Garage

Last Wednesday, we decided to escape the Trick-or-Treaters by going to the pictures. I would have liked to go and see the new George Clooney movie (Michael Clayton), but it wasn't showing until 9:15 pm, way too late for me, and for the Trick-or-Treaters, whose average age on our estate is probably 6!

So we went to see Garage instead. Garage is an Irish movie, by the makers of Adam & Paul. One review comment I've seen on the website pretty much summarises my impression of it: "Funny, heart-warming and tragic". It's the story of Josie, who is looking after a small garage on the edge of a small town somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Ireland. He is a marginal character, not quite retarded, but not quite 100% there either. People in the town like him, but don't take him seriously. He seems to be a happy kind of guy, but the movie follows him as he tries to connect with other people, and ultimately fails. Quite depressing ultimately. The film captured extremely well the feeling of oppression and desperation that hovers over the town. I'm not sure if there are still towns like that in Ireland - Dublin is certainly not like that nowadays - but if there are, I guess that their suicide statistics are way above the national average!

A good movie, but don't go if you're feeling down in any way!