Don't Let This Happen To You

Because I let it happen to me.  

When this film opened to rave reviews last fall, I was clamoring to see it.  Unfortunately, one thing happened after another and I never got around to the theater.

So, recently, "The Banshees of Inisherin" scored nine Oscar nominations.  Now I wanted to see it even more.  And the good news is that it was airing on Netflix.

All of the above is evidence being presented to the judge that finds me guilty of falling for Hollywood hype.  Because this movie is a complete piece of shit from the opening Fox Searchlight logo to the very last thank you in the closing credits.

Never in my filmgoing life have I been so led astray by the buzz generated by this movie.  I thought I was getting a nice peek at friendship set on a lovely Irish coastline.   Well, to me, this coastal village never looked drearier.   And the two main characters essayed by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson could be the most unlikeable people you have ever seen on the big screen.

The plot starts well and lures you in comfortably.  These two guys are friends and neighbors, hanging out regularly in a pub.  Then, one day, Friend B decides he no longer likes Friend A and doesn't want to be buddies any more.  Friend A is confused and keeps pressing the issue.  Friend B gets so annoyed that he tells Friend A if he presses the point one more time, he will cut off one of his own fingers.

A does and then B does what he promised and this is compromising because B plays the fiddle.

A persists and B keeps lopping off his digits.  

The end.

Well, not really.  But it might as well have been because the movie then meanders around until it finally rolls over and dies...like the donkey in the film that chokes on one of said fingers.

I looked at the list of nominations this mess got and I am now firmly convinced that the Motion Picture Academy suffers from cataracts.   There is not a single positive moment in this film.  If there is one, I would hope somebody would point it out to me.

But that would require a finger.

LEN'S RATING:  Zero stars.

Dinner last night:  Grilled beef sausage.