Is The Tiger's Tail the worst Irish film ever made? Maybe not, but it's certainly up there. The press notes tell us that the film is a black comedy, which I feel was an afterthought when they realised what a turkey they had on their hands. Gleeson plays an affluent Dublin property developer who, while stuck in a traffic jam, sees his double. Obsessed with tracking the man down, Gleeson's life spirals out of control, as his double moves into Gleeson's plush house and takes over his life. Everything in A Tiger's Tail is turned up to eleven but unfortunately it's all done without a hint of irony. From the over-the-top Temple Bar-on-a-Saturday-night scene (vicious fights, tarty girls feeling up guys on the streets, everyone on drugs or puking into the gutters) to the seventh level of hell hospital emergency ward scene, Boorman gleefully makes everything ten times worse than it already is. And it doesn't stop there. Brendan Gleeson is fine actor and probably the best this country has to offer - but you wouldn't know that, looking at this. His performance is uneven, shoddy and seems at odds with what the director is trying to do (he's in good company).Cattrall's Irish accent was always going to be given a hard time, but the least she could have done was pick an accent and stick with it - not switch it from subtle American to out-and-out 'Oirish' when the mood takes her. It's hard to believe that this film came from the same man who brought us Deliverance, Hell In The Pacific and Point Blank. Embarrassing.
