Acting, not ideas, brings greatness to 'The Banshees of Inisherin'
Searchlight
The performances are so good and the scenery is so lovely that it’s hard not to wish, and even try to convince yourself, that “The Banshees of Inisherin” is a grand reflection on friendship and the priorities that can turn connection into distance. It’s certainly an offbeat glimpse at big drama in a place where there usually is none.
On the island of Inisherin off the coast of Ireland, Colm (Brendan Gleeson) suddenly informs his longtime best pal Padraic (Colin Farrell) that he doesn’t like him anymore. Simple as that; go away. But Padraic doesn’t want to go away. He doesn’t understand. And he doesn’t have anything better to do, or anything he’d rather do, than swing by Colm’s place and grab a pint and chat. What could be better than that, after all. Colm disagrees; he’s getting older, and he needs something to be remembered by. Years on, music becomes the stuff of legend, he argues. Common niceness is not what leads to beloved legacy.
This is both a fair and contemporary take on modern priorities (called all your best friends lately, have you?) and a somewhat ordinary discussion that writer-director Martin McDonagh (“In Bruges,” “Three Billboards …,” “Seven Psychopaths”) doesn’t really take toward major discoveries about loneliness or human nature. Are older people investing in passions this way, at the cost of their relationships? The film is funny, but too many jokes don’t land. It’s compelling and unpredictable, yet even major escalation between the former friends maintains impact that feels minor when expanded beyond them. It’s 1923, by the way, and a civil war is going on close enough for them to hear the battle but far enough to lose sight of what’s being fought about. To connect that to modern conflict’s a bit of an oversimplification.
The acting, though. Farrell, deepening Padraic’s sad humor and warm despair by fractions, and Gleeson, always balancing Colm’s heart and his head, are tremendous, and Kerry Condon’s similarly worthy of awards consideration at Padraic’s sister Siobhan. “Banshees” goes to strange, violent places that will turn off some and spark twisted curiosity in others. Many are already calling it brilliant; I can see some wondering what the devil the fuss is about. To an extent, that’s the point.
B
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