A film with laughs in it

Just when I had given up all hope of catching a genuinely funny film before the long dark of winter officially settles in, a humble little movie by a pair of Irishmen has filled the comedic void left in the wake of the summertime schlock.

The movie - A Film with Me in It, probably the worst title of the year - follows Pierce (Dylan Moran from Shaun of the Dead) and Mark (Mark Doherty, who also wrote the screenplay) as the latter, an out-of-work actor behind on the rent and on the outs with his girlfriend Sally (Amy Huberman), struggles to cling to the few remaining aspects of comfort and normalcy in his bleak, beleaguered life. Pierce, an aspiring screenwriter and depressive alcoholic with a gambling problem, is Mark's only friend, a dead weight in his cohort's life, seemingly incapable of amounting to anything.

The film really takes off when Mark's dog, girlfriend, brother and landlord all die violent, accidental deaths in his flat in the space of a single afternoon. He summons his pal to help face the horrific situation, and the pair struggles to concoct a plan to avoid the life sentence that looms, due to the supreme unlikelihood of the scene appearing as anything other than foul play to the police.

Unlike Cold Souls, another black comedy currently playing in the city, the ostensibly depressing circumstances that surround the principles' lives have a convincing reality, infused with a steady stream of spot-on comedic performances and material. The tragic events are all in good fun, and the characters' seemingly futile attempts to shrug off bad luck and bad times are seasoned with implicit hope in their eventual success. It's a feel-good black comedy, death and chaos notwithstanding.

Director Ian Fitzgibbon is an unknown entity, but if this efficient, hilarious and deeply human film is a reflection of his skills, then he's got plenty. And Doherty's script would distinguish him as a writer even if his performance didn't mark him as a first-rate straight man. His deadpan delivery works well, and he pulls off his character with a flourish of professionalism, never allowing viewers to detect even a hint of insincerity behind his mask of supposed humorlessness. Moran will be more recognizable to audiences, but his international renown, limited as it is, doesn't accurately reflect his talent.

Doherty, both as a writer and in character, is a confirmed cineaste, and film references are tossed off throughout this movie's all-too-brief 89 minutes. Pierce describes his evolving script as "Fargo with a bit of Dog Day Afternoon," and urges Mark to man-up and earn his shallow girlfriend's affection by telling him, "You gotta be Errol Flynn, Tom Selleck, Tarzan... or just a man."

Without giving too much away, the eventual solution to their dilemma lands the pair on a film set where Pierce describes his astonishment at learning how truly vapid the famous stars are that he's managed to meet since joining the industry. He describes the typical big-time celebrity actor as "like a child, without the good bits." The inverse is true of Moran and Doherty: They're just like other, more famous comedians we've seen, only without the bad bits.

James Walling can be reached at
jwalling@praguepost.com