Intermission

Like an ode to acclaimed directors Robert Altman and Quentin Tarantino, with an added tribute to Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, John Crowley uses all the right influences to orchestrate this compelling cinematic labyrinth in his directorial debut. When a supermarket employee calls it quits with his eccentric girlfriend, the entire Dublin town is influenced in an Altman-like ripple effect. The shafted bachelorette shacks up with a manager of the bank that bad boy Colin Farrell plans to rob for his last big heist, while being pursued by a cop and the regretful beau who wants his girlfriend back. Like the complex Bacon game for film buffs, the ensemble cast, including a kitchen-obsessed bus driver and a destructive problem child, are all connected through the romance, crime and comedy as the story jumps from horrific violence to dark humor in traditional Tarantino style. Although the thick Irish accents and abundance of colorful characters make the storyline hard to follow, it is well worth the effort to try.