What director Ian Fitzgibbon will hope to be his breakout film, Perrier’s Bounty is an Irish comedy/crime thriller hoping to follow in the footsteps of 2008’s In Bruges.
Cillian Murphy plays a luckless and petty artful dodger, Michael, who owes some money to the local gangster Perrier (Gleeson), but when he can’t meet the deadline for paying it back, one of Perrier’s cronies is unwittingly killed, the mobsters put an even higher price on getting even.
The film follows Michael as he races around Dublin trying to scrape together enough cash, accompanied on the most part by his suicidal father (Broadbent) and lovelorn neighbour (Whittaker).
The back and forth nature of the story works well but the film lacks any real exuberance despite the heady pace. Cillian Murphy was great as you’d expect, as were the rest of the cast, so it’s a surprise Perrier’s Bounty isn’t more successful.
Set in Ireland, it feels very much an Irish film and perhaps the closed tone of the film makes it a little inaccessible. In the end Perrier’s Bounty pays the price and it’s difficult to ever really find common ground with the effervescent Michael.
★★★★★