The Garage, the Irish movie that has taken the country by storm winning a blaze of awards at the Irish Film and Television Awards held last week had its debut at the Waterford Film Society last Sunday. Thoroughly enjoyable, there were moments of sadness and joy in what was an unusual role for comedian pat Shortt.
If it was shown in West Los Angeles he could be in the running for an Oscar, maybe next year.
The fairly small and limited number of locations did not take the good out of this film, which was the story of small town Ireland and a traditional old style garage run by a happy go lucky creature working for a local business man.
The latter in turn does a favour for a friend and hires her son as a help when the garage is kept open later in the summer months to cater for visitors and more traffic in this scenic area near a midlands lake.
The main character has a happy air about him, living the bachelor life, doing his work and enjoying his few pints in the evening.
The bar scenes portray some of the more unhappy people in the village, who make fun of his simplicity and feel he is been taken advantage of in his work. But nevertheless Josie does not let it bother him.
But teenage drinkers become a problem for him, as he makes friend with new teenage employee David and gets to know how bored teenagers pass their time.
A regular drops him in a present and it is from this that the seeds of destruction begin as Josie tries to share his entertainment gift with him. David’s mother finds out and what was innocent gets serious and the Gardai are called.
It had been a rather fun film of this and a good portrayal of current life in Midlands rural Ireland, close to the peat bogs. Life had not been too altered by the Celtic Tiger.
Josie was a sympathetic character, but lacked some mentoring. The garage owner could have shown more interest in the circumstances and could be the subject of much debate in after film discussions.
Lenny Abrahamson was a brilliant director and Pat Short played this more serious role well. His knowledge of rural life in Tipperary came to great use.
It is certainly different to the telly or Kilnaskully and is a must see for fans of this comedian, who is now showing even more talent.
