Star Rating:

Charlie Cassanova

Director: Terry McMahon

Actors: Emmet Scanlan, Johnny Elliott, Valeria Bandino, Leigh Arnold

Release Date: Monday 30th November -0001

Running time: 91 minutes

It might not sound like a compliment but Charlie Casanova is a dirty, nasty, grubby movie. 'Enjoying' this movie is a non-starter. Ditto' liking' it.' Appreciating' it might be the best way to go but it will certainly be a talking point.

Charlie Casanova (Scanlan) is a moustachioed (upper?) middle class sociopath who hates - and that's a seething hate that spits bile through gritted teeth kind of hate – the scumbags and knackers that knock about Dublin. But his hate doesn't stop there: his mate Kevin (Hannaway) and Kevin's wife Una (Arnold), whom he's joylessly carrying on an affair with, are also a focus for his ire. When driving through inner city Dublin looking to score, Charlie knocks down a girl; instead of getting help and in letting his trusted deck of cards decide the outcome, Charlie abdicates responsibility, just as he feels society has. The act unleashes a hatred for humanity that up until now Charlie was been barely able to supress…

It's a committed performance from Scanlan, who is asked a lot by writer-director Terry McMahon. Scanlan is the perfect mixture of outright nasty and darkly comic and in two standout scenes displays his screen presence. The first is in a Garda station interview room where Charlie first denies that it's him on CCTV setting fire to his own car before humiliatingly deconstructing one guard's life; the second is a stand-up comedy night in a 'working class' club where Charlie lets loose on its audience. The latter is an example of Charlie Casanova's strengths and weaknesses: McMahon does write some interesting and provoking (and sometimes funny) diatribes but they can be relentless and lose their point in a deluge of spiky words.

Made for less than a grand (McMahon called on all and sundry - except 'timewasters' - to help him make it over two years ago), the budget restrictions sometimes work in the film's favour. With the grainy visuals, McMahon's handheld camera shoots in tight quarters - a corner of a room, a toilet - and bunches up the actors on top of each other so they're squeezed into the frame. It's claustrophobic and uncomfortable and itchy filled with rotten people and you just want to get out of there.