THE VAN (Directed by Stephen Frears. Starring Colm Meaney, Donal O’Kelly, Neili Conroy.)

THE FINAL cinematic instalment of Roddy Doyle’s Barrytown trilogy is a disappointingly lightweight, if very affectionate work: for the uninitiated, it’s the story of two unemployed, middle-aged pals who, in order to feed their families, are forced to resort to peddling fish-and-chips in a dilapidated van.

The (always) excellent Colm Meaney plays the more memorable of the pair, Larry – a kind-hearted, big-mouthed buffoon who is as annoying as he is endearing. His mate, Bimbo (Donal O’Kelly) is more of a quiet, nervy type, and the pair of them are an odd couple indeed: from the outset, it’s impossible to imagine them running a business of any description.

Shot entirely in Kilbarrack (apart from brief excursions to Leeson Street and Dollymount beach) and set in the glorious summer of 1990 (with the nation gripped by World Cup psychosis), The Van paints a fond and highly accurate picture of its chosen milieu. In particular, the football scenes in the Foxhound Inn – with a tension-wracked crowd watching Sheedy’s goal against England, and that Packie Bonner save – are very authentically done, and bring the memories flooding right back (as if we could ever possibly forget).

In addition, the beer-bellied Larry sports a nice line in football T-shirts (‘BRITBUSTERS II’, ‘FUCK SCHILLACI’, ‘BIG JACK FOR PRESIDENT’) that suggest a commendably conscientious attitude to detail on behalf of the film-makers (although the 31 bus does not go past Naomh Barrog’s GAA park, and you’d have to be insane to park your van outside the Foxhound after dark).

For all its faults, The Van is a work of considerable charm: the consistently entertaining Doyle-penned dialogue keeps you with it when you’ve long since tired of the protagonists. Bimbo doesn’t really make much of an impression, while Larry makes too much of one: you warm to his warmth, but his boorishness becomes increasingly tiresome the longer the film goes on. And although the film is highly effective at conveying the way economic hardships can impinge on a man’s pride, it is pervaded by an overly melodramatic approach that tends to romanticise its characters unduly.

In comparison to the genuinely hard-hitting kitchen-sink realism of Family, The Van comes across as a bit too snug and sentimental, almost a feelgood movie. Well-intentioned, well-acted, amusing and always enjoyable, it’s not quite the movie it could have been. (CF)