A Film with Me in It

Last updated

A Film With Me in It
A film with me in it.png
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Ian Fitzgibbon
Written byMark Doherty
Produced by Alan Moloney
Susan Mullen
Starring Dylan Moran
Mark Doherty
Amy Huberman
Keith Allen
CinematographySeamus Deasy
Edited byTony Cranstoun
Music byDenis Woods
Production
company
Parallel Films
Distributed byElement Pictures (Ireland)
IFC Films (United States)
Release dates
  • 12 July 2008 (2008-07-12)(Galway Film Fleadh)
  • 17 October 2008 (2008-10-17)(Ireland)
Running time
83 minutes [1]
CountryIreland

A Film With Me in It is a 2008 Irish film directed by Ian Fitzgibbon and written by Mark Doherty. The film is a black comedy that follows Mark (also Mark Doherty) and Pierce (Dylan Moran), an unsuccessful actor and a failing writer respectively, who find themselves trying to cope after a string of accidents surrounds them in corpses. The film generally received a positive response, and was released on DVD in October 2011.

Contents

Plot

Mark (Doherty) is an actor living in a basement flat below his writer friend Pierce (Moran). Residing with his girlfriend, Sally (Huberman), Mark struggles to find work whilst caring for his paralysed brother, David (O'Doherty). Desperate to avoid paying overdue rent, Mark continually eludes landlord Jack (Allen), meaning he is also unable to inform Jack of the flat's dilapidated state.

Discovering that Mark wasted money meant for the overdue rent, Sally finally decides to end her strained relationship with Mark, informs Jack of the repairs needed, and arranges to move out. The damaged state of the flat reaching its peak, Mark witnesses two consecutive freak accidents; a bookshelf falls and kills his dog, and the living room chandelier collapses and crushes David. Reeling in horror from the events, Mark looks on as Jack appears to repair a high lightbulb atop a wobbly stool, only to fall and pierce his throat with his screwdriver. Pierce then arrives and discovers the corpses, causing him to panic.

Hiding in the bathroom, Mark and Pierce plot to control the situation, only for Sally to return. Discovering David's body, Sally faints and impales herself on Mark's clarinet stand, killing her too. Realizing the absurdity of four consecutive, fatal accidents occurring in one place, Pierce concocts a plan to move Jack's body to an alternative location, as they both had a strong motive to murder him. Shooing Sally's father when he arrives, a police officer (O'Sullivan) then arrives due to an unrelated noise complaint, causing Pierce to panic and take her hostage.

Unable to kill the officer, the duo ties her up and attempts to reason with her. Left unattended, she attempts to escape through a faulty window, only for it to close and crush her head. Now surrounded by several corpses, Pierce finally formulates a plan; placing David, Sally, Jack, and the dog in his car, they drive it to a secluded area and cause it to explode, leaving minimal forensic evidence. Additionally, since three immediate deaths of Mark's acquaintances can place suspicion on him, Mark places his jewellery and clarinet on David's corpse, faking his own death.

Finally moving the officer to the neighbour's garden, Pierce fakes her death as caused by a falling plant pot. Cutting Mark's hair and dressing him as David, the two attempt to pass Mark as his disabled brother, and give Pierce an alibi as his carer in Mark's absence. In the closing scenes Mark's agent rings with an attractive role to offer Mark which, in his new persona as David, he cannot accept. And Pierce directs a film to a script he wrote based on the tragic events.

Cast

Cameos by Irish director Neil Jordan, and actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

Production

The film was shot in the Dublin 4 area.

Reception

Michael Dwyer of the Irish Times gave the film 4 stars out of 5 and described it as "Withnail & I reworked by Joe Orton". [4]

It was nominated for six Irish Film and Television Awards including Best Film, Best Actor (Dylan Moran) and Best Screenplay (Mark Doherty), but did not win, with the film Hunger winning in six of eight categories in which it was nominated. [5]

It won the Special Jury Prize at the 28th International Istanbul Film Festival in Turkey. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierce Brosnan</span> Irish actor (born 1953)

Pierce Brendan Brosnan is an Irish actor and film producer. He was the fifth actor to play the fictional secret agent James Bond in the James Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 and in multiple video games, such as GoldenEye 007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maureen O'Sullivan</span> Irish actress (1911–1998)

Maureen Paula O'Sullivan was an Irish actress who played Jane in the Tarzan series of films during the era of Johnny Weissmuller. She starred in dozens of feature films across a span of more than half a century and performed with such stars as Laurence Olivier, Greta Garbo, Fredric March, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, the Marx Brothers and Woody Allen. In 2020, she was listed at number eight on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David O'Doherty</span> Irish comedian

David Nicholas O'Doherty is an Irish comedian, author, musician, actor and playwright and son of renowned jazz pianist Jim Doherty. His stand-up has won many international awards, including the if.comedy award in 2008 and Best International Comedian at the 2014 Sydney Comedy Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dylan Moran</span> Irish actor and comedian (born 1971)

Dylan William Moran is an Irish comedian, writer, actor and artist. He is best known for his observational comedy, the comedy series Black Books, and his work with Simon Pegg in films such as Shaun of the Dead and Run Fatboy Run. He was also one of two lead characters in the Irish black comedy film A Film with Me in It.

Events from the year 1979 in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard O'Sullivan</span> English actor (born 1944)

Richard O'Sullivan is an English comedy actor. He is known for his role as Robin Tripp in the TV sitcoms Man About the House (1973–1976) and Robin's Nest (1977–1981) and as the title character in the period adventure series Dick Turpin (1979–1982). He also starred in Doctor at Large (1971), Doctor in Charge (1972–1973), Alcock and Gander (1972), Me and My Girl (1984–1988) and Trouble In Mind (1991).

<i>Blow Out</i> 1981 film by Brian De Palma

Blow Out is a 1981 American neo-noir mystery thriller film written and directed by Brian De Palma. The film stars John Travolta as Jack Terry, a movie sound effects technician from Philadelphia who, while recording sounds for a low-budget slasher film, unintentionally captures audio evidence of an assassination involving a presidential hopeful. Nancy Allen stars as Sally Bedina, a young woman involved in the crime. The supporting cast includes John Lithgow and Dennis Franz. The film's tagline in advertisements was, "Murder has a sound all of its own".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O'Doherty family</span> Irish clan

The O'Doherty family of County Donegal is an Irish clan who were a prominent sept of the Northern Uí Néill's Cenél Conaill, and one of the most powerful clans of Tír Connaill.

<i>The Actors</i> 2003 Irish film

The Actors is a 2003 Irish film written and directed by Conor McPherson and starring Dylan Moran and Michael Caine. In supporting roles are Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson and Lena Headey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Carney (director)</span> Irish film director and screenwriter

John Carney is an Irish film director, producer, screenwriter and lyricist who specialises in musical drama films. He is best known as the showrunner and executive producer of Modern Love on Amazon Prime Video, for his films Once, Begin Again, and Sing Street. He is also a co-creator of the Irish TV drama series Bachelors Walk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Huberman</span> Irish actress and writer

Amy Huberman is an Irish actress and writer. She is known for her role as Daisy in the RTÉ drama series The Clinic. In 2018, she began writing and starring in the comedy series Finding Joy.

<i>Raw</i> (TV series) Irish drama television series

RAW is an Irish drama television series that was broadcast on RTÉ. The show focuses on the staff at a Dublin restaurant. The first season featured six episodes shown on RTÉ Two in September 2008 and the second season of six episodes was shown on RTÉ One from 10 January 2010. The third season of six episodes was broadcast on RTÉ One from 9 January 2011. Season 4 was broadcast on RTÉ One from Sunday, 8 January 2012. Season 5 began on RTÉ One on Sunday, 6 January 2013 at 21:30, while also available on RTÉ One+1 at 22:30 and RTÉ Player. The Season 5 finale aired on 10 February 2013 with Charlene McKenna and Damon Gameau departing the series.

The 5th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards took place on 17 February 2008 at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, honouring Irish film and television released in 2007.

The 6th Irish Film & Television Awards took place on 14 February 2009 at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin, and was hosted by Ryan Tubridy. It honoured Irish film and television released in 2008.

<i>Bad Karma</i> (2002 film) 2001 American film

Bad Karma is a 2001 film directed by John Hough. Patsy Kensit stars as a mental patient who believes she is the reincarnated lover of Jack the Ripper, and that her psychiatrist is the reincarnated mass murderer. Damian Chapa and Amy Locane are also in the film, which is adapted by Randall Frakes from the 1997 Douglas Clegg novel of the same name.

The 8th Irish Film & Television Awards were held on 12 February 2011 in the Convention Centre, Dublin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mignon O'Doherty</span> Australian actress (1890–1961)

Mignon O'Doherty was an Australian actress who worked in British theatre, film and television.

The 2021 Northern Ireland Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 9 to 17 October 2021 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was the third ranking event of the 2021–22 season and the first tournament in both the Home Nations Series and the European Series. It was the sixth edition of the Northern Ireland Open.

Jim Doherty is an Irish composer and jazz pianist. He is a member of Aosdána, an elite association of Irish artists.

References

  1. "A FILM WITH ME IN IT (15)". Element Pictures. British Board of Film Classification . Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  2. "A Film With Me in It – Film Reviews – Film – Entertainment". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  3. "davidodoherty.com". davidodoherty.com. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  4. "Culture & Entertainment News". The Irish Times. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  5. "Special Shows - Carlsberg Cat Laughs Comedy Festival 2009 - Kilkenny, Ireland". Archived from the original on 27 May 2009. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
  6. "'A Film With Me in It' Wins Jury Prize at Istanbul | The Irish Film & Television Network". Iftn.ie. Retrieved 24 May 2013.