Five Minuites of Heaven, 2009 (Grade B)

Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel

Any Awards?  None we know if

Cast: Liam Neeson;  James Nesbitt;  Anamaria Marinca;  Luliet Crawford;  Niamh Cusack;  Mark David;  Gerry Doherty;  Richard Dormer;  Paul Garret; Katy Gledhill;  Jonathan Harden

plot summary:  a meditation on guilt, forgiveness and reconciliation, this drama presents two men on opposite sides of Northern Ireland's political struggle: one a killer, the other the brother of the man he killed.  We meet them at the point of their being brought together years after the killing, to see if they can find peace with the past.

sez says: good stuff here...a thriller without any bombs or car chases.  Neeson & Nesbitt both do fabulous jobs with their characters.  And, ultimately the story is about much more than The Troubles in N. Ireland.  It is about the how and why people can get recruited to an extremest  group and how and why they will do anything --including the most heinous types of violence-- for the sake of there group. 
And even more it is about the real price and consequences of violent acts, which, once committed, take on a life of their own..both for the one who commits the violence and for the victim.  And without reconciliation--however that may take place -- there is no end to the original act of violence itself -- it takes over the lives of perpetrators and victims alike and can not be escaped without forgiveness.

mjc says:  always like watching Liam Neeson. Took on a very big topic here--and didn't quite make it.

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