they can live like ‘normal' people.

The story of overcoming your fears and weaknesses and triumphing in the end is, of course, not new. What is new are variations on the theme where we enter a world we perhaps are not familiar with. The second part of a successful equation is whether the story is honestly told or not. ‘Rory' fits that description.

An Irish ‘One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' set in a drab institution that warehouses the physically infirm, Rory, a difficult but fresh gale of wind sweeps in and sets the place aspin. Extremely unhappy about being put up by the state, he plots his escape. Drawn to him is long-time resident Michael Connolly. Michael's cerebral palsy hasn't affected his ability to think, but his speech is so impaired no one can understand him without his Bliss board. Amazingly, Rory has the knack of understanding Michael.

The bond between them is not that healthy, however. Rory is a man of the world, independent (as much as his atrophying muscles will allow), and a regular pain in the ass. Michael, cloistered for a life-time, is dependent on the system and emotional immature to the extreme. When Rory learns that Michael has a rich father who abandoned him at birth, Rory sees a way out of his predicament. Michael's only too willing to go along after Rory takes him to a pub where real life, i.e., birds in short skirts, is the norm.

So by some blackmail and skullduggery, the boys end up in independent living. It's all very amusing and charming as they find their flat and try to hire in-house help. When they finally find the ‘right' person, a sweet young bird, life couldn't be more than Michael had wished for. Rory should be satisfied and he is on the outside, but there's something Rory knows that the rest of us don't. There's a reason for his manic desire to live. (The fact that the title of the film is in the past tense should give you a hint.)

Of course, Michael falls in love with the girl. And despite himself, Rory is jealous. But deeper than that, he knows Michael is a fool in love and heading for disaster. This love cannot be and will never be reciprocated, but Michael's not willing to see it no matter how much Rory tries to tell him like it is.

This all plays out in a simple way. The power of the tale is that in the end Michael has the choice to let the truth destroy him or to grow up and save the new life he has. And he'll have to do it alone.

‘Rory's' main stumbling block is that there are too many damn tears. Director Damien O'Donnell should have known we'd shed them in the audience with the help.

James McAvoy is delightful as the punk-haired, wise-ass Rory who has a tragic look behind the scornful eyes. Steven Robertson as Michael has a subtle but strong screen presence. He does an amazing job of holding his own for someone who's every word has to be translated. Romola Garai as the in-house aide delivers a strong performance and out-toughs Rory for frankness. These three young actors show a wonderful sensitivity and depth. Brenda Fricker wisely underplays her role as the institute's director. She only sees heartache ahead for Michael and who can say she's wrong? But no matter what the hurt, she's not the future.

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