Is it possible to cross reality television with soap operas and create a unique movie experience? Not that Intermission purports to answer this question, but it certainly has the feel of both.
Written by Mark O’Rowe and directed by John Crowley, this Irish import succeeds in creating an ensemble-driven story that shows how lives eventually interconnect and diverge.
Colin Farrell plays Lehiff, a petty thief being pursued by jaded detective Jerry Lynch (Colm Meaney). Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later) plays John, whose one true love Deirdre (Kelly Macdonald) is involved with a bank manager (Michael McEllatton) who leaves his wife Noeleen (Deirdre O’Kane) for her.
Added to the mix are John’s friends Mick (Brian F. O’Byrne), a bus driver and Anthony (Roy Keenan), who hooks up with Noeleen and Deirdre’s sister Sally (Shirley Henderson). These stories all intersect with those of a handful of other minor characters throughout the film.
Almost as important as the interplay of the characters is the juxtaposition of Intermission’s settings, from the sterile supermarket where John works to the large billboards that mark certain areas of this urban landscape.
This contrasts with the characters’ homes and more organic areas like parks and gardens.
The film does an excellent job of capturing the atmosphere and conveys a sense of how these landscapes play on each character’s consciousness.
The movie veers from comedy (John quits his job and triumphantly humiliates his overbearing boss but falls flat on his face during his dance of triumph), to intense sorrow, as when Noeleen’s husband coldly abandons her.
Perhaps one of the most important scenes is the confrontation between Lehiff and John, a standoff that makes it hard to tell who’s the hero and who’s the villain.
First-time director Crowley succeeds so well in involving the audience in the everyday drama that it feels voyeuristic. The film delves so deep into the characters’ lives that the audience gets a sense that these stories could play out indefinitely, in two-hour weekly installments. Although the end of the movie is conclusive, it manages to so fully engage the audience that the two hours being up and the lights coming on seems surprising.